Baby Moshe, who survived 26/11 terror attack, returns to Mumbai as India-Israel friendship mascot
Mumbai, Jan 16 (IBNS) : Moshe Holtzberg, the baby who had survived the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks but lost his parents, returned to the city from Israel on Tuesday as an eleven-year-old poster boy of the growing India-Israel bonhomie for the first time since 2008, reports said.
"I am very happy", Moshe told reporters in Hindi soon after his arrival.
Rabbi Holztberg Nachman, Moshe’s grandfather, said : “It is a very special day. Thank God that Moshe could come again. Mumbai is a lot more safe now."
Moshe, who used to stay at Chabad House in South Mumbai, lost both his parents – Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and Rivka Holtzberg in the terror attack on that fateful day. He was saved by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuel. He was then barely two years old.
Moshe's parents were directors of the Chabad House, a Jewish centre, also known as Nariman House, one of the sites of the terror attack in which 164 were killed.
Moshe now lives in Afula, around 90 km from Jerusalem, with his grandparents.
His arrival comes at a time when Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on a visit to India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Israel visit in July, 2017, met Moshe and extended him an open invitation to travel to India.
Moshe arrived on Tuesday morning from Tel Aviv and landed at the Mumbai airport at around 8.15 am.
During his visit, Moshe will unveil a ‘live memorial’ for the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks at Chabad House, which once was his home.
The 11-year-old is reportedly keen on visiting the Taj Mahel and the Gateway of India.
Moshe’s grandparents, nanny Sandra Samuels, and a psychologist are travelling to India along with him.
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