Leaving Israel is easier, Shira Z. Carmel thinks, by saying it is just for now. But she knows better.
For the Israel-born singer and an increasing number of relatively well-off Israelis, the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack shattered any sense of safety and along with it, Israel’s founding promise: to be the world’s safe haven for Jews.
That day, thousands of Hamas militants blew past the country’s border defences, killed 1,200 Israelis and dragged 250 more into Gaza in a siege that caught the Israeli army by surprise and stunned a nation that prides itself on military prowess.
This time, during what became known as Israel’s 9/11, the army did not come for hours.
Ten days later, a pregnant Carmel, her husband and their toddler boarded a flight to Australia, which was looking for people in her husband’s profession.
And they spun the explanation to friends and family as something other than permanent – “relocation” is the easier-to-swallow term – acutely aware of the familial strain and the shame that have shadowed Israelis who leave for good.