YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – As many of us watch for updates on the war now unfolding in Israel, there are those families in the Valley waiting to see what the future holds.
For Israeli immigrant and local school administrator Kobi Sigler, word of the attack against his homeland started flowing into his phone just after midnight Saturday morning.
“I’m getting WhatsApp messages from my sister in Israel about what was going on,” Sigler said.
Sigler admits rocket attacks are not uncommon back home, but this was something much worse.
“I see that calamity and the catastrophe that is going on over there, and I am like, Wow,” he said.
Sigler says his family is from northern Israel and has not been under attack yet, but no one feels safe. He said the feeling is very “dire.”
“People are very down. They are trying to figure out what is going on. How did we reach this point?” Sigler said.
Despite peace agreements over the years, Sigler says the terrorists behind these attacks don’t want Israel to exist at all, saying his country is now fighting for its right to survive.
“It’s a war that those people over there were trying to catch as many civilians as they can, and of course, it’s a fight on our honor, on our life,” Sigler said.
Sigler says he’s grateful for American support coming from the Biden Administration as the war continues.
“I think that the military in Israel needs to do whatever is needed to be done in order to secure the people of Israel,” he said.
