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Israeli's Oct.7 Hero: The Whole True Story

Oz Davidian saved over 120 mostly young people the day of the terrorist attacks on Israel. This humble man will discuss how he put his life on the line for the first time in the U.S. on Yom Kippur at the Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts.


By Alex Ben Block

Israel’s Unlikely Hero Oz Davidian


When Hamas terrorists attacked Israeli’s southern coast in October 2023, Oz Davidian left his family farm to save more than 120 people, at great risk to his own life. His story is scary and a warning it can happen elsewhere.


A documentary is coming out soon on his experience, "Oz's List." Here is a trailer.



The True Story


At about 6:20 a.m. on Saturday, October 7, 2023 – the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah – Oz Davidian was abruptly awoken by the shrieking sound of emergency sirens outside his home in rural Moshav Maslul, in  Southern Israel. That penetrating sound typically meant missiles were crossing the border from Gaza.


The stocky 53-year-old lawyer, Army reservist and official liaison with the Bedouin community immediately woke his wife and four young daughters.. After gathering food and water, he escorted them to a safe room, a reinforced shelter where Oz locked the door behind him.


Oz then climbed onto his roof to get a better view. He was used to missile attacks but knew immediately this was different. The rate of fire and scope of activity signaled an unusual attack – unlike anything he had seen previously. The sky was full of flashes as Israel intercepted Hamas rockets  and responded by firing targeted missiles into Hamas command centers hidden in civilian areas.


Back in the safe room, he found a message from his sister, who lived on a farm a few miles away in Re’im that Oz had once owned with his late father, raising sheep in the area. That was how he had knowledge of the back roads.

He spoke to his sister on a secure WhatsApp line. She told him that panicked young people, mostly in their 20s, were racing around the area. His sister’s husband, who had been out since 5 a.m. feeding livestock,  had told her something terrible had happened. Oz immediately said, “I’m coming to help.”


Despite having been an Israeli soldier, and a policeman for over a dozen years before getting his law degree, Oz was very private and never political. He always avoided the spotlight. From that day on, however, his life - and that of the state of Israel - was changed by the most murderous attack on Jews since Hitler’s holocaust.


Dozens of police, farmers and others had rushed to help the thousands of civilians being randomly killed;  but most died trying. Only Oz and a few others survived that day of hell.


He drove his government-issued Mitsubishi 4 by 4 pick-up truck about ten miles each way to rescue Jewish survivors and rush them to safety, for more than 15 trips. He only quit when it got dark and there weren’t any more tips of victims needing help.





His first stop that morning was his sister’s farm. ”I saw so many strangers,” he recalled. “I asked where they had come from and what had gone on. They told me, ‘There was a party and terrorists shot from every direction. Lots of people are dead or wounded.’”


“I knew it was up to me,” said Oz. “Because you can’t reach the place unless you know the area. The gaps in fences, the walls. I knew how to get around few others would know”


He raced along back roads to the Kibbutz Re’im near the site of the Super Nova Music Sukkot Festival, which had hosted about 3,000 people, almost all between 20 and 40.


He found survivors hiding in bushes, up trees and behind rocks. He filled his front seats and then put the rest in the back of the truck. He kept his only weapons, an Uzi loaded with a sparse  15 rounds, at his side.

He drove them back to safety often coming under fire. “Each time that I drove into the area of the party, terrorists popped up, shot at me, and lay back down,” said Oz.





He returned again and again. Each time he took a selfie with all the “kids” so he would have a record in case some or all were killed. As he raced the ten miles back to safety the “kids” passed around Oz’s cell phone, calling parents to assure them they were safe.

Soon his phone number was passed around. He started receiving locations where people were hiding, where he could pick them up. Often when he arrived, others jumped out and climbed aboard as well.

 

A few times he saw local police taking on the terrorists and trying to save people. He saw a few other civilians as well. Later he learned he was one of the few who survived.

 

At one point Oz saw an Israeli police vehicle pulled over and two men in uniforms standing over two victims. He thought it must be medics trying to help them. He shouted out to them in Hebrew but they answered in Arabic. He recognized the Gazan accents and knew who they were, and they knew who he was. They had shot the police car with a rocket and beheaded an officer. They were rifling through his pockets for money.

 

Oz hit the gas and sped away, their machine guns spraying bullets over and past him, but by a miracle not hitting him.

 

By the afternoon there were fewer to rescue. At one point he had a call to come to a location but when he got there didn’t find anyone alive. He entered a damaged building looking for survivors but instead found stacks of bodies. He thought he saw some movement so he carefully lifted the body of beautiful young woman and placed her down gently. Under her was a corpse that was booby trapped. The terrorist had placed a live grenade hoping it would explode when someone came to clear the place out. It didn’t go off and he slowly backed out and with tears in his eyes for the young woman.

 

He never saw Israeli army soldiers. He later learned they were stuck up the road fighting pitched battles with terrorists who  had spread out over about 500 locations along the coast. The IDF had aircraft but feared shooting because it might hit victims or hostages.

 

Later, Oz overheard an Israeli police commander on his government radio who said “It could have been even more horrific if they were let into the cities.”

 

Soldiers, police, farmers, local citizens all responded and fought  off the terrorists. “They came and prevented an even more tragic event from what happened,” said Oz. “If they didn't do that, half an hour later, terrorists would've been in Tel Aviv and other cities, and that would've been even worse.”

.

 “With everything that happened, Israel is a country of heroes,” said Oz. “There were so many individuals who, when they heard what was going on, no matter where they were, got into their cars and drove. There were two people, for example, two brothers - one with a gun, one with a knife. They fought bravely. Both of them died. Another set of brothers did the same, one survived, one died.”

 

“It's because Israel is so small,” added Oz, “everybody knows everybody. There's one heart to Israel, even with everything that's going on.”

 

After this horror Oz returned to the law, to his job as liaison between the Israeli government and the Bedouins, and to raising his four daughters with his beloved wife.

 

In the two weeks immediately after the attacks he was flooded with media requests, and contacted by many government leaders who praised him. He even had a 40-minute audience with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, among others.



The photo above was taken off the Zoom call where Oz told his story for the first time in nearly a year to Alex Ben Block. Oz spoke Hebrew and was translated Sharon Farber, the musical director of the Temple of the Arts

 

Then it was too much. He just stopped talking to the press. He has cooperated with a documentary called, “Oz’s List: A True Story of Remarkable Heroism on October 7th” - much of it based on video footage from his vehicle.

 

Oz did not install the cameras. Because he had a government vehicle, they were in place when he got behind the wheel, with cameras in front, behind and inside the cab.

 

That extraordinary documentary will be  shown in Israel on Oct.7, and Oz will be honored. It will  have it’s U.S. premiere  in the Steve Tisch Cinema Center of the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills, October 21st. Oz will also speak during Yom Kippur services at the Temple of the Arts in Beverly Hills on October 10.  

 

Oz has kept in touch with most of those he rescued with daily group discussions over WhatsApp. He said they call him a familial term for “father,” and share their lives with him and thank him again and again. Some were traumatized and left the country.

 

Oz said he is so proud of “these kids who are going to be the next generation of Israeli leaders. To see how they conducted  themselves after this horrible day. How smart they were to hide in specific places and how they would communicate with him.”

 

He regularly goes into the countryside where the atrocity took place, much of it now deserted, to feed and care for livestock, dogs, cats and other animals left deserted.

 

Oz remains an optimist but has an ominous warning: “People don't realize that what happened to Israel is going to happen to all those people who are now protesting. It’s just a matter of maybe five, ten, twenty years. We in Israel are fighting for our survival, and they are just blind. They don't see what's going on. But it's just a matter of time until  they get to everyone. Doesn't matter if you're a Jew or not.”



To see the trailer use the link near the top of this article.

 

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