Danielle Waldman was only 24 years old. Her last night was filled with what she loved – music and dancing. But when the music stopped in the morning hours of the Supernova festival, it was for a cruel reason.
Danielle and her girlfriend Naom understood that they had to get away. A short video from the frantic minutes after Hamas’ attack began, testifies to a dramatic end to the young lives:
Naom has sat behind the wheel of a car. He asks if he should give it proper gas. He assures the others in the car that he knows how to drive fast.
The 24-year-old sits in the back seat with two other friends of theirs. They try to stay calm. Trying to convince each other that everything will be fine.
The car comes driving at high speed. Someone briefly asks if they should turn right or left.
Then it goes black.
– Loved to dance
– She was a wonderful girl. She loved to dance. She loved animals. She loved people. She had many, many friends, says Eyal with a loving and calm voice.
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BBC meets Danielle’s father in his offices in Tel Aviv.
Now Eyal is left with a deep sadness. After the mobile video was finished, it did not take many minutes before a violent rain of bullets hit the car in which Danielle was sitting. The daughter and her boyfriend were two of 360 Israeli victims from the Supernova music festival on 7 October.
Over 1,200 lost their lives in Hamas’s fierce attacks that day. Since then, Israel has declared war and killed over 18,000 people in Gaza.
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When Eyal learned that his daughter was missing, he was in Indonesia. He went back to Israel hoping to find Danielle alive. After searching through what he describes as a war zone, he finally found the car.
Blood and bullet holes. The only thing Eyal could hope for was that Danielle had managed to escape or that she had been taken hostage.
Two days later she was found. Death.
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Eyal still hopes for peace. Photo: Eyal Waldman / Facebook
– Must stop killing each other
Eyal Waldman works in technology and founded the chip company Mellanox. In 2009, he sold the company for $6.8 billion.
In the interview with the BBC, Eyal’s voice cracks. Nevertheless, he is clear in his speech. The Palestinians need their own state, and quickly.
– We need to change the management on both sides. Then I hope that we can manage to create peace and build two states for our people in two to four years, and that we can live together next to each other, he says.
At the same time, Eyal is clear that those responsible for the attack on 7 October must be eliminated. The former special soldier in the Israeli army believes that they know exactly who attacked through videos and telephones.
Waldman has previously opened a design center for bridges in Gaza, and donated large sums to hospitals there. In addition, he has worked to create jobs both in Gaza and in the West Bank. He doesn’t regret that at all.
– I think we must do everything we can to make this the best place to live. We need to stop killing each other and find a way to live together. I have worked for two and a half decades for peace.
2023-12-12 15:59:57
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