Lt. Gov. Matos reflects on trip to Israel

In late January, Rhode Island Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos traveled to Israel with a New England delegation organized by the Consul General of Israel to New England. She said she was glad she was invited. “I really wanted to have this opportunity to go to Israel, learn more about the country, about how things have been affected, especially after Oct. 7,” she said. “There are things that I believe you cannot understand unless you see it by yourself.”

The following is an interview with Matos after her return. It has been lightly edited for publication.

Can you talk about the places you visited, the people you met with, any officials you spoke with?

We started with a visit to the Old City in Jerusalem. It was very moving to be able to go to a place that has so much significance. For me, someone who grew up Catholic, it was very moving to see the site where Jesus was crucified. We went to the Wailing Wall and saw families there celebrating Bar Mitzvahs. We went to Yad Vashem and took part in a wreath-laying ceremony. We met with members of the Knesset from two different political views. I was happy to see diversity in what was presented to us. A diverse set of opinions, but also of background. One of the members – from Ethiopia – originally immigrated to Israel with her family. We went to the Kibbutz (Nir Oz) and that was very emotional. We met with one of the members [of the Kibbutz] whose family members have been taken hostage. The night before, she left with her granddaughter, so she was not there when the attack happened on the 7th but when she came back, she couldn't believe it when she saw. Her mother and father-in-law were taken, and we were able to see some of the homes that were destroyed.

Every house had a bunker, in which people were supposed to be safe if there was an attack. I think nobody ever thought that it was going to be a ground attack. It was very sad to see places which people ran to thinking that they were going to be safe, that ended up being the places where some of them died. Seeing houses and beds burned was very emotional. You could see the houses in which people died – they had a black flag outside. Yellow flags represented the people who were taken hostage. There were houses where you could see a mix. I remember a family, mother and father and three small kids, all of them unfortunately were killed inside and that was tough, to know that children lost their life there and suffered so much. We went to the site of the Nova Music Festival.

We heard from a survivor. She was there with her friends and her friends, unfortunately were killed on that day. She survived because she played dead for many hours while the attackers were still moving around.

It's tough to know that so many young people lost their life when all they wanted to do was to have a good time. The survivor who spoke to us told us how hard it has been for her to move forward after that, and what kept her moving is she has a 10-year-old son.

We went to see the Iron Dome and learn about how they prepare to defend the country in case of an attack. Here in the US, we're not worried about our neighbors attacking us and how we're going to defend ourselves if any missiles are coming our way. It was eye opening for me to see that.

We went to Metula and talked with some of the residents there who were telling us about what it was like to be living with the constant threat that you don't know when Hezbollah was going to attack. We went to the border with Syria, and we met with members of the Druze community – they were so welcoming and so warm. It was just a great experience. We went to the site where the 12 children were killed when the attack happened. We met with the families; they want to tell the story because they feel it’s important for them to honor the memory of their children. They have created a foundation to honor the children who died.

We visited Shiva Hospital and learned about their Center for Digital Innovation. They’re using innovation to be able to find resources for the hospital so they’re not depending just on government funding. They’ve been very creative hiring young people who have been working in technology and having them solve medical issues through technologies, creating companies, and once the companies are sold those resources go back to the hospital. I want to learn more and connect more now through the Rhode Island Israeli collaborative.

After, we visited a disabled veterans center. The center was something that I hope we’re able to establish some connection with Rhode Island. There's so much support for the veterans, disabled, disabled veterans, and I would love to figure out a way how we can connect to our veteran division here in the state of Rhode Island, or some other [veterans] organizations. I'm hoping that we can make some connections with them and learn from them in the future.

We ended by going to Hostage Square. We were able to see the families who keep showing up every day and talking with some of them about how they cope by supporting one another. We were able to see the resilience of the Israeli community. Even though life continued everywhere you went, the presence of pictures of the hostages was everywhere.

What are a couple of your main takeaways from this trip?

It was important for me to see the reality of people in Israel. The understanding and the appreciation of how here in the US we are not worried about when the [next] attack is coming. Getting that perspective, I think it was important, and I wish more people could go there and experience that. Seeing the images from the war on Oct. 7, that was very rough and it’s very real. It’s different when you see the houses destroyed, when you see the pictures of the family, of their items burned. There are some things you cannot describe unless you see it. I believe it was an eye-opening experience for me. I was hesitant to go at first, because of the war, but it was important to go and see it and what everyday living is like in Israel.

What would you like your constituents to understand about the conflict based on what you saw?

I think that understanding the psyche of people in Israel right now because of the trauma of Oct. 7 and understanding that for people in Israel right now, the priority and their energy is all about bringing back the hostages.

Did your views on US aid to the region change at all?

I think I’m more understanding of the Israeli concerns for safety. I believe that we need to continue to talk about peace, but I also know that right now, people in Israel are very concerned after Oct. 7. For me, any conversation that I’m having about peace, we need to understand that Oct. 7 is real, it was traumatic and it damaged a lot of the advancement that had been made toward peace. My hope is that we can get back to getting closer to peace. But if someone is not able to recognize and acknowledge that Oct. 7 is real and the trauma it has caused to the people of Israel it is going to be hard to start to have a conversation about peace.

What stood out to you most about the areas you visited that were impacted by the Oct. 7 attack?

The number of people. Seeing so many black flags in Nir Oz Kibbutz, people who died. The Nova Music Festival site, all the pictures of people, young people who died, it was a big number of people who died within those 24 hours. In Israel it was over 1,000 people, especially during those first 24-48 hours, there were people who didn’t know if their relatives were still alive. Everybody was on edge; I think that is important for us to understand. It was like a collective trauma.

What role do you believe elected officials should play in shaping the discourse around this conflict?

I think that we need to listen, and we need to learn. I encourage any other elected official who has questions and concerns to reach out to the Consul General and seize this opportunity to go and learn. It’s important for us to learn and to see what the reality is for people who live in this every day in Israel and to understand that it’s more complex than what we think. I always have been very clear. I’m not against Palestine, that is not my position. But I believe that Israel has the right to exist. And we need to talk about peace, understanding that looking for the two-state solution should be the way. How do we get there? If you’re thinking that Israel shouldn’t exist, you don’t want peace. So, we’ve got to make sure that both states can exist.

EMILY GAUDREAU (egaudreau@jewishallianceri.org) is the director of community advocacy and engagement at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.