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Orphaned terror victim meets Indian Prime Minister in Israel

Nine years after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks left Moshe Holtzberg an orphan, the 10-year-old met the Indian Prime Minister on his visit to Israel, telling him he hopes to return to Mumbai. 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first sitting Indian head of state to visit Israel, not only received a very warm and friendly welcome from his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, but also from Moshe Holtzberg, a young victim of terrorist attacks in the city of Mumbai, India. The November 2008 attacks left 166 dead, including Holtzberg’s parents.

“Dear Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, welcome to Israel our holy land and to our city of Jerusalem,” the 10-year old victim Moshe Holtzberg said to Modi.

Moshe’s parents, Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, the former co-emissaries of the Mumbai headquarters for Chabad, a Jewish outreach movement, were killed during the 2008 terror attacks by gunmen from an Islamist terror organization in Pakistan who stormed their community center.

Moshe, who was only two years old at the time, explained to the crowd on Wednesday,“I was saved by my very special nanny Sandra, may God bless her.”

Since the attacks, Moshe has been in Israel, along with his nanny who was given permanent resident status in Israel. Remarkably, Moshe informed Modi that he is determined to continue in his parents’ footsteps.

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Moshe stunned onlookers by announcing, “I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai, and when I get older, live there,” he said. “I will be the director of our Chabad House. With God’s help, this is my answer.”

“Dear Mr. Modi, I love you and your people in India,” Moshe concluded.

Netanyahu, who was also present along with Moshe’s nanny and all four grandparents, told Moshe that he would be back in Mumbai sooner than expected, albeit for a temporary visit.

“Moshe, Prime Minister Modi invited me to come to India,” Netanyahu told him. “You will come with me to Mumbai.”

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News