Judith and Natalie Raanan Courtesy of Evanston Chabad

By Beth Harpaz October 11, 2023

An Illinois teenager and her mother flew to Israel in early September to spend a few weeks visiting family over the holidays. 

Now they’re missing, listed among three dozen other Americans who were kidnapped or killed in the attacks by Hamas.

Natalie Raanan, 19, and her mother, Judith, were in the Nahal Oz kibbutz visiting Natalie’s grandmother when the violence unfolded. Natalie’s father, Uri, was the last one to hear from her. He told ABC7 in Chicago that Natalie called him Saturday morning to say that she was hiding in a bunker. A neighbor later reported seeing her and her mother being taken away by Hamas militants. 

As with the others abducted by Hamas, there’s been no word of them since.

A long-planned trip

Judith Tai Raanan was an active member of Evanston Chabad, outside Chicago, according to the community’s rabbi, Meir Hecht. “They’d been planning this trip for a long time,” Hecht said. “It was a special trip for the holiday season, for Rosh Hashanah through the end of Sukkot, and they’d been sending us messages and emails, and it seemed like they were having a really special time until we heard the worst news.”

They were in Nahal Oz for Simchat Torah and “have not been heard from since the attack,” he said. 

He said Judith has been involved in Chabad programs and services for more than a decade. “She’s a generous, loving and kind individual. She was really excited to be spending the holiday season with her daughter in Israel.” 

The White House has confirmed the deaths of 22 U.S. citizens so far with 17 unaccounted for. On Tuesday, the families of four missing Americans held a press conference in Tel Aviv imploring the U.S. to find their loved ones. 

“All we ask from the Biden administration and the secretary of state, Blinken, is to act on the immediate release of all hostages, and remember the U.S. government has direct responsibility to the life of U.S. citizens held hostage by these terrorists,” said Nahal Neta, whose mother Adrienne, a midwife from California, is among the missing. 

Hecht asked for prayers “from people of all faiths and all walks of life” for Judith and Natalie’s safe return, and for the “safety and the security of Israel” and the other hostages.

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