A year ago, Israeli army reservist Yossi Tubur was hiding in some bushes in the middle of a field, desperate to live after narrowly surviving a shootout with Hamas that left one terrorist dead. That morning of October 7, he had been on his way to the synagogue in Kibbutz Magen, just two miles from Israel’s border with Gaza, when he heard explosions. After running back to his house to check his phone, he learned that the terrorists had invaded, and his training and instincts immediately took over.
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“I understand that nobody is there for them,” he told Billy Hallowell of The Washington Times’ Higher Ground. “I take my uniform. I have my private gun — not the M16 that I have now because I’m now serving in the army — and drive as fast as I can to help them, to join them, because I have all the texts [saying] that terrorist is inside our home and they kill everybody and they burn the home.”
Despite getting shot at more than 20 times, including one bullet that would’ve killed him if it wasn’t for his bulletproof vest, and fleeing into a field while surrounded by terrorists, Mr. Tubur miraculously survived. Thousands of others were not so lucky.
October 7 was the bloodiest day in Jewish history since the end of the Holocaust. More than 1,200 people were murdered by Hamas terrorists, and 251 were taken hostage. But the conflict is far from over. Nearly 100 hostages are still being held, including the bodies of at least 33 who have been killed.
Meanwhile, Israel has spent the last year embroiled in war — with Hamas to the south, Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon to the north, and Iran in the far east.
SEE ALSO: One year of war in Israel has tragically altered life for Jews around the world
“We are in a war for our survival. Literally, if we don’t win this war, then the 7 million Jews who are living in Israel right now are gone, are done,” said Yael Eckstein, the president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ). “We are a tiny country the size of New Jersey, with 10 million citizens surrounded by hundreds of millions of enemies — enemies who want to destroy us.”
Ms. Eckstein and her team at IFCJ have been a critical part of Israel’s response on the ground ever since the initial attack. In fact, they immediately begin distributing humanitarian aid in the early hours of October 7, both to the soldiers fighting and the civilians impacted. Some of the most crucial items were armored security vehicles, bomb shelters, and bulletproof helmets and vests — exactly like the one that saved Mr. Tubur’s life.
“In the first week alone, we distributed over $10 million of aid… [including] over 5,000 bulletproof vests and helmets, and placed hundreds of bomb shelters and distributed tens of thousands of meals,” she said. “When I look at Yossi now, a year later, to hear where he was a year ago in the bushes surrounded by terrorists, and to see him now, that he hasn’t put down his weapon defending Israel for the past year, risking his own life many times since then, I just feel so honored and lucky and blessed that me and our hundreds of thousands of Christian donors across the world are able to be there to provide a little bit of comfort, protection, and save lives.”
Indeed, in the face of rising antisemitism, growing unrest and daily war, Israelis need all the hope and support they can get.
“The world has turned its back once again on the Jewish people following October 7th,” Ms. Eckstein noted. “We’ve seen a rise in anti Semitism that I never thought I would experience in my lifetime… It’s something that is impossible to comprehend. But what I’ve also seen is the other side of that, the light in the darkness that there are millions, tens of millions, people even say hundreds of millions of Christians in America and around the world who, despite the trend of standing against the Jewish people and against Israel, they have boldly, proudly, faithfully, um, declared their unconditional support for Israel’s right to exist.”
And while life goes on in Israel, it has hardly stayed the same. Thankfully, as long as there is war, there will be brave heroes like Yossi Tubur, who continues to risk his life to defend his nation and his people.
“I was a CEO of two companies and for now I’m… in the military reserve. My family [has seen] me something like 60 days [this year] and the rest of the time I’m here in the Army… just to bring back the pride of our country,” he said. “Because the citizens were evacuated from their homes and the war must end in such a way that the citizens can come back, without any chance that [a similar attack] is going to happen again. And we know that we said it before, but now this is our obligation. This is our commitment [to] them, and until it’s going to be, I’m not going to back to my regular life.”
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Marissa Mayer is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her work has been featured in Christian Post, The Daily Signal, and Intellectual Takeout. Mayer has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.
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