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In the years following September 11th, our nation has gained a new sense of perspective when it comes to security and terrorism. But what if you lived in a country that shares a border with not one, but several hostile neighbors? In the final part of our series, KSMU’s Benjamin Fry visits a Nixa man who grew up in a place that has seen political and military unrest since it became a nation state over 60 years ago.

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Eylun Porat of Nixa uses his Blackberry to stay in touch with his family in Israel.

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These days, going online is the way to keep in touch, whether it’s with a computer or a mobile device.

Eylon Porat prefers to use his Blackberry for sending emails.

“I asked my sister why she doesn’t call me, and she says she lost my number, which is an excuse,” Porat said.

But if anyone tried to decipher Porat’s emails to his sister, they might have a hard time, because the text is in Hebrew.

Porat’s sister lives in Israel, their native country.

He says he’s familiar with the perception some Americans have about day-to-day life in Israel.

“A lot of people here think we’re living in tents and its all one big desert we’re riding camels, but Israel, the northern part of Israel is kind of like Nixa. It’s very modernized, everybody has cell phones, everybody has computers,” Porat said.

Porat has called the U.S. his home since 1998.

That’s when he, his wife and three kids left Israel for the states.

He says he first moved to Florida, because his family had business there.

He moved to Nixa in 2001 and now works in Springfield for Siemens, a company that makes air compressors, among other things.

When he heads out the door for work in the morning, he probably has a good idea of what’s going to happen that day.

But that wasn’t the case back in Israel, when Porat served in the army.

“In 1982 I was in a war, we had a Lebanon war. We were there for 3 months, and then on and off,” Porat said.

In Israel, serving for a period of time is mandatory.

“When you finish high school, everybody goes, boys for three years, girls for two years,” Porat said.

After the initial two or three years, Israelis are put in the reserves and can be called up for duty at any time.

Porat has four younger brothers there who are in the reserves but currently going to college.

He says they weren’t deployed during Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip two months ago, but some of his friends were.

He says Israelis living near the border with that Palestinian territory have to be on constant alert.

“When you hear the sirens and you live close to Gaza, that means you have ten seconds to find shelter, find a bomb shelter,” Porat said.

From 2005 until a cease-fire was signed earlier this year, members of the Palestinian group Hamas periodically launched rockets from Gaza across the border into Israel.

“You know it’s like you live in Nixa, and someone from Springfield firing rockets at you,” Porat said.

Hamas has been designated a terrorist group by the U.S. government.

At the time, Israel launched airstrikes and the fighting escalated for several weeks.

Hundreds were killed, the vast majority of which were Palestinians.

Porat’s relatives didn’t have to worry about the particular threat from Gaza because they don’t live near there.

But he still contacts them every day to see if everything’s okay.

Because in a country about the size of the state of Vermont that shares borders with hostile states, Porat says it doesn’t really matter where you are; a climate of uneasiness prevails.

“You feel it really good, everybody does. It doesn’t matter where you live, you feel the situation,” Porat said.

Because of tension with neighboring countries and the threat of suicide bombers, security is a top priority for the Israeli government.

Porat says there are procedures there that many in the Ozarks would seem unimaginable.

“If you go to McDonalds in Israel, there’s a security guard standing outside, and he’s gonna check your bag,” Porat said.

Porat’s family live in northeast Israel, near the Golan Heights.

This area also has a history of instability, and though there hasn’t been fighting there recently, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen again.

Ken Rutherford is a political science professor at Missouri State University.

“From the Golan Heights, the Israelis are bordering Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan: three countries that have attacked or that Israel’s attacked. All in the last couple of decades. So, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a surprise attack will be the next attack,” Rutherford said.

From growing up in a Middle Eastern hotspot to settling in a quiet, wooded valley near Nixa, Porat has come to terms with this realization: When it comes to feeling safe in the world, there are the haves, and the have-nots.

“I wish that in every country they can live, you know, the way we live here in America and not worry about security or stuff like that, but you know, that’s life. Some places you can live and relax and some places you can’t,” Porat said.

For KSMU News, I’m Benjamin Fry.

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