"Israel is always my home. I am proud to be Israeli, and these days even more so," says one of the top players in the Premier League guard/forward Alyssa Baron.
The 31-year-old citizen has already been playing in Israel for the eighth season and also proudly represents the Israeli national team that will play next week in the qualifiers for the European Championship.
Barron plays this season in the uniform of Hapoel Jerusalem, the new and very surprising newcomer to the Premier League, which is placed third in the table.
She joined the team from Elizur Ramla where she won the championship twice.
"In the beginning we didn't know if there would be a league," she says in an interview with Israel Hayom.
"After we returned to activity, there were quite a few foreign players missing, and of course this affected the level. It is difficult to bring foreign players here because they are worried because of the war. That is why you have to give credit to the foreign players who did come. The league is generally conducted as usual, but the situation is always on the mind all the time. We are constantly thinking About the soldiers, the abductees and the families who lost their loved ones. We use the game to escape the situation a little and give the fans a little break from everything that's going on."
Alyssa Barron.
"Proud to be Israeli",
Baron is married to Limor Peleg, who is also her coach in Jerusalem, and they are mothers to a two-year-old son.
The two live in Rishon Lezion, a city that has been very close since the beginning of the war.
This week, just as we were getting ready to leave the house for the game, there was gunfire towards the city.
"On October 7 at six thirty in the morning I heard alarms," she recalls.
"Our dog was the first to notice exactly what was happening. We immediately took the boy to the emergency room.
I turned on the news and realized that terrorists had infiltrated Israel and that it is not that far from where we are.
It was a long day in which we understood the dimensions of what happened.
It was a sad and horrible nightmare day.
The whole world has changed.
I have experienced attacks on Israel in the past, but nothing like what happened now."
Adi Lux, Limor Peleg (in the center) and Nofer Shalom, photo: Oded Karni, courtesy of the Super League directorate
What did you do after you realized that a war had broken out?
"After a few days, we went to my family in Miami and stayed there for a month. Honestly, I hesitated to return when they announced that the league was returning. Once we realized that the situation had calmed down a bit, we decided to return. The family was of course very worried, they did not want me to return, but later they calmed down. The news you see there does not exactly reflect what happening".
Do you feel like an ambassador of Israel?
"In Miami, we didn't suffer any effects against us. The whole community is very pro-Israel, and they helped and supported us. In general, I try to explain and update, but they don't really like us. People don't understand exactly what is happening here. There are many people against us and we have to be determined, To show that we will not give up and to show that never again."
Elisa Barron in a Ramla uniform,
And what does your life look like today?
"You can say we've returned to normal life, but it's not quite like that. Things are constantly on your mind. All day I'm connected to the news. It breaks my heart to see the pictures of the fallen every day. It's terrible to think about the families who lost their loved ones, about the abductees and what they're going through that goes through their families. Things don't leave you. My child is two years old and of course he is still unconscious, but being the mother of a baby in these times is not easy with all the thoughts of what is happening."
And what would it be like to play for the Israeli national team on days like this?
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"It will be different. We will feel different. Wearing Israel's uniform and seeing the flag in these times is very significant, certainly with all the hatred around and the fact that everyone is against us. Standing and representing Israel these days is important, and I am also sure that in light of the situation, they will protect us the best possible".
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