Israeli Chen Mizrachi, 35, was one of the producers of the party in southern Israel, when Hamas terrorists came shooting. After spending four years in the Israel Defense Forces, he combined luck with self-confidence to survive.
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He did what he could and managed to save a group of people surrounded by Palestinian extremists on October 7th. During the attack, he initially joined the security guards and police who were at the party to try to escape.
After hours of resisting, they encountered the first soldiers. With his experience in the Army, he helped the soldiers keep the group of young people safe until they were able to escape to a nearby hospital.
He exchanged fire with the terrorists, who remained approximately three hundred meters away, and managed to prevent them from getting any closer.
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Chen is now passing through Brazil after contacting the Brazilian representative of Forum for Families of Kidnapped and Missing Persons. A Westhe tells how the attacks were and reveals his frustration at not having been able to save dozens of friends.
What did you feel the moment you noticed the Hamas attack?
Hamas first attacked us with missiles and then more than 300 terrorists with guns and 300 Palestinian civilians, who came to kill and rob with knives, entered Israeli territory. All this happened around 6:30 in the morning and, around 7:00, shots started to come from various directions. At that moment we didn’t feel like something so big was going to happen. At 8 am the first shots were fired at me and 100 other people who were with me in a back area, where the police mobile ambulance and a security tent were located. The feeling was of impotence and that I probably wouldn’t make it out of the war zone alive.
Did you hear any speech from a terrorist or see any gesture or look?
When I was in the mobile police room I heard them on the police call, speaking in Hebrew with an Arabic accent and they told us “we are on our way to destroy everyone”.
What did you see and how did you survive?
I saw people being kidnapped, people being murdered before my eyes as we tried to escape. I saw burned cars on the road with people inside, the smell of the burned people in the cars was very, very strong. The Army arrived after six hours, but during that time we fought defensively because we were surrounded from all directions. When the Army arrived, I managed to get into the car, which took us away from the scene. I was fighting for our lives, with the soldiers and the police, to make sure that no one who was with us died.
After the Army rescue, did you decide to continue defense and search operations?
After 7:10 am many of our friends were in the field and hid until the rest of the morning. We receive many messages with the last location of friends and family. So we decided to go down to try and look for them, I went back to where I was and searched for two days until the Army took control of the area again.
Questions about the value of life
What were the days following the attacks like for you?
It was very difficult at first because it felt like there was no value in life. I felt a sense of vulnerability and asked a lot of questions. I’ve been to 21 funerals of my closest friends that I couldn’t save. From the government, I received very basic treatment, my treatment was to go to Costa Rica to surf and see my good friends that I had made in other times.
What made you come to Brazil?
After I met Rafael Azamor, representative of the Forum for the Families of the Kidnapped and Disappeared, in Uruguay, we became friends and I wanted to visit Brazil, a country I had not yet visited. It is very important for Israelis to know, connect and tell what is happening in Israel, so that we can spread light and love and explain a lot about the Jewish people. It was important for me to come here, to unite and exchange more information. Israel wants peace.
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What do you think of Israel’s military response?
Hamas had been preparing for this day for many years and we thought, on the Israeli side, that they were in small and harmless numbers. As for the Army, there was a lack of communication between all parties because they took down the networks at a certain point. Our Army is the strongest in the world, but on this day the response time was very long for many reasons. Now, every day that the fighting continues, I think we may be losing more and more hostages. However, we have no choice. And we hope that a miracle will make everyone return safely.
What is your opinion regarding the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic demonstrations at major North American universities?
I think it’s very serious that the Israelis are being compared to the Nazis and being called genocides. This goes beyond any criticism, it goes beyond any limit and I think what they did was very cruel. I felt the drama of the Hamas attacks firsthand. Nobody at that party was to blame for anything. And the world seems to forget these victims. People should open their eyes because in the end anyone who caresses an aggressive dog cannot complain after being bitten.
