“Fear does not exist”, assures Elie Lévy, consular advisor

“Fear does not exist”, assured Monday October 9 on franceinfo the Franco-Israeli Elie Lévy, consular advisor representing the French abroad, after the attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel on Saturday. Arriving in Israel in 2007, he lives in Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, a city “relatively protected”. But he compares Saturday’s attacks to “a pogrom”. “It’s Kristallnacht, multiplied by 1,000”affirms the Franco-Israeli, referring to the pogrom ordered on the night of November 9 to 10, 1938 by the Nazi party throughout the territory of the Reich, in most cities in Germany and Austria.

franceinfo: How do you feel about the situation since Netanya?

Elie Lévy: I am in Netanya which is a relatively protected city; I arrived in Israel in 2007. And since 2007, I have never seen this city in this state. The stores are closed, people are not in the streets, no one is going out. Restaurants are closed. It really is an economic disaster.

Is there fear?

Fear does not exist. When you make the decision to live in Israel, you get used to living with a little danger, because on every street corner you can have a terrorist coming to stick a knife in you. What happened this weekend was a real pogrom. I turned on the television Saturday morning like every morning, to watch a little bit of the news. I was stunned by what happened. It was apocalyptic. We don’t realize it.

I have friends who lived on a kibbutz near Gaza. I tried calling them all Saturday. And finally, around 5 p.m., the phone answered. And it was their child who answered me, in tears. He told me that he hid under a bed because there was a knock on the door. His door had been forced open and people were speaking in Arabic. And he witnessed a horrible scene. He saw his parents murdered. Three animals or three wild beasts, three terrorists came to the house and shot his father and mother in the head. He had the presence of mind to go and hide under a bed and came out a few hours later when he heard the soldiers who spoke Hebrew coming in.

“Can you imagine such a scene? It’s Kristallnacht, multiplied by 1,000. It’s a pogrom.”

Elie Lévy, consular advisor representing the French abroad

at franceinfo

We currently have more than 1,000 deaths. If we compare with what happened at the Bataclan across France, that represents around 7,000 deaths in France. There are 2,700 injured. Which, all things considered, gives 20,000 injured in one day.

What do you expect in the coming days?

This [lundi] evening, on the northern border, there was a fairly serious incident, an infiltration of Hezbollah terrorists. Six Israeli soldiers injured. The northern front is also expected to flare up. We’ll see. Everything is ready. We are in the vaults. In each building or in each apartment, there are vaults. I have prepared some supplies, I am keeping them just in case. We live in anticipation of what will happen in the hour, in the day to come.

This country only exists because of the will of its inhabitants. And there is such a will to live here, such solidarity between the people and their army. We do not have a professional army, it is the people’s army. When the vital forces of this country are requisitioned, it results in businesses closing, restaurants closing and shops no longer operating.