RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A Raleigh native now living in Israel says there are no words to describe what he’s going through.
“The more you know, the scarier it gets,” said Daniel Rosenberg. “I mean, there was somebody who lived in Raleigh for two years, he’s from Kibbutz Sa’ad. Kibbutz Sa’ad is about right next to Kibbutz Be’eri, where 107 people were massacred.”
Rosenberg was born and raised in Raleigh, played football at Millbrook High School and a few years later moved to Israel. A place he calls important to his Jewish identity.
He said each day right now is terrifying, but that doesn’t even begin to describe life in Israel.
“There are just no words,” Rosenberg said. “I mean, to see what they did to us, everything is the hardest part, to see how underprepared we were, to see how many they murdered, to know that there’s no end.”
He lives in Ramat Gan, a city near Tel Aviv, with his wife, daughter who is almost four years old, and son who is two years old.
He said his immediate focus at all times is his two kids, and whether a rocket is coming their way forcing them into their bomb shelter.
“I have 90 seconds because I live into the center of Israel,” he said. “I can’t imagine the people that live in Sderot that have 15 seconds.”
Rosenberg knows what combat is like. He served in the Israel Defense Force, but what’s happening now is like nothing he’s ever witnessed.
“There are no words, and the difference like people say this is Israel’s 9/11, I mean I was there for 9/11, but the difference is that in Israel, we all know somebody,” Rosenberg said. “This isn’t a big country, and we all did the military.”
Like many people he knows, Rosenberg was just called back to the reserves. He told his commander he couldn’t go because his wife is nine months pregnant. The couple is trying to figure out plans for when she goes into labor.
One thing he’s grateful for is his children are too young to understand the terror around them, even when in a bomb shelter.
“My daughter thinks it’s a game,” he said.
While age shields his children emotionally for now, Rosenberg said the trauma will be generational.
“We’re going to live with this for the rest of our lives, just I don’t know how it’s going to end,” he said.
Rosenberg said seeing the rallies around the world and hearing President Joe Biden’s support for Israel means a lot to him.
