JERUSALEM (JTA) — The son of the Chabad emissaries killed in a 2008 terror attack in Mumbai will join Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a trip to India.
Moshe Holtzberg, 11, was three years old when his parents Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg were killed at the Nariman Chabad House in Mumbai when four terrorists entered and began shooting at those inside. Four other Jewish visitors to the Chabad House were killed in the attack. Moshe was rescued on the day of the attack by the family’s nanny, Sandra Samuel, who ran out of the Chabad House carrying him. She later accompanied him to Israel, where he lives with his grandparents.
In July, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel to mark 25 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries; it was the first visit to Israel by an Indian head of government. During the visit, Modi met with Moshe Holtzberg, who said that he missed India. Modi invited the boy to return whenever he wants to. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered to bring Moshe with him on his next trip to India.
Netanyahu will visit India on January 14 for an official state visit. Moshe Holtzberg is scheduled to accompany him.
Rabbi Nachman Holtzberg, Moshe’s grandfather, told The Hindu newspaper in an interview in July when Modi visited Israel that it is his dream, and he believes Moshe’s dream, that the boy will serve in India in the Chabad house in which his parents were killed.
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