Columbus woman in Tel Aviv during Iranian attack on Israel

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A Columbus woman is in Israel and was in the heart of Tel Aviv’s Democracy Square Saturday night when the warning went out – that Iranian missiles were on the way.

Marcy Fleisher, the owner of a Columbus PR firm, was part of a rally in support of the hostages in a crowd of about 10,000 people.

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She traveled to Tel Aviv to take part in a week-long volunteer mission. The Saturday rally was also a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who many Israelis believe is a roadblock to peace.

“It was a remarkably powerful event,” Fleisher said. “It was peaceful, it was united. At one point, someone shouted the names of each of the 130-plus hostages and the crowd together chanted, ‘Bring bring them home now.’  It was really it was something.

“But at about 10:30 or so, the mood quickly shifted and I was standing next to a man who was translating most of the Hebrew and he said to me that the Ministry of Defense has gone on the air in Tel Aviv and they are telling everyone to go home immediately, that they believe the threat from Iran is imminent and we need to take shelter,” Fleisher added. “That was probably the first time I was afraid.”

Fleisher says she made her way back to her 11th-floor hotel room, then helped a young family seek shelter in the concrete stairwell.

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“In our hotel are a number of Israeli families from the north and next door to me is a family with two little kids,” she said. “When I went into the hallway going to the stairwell, they were there too, so I helped them go down 11 floors with a baby and a stroller and a suitcase filled with formula, and I think that’s when I was most nervous. (I) realized this is how the people of Israel live, and frankly that’s how the people in Gaza live. It’s how the people in Ukraine live. This is the most heartbreaking reality I have ever experienced.”

Fleisher was in Israel as part of a mission with the Jewish National Fund to do things like pick fruit and prepare kosher meals for Israeli soldiers. The official mission was canceled, but she said half of the 150 participants stayed on, determined to help out this week in any way they can.

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