‘Be careful’: Father opens up about daughter’s impending deployment to Israel
By James Felton and Emily Brown
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MICHIGAN (WNEM) — Over the weekend, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli civilians with gunmen killing hundreds and kidnapping more than 100 people, prompting Israel to declare war.
The combined death toll is already over 1,000, including nine Americans.
Imagine being a parent having a daughter who may be fighting in the war. For one local man, that’s reality.
“My daughter is in the reserves, in the IDF. Her unit has been called up,” said Steven Low.
Low was talking about his 41-year-old daughter Flo, who is a lieutenant with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Low said she’s in New York state preparing to head to Israel as soon as she can catch a plane over.
Many airlines have suspended flights to Israel after war between the country and Hamas broke out over the weekend.
“She’s scared. I’m also scared, but she feels she has an absolute moral obligation and duty, and she has never shied away from that before. And she’s going to go, and I support her in that,” he said.
Low is the Executive Director of the Flint Jewish Federation. He said at least he knows where his daughter is; the same can’t be said for others that he’s close to in Israel.
“I have other relatives and friends there. I’m worried about them. It’s hard to get news from them,” he said. “We know that places that have never been struck before were struck in this particular attack and it’s horrifying.”
He said before the war began, Flo was scheduled to be in Israel in November. Now, that timeline has moved up.
Low is hoping to see his daughter before she leaves for the conflict.
“Be careful, be very careful. You know, we love you, we want you to come back to us and take great care,” he said as a message to his daughter.
Low said there will be a Zoom community meeting Wednesday night, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. Anyone interested in being part of the meeting can call the Flint Jewish Federation office at 810-767-5922.
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