Pedro Goldfarb says he is more leftist after October 7 attacks
Surviving hours locked inside a safe room while attackers looted his home, former surveyor Pedro Goldfarb emerged from the October 7, 2023, assault on kibbutz Nir Itzchak with a changed political stance, declaring himself more of a leftist than before, pagina12.com.ar reported.
Surviving the Assault at Kibbutz Nir Itzchak
Goldfarb, who graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and emigrated to Israel in 1981, lived near the Gaza border fence opposite Khan Yunis and Rafah. On the morning of the attack, at approximately 6:20 a.m., the standard barrage of occasional rockets escalated rapidly. During the time spent sealed inside the home’s internal shelter, two separate groups entered the residence. The first group consisted of militants who ransacked the property. A second wave of unarmed individuals from nearby areas subsequently entered to loot belongings, including orthopedic shoes. Israeli soldiers ultimately reached the home at 5:30 p.m. to evacuate them. The attack on Nir Itzchak resulted in the deaths of members of the kibbutz security force, alongside injuries and kidnappings among neighboring residents.
Political Evolution and Rejection of Zionism
After arriving in Israel in 1981 through the Hashomer Hatzair movement, Goldfarb grew disillusioned with Zionism as an ideology and aligned with the Communist Party of Israel. In the aftermath of the attack, when asked by students at his school whether his worldview had changed, Goldfarb affirmed his shift further to the left. He contends that Zionism stands as a core obstacle to peace and argues that true progressivism cannot coexist with the ideology. He also criticizes the Israeli leadership's belief in United States support.
Internal Tolerance Narrows as Extremism Rises in Israel
Public discourse within Israel shifted dramatically following the events of October 7, severely narrowing the margins for tolerance. When returned hostages such as Gadi Moses and Yohebet Lifshitz voiced calls for peace or criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s responsibility for the security failures, they faced immediate vitriolic backlash and harassment on social media. Goldfarb points to a parallel rise in unpunished Jewish terrorism, noting that attacks against Palestinian communities in the West Bank mirror the broader erosion of tolerance. Despite these internal fractures and his own post-attack heart attack, Goldfarb maintains that he remains committed to remaining in Israel and fighting for political change, drawing a parallel to his departure from Argentina in 1981 while refusing to flee a second homeland.
