Armed with Hope and Resolve, Kibbutz Dafna Couple Returns to Community in Northern Israel War Zone

KIBBUTZ DAFNA, Israel – For now, some of the 60,000 residents of northern Israel are returning to their homes they evacuated when the Iranian-backed Hezbollah attacked on the day after the October 7th Hamas massacre in 2023.

It's staying quiet in the north despite concerns that the current ceasefire with Lebanon could break down.

CBN News recently visited one couple in the border community of Dafna to hear how the war has changed their lives.

Although Barry and Orit Praag live in the north, they quickly felt the impact of the October 7th invasion because her beloved nephew, who was a soldier, died fighting Hamas.

Born and raised here, Orit told us she never felt so insecure.

"Because we have started hearing these stories from the Gaza Otef (Gaza envelope communities), I told Barry I want to go. So that evening, on the eighth (of October), which was Sunday, we packed a small trolley and we went to parents of my daughter-in-law."

Kibbutz Dafna was founded in 1939, nearly ten years before the State of Israel, and despite all of Israel's wars, it was never fully evacuated until after the October 7th war began.

Barry Praag recalled, "The anxiety, or fear if you like, of what happened in the Gaza Strip, permeated all the way up here and people thought that the same thing was going to happen from Lebanon, from the Hezbollah."

The Praags said they became like wandering Jews, living out of their suitcases. 

Orit told us, "We tried to see how we (could) find the good or the strength in the situation."

"We became part of the surreal situation," Barry added, "And we gradually adapted, as everybody else did, to this surreal situation, which we, the people in the north and the south (of Israel), became accustomed to. And it's awful to think that we did become accustomed to – I can only describe it as crazy."

***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news.*** 

Soon after the war began, CBN News had visited the Praag's kibbutz, an agricultural community and tourist destination.

At the time, Community Manager Arik Yaacobi explained how the kibbutz maintained an "emergency routine," with just a few people milking cows and taking care of the animals. The hotel and camping area were closed, and Hezbollah threats temporarily kept them out of their avocado orchards.

Standing in one place with Lebanon in full view, Barry stated, "During some of the fighting in Lebanon, in this place in here, there were a lot of casualties amongst our soldiers." 

This same area of the kibbutz, which is the newest area, suffered the most rocket damage. Barry hopes the residents here will all return. 

Pointing out one residence, he said, "So this house was damaged by a rocket that landed right in front of it. And the other houses around it were also damaged by shrapnel. (It) broke windows, destroyed all sorts of stuff inside. Just now we're getting back, starting to get back to normal."

The Praags returned last summer in the midst of the fighting.

Orit remarked, "We see our home as here, and coming back to Dafna – to our home is sort of a statement, a declaration – A, to the government, to the Israeli government, (and ) B, to our friends and brothers and sisters in Dafna. We do trust the army. We saw that they were very good, they protected us very well."

Orit's Lithuanian parents helped start the kibbutz and she felt childlike excitement coming back home.

"When we came in June, what Barry said about the surreal feelings, going in (knowing) that my Dafna was (among the most prosperous of all the kibbutzim) until the 6th of October (2023) was very weird."

Barry remembered, "The surreal part is that we were here in 2006 (during the Second Lebanon War). We stayed here. No one left. Oh, people left, but there was no evacuation. And if you remember the Lebanese war, 2006, there were lots of bombs and a lot artillery and whatever. And there was no Iron Dome, there was nothing like that."

This time, they saw a major difference.

"Now this time there was artillery, and it was all around us. It was firing every so often, you never knew when," he stated.

Praag added, "So all of a sudden you hear boom, boom. And at night you'd also hear all of a sudden boom, you know, it was like from here to there. But after a while we didn't wake up. But it's terrible to get used to something like that, that we don't want to be used to that, we want peace and quiet."

About 250 members have now returned. Volunteers are cleaning, painting, and preparing for more residents to come home.

Agriculture is flourishing with other industries operating as they did throughout the war.

One kindergarten has reopened and in the coming months, they expect students to return to the high school.

Orit is optimistic, saying, it's amazing how humans can leave the past and move forward.

She related, "What we went through in those months, it was like we were sitting there next to cannon bombs all day, and I was afraid to walk in a kibbutz because something would fall on me, and I forgot about it. And I see the future as a place to live here, and to go back to (the) prosperity, that Dafna used to have."

While Barry believes there are tough times ahead with the Israeli economy, he has hope.

He observed, "They founded this kibbutz in '39, and they built it from nothing, and it was all a swamp and God knows what here. So I just feel that we're going to carry on, and our kids will carry on, and we've got to be optimistic and hope for the best."