“It was terrifying, like something out of a horror movie,” said Haviva Ner David, 56, a resident of Kibbutz Hanaton, who was attacked early Monday morning by two masked burglars who broke into her home.
“To wake up in the middle of the night to the dog barking and suddenly find yourself face to face with intruders is truly frightening. I was afraid they were going to rape me and then kill me,” she said, describing the shock of the ordeal. “Every day there’s a murder in this area, and I told myself I was the next victim — just another photo in those terrible statistics.”
Ner David, a rabbi, spiritual guide and author who lives in the Jezreel Valley kibbutz, is also responsible for the community’s ritual bath and lives just a few houses away from the home of Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli. On the night of the break-in, she was at home with her 15-year-old daughter.
She said she woke at around 4 a.m. after hearing her dog barking incessantly. “The barking was very intense. I thought an animal had gotten into the house or that there was a fire,” she said. “I left the bedroom and went into the living room, and to my surprise I saw two masked men.”
After she realized intruders were in the house, the two attacked her. “One of them grabbed me forcefully and covered my mouth with his hand. He took me outside to the yard, pulled out a knife and held it close to my neck. It was clear he was signaling that he would use it if I screamed. The other stayed inside and began searching for money and valuables. They kept asking me, ‘Where’s the money?’”
After some time, Ner David asked the intruder holding her to let her go back inside because of the cold. “He picked me up, carried me to the couch and told me to keep my legs up,” she said. “He started telling me I was sexy and asked how old I was, and that’s when I began to fear he was going to rape me and then kill me. I truly believed it would end very badly.”
She said he then asked again where the money was. “I told him I didn’t have any, but he noticed my wedding ring. It was hard to take it off, and I was afraid he would cut off my finger with the knife, but in the end I managed to remove it.”
Ner David added that while she was taking off the ring, the second intruder removed his mask and smoked a cigarette in the living room. “I just wanted them to leave. I told them I would give them the ring and that they had to swear on their mother’s life and by Allah that they would leave quietly. Once they swore, I gave them the ring, and only then did they leave the house.”
After they fled, she discovered they had stolen cash and jewelry. “They took a phone, money, a wallet, cash from the children’s room, and about an hour later, I saw charges on my credit card at gas stations in northern Israel. My cellphone was already in the West Bank.”
Describing the experience as a “nightmare,” Ner David said her daughter slept through the incident and did not realize what was happening. “Thank God they didn’t kill me or harm my child,” she said.
Ner David later filed a complaint with the Shefar’am police, and the kibbutz’s security coordinator opened an investigation.
Shlomit Shichor-Reichman, head of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council, said in a statement: “A serious incident occurred early this morning in Hanaton — burglars entered a private home and attacked the homeowner. Shefar’am police forces arrived quickly. We view this case with great severity, are monitoring the investigation and are using all available means to protect the safety of residents. Only by a miracle was there no loss of life. This is a red line that has been crossed and requires law enforcement, the police and the State Attorney’s Office to devote full resources to catching the perpetrators.”