From Israel to Woodmere: Sisters recount family's kidnapping by Hamas
Rinat Har Sheleg and Natali Har — sisters from Israel — stood inside a Woodmere synagogue Monday and spoke of their father, and the final text messages he sent before Hamas militants kidnapped him and four other family members.
The pair spoke, and wept, at a news conference held at Yismach Moshe Synagogue as part of a stateside campaign aimed at spreading awareness of the kidnapping of their relatives and nearly 250 others after Hamas militants launched an attack Oct. 7 on Israel.
“My father is everything to me. He is my best friend,” Har Sheleg said. “He helped me in everything I need. I really hope he comes back soon. We really need him to come home quickly … We lost our home, we lost our father, my kids lost their grandfather and they lost their mom because I’m not the mom I used to be before.”
Har Sheleg said she has not heard from her father, Luis Norberto Har, 70, since the attacks. She and her two sons, 8 and 5, live with him in the Nir Yitzchak kibbutz but were visiting friends in northern Israel on Oct. 7, Har Sheleg said. She intended to return that day. Then her father began texting.
She said he texted her that he had fled to a safe room with his longtime partner, Clara Marman, her brother, Fernando Marman, her sister, Gabriella Leimberg, and her 17-year-old niece, Mia Leimberg.
Har Sheleg said he told her the attackers "were shooting everything and broke everything. He said, 'Send kisses for us,' and then I didn’t hear from him anymore.”
The Hamas attacks killed more than 1,400 people in Israel, according to Israeli authorities. In response, Israel declared war on Hamas and launched counterstrikes into Gaza that have killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. Both totals include many civilians.
The two sisters are staying in Woodmere with former state Assemb. Dov Hikind after meeting him last week in Israel. Hikind joined them at the news conference, as did Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and several members of the surrounding Jewish community.
Har Sheleg worried about her father's health deteriorating. He is diabetic, she said, and most likely not getting the medicine he needs.
Natali Har, who was also in Israel at the time of the attacks, spoke through translated Hebrew about her father’s kidnapping and the need to release hostages. On Rosh Hashanah, she said, the family discussed what they wanted for the new year. Spending time with his kids and grandchildren, was her father's response.
“On Saturday the seventh of October, our lives changed forever. Shabbat Saturdays are no longer the same. The most important day for the Jewish people, they now dread every day as a reminder of their loved ones taken hostage,” she said. “Their entire world and reality have been shattered … It’s a nightmare. There’s no going back to the days before Oct. 7 and Jews everywhere are living in a heightened level of fear.”
She vowed to keep speaking out. In English, and matching the slogan on her shirt, Har said, “Bring them home now.”
Some in Woodmere had already made sure those held captive were not forgotten. Dozens of posters of missing Israelis, including a 9-month-old baby, have been posted on light poles along streets in the hamlet, labeled as “Kidnapped by Hamas” and urging others to share photos to help bring the missing home alive.
Eric Post, Long Island regional director of the American Jewish Committee, said it’s important to share photos and stories of hostages such as Luis Norberto Har and his family as well as Israeli soldier Omer Neutra, 21, of Plainview, who was abducted near the Gaza border and remained missing as of Monday.
“I think it’s incredibly important to share these stories because it puts a human face on what Hamas has done,” Post said. “It places a greater emphasis on what happened."
Rinat Har Sheleg and Natali Har — sisters from Israel — stood inside a Woodmere synagogue Monday and spoke of their father, and the final text messages he sent before Hamas militants kidnapped him and four other family members.
The pair spoke, and wept, at a news conference held at Yismach Moshe Synagogue as part of a stateside campaign aimed at spreading awareness of the kidnapping of their relatives and nearly 250 others after Hamas militants launched an attack Oct. 7 on Israel.
“My father is everything to me. He is my best friend,” Har Sheleg said. “He helped me in everything I need. I really hope he comes back soon. We really need him to come home quickly … We lost our home, we lost our father, my kids lost their grandfather and they lost their mom because I’m not the mom I used to be before.”
Har Sheleg said she has not heard from her father, Luis Norberto Har, 70, since the attacks. She and her two sons, 8 and 5, live with him in the Nir Yitzchak kibbutz but were visiting friends in northern Israel on Oct. 7, Har Sheleg said. She intended to return that day. Then her father began texting.
She said he texted her that he had fled to a safe room with his longtime partner, Clara Marman, her brother, Fernando Marman, her sister, Gabriella Leimberg, and her 17-year-old niece, Mia Leimberg.
Har Sheleg said he told her the attackers "were shooting everything and broke everything. He said, 'Send kisses for us,' and then I didn’t hear from him anymore.”
The Hamas attacks killed more than 1,400 people in Israel, according to Israeli authorities. In response, Israel declared war on Hamas and launched counterstrikes into Gaza that have killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. Both totals include many civilians.
The two sisters are staying in Woodmere with former state Assemb. Dov Hikind after meeting him last week in Israel. Hikind joined them at the news conference, as did Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and several members of the surrounding Jewish community.
Har Sheleg worried about her father's health deteriorating. He is diabetic, she said, and most likely not getting the medicine he needs.
Natali Har, who was also in Israel at the time of the attacks, spoke through translated Hebrew about her father’s kidnapping and the need to release hostages. On Rosh Hashanah, she said, the family discussed what they wanted for the new year. Spending time with his kids and grandchildren, was her father's response.
“On Saturday the seventh of October, our lives changed forever. Shabbat Saturdays are no longer the same. The most important day for the Jewish people, they now dread every day as a reminder of their loved ones taken hostage,” she said. “Their entire world and reality have been shattered … It’s a nightmare. There’s no going back to the days before Oct. 7 and Jews everywhere are living in a heightened level of fear.”
She vowed to keep speaking out. In English, and matching the slogan on her shirt, Har said, “Bring them home now.”
Some in Woodmere had already made sure those held captive were not forgotten. Dozens of posters of missing Israelis, including a 9-month-old baby, have been posted on light poles along streets in the hamlet, labeled as “Kidnapped by Hamas” and urging others to share photos to help bring the missing home alive.
Eric Post, Long Island regional director of the American Jewish Committee, said it’s important to share photos and stories of hostages such as Luis Norberto Har and his family as well as Israeli soldier Omer Neutra, 21, of Plainview, who was abducted near the Gaza border and remained missing as of Monday.
“I think it’s incredibly important to share these stories because it puts a human face on what Hamas has done,” Post said. “It places a greater emphasis on what happened."
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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