The brother of one of the Israeli soldiers who was kidnapped by Hezbollah this summer spoke on campus Thursday night, discussing the harrowing experience he and his family have gone through in the 78 days since the capture.
Gadi Goldwasser, a 23-year-old Israeli, was taking a motorcycle trip around India with friends when he learned of the crisis at home.
The words from an e-mail spoke of the urgency of the matter. “Take the first flight home,” it read. “Something has happened to (your brother).”
On July 12, Ehud Goldwasser and 10 other Israeli soldiers were attacked by a group of Hezbollah militants. Their humvee was hit with an anti-tank missile. Nine of the soldiers were killed, and Ehud Goldwasser and one other soldier were captured.
For the past 78 days, Goldwasser and his family have been completely in the dark about his brother.
Gadi Goldwasser said since the moment he heard of his brother’s capture, his life changed dramatically.
“We have no clue whatsoever (how he is doing). Our assumption is that he is still alive,” he said.
Upon hearing what had happened to his brother, Goldwasser said he felt “depression, anger, confusion, frustration, you name it.”
“Everything is completely dark,” he said.
Goldwasser’s goal Thursday night was to show the human side of the conflict in Lebanon.
“I want to present the man inside the picture,” he said, referring to a poster of his brother and two other captured Israelis on the whiteboard behind him, one of whom was captured in a separate incident.
Goldwasser’s brother was a reservist in the Israeli Army in July. Goldwasser said after Israeli citizens serve their compulsory three years military service, they are required to serve for one month of every year thereafter, which his brother was doing when he was captured.
After weeks of exchanged rocket fire and attacks, the conflict was officially ended in August when the United Nations passed a resolution that included measures that called for a cease fire and to send peacekeeping forces into south Lebanon. Since then, Hezbollah and Israel have continued to exchange minor attacks, but the scale of the violence has been reduced.
Gadi Goldwasser has begun a tour of college campuses in the United States, where he discusses the situation in the Middle East with students across the country.
Ehud Goldwasser was in the process of getting his masters in environmental engineering when he was captured, and will celebrate his one-year wedding anniversary in October.
Shannon Gabai, a third-year history and pre-med student, said she attended the event to learn more about Gadi Goldwasser’s experience in the last few months, and expressed sorrow over the loss that has resulted from his brother’s capture.
“By kidnapping him ... they were taking away from making the world a better place,” she said. “He was a son, a brother, a husband and above all an environmental engineer.”
During the discussion Gadi Goldwasser explained what it was like to go through such an emotionally draining experience.
When asked by a student, “How do you sleep?” he responded, “I don’t.”
He said he felt he had two options. He could keep falling into a downward spiral and lose control, or he could keep fighting and help his family.
Eli Natan, a fourth-year history student and co-president of the Zionist Organization of America, UCLA Chapter, said the goal of the event was to have local sources that could speak to students at UCLA.