The two American women who were released by Hamas Friday after being held captive for nearly two weeks are pillars of the community that is now cheering their return.
Judith Raanan, 59, and her daughter, 17-year-old Natalie, traveled to Israel from their home in Evanston, Ill., to celebrate Judith’s mother’s 85th birthday and to mark the Jewish holiday season with family, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Last week, the Evanston community was devastated to learn that the pair were believed to be among those captured by Hamas terrorists when the group stormed Kibbutz Nahal Oz as part of the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7.
“It has been confirmed through both the Israel government and through the US government that Natalie and Judith were taken from the guest house at Nahal Oz under gunpoint and transported somewhere,” Ben Raanan — Natalie’s brother and Judith’s stepson — told CNN in Tel Aviv earlier this week.
Even in the throes of the terrorist invasion, Ben said, Natalie “has the most amazing of heads on her,” and was able to text their father that she and Judith were hiding and trying to stay safe amid the sounds of explosions and gunfire.
Natalie’s father and Judith’s ex-husband, Uri Raanan, told ABC7-Chicago that he last heard from his daughter while she was scrambling to a safe room.
The devastated relatives later learned that both women were among the some 200 hostages taken by Hamas.
Natalie graduated from Deerfield High School just a few months before the Israel trip, and was taking a gap year to travel before going to college, her family explained in a video with the Israeli broadcaster Kan.
“We talked about what she wanted to do next, what she wanted to do while in college,” cousin Hila Cohen recalled.
Natalie’s more imminent plans included adopting a new dog after her previous one passed away a few days before the trip.
She is also interested in fashion and interior design, relatives told the New York Times.
“She’s a sweetheart,” her uncle, Avi Zamir, told the outlet.
“She loves animals, likes life, likes friends — typical teenager.”
Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein, the executive director of Chabad of Evanston, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Natalie is bright and charming.
“People have told me she is a person who is a true friend, a person who is there for her friends, who is loyal and committed,” he said.
“God willing, she will have a normal and happy life ahead of her.”
Natalie was also remembered by activist and writer Shaun King, who posted on Facebook about the women abducted last week.
“Natalie and her family are supporters of mine, protested against police brutality in the United States with me, and have spoken out against injustice in Israel,” he wrote.
King also offered to “confidently help broker” the teen’s return, though it is unclear if he did play a role in Natalie and Judith’s ultimate release.
Judith – who grew up in Israel and often went by her Hebrew name, Yehudit – worked as an esthetician, according to the Sun-Times.
She is also a talented painter and very active in the local Chicago community, the New York Times reported.
“She loved our community. We were everything to her, like family,” Yehudis Hecht, the wife of Rabbi Meir Hecht, whose synagogue Judith frequented, told the outlet.
“She loved to share her thoughts, knowledge, dreams and experiences with all of us.”
“Her eyes always glowed,” Klein told the Sun-Times of Judith, whom he has known for 15 years.
“Even in difficult moments for her, she is always positive and always has hope. She has an infinite hope for a better tomorrow. She has the resilience and fortitude to overcome this difficult moment.”
Despite her deep connections in Evanston, Judith often longed for Israel, her friends recalled.
“She was quite Israeli, whether she was here or there,” friend Chavah Rochel Golden explained to the New York Times.
“She missed being around Israelis. She felt at home with Israelis, and she missed that — the energy of Israel.”
Judith became more religiously observant as she aged, and wanted her daughter to feel connected with Israel, Rivka Benyihoun of the downtown Chicago Chabad told the New York Times.
A former neighbor, Carol Krikorian, added that it was difficult to picture the vibrant mother and daughter in captivity.
“I look out my back window now and I think, ‘How is it that this girl who was in the backyard with her friends is now in the hands of these people, these monsters?’” she lamented.
On Friday, Hamas announced that they released an American mother and daughter for “humanitarian reasons.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office subsequently confirmed that the Raanans had been freed by the terror group, and were en route to a military base in central Israel to reunite with their family.
There was reportedly no exchange made as part of the release, multiple outlets said.
Uri and Ben Raanan could not immediately be reached for comment on Natalie and Judith’s return.