Parents recall fear for Las Vegas native serving in IDF

Since 2019, Las Vegas native Alyse Lichtenfeld has been serving as a foreign relations officer for the Israel Defense Forces in various locations in Israel after graduating from college in the country with a degree in government diplomacy and strategy.

“She knew to live there and to be part of the society and really know what’s going on is basically to join the IDF,” says her mother, Sheryl Lichtenfeld. “She made the decision for her career, for her ideology and the love of Israel, and all that just goes hand in hand with serving.”

Currently, Alyse, 28, lives in a kibbutz on the northern border with Gaza.

It’s normally a pretty quiet spot, generally insulated from the turmoil in the region.

“Stuff doesn’t happen there so much,” notes her father, Mark Lichtenfeld. “Usually, we don’t worry about her in the army.”

All that changed two weeks ago.

On Oct. 6 around 1:30 a.m., the Lichtenfelds, who like to go to sleep with the radio on, were awakened by a news report of attacks in Israel.

“I just happened to hear it in my sleep. I go, ‘What?’” Mark Lichtenfeld recalls. “And even then we did not know the extent of what happened. All it stated was there was a large rocket attack, which, you know, that happens a lot.”

But this time was different.

And their daughter’s life was on the line.

“Around 20 terrorists arrived at the edge of my small kibbutz with the intention to massacre us,” Alyse Lichtenfeld told the RJ via email.

Fortunately, a civilian rapid response team saw the intruders arriving and opened fire, successfully defending the commune.

Still, there were casualties.

“The kibbutz head of security was killed,” she said. “My kibbutz also suffered extensive rocket damage, many cars and apartments were destroyed. All of the residents were told to evacuate the kibbutz and IDF special forces were brought in. Since I am an officer and a resident of the kibbutz, I immediately jumped into action.”

She drove the soldiers — who had arrived by helicopter — around in her Nissan Micra, cooking for them and overseeing logistics until reinforcements arrived.

“All day and night you can hear the Air Force responding, since we are right on the border,” she wrote.

“I am sure my parents are a bit scared,” she added. “Normally, they are not worried, but this episode was extremely dangerous. Some of my friends are among the murdered.”

Her father notes that she has been to two funerals in the past week — one of which was hit by a rocket attack.

“It’s a lot to process,” he says. “It was very close, and if those terrorists would have started from the north, her kibbutz would have been hit first. I mean, that could have been her.”