Shocked and distraught Israeli citizens are coming together to volunteer and support the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the war against Hamas that began on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Veronika Solovjanova, a business owner in Tel Aviv, told Fox News Digital that she knows Israelis who were abroad on vacation and came back to their country to help the war effort. The war began early Saturday morning when Hamas attacked Israel on Simchat Torah, a Jewish holiday.<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s very important to understand that all of us go together and we want to support [Israel] and be together,\u2019 she said. \u2018It\u2019s important for us to protect our freedom.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018We don\u2019t want to leave or escape,\u2019 Solovjanova explained, adding that many volunteers are driving to the frontlines of the war to help soldiers.<\/p>\n
Solovjanova\u00a0shared videos of crowds of people making packages for IDF soldiers and queuing for blood drives. When asked if anything like Hamas\u2019 attacks has ever happened to Israel in her lifetime, she gave an emphatic \u2018no.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s like we call it now, \u2018our 9\/11\u2032,\u2019 she said. \u2018I saw the owner of my [store\u2019s] building today\u2026she\u2019s 81 years old. I asked her, \u2018Do remember something like this?\u2019 and she said no.\u2019<\/p>\n
Solovjanova spent Sunday helping prepare care packages for IDF soldiers. She compared Hamas\u2019 terrorist attacks against Israel to acts of violence in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u2018Yesterday, I was crying \u2026 I\u2019m a very strong person. But yesterday it was really so [devastating],\u2019 she said. \u2018Today I woke up and I said to myself that I just need to help.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s like the invasion of Ukraine,\u2019 she added. \u2018What happened yesterday in this kibbutz music festival, you absolutely can compare it with the butchery in Ukraine. It\u2019s [an] absolute massacre.\u2019<\/p>\n
Weeks after Israelis made international headlines about protesting against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s judicial reforms, Solovjanova\u00a0says that \u2013 even as a protestor \u2013 everyone in Israel is coming together to form a united front.<\/p>\n
\u2018We just need to survive and to protect our country,\u2019 she explained. \u2018I used to live in many countries and I would say that just here in Israel, once something is happening here, all of us forget about left and right.\u2019<\/p>\n
The Tel Aviv resident explained that Israelis come together in crisis, and that their culture helps them cope with tragedies.<\/p>\n
\u2018Always in sad moments here in Israel, we know how to find positive,\u2019 she said. \u2018We\u2019re always singing. We\u2019re always smiling. We make jokes.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018That\u2019s a very special feeling about our people,\u2019 she added. \u2018All of us together and it\u2019s an amazing feeling, [even though] it\u2019s a very hard time.\u2019<\/p>\n