Assaf Peleg a hasid religious Jew with his personal weapons overlooking Kiryat Malachi.

Assaf Peleg, today an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, in his apartment filled with religious texts and his personal weapons in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Malachi on February 6, 2024. Peleg comes from a kibbutz member and became an officer in the IDF, a Captain who served in a an elite unit, fighting throughout the second intifada. Today, Peleg, in his early 40s, is a religious Hasid and the father of seven who shares his vast military knowledge with various civil security tasks he undertakes, such as the emergency response team he helped to establish and train in the city of Kiryat Malachi. Since the October 7 Hamas atrocities and war, he has been armed at all times, while navigating through the religious and secular Israeli society, being trusted by both. Photo by Jim Hollander/UPI