Chicago-area men in Israel to fight in Hamas war

CHICAGO - There are local ties to the war now playing out in Israel.

While Israeli troops are gathering and preparing for combat at the Gaza border, Chicago-born young men are joining them. FOX 32 talked to a man in the Israeli military reserves who was in there during the attacks and the mother of another soldier who just left.

"I’m a squad commander and machine gunner," said 28-year-old Tomer Danino.

Danino was born in the Chicago area. His parents are from southern Israel. Back in 2016, following in his father's footsteps, he decided to join the Israeli military.

"So basically, any obstacle that is in our way, whether that be – we need to build a bridge, whether we need to demolish a house, either bulldoze it or explosives, that would be me. That would be our job," he said.

Now in the reserves, he got the call to be on standby and flew to Israel last weekend.

"Everyone I know has someone who was kidnapped or killed or injured somehow. I even have some people who are in my unit with me who were at the festival when it was attacked and managed to escape," he said. "I’ve seen pictures of my dad's childhood home with terrorists outside of it."

He said it's very sad, but that he is ready.

"On one hand, everyone is very heartbroken about what’s going on and dreading what's coming. But at the same time, there's an optimism. We want to end this as quickly as possible and not have to live in fear," Danino said.

Like him, 21-year-old Andrew Silberman was born and raised in Illinois, in Buffalo Grove to be exact.

In 2021, Drew applied and enlisted in the Israeli army under what's called the "Lone Soldier" program for non-citizens who volunteer to serve. He was drafted into an elite unit of paratroopers, served and entered the reserves.

He was home visiting in Illinois before he flew back to university, was observing the Jewish holiday, and overheard what happened.

"He did not have any electronics on, however, I did have the television on. He went and turned on his telephone because it's permissible to use electronics to save a life, and then he learned that his partner in the army had been killed in an ambush this morning," said Lenna Silberman, Drew’s mom.

Drew called his commander and made it to Israel on Sunday.

"I'm proud and I’m scared. I think that I’m so honored that my child has decided to put other people's needs above his own and to serve the Jewish people in this capacity. Obviously I’m scared and I’m heartbroken because what happened over the weekend is terror. Jews were killed, but non-Jews were killed. Hamas was indiscriminate in who they attacked, so my heart is breaking," she said.

She says no matter what side you're on, this is hard for everyone.

"I think that it’s really important to know that even the soldiers are struggling about what's going on. This is terror, and when people talk about politics, it shifts the conversation in the direction that it does not need to go today," she said.

"At the end of the day, the civilians on both sides want to live their life. They want to work and feed their families and they want their children to grow up and have better lives than them, and that's what we want to get back to," said Danino.