Breaking the Silence Before and After October 7th

Wednesday, January 24
12 PM ET
Online

Members of the New Israel Fund’s long time grantee and partner Breaking the Silence will be speaking to a North American audience for the first time since October 7th.

Come hear from three Breaking the Silence members about their experiences in Gaza in the past, as reservists now, and about how these IDF veterans- turned- anti-occupation- activists are meeting this impossible moment.

Register here >

Benzion (Benzi) Sanders grew up in the Orthodox community on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. After graduating from a leading Modern Orthodox high school in New York he went to Israel and studied for three years in yeshivot in Beit Shemesh and Maale Adumim. In 2011 he took on Israeli citizenship and was drafted into the IDF where he served in the Sayeret Nahal special forces unit between the years 2012-2015. After a lengthy training, Benzi spent most of his service stationed in different parts of the West Bank and was also deployed to the northern Gaza Strip during the 2014 war. Following his service, he studied Philosophy and Middle Eastern Studies at Bar Ilan University and was an active member of the Meretz party.

Nadav Weiman was born and raised in Tel Aviv. During his army service, he served in a sniper’s team in the special forces of the Nahal brigade, where he attained the rank of staff sergeant. He studied Democratic Education at Seminar Hakibbutzim College in Tel Aviv. He worked as a high school history and literature teacher and was the legal guardian and counselor for a home for underprivileged teens in Tel Aviv. Nadav first joined Breaking the Silence as a Testifier-Activist in 2012 and later served as the coordinator of the Testifier-Activist program. In 2016 Nadav became Breaking the Silence’s Director of Education and from 2018 to 2020 he served as the organization’s Advocacy Director. Currently Nadav serves as one of the organization’s Educational Training Officer.

Luiz Aberbuj was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil and grew up in the local Jewish community. A graduate of Habonim Dror youth movement. Graduated from a “Training Year for Instructors and Leadership Abroad/ Machon Le’Madrichim”, a program in which he also worked as an instructor. Immigrated to Israel in 2014, then enlisted in the Nachshon Regiment, Kfir Brigade, served between 2014 and 2016, spending most of the service in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon Borders. He is currently studying Political Science at Bar Ilan University, and also worked as an educational coordinator for Israel/South America gap year programs. Nowadays he works as Breaking the Silence’s Jewish Diaspora Educational Coordinator.

About Breaking the Silence: Breaking the Silence takes testimonies from Israeli veterans who fought in the West Bank and Gaza, shedding light on the ugliness of war and occupation. They have taken it upon themselves to expose the public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories. Their work aims to bring an end to the occupation.