"Eitan Said in a Weak Voice 'Oh No', Then I Heard Voices in Arabic"

Almost a month has passed since Sigalit Pesherel last spoke with her brother Eitan Levi. From then until now, throughout this entire month, she does one thing constantly – thinks about him non-stop, realizing that he, like hundreds of others, was kidnapped to Gaza.

"My world stopped," she recounts, "Eitan is my only brother, he works as a taxi driver, and on Shabbat morning he contacted me, and that was our last conversation. It was only later that I understood he was one of the very first abductees taken to Gaza."

What did he say to you in that conversation?

"Eitan called at 6:50," Sigalit narrates, "he asked how I was and told me he drove someone to the Gaza Strip border. During that conversation, he also told me: 'There are alarms and rockets here, and I am very afraid.' Later I suddenly heard him say in a weak voice: 'Oh no!' Then I heard a cry in Arabic: 'Allahu Akbar.'"

Sigalit shudders as she recalls: "Eitan's mobile device continued to operate for a few minutes thereafter, and I heard the call and even recorded it. I tried to call to him: 'Eitan, Eitan!' but he did not answer. Both my husband and son were sitting next to me and we all heard Arabic voices from the device, then there was silence, the Arabic voices returned, and then silence again, followed by nothing."

Did you do anything with this recording?

"Of course. We handed it to the police and also provided additional details, but it did not help to obtain information about Eitan's condition. Only about three weeks later did we receive official notification that he was kidnapped, and we now understand that he was indeed among the first abductees taken to Gaza, as it was right at the beginning of that entire dark day."

Sigalit's voice breaks as she says, "Eitan is a unique person, a taxi driver with a heart of gold who never refused a client wanting a ride, and he took them wherever they asked, including the last journey he took to the border region. Words cannot describe my concern for him. As time passes, the struggle becomes increasingly difficult, and I cannot stop thinking about what he is going through and where he is. It is a paralyzing uncertainty, each day more challenging than the previous, especially with the current ground assault that frightens us enormously. We pray they find him soon and bring him home, along with all the others, and that everyone is safe and sound. It's the only option. We are so anxious to have him finally home. Please, let everyone open a book of Psalms now and pray for this."