Etgar Lefkovits | JNS
Haleli Truman had a deeply personal message for the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during Israel’s war with the terror organization last year.
“I know we will get to you even if you hide 20 meters under the earth,” the 30-year-old Lebanese-born social media influencer posted on Instagram from her home in northern Israel.
It was the closing of a circle for Truman, who as a girl of four had fled Lebanon with her family nearly a quarter century earlier, following the Israeli pullout from the country’s south in 2000.
Subsequently, Truman grew up in Israel, served in the Israel Defense Forces, converted to Judaism and became a very public advocate for Israel on Arabic social media after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, which triggered a two-year-long war.
She then married an Israeli paratrooper who ended up fighting her family’s nemesis in Lebanon.
Starting a New Life
In May 2000, 4-year-old Haleli Elias, the daughter of a former senior commander in the South Lebanese Army (SLA) — which was allied with Israel — fled Lebanon with her family of six after the Israeli pullout.
A quarter of a century later, she still remembers the gate closing on them as they jumped over it with one suitcase and only the clothes they were wearing.
Her family was among the thousands of SLA fighters and family members who were given refuge in Israel.
(An uncle, who went back to Lebanon, was killed along with his two sons by Hezbollah, after being betrayed by his wife, she recounts.)
Growing up in a mixed Jewish-Arab environment in the northern port city of Haifa, Truman went to a Jewish school; the Muslim residents did not want anything to do with the Lebanese Christian Maronite families living in northern Israel.
On the other hand, she remembers trying unsuccessfully to fit in in high school, where she only had one friend because the Jewish kids were wary of befriending her.
Despite the cold shoulder, she was determined to be part of the Israeli society that had taken her family in. She went on to do national service in the IDF (her brothers enlisted) and at age 26 decided to convert to Judaism, following in her older brother’s footsteps.
Her parents were OK with that and were just concerned she would find a match who cared for the country, she said.
Advocate for Israel After Oct. 7
After the Oct. 7 Hamas onslaught on southern Israel, Truman decided that she would use her Arabic skills to speak out for Israel on social media.
“I grew up here, Israel is my home and Israel safeguarded us,” she said by way of explaining why she was driven to speak out.
Identifying herself as the daughter of a senior SLA commander, her first Arabic Instagram post with Hebrew and English translations, which garnered 1.5 million views, spawned a wave of hate messages, primarily from Lebanon and Syria.
Her Instagram page was even temporarily shut down after she was reported for her pro-Israel posts.
“They weren’t used to a woman speaking up,” she recounted in an interview with JNS. “We were supposed to be quiet, cooking in the kitchen and tending to the children.”
Love Blossoms in War
One of those impressed enough by her post to become a follower was an Israeli reservist who had fought against Hamas in Gaza.
After a few months of messaging last year during the war, Mai Truman, 33, of Rehovot, traveled up north to visit her.
His family was a bit taken aback by his new girlfriend at first.
“What, a Lebanese?” they asked him.
Months after they became a couple, Truman was sent with his reserve unit to southern Lebanon to fight against Hezbollah.
“I was really worried for him because I knew how cruel Hezbollah is,” recalled Haleli.
No stranger to danger, Mai served in Syria as well as Lebanon and Gaza. His sister survived the Oct. 7 Nova music festival massacre.
Hope for a More Tranquil Future
Last month the two got married and are now expecting their first child.
“It was very fitting for me to marry a soldier,” Haleli told JNS.
As to the future, both remain circumspect.
“I just wish that we have some quiet and tranquility — because peace I don’t believe there will be,” said Haleli.
“Maybe one day I will visit my childhood home in Lebanon,” she added wistfully. “I’ve already visited,” her husband said.
