NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – It’s been horrifying. That’s how Rebekah Reinstein describes the surprise attack on Israel. The New Mexican, who now lives with her four children and husband in Israel, was not using her phone because it was Shabbat and a high holiday. Reinstein said rockets were flying into their area which is a small suburb outside Jerusalem. “I have three teenage boys who are very connected to social media and immediately began to tell us about the awful, awful massacre that happened in southern Israel and simultaneously under a barrage of more than 3000 rockets,” said Reinstein.
Reinstein moved to Israel after graduating from the University of New Mexico in 2003 with a major in religion. She is a news copy editor and lead anchor for Israel Now News. She said her family, along with all of Israel spent several days racing for bomb shelters and praying that it wasn’t true. “We now know that Holocaust survivors, babies, and small children were ripped from their mother’s arms and taken into Gaza. They are being held as captives and used as bargaining chips in a war that we never asked for,” said Reinstein.
Reinstein’s four children are home as schools and businesses have been shuttered and said they’re no longer able to live life as they had before. “So I really tried to keep a sense of normalcy for my children in the house and for my family. Lots of art projects. Lots of neighbor kids coming over and trying to just keep the kids happy and trying to tell them that they’re safe,” said Reinstein.
She said it’s all very hard to come to terms with. “It’s just so gruesome. What they did to us on that day,” said Reinstein.
As for what’s next for her family? “It’s very much intertwined with the fate of Israel. This is our home and this is the only home my children have ever known. This is the life that we’ve built for them,” said Reinstein.
