AUSTIN, Texas — A make-shift ceasefire in place between Israel and Hamas-linked Palestinians is helping keep peace in the Middle Eastern country, as well as peace of the mind for Sarah Avner, for now.

“Of all the group texting I have, I don’t have one with just the two of them,” chuckled Avner, sitting on the couch in the living room of her Round Rock home, waiting to start a video call with her two teenage children.

Texts and video is the way Avner has kept in touch with her kids for the last year. Both are living abroad in Israel. Her daughter, Rebekah, is attending high school outside Tel Aviv, following in the footsteps of her older brother, Jacob. He graduated last year and followed in the footsteps of other Israeli high school graduates and enlisted in the Israeli Defense Force.

“How you doing soldier?” Avner asked her son as he joined the video call over WhatsApp.

Lucky for Avner, her son isn’t serving in a combat role. Jacob has been on kitchen duty from time to time, but he said most recently he was assigned to guard an armory between the hours of 4:00-8:00 PM and 4:00-8:00 AM.

While it’s certainly a relief to know her son isn’t on the front lines, that doesn’t make Avner worry any less about the recent unrest in Gaza and Israel. She worries for both children, but especially for her youngest.

“The first phone call when they come out of the shelter is not small,” recalled Avner. “So we talked for quite a while, and we cried.”

While that unrest has ended for now, tensions remain high as a new Israeli government and new prime minister take over, replacing the previous coalition that had been in power for over a decade. 

“Now we wait, right? We wait to see. Can the coalition stay together?” questioned Avner. “Will they make good choices? And how will Hamas react?”

The talk about what exactly is going on between Israelis and Palestinians is certainly happening within the confines of Avner’s home, but it’s a conversation she tends to shy away from in her capacity as the cantorial soloist at Congregation Beth Israel in Austin. 

“Israel has become a political topic, it always was, of course... But it has become a political topic, and there has been a big push to take politics out of the sanctuary,” said Avner. “What I know for sure is I stand before a congregation of people who have so many different ideas, and it is my job to listen.”

Avner said she has congregants on opposite ends of the spectrum and every place in between — Jews who believe Israel can do no wrong, and Jews who believe Israel shouldn’t exist. 

While she’s certainly supportive of the Jewish state and its right to exist, Avner admits she’s been critical of Israel. But just in the same way she said she can be critical of the United States and her native country, Canada. But she’s extremely critical of Hamas, making sure to label the group as a terrorist organization — stressing her concern for the Palestinian people, and the hold Hamas has on the population’s safety and well being. 

It’s why Avner remains hopeful this brand new Israeli government can help preserve some semblance of peace and prevent another outbreak of war.

“We hope not again for the mess that needs cleaned up in Gaza and for the quality of life that deserves to be improved for the people who live there,” lamented Avner. “We hope not again for so many reasons. For my own nervous gut, for all the things.”