Jon Voight, distinguished actor and the father of actress Angelina Jolie, visited Sderot on Tuesday, as a guest of the Sderot Chabad House.
During the hours in which Voight toured Sderot, he visited with Sderot mayor, Eli Moyal, who explained the devastating condition of the city, which experiences Qassam rocket attacks from Gaza on a daily basis.
Voight voiced complete solidarity with the rocket-shelled residents of the city and said that Sderot’s children are growing up under unacceptable conditions.
The actor also praised the Chabad movement in Israel and the world for their community oriented activities. Voight specifically commended the Chabad House of Sderot and Chabad Houses around the world for sponsoring over 110 Sderot children in summer camps in America this summer.
Voight also visited the Sderot police station, where he viewed up-close the Qassam rockets recently fired at Israel. Following the Qassam gallery, Voight visited the Amit Torani Madai Elementary School where he sat and sang with Sderot students. He also gave presents to the Amit students, who thanked Voight for coming to encourage them during these difficult times.
Voight visited the Cohen family at the site of their home, which had been severely damaged by a Qassam attack on May 10. The rocket hit the bedroom of Nitzan Cohen while he was inside. Voight expressed astonishment that miraculously not one family member, including Nitzan, was seriously injured in the attack.
The next family that Voight visited, the Yakabovich family were not so lucky. Yakov Yakabovich, a father and husband, was killed by a Qassam rocket explosion a couple years ago. Voight was teary-eyed as he listened to Yakov’s children speak about their father.
At the end of his visit, Voight thanked the head of Chabad in Sderot, Rabbi Ze’ev Pizam, for the warm hospitality and invited him to visit his home in Los Angeles, Calif. Voight also promised to raise international awareness to the plight of Sderot families.
“I will share your suffering with the rest of the world,” Voight said.
