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