Steve Conover: Thank you so much for joining us for The Friends of Israel Today. I'm Steve Conover. With me is Chris Katulka. I want to encourage you to take note of our web address, foiradio.org. You can listen to nearly nine years worth of content that we have on the site featuring Chris Katulka's teaching and insightful interviews with a host of great guests. Again, that's foiradio.org.

Chris Katulka: Steve, I'm glad that you brought up a host of great guests because we have another guest today actually. Ronit Glaser, an Israeli mother of two girls who are 12 and 9. She actually works as a dispatcher for Magen David Adom. Ronit was at the central nervous system of Israeli dispatch from Magen David Adom in Jerusalem on October 7th, and she's here to tell her story of that day as she was hearing calls come in from Israeli victims of the Hamas attack. An amazing interview of heroism and Israeli compassion during this very difficult time.

Steve Conover: We can't wait to bring Ronit on. But first in the news, Senator Chuck Schumer, who is the highest ranking Jewish American in the US government, upended longstanding US policy during a Senate speech when he encouraged Israel to hold new elections and called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a major obstacle to peace.

Chris Katulka: Well, Steve, here's my take. Schumer's speech is what you call foreign election interference. Israel is a vibrant democracy with very secure elections. The Israeli people voted for Netanyahu and his government. And if they want him out and a change of guard, the Israeli people can voice their opinion at the ballot box. If Schumer wants any regime change, he should be directing his energy toward Hamas, not Israel.

Chris Katulka: Ronit, so great to have you on The Friends of Israel Today radio program.

Ronit Glaser: Thank you. I'm so honored to be here.

Chris Katulka: Ronit, you and I, we actually saw each other just a few weeks ago at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, NRB. You were there representing Magen David Adom. First of all, could you share really quickly for our listeners. What is Magen David Adom?

Ronit Glaser: I'd be happy to. Magen David Adom is Israel's National Emergency Medical Service. So we do all of the pre-hospital care for the state of Israel, including ambulance services, blood services. There's also a human milk bank giving mother's milk to babies who need milk. We're also the Israeli Red Cross Society. And we do training throughout the country for our personnel and also for the public.

Chris Katulka: That's amazing. So Magen David Adom really is kind of a central nervous system for emergency care for Israeli people. And that's why it makes it very important that we're talking with you, Ronit, because on October 7th you were a part of a dispatcher for Magen David Adom. And so, can you tell us about the moment when you woke up on October 7th? There you are, and tell us about the initial reactions of what was going on.

Ronit Glaser: I'd be happy to. On October 7th, I actually woke up at home with my two daughters, 12 and 9 years old. I woke up from a phone call from a friend of mine a bit before 8:00 AM saying, "How are you still asleep? The country's on fire." And I had no idea what he was talking about. But I was very, very lucky that he called me, because a few minutes later, there was a red alert siren in Jerusalem. So I woke up with my daughters, took them to our kind of safe room at home. And while they're both crying, I get a WhatsApp message from my boss from the Jerusalem dispatch center saying, "Everyone come in now."

Without thinking twice, I called her, I said, "I'm coming with my daughters. Is that okay?" She said, "Yes, just come." So we got into the car. And what is usually a 10-minute drive from my house to the Jerusalem station, we had to stop three times on the side of the road because of red alert sirens, my girls lying face down, and me lying on top of them covering their heads, and my 9-year-old saying, "But Mom." And I just said, "As long as you're safe, I know that I'll be okay." When we got to the Jerusalem station, I am very happy to say that our dispatch center is in a bomb shelter, so I knew that physically my daughters would be safe.

As I walk into the dispatch center, I see complete and utter chaos. Someone walks by me and says, "Be prepared. It's nothing you've ever dealt with before." And I thought to myself, "I've dealt with everything. I've been here since '95 working in the dispatch since 2001. I've dealt with mass casualty attacks. I've dealt with family members, friends in every situation possible. Okay, whatever." Little did I know. I saw that there were a lot of people manning the calls, and no matter how many people were there, there was still more calls coming in from all over the country. And as soon as I answered the phone, I started trying to put pieces together to understand what's going on.

Chris Katulka: So you had to jump right in. I mean, you had very little information coming in. You heard that your country was on fire. You woke up to this. Your daughters are with you. And here you are. I'm sure you put your headset on, and calls start coming in almost immediately. Could you share about some of those experiences that you had, some of those phone calls that you had?

Ronit Glaser: Yeah, definitely. One of the first calls I answered was from a paramedic of theirs, Amit. She said, "Hi, Ronit. It's Amit, the paramedic from Be'eri. When will you be here?" And I had no clue what she was talking about. She was seriously the second or third call I answered. One of them was about a regular someone who called an ambulance. And then, I answered her. And I asked her, "How about if you tell me what's going on there?" While I checked on the computer to see what we had so far.

And she said, "I'm still in the dental clinic. I have gunshot victims here. A couple are dead, another one is seriously injured, another few are moderate, some mild. And when will you be here?" I was still trying to get a hold of everything, so I asked her to look out the window, to tell me what she sees. And she said, "I see terrorists and there's a lot of shooting." And I asked her if she sees any civilians. She said, "Yeah, but they're all lying dead. So when will you be here?" And at that moment I didn't know what to answer.

Chris Katulka: Is she saying it in that kind of manner too, just politely asking?

Ronit Glaser: She was very, very polite, and very positive, and very to the point the whole time. It was amazing. And I didn't know what to answer her, so I turned to my supervisor, I asked her, "What should I do? I have a paramedic on the line in Be'eri. She has casualties. What do I tell her? When will we be there?" And there was silence on the line for a second. And then, I turned back to her, and my voice had completely changed, I said, "Amit, I am so sorry. I can tell it to you as it is because one of ours, I do not know when we'll be there. We're trying our hardest, but you're in the middle of a war zone, and no one's managing to get you so far. But continue doing what you're doing, you're doing a great job. We'll get there as soon as we can." And her voice changed also, and she said, "I understand. Thank you." And she hung up the call.

And that was the first call I got from her. A few hours later, I got a second call from her. Again, going the same way, "Hi, it's Amit from Be'eri. When will you be here?" And me asking about her victims. She was telling me that they all deteriorated. And In the middle of her asking the second, "When will you be here?" A man behind her started chatting, one of her patients, "I'm leaving. I can't stay here anymore. We're not safe. I need to find somewhere safer." And she said to me, "Excuse me," and turned to him, and very calmly said to him and assertively, she said, "You are not going anywhere. We have been safe here together until now. We don't know what will happen to you if you leave. You stay here with me, and we'll do everything we can to stay safe." And then, she turned back to me and she said, "Sorry, so what were you saying? When will you be here?"

Chris Katulka: My goodness.

Ronit Glaser: Exactly.

Chris Katulka: Ronit, were they in a safe room at that point or were they just in a building?

Ronit Glaser: They were in a building. They were in a clinic, a dental clinic in the middle of the kibbutz. Turns out that it was an area that the terrorists were trying to take over because there's a very big school across the street from there, which is a safe building. And they were planning on making that their headquarters with the clinic part of their headquarters. They were trying to take over this building for seven hours until they managed to.

But I told Amit at that moment, my facade of the very robotic dispatcher completely broke, and I said, "Amit, you're amazing. And you're absolutely right. We don't know what will happen if anyone leaves. You've been safe until then together, and you stay there together." And she said, "Okay, so when will you be here?" And I told her again, "I'm sorry, I don't know. We're trying our hardest. Continue doing what you're doing." And again she answered, "I understand. Thank you."

Now, Amit's story I know how it ended. Seven hours later, the two men who were manning the entrance to the clinic from the team of the kibbutz ran out of ammunition, and the terrorists came in, and they shot Amit in the leg first. We know that because she tied a tourniquet to her leg, and continued treating patients. And then, they shot her in the head. And she was found two days later because they also booby trapped the clinic, so they couldn't go into the clinic for two days until it was cleared. And she was found with her medical gloves still on her hands.

Chris Katulka: She was serving to the end.

Ronit Glaser: She was serving to the very last second. She's 22 years old. And she is a woman who completely dedicated her life to treating patients and to caring for others, and she did it until the very last second.

Chris Katulka: What was going on? Your daughters are around you as well. They're there.

Ronit Glaser: Yes, my daughters are there.

Chris Katulka: How are you processing what was going on knowing what was going on down in Southern Israel, and there you are in the Jerusalem dispatch with your daughters around you? How are you processing as these calls are coming in?

Ronit Glaser: I'm trying my hardest to stay as calm and professional as possible, trying to connect the dots in some way to figure out what's really going on, but also not really wanting to figure out what's really going on because it's a bit too scary. I had moments of complete anger and frustration. I felt helpless and very inefficient all day long. I couldn't get my job done. My job is to answer the call, to help the patients while the ambulance is on its way, and for the ambulance to be on its way for the ambulance to get to the patients. And besides our people who are already in there, because we have people throughout the country who live in the different cities where the terrorists hit, we couldn't actually go into them.

So I was very frustrated, and felt very helpless, and very worried about my daughters. And sooner or later, I also understood that they're getting the whole picture of everything that's going on because whenever there was a red alert siren, everyone in the station, including the people who came to donate blood, came down to the same kitchen of the dispatch center where they were, and they completely understood that there's probably a war beginning. And when I finally came out to speak to them, my 9-year-old was watching some show on the iPad, but my 12-year-old was very concentrated on crocheting, and I asked her, "How are you doing?" And she said, "I'm okay."

As soon as I caught her eye, she started sobbing asking me, "Is it true everything that I heard? Are there terrorists everywhere? Is there shooting everywhere? Are there rockets hitting everywhere?" And she just kept on going and going. And I just hugged her and I told her that she's absolutely right. And I'm sorry, but she knows I'll never lie to her. Everything that she heard is absolutely true, and it's scary, and it's frustrating. And it makes us so sad when every negative feeling that she's feeling is absolutely right. I just asked her to remember one thing that I, as her mother, will do everything in my ability to keep her and her sister safe just like I brought them to this bomb shelter. And my sweet daughter gave me a kiss on the cheek, said, "I know mommy. I love you. Now, go back to work."

Chris Katulka: She had a head on her shoulders enough to understand the severity of the situation and the role that you were playing in it at Magen David Adom in Jerusalem. And if you're just tuning in, we're speaking Ronit Glaser. Ronit lives in Israel. She's there right now. She serves with Magen David Adom. She was at the central nervous system, as I like to say, when October 7th hit.

And she's been sharing with us stories about taking the phone calls and the experience that she lived through. And we're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, we're going to talk more about what was happening on October 7th, and really where Israel is today. And all of that will wrap us up with understanding more about how you can get involved with Magen David Adom, so stick around.

Steve Conover: It's been so enlightening to hear from Ronit Glaser, and we have more with Ronit after the break. We want to take a moment now to give you an opportunity to stand with Israel financially. You can respond to the most urgent needs in Israel when you visit foi.org/standwithisrael.

Chris Katulka: If you want to be able to confidently give to Israel financially, I encourage you to go to foi.org/standwithisrael. These gifts are going to the Jewish people to help them during their most darkest time in the state of Israel's history. Your gift not only goes to help Magen David Adom, but it also goes to Operation Lifeshield, which is helping build bomb shelters in the sensitive areas along the Gaza border and in the North along Lebanon. It also helps other programs that are helping with gospel ministry. That's why we're called The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, and we stand with Israel. So I want to encourage you once again to go to foi.org/standwithisrael.

Steve Conover: That's right. You can respond to the most urgent needs in Israel when you visit foi.org/standwithisrael.

Chris Katulka: Welcome back, everybody. We are speaking with Ronit Glaser, who is with Magen David Adom. Ronit, one thing that I love about Magen David Adom is that you have such an amazing volunteer network of people who have a heart to serve others. Maybe you could share about that for a moment, because I think it's one of the most unique systems in the world on helping save people's lives, even from a volunteer basis as well.

Ronit Glaser: I'd be happy to. 90% of our personnel in Magen David Adom are volunteers. We have over 30,000 volunteers and around 3,300 employees. So most of them are volunteers from every sector, every religion, anywhere throughout the country. And it's something that, first of all, brings us all together as Magen David Adom people, and also connects us to all the different communities, that way we can be part of every single community in the country.

And I really do understand, because I went through this also, I started volunteering when I was 15. And I kind of just got the bug, the bug of helping other people. And people always say saving lives, and I do believe that saving lives is very important. I also understand that I can't save every life. So Magen David Adom, we help every life. We help whoever we can in any way possible. We can't save them all, but we can help them all.

Chris Katulka: You know, Ronit, the thing that I love is that you also... Typical Israelis, you use technology to help each other out. You're not only inventing it, but you're using it. And I love hearing stories of how there might be a lawyer who's also a medic, and he'll have a phone. And someone might be injured near him, and they'll get a buzz. If anybody can help this injured person, please go there now. And this lawyer will, hey, he'll leave his office, go down, and assist the best that he possibly can, but it's a network of volunteers.

I just love that. And I really think it's a different way of thinking about how we can serve those around us. And that's happening right in Israel with Magen David Adom. And you were there, Ronit, on October 7th as phone calls are coming in as Hamas planned an attack against Israel, a massacre. When did you finally realize as these phone calls are coming in of the severity of the attack? It wasn't just one terrorist attack. It was a planned attack against Israel. When did you finally realize that?

Ronit Glaser: It took me a few hours to allow myself to connect the dots and see how serious it is. I think that the moment, my aha moment, was when I saw on the TV that they said 22 or 24 people were killed. And I knew that we were already in the hundreds at least, if not more. And as soon as that realization came to me, I understood that this is way further than anything that we've ever dealt with before.

Chris Katulka: Ronit, do you have another story that you want to share with our listeners about a phone call that you might've gotten on October 7th?

Ronit Glaser: Sure. I mean, I have to say I was there for 13 hours that day, and I remember only 10 calls. My subconscious is keeping me safe enough not to deal with the rest of them. But there are a few calls that are very deeply engraved inside me. There was a call that I got actually from a woman in Netanya saying that she's next to her sister, and her brother-in-law is hiding somewhere after he ran away from the Nova Music Festival, and he's hiding behind some trees somewhere. And they just want for me to call him because no one's been in touch with him.

And I call this man. Actually as I call him, my 9-year-old daughter comes into the dispatch center to get a hug from me, and she waits for me to finish the call. And I asked him what's going on? And he's whispering and saying, "I hear shooting all around, and there is only Arabic, and I'm injured." I said, "Okay, where are you injured? I can help you." He said, "Somewhere in my legs, but I can't look at it. I'm just looking straight forward. I can't look at my injury."

I said, "Well, if you can't look at it, I want for you to just look straightforward. I want for you to think about your wife, think about your unborn child, how much you love them both, and how you'll do everything in your ability to stay safe and strong, so you can see them again." And this grown man burst into tears and faded away. And I'm pretty sure that that was the moment that he died. And then, I turned to my daughter and she said, "Mommy, you wrote twice that he's about to faint." Which was her way of saying, "I understand what's going on. Give me a hug and I'll get out of here," sort of thing.

Chris Katulka: Yes. How were you able to offer words of comfort, especially for the man that you had spoken to on the phone or the woman that was in the clinic that we had talked about in the previous segment? How'd you find the strength to offer words of comfort and hope to those who were on the verge of death?

Ronit Glaser: It was absolute instinct. I mean, we don't have the training for that. Our training is medical first aid. We try to be as empathetic as possible to whoever calls, but never on this level. I found myself just trying to think of what I can say to be there for the people, for this man, and for a woman who called me saying, "My brother is lying dead in the street outside, and I'm locked in my safe room. When will you come to pick him up?" And all I could say to her is, "I'm happy that you're safe. Stay inside. Don't go out to him. We'll be there as soon as we can."

Or to a woman who's at home with her husband who was shot in the back, and he's okay. "We're just waiting for you. We want for you to know that we're waiting for you." And all I could say to her was, "I'm happy that you're okay. If you need us, we're here for you." Letting them know that we'll be there for them. Even if we physically haven't arrived yet, we're there on the phones for them however many times they need us, and we will try to support them, help them in treating wounds, but also help them emotionally by being there, by being someone who hears them, who knows that they're there, and that they're waiting for us.

Chris Katulka: Can I change gears really quick in the remaining time that we have? As I mentioned in the last segment, when we met each other face to face at the National Religious Broadcasters, where you had an opportunity as a Jewish woman from Israel to interact with Christians who love and support Israel and the Jewish people, what did that do for you being there and to be able to represent Magen David Adom there?

Ronit Glaser: I was so honored that I could be there and that I could represent Magen David Adom. And even more than that, I was so touched and so moved by the support, and I'm not talking about money. I know that Magen David Adom does need a lot of help with funds also because we're not funded by the government. That's a complete another story. But the support, and I just kept on saying, "I feel like I'm getting a huge hug here."

A nonstop huge hug from all of these people who never met me before, but love what I represent and also love me, just for the fact that I do everything in my ability to help, in my case, Israelis. But I mean, to help people. And I just felt that everyone there had such open hearts, and were so caring, and were so amazing. I tell everyone here who I see also at work, "You don't know how many people love us and support us."

Chris Katulka: That's probably something going through the hearts and minds of many Israelis right now is that they probably feel alone when they hear politicians speaking around the world. Some of them being very blatant about being anti-Israel. When you hear those things, I'm sure the common Israeli is thinking, "Who likes us out there?" And you're able to come back with a message of hope that there are Christians in America who love Israel and the Jewish people.

Ronit Glaser: Exactly. And it definitely spills new light on, not only Magen David Adom people, also Israelis. I mean, people who I meet in different places who feel so hopeless. You guys don't know. We hear what's on the news, but the real people out there are amazing.

Chris Katulka: That's awesome. Ronit, how can people connect with Magen David Adom? How can they connect with the work that's going on? Because October 7th happened, but that doesn't mean your job ended on October 7th. The story didn't just happen on October 7th. You've been serving with Magen David Adom for a very long time. How can people connect with the organization?

Ronit Glaser: Yeah. October 7th is definitely not the end of it. And we're also preparing for whatever will come from the northern border. Definitely, everyone feels that it's coming soon and soon and soon, which is kind of nerve-wracking, but whatever. The best way to connect with Magen David Adom is our website, which is savinglivesinisrael, all in one word, .org.

Chris Katulka: Savinglivesinisrael.org. Our listeners can also go to foiradio.org because The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry helps to provide financial support for Magen David Adom on an annual basis. And so, if you'd like to give through The Friends of Israel as well, you can do that by going to foiradio.org, and we'll make sure that your donations go to Magen David Adom.

Ronit, thank you so very much for taking the time to be with us, especially because I know your daughters are nearby and sneaking away to do this interview. We so value you and thanks for being a part of The Friends of Israel Today.

Ronit Glaser: Thank you so much, Chris. It was an honor.

Steve Conover: Thanks for joining us for today's episode of The Friends of Israel today. And thank you to Ronit Glaser for being our guest. And a reminder that you can respond to the most urgent needs in Israel when you visit foi.org/standwithisrael.

Chris Katulka: Steve, next week we're going to be focusing on Resurrection Sunday. We're going to be looking, as Easter approaches, we're going to spend time looking at the hope that Jesus Christ brings because of His resurrection. It wasn't an accident. It was on purpose to validate all of His words and all of His deeds. And now, He sits at the right hand of the Father in power and truth. And so, we are looking forward to being able to study that and worship Christ through His work.

Steve Conover: I can't wait. Our host and teacher is Chris Katulka. Today's program was produced by Tom Gallione, edited by Jeremy Strong, who also composed and performs our theme music. And I'm Steve Conover, executive producer. Our mailing address is FOI Radio, PO Box 914, Bellmawr, New Jersey, 08099. Again, that's FOI Radio, PO Box 914, Bellmawr, New Jersey, 08099.

Our web address is foiradio.org. Again, that's foiradio.org. Or you can call our listener line, that number is 888-343-6940. Again, that's 888-343-6940. The Friends of Israel Today is a production of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. We are a worldwide evangelical ministry, proclaiming Biblical truth about Israel and the Messiah, while bringing physical and spiritual comfort to the Jewish people.