Omri Azriel, 29-30, moved to Canada from Israel a couple years before Oct. 7, 2023, leaving friends and family behind. After opening his own engineering company, Azriel eventually settled in Windsor, Ont., and now supplies parts to auto plants in the area. In 2023, he told CTV News he doesn’t call Windsor home, though.
Azriel had initially served in the Israeli army at 18, with CTV News writing, “He served in the Artillery Corps for three years, resigning as a First Sergeant in command of a small crew of five people.” After October 7, Azriel called his former commander to ask what was happening, and was eager to return to Israel to rejoin the military.
CTV News reported: “‘I really want to be there,’ says Azriel. ‘I really want to help my brothers, my sisters, my family and all my people.’ Azriel says all his friends back home have already been drafted, now out on the front lines while he’s on ‘secondary call.’ He says the call could come for him to report to those same front lines at a moment’s notice. ‘It could be tonight. It could be tomorrow. It could be in a week or two weeks,’ says Azriel. Whenever that moment comes, he says he’s ready — uncertain if he’ll return to Windsor when the fight is over.”
Azriel later told CBC News that he did get the call to return.
