The civilian security coordinator of Kibbutz Nir Am, Inbal Rabin-Lieberman, heard the drones at the Israeli–Gazan border early on the morning of Saturday, October 7, 2023, and she set to work nonstop. When the kibbutz lost its electricity, she told the kibbutz electrician not to start the generator until the cause of the problem was known. She ran from house to house, organized the people of the emergency squad, supplied them with guns from the kibbutz armory, and stationed them at strategic ambush points along the fence of the kibbutz. Because of her alertness and good judgment, the terrorists who reached the kibbutz were stopped at the front gate — which was kept closed by the power failure — and their incursion was foiled by the armed and battle-ready emergency squad.
Kibbutz Nir Am is located at the southwestern edge of the city of Sderot, less than five hundred yards from where a detachment of Israel’s Special Police Unit fought terrorists who had invaded the city. By her leadership and quick responses under the pressure of the moment, Rabin-Lieberman saved the people of the kibbutz from a similar invasion.
