I

sraelis with ties to Detroit, including pro-
fessionals with the Jewish Federation of 
Metro Detroit and the daughter of Arthur 
Horwitz, the JN’s publisher emeritus, shared 
their accounts of an anxiety-ridden sleepless 
night when on April 13, Iran fired 300 mis-
siles and drones at Israel. It was the first time 
the Jewish state experienced a direct attack 
from the Islamic Republic of Iran. 
In their resiliency, they said that though 
there was a feeling of relief that the 
attack caused minimal damage and no 
deaths (one girl from a Bedouin village 
was wounded from falling shrapnel and 
remains hospitalized in critical condi-
tion), it did not detract focus from the 134 
remaining hostages, nor the continuing 
terror threat of Iranian proxies such as 
Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis. 
Yiftah Leket, Metro Detroit’s shaliach from 
2020-2023, was in his apartment in Modi’in 
with his children when news 
of an imminent attack that 
night grew increasingly dire. 
His wife, Paz, was in the Jezreel 
Valley visiting with family on 
the kibbutz she grew up in. As 
they watched the news, the two 
debated over the phone whether 
Paz should stay the night or 
make the 90-minute trip home to Modi’in. 
At that point, Israelis were told by the gov-
ernment that the first projectiles would be 
due from Iran beginning after 10 p.m. 
When the sirens began, Yiftah and Paz 
decided that she would make the drive home. 
“I was very concerned,” Leket said. 
“What if there were incoming missiles 
when she was on the road and there was 
nowhere to take shelter? But she assured 
me she would be fine.” 
Indeed, Paz made it home. With their 
daughters asleep in their mamad, or safety 
room, the couple stayed up most of the night 
watching the news in their living room and 
videoed some incoming rockets that were 

intercepted in the distance by the Iron Dome. 
Leket described the sleepless night as “apoca-
lyptic and something out of Star Wars.
” 
Though school was canceled for the next 
two days, work for the couple was not. 
Harkening back to the early days of the 
COVID pandemic, the couple found them-
selves trying to work as best as they could 
from home while caring for their daughters. 
Early the next morning, still, the streets and 
sidewalks were quiet and devoid of foot and 
vehicle traffic. It took until the afternoon, 
about 12 hours after the attack, for activities 
to resume in Modi’in, Leket said.
“That’s the craziness we live in,
” Leket said. 
“I was talking with friends and neighbors 
about this. We have become almost numb 
to the attacks and the waves of violence, and 
every year it is something else. And after a 
few hours, we say, OK, that’s life, let’s go on.
” 
Leket, who served as a pilot in the Israeli 
Air Force, said although the night was fright-
ening, he was proud to see how all the drill 
training he took part in over the years in 
active duty and the reserves culminated in 
minimal damage and no deaths. 
“When I was a pilot, we ran many drills 
for what you hope will never happen,
” Leket 
said. “
And that night, when it did happen, I 
was proud of my squadron, which alone shot 
down 15 drones. You never want a situation 
like this to happen, but I was so proud of the 
success of the (IAF) in which I served.
” 

‘INCREDIBLE OUTCOME’
Naomi Miller, director of Israel Michigan 
partnerships for the Michigan Israel Business 
Accelerator, said she felt a sense of isolation 
and tension leading up to and 
during the attack, but was moved 
by the outpouring of supportive 
calls and messages she received 
from her Detroit friends and 
connections. 
Miller said her family spent 
the better part of the evening in 

the safe room of her Jerusalem home, joined 
by her adult son and his girlfriend, who 
did not have a safe room in their Tel Aviv 
apartment. The sirens, bangs and booms 
were pervasive through most of the night, 
she recalled. The next morning, she woke 
exhausted due to the adrenaline rush she felt 
even more than the lack of sleep. 
“What amazed me about that night was 
the incredible outcome,” Miller said. “
After 
many decades, not only does Israel have 
an outstanding air force, but incredible 
research and development. All through the 
night, our pilots were flying shooting down 
the missiles and drones, and our defense 
system was remarkable.”
She continued: “I am so thankful for 
Israel’s allies, headed by the United States 
but joined by Jordan, the United Arab 
Emirates, the United Kingdom and France, 
all united to fight the evils of Iran.” 

Yoav Raban, who works for the Jewish 
Federation of Detroit’s Israel and Overseas 
Department and was a 
community shaliach from 
2007-2011, said over the 
past several months, it has 
been challenging living in 
the lower Galilee near one of 
the country’s most active air 
force bases. 
In the early days of the war, Raban, his 
wife, Anna, and their two children spent 
time here to escape the constant sonic 
booms from the jets. 
“It was hard for the children to have the 
constant noise from the air force base to be 
the soundtrack of their lives,” Raban told 
the JN as he and his family vacationed in 
Eilat just days after the Iran attack. 

The Rabans live in the southern Galilee, 
out of reach from Hezbollah rockets, and 
therefore are not among the tens of thou-
sands of Israelis who had to be internally 
displaced from northern Israel. 
“But living in Ramat David (near an 
air force base) is a concern because Iran 
targets our military bases, which added an 
extra layer to all our concerns.” 
Raban said his children were sleeping 
when the sirens and warnings began to 
come after 11 p.m. That evening, he was 
attending a comedy show at a nearby kib-
butz and Anna was back in Ramat David 
celebrating the birthday of a friend. 

Early into the show, there came the 
announcement to evacuate because of 
the threat. 

Former Detroiters describe the night 
Iran attacked Israel.
‘A Surreal Night’

Yiftah 
Leket

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

54 | APRIL 25 • 2024 
J
N

ERETZ

Naomi 
Miller

Yoav Raban

