New York Journalist Who Made Aliyah Is Reporting on Horrors of October 7

Shanna Fuld, host of the “Israel Daily News” podcast, moved from New York to Tel Aviv about five years ago, knowing she might end up reporting about war. But she never expected anything like the unprecedented October 7 assault on Israel by land, air and sea that stunned the world. A trusted news source, Fuld recently appeared on ABC and CBS (New York) Fox (Arizona) and News Nation.

Fuld, who is observant, and doesn’t use the phone on Shabbat, went to her synagogue and heard a bit of what was going on but didn’t get a full picture.  She walked to a friend’s house for lunch and was surprised that nobody was in the street. In the evening when she turned on her phone, there were tons of messages and she saw the horrific news.

She ran into the stairwell as sirens went off and Hamas rockets landed. “I’d always been bracing for an attack by Iran,” Fuld told the Journal. “Iran’s power has expressed itself in a kind of attack I wasn’t thinking about, and Iran has found a way to terrorize us.”

While Iran has officially denied responsibility, and U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he has not yet seen evidence of Iran’s hand in it, The Wall Street Journal cited senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah who told them Iran helped plan the attack and gave the green light.

The United States classifies Hamas and Hezbollah, based in Lebanon and Syria, as Iranian proxies.

Fuld said it was surreal to broadcast the unfathomable details: Residents who called for help as Hamas terrorists entered their houses, reports that Hamas had infiltrated Israel at 22 locations and that the death toll was the largest of Jews since the Holocaust. At the end of the podcast, she gave the locations for people to donate blood. The murder of 260 people who were attending a peace concert/nature party not far from the Gaza border, was especially harrowing as people raced for their cars, climbed trees or tried to hide. “They were mostly in their 20’s and 30’s and I’m in my 20’s, so I definitely thought that could be me there,” Fuld said.

“Israel is used to terrorism. But in this scope and with these numbers, it’s hard to wrap your head around this type of terror. It’s hard to imagine how this was possible. It is devastating. It is shocking. It was barbaric.“ 

“Israel is used to terrorism. But in this scope and with these numbers, it’s hard to wrap your head around this type of terror.” It is hard to imagine, she said, how this was possible. “It is devastating. It is shocking. It was barbaric. Everyone here is putting one foot in front of the other, but it is a scary feeling of what happened and what can happen. I think it has made people say, ‘enough is enough’ and support a forceful response by Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu.”

Other horrifying videos showed young women, the elderly and children captured by Hamas, and murdered Jews on the floors. Fuld said she does not want to think of what might be happening to those who are hostages. She added that the videos are so disturbing, people should be responsible and curtail their exposure if they are too traumatized.

At press time, reports said Israel announced its death toll at 900 with 2,500 wounded. CBS cited the Gaza Ministry of Health reporting 687 Palestinians had been killed from Israeli air strikes with 3,700 wounded. Fuld said there is uncertainty in what lies ahead.

Fuld’s podcast, which she has hosted for three years, is in English, and 65% of her audience is American.

Originally from Queens, Fuld previously reported for NY1 and founded Tribe Tel Aviv/Champion for Olim. Prior to the attacks, when Israel was focused on the crisis of judicial reform, Fuld said she was accosted by a group of men during an outdoor Yom Kippur service. She didn’t know of the 2018 law against gender separation at public prayer events. They’d had the event for several years without incident. The event had a mechitza, or divider between men and women. The men threatened her, mocked the rabbi, and told Fuld to go back to where she came from.

But Fuld, who covered President Biden’s visit to Israel in July 2022, as well as New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ trip to the Holy Land earlier this year, said her focus is on they days ahead. She has been impressed by groups of people working together, while acknowledging the attacks were “a reminder” of unfathomable violence.

The densely populated Gaza Strip has 2 million residents and Israel halted electricity, water and food from entering Gaza. She noted that Al Jazeera reported that IDF soldiers have texted Gaza residents to warn of imminent attacks.

Most of her male friends have been called up to the Army and many are flying to Israel from abroad to serve.

“We are going to get through this,” she said at the end of her Saturday night podcast. 

For more info, go to israeldaily.news.