For years, Lizzy Savetsky was celebrated as a lifestyle influencer, inspiring her followers with her unique blend of fashion, family and faith. However, the events of October 7 marked a turning point as Lizzy transformed her platform into a powerful voice for Israel and her Jewish heritage.
Now in Israel to receive a presidential award for her extraordinary efforts, Lizzy reflects on the emotional journey that reshaped her life and the challenges she bravely faced along the way.
Ynetnews interview with Lizzy Savetsky
(Video: Lior Sharon)
Lizzy, being in Israel with your family on October 7 must have deeply impacted you. How did that influence your decision to advocate so much for Israel?
“I had started advocating for Israel on my platform a couple of years before October 7. During the conflict in Gaza in 2021, when Hamas sent a barrage of rockets to Israel, I was shocked to see how immediately upon Israel's response, so many of my peers on social media in the fashion space and the lifestyle space who had never been to Israel, had never been to the Middle East, who knew nothing, jumped to demonize Israel.”
“I just felt like there was this void, I didn't see anyone in my position speaking up to defend Israel. And so, I made a decision one specific day in May of 2021 to commit my platform to defending the truth for Israel.
“And there was really no turning back after that because I suffered a lot of consequences, and it became clear to me that I either had to pretend like that never happened, or I was going to have to just completely pivot and shift my focus completely to Israel and the Jewish people.”
“So being here in Israel on October 7, as I was sitting in the bomb shelter with my family, I looked at my husband and I said, said, ‘We know exactly what is going to happen.’ The minute that Israel responds, and it was actually even before Israel responded, the world will demonize Israel and then Jews all over the world are going to suffer a wave of antisemitism like we've never seen before.”
“And I knew from that moment in the bomb shelter that I was going to be very busy, that I had a lot of work ahead of me.”
'When I first made the big shift, I lost a ton of followers'
How has your relationship with your audience evolved since you began openly advocating for Israel? Have you encountered support or backlash you didn't anticipate?
“In 2021, when I first made the big shift, I lost a ton of followers. I think it was like 30,000. I got dropped by my management company at the time. Not because they were antisemitic or anti-Israel, it was because I was no longer marketable. They couldn't sell me to any brands because I was too controversial because I was speaking up on behalf of the Jewish people and the Jewish nation.
“But thankfully, I had that big purge two and a half years before October 7. So, by the time October 8 rolled around, people knew this is what Lizzy does. She speaks up for the Jewish people. She's going to be telling us what's the latest that's happening in Israel. She's there now.
“And so I was actually seeing a flood of followers come in following October 7. Although it was hard in the beginning and there was a bit of an identity crisis, there is no better feeling than walking in your truth and standing firmly in your values. And if you lose something for doing that, then was it ever even really worth having?”
You fight consistently against antisemitism and even have been lecturing extensively over the past year about it. Have you personally faced an incident driven by antisemitic motives?
“It's so interesting because when I started advocating against antisemitism, I had only experienced minor implicit forms of it. I didn't have that personal experience. My husband now, he's a plastic surgeon in New York and he takes care for free of anyone who is a victim of an antisemitic violent attack. Unfortunately, he's been very busy because there have been so many.
“But in the past year, my family has received so many death threats. We have our own file with the FBI. We have had the police at our apartment more than we've had our friends over. We have been consistently targeted because of the work that I do.
“We get letters in the mail with threats. My husband was getting to his office over 1,000 phone calls with the most vicious messages that you've ever heard and I just can't believe that this level of evil exists in the world and that it is targeting me and my family simply for existing as a Jewish person.”
'It just felt like an urgent obligation'
And you're in Israel receiving an award from the Israeli government. It's such a significant honor. What does that mean for you as a personal and a public figure?
“It's surreal, honestly, because I never in a million years thought that my life would go in this direction. This was not the life plan. I did not go to school to study how to be an advocate for Israel.
“But it just felt like an urgent obligation, a responsibility that I have. And the award was actually called the ‘Voice of Iron.’ And I have said repeatedly throughout this past year that my only weapon in this vicious war of propaganda is my voice.
“And I feel so grateful that I have an audience that listens to me, that amplifies my voice. But that's all I have. So, it's never been a question for me whether I would speak up or not, I just always felt like a sacred responsibility that I have to my ancestors, who could only dream of walking in the land of Israel.
“And now we get to have this sacred place. And also to my children that will inherit this land and will, God willing, carry the torch that I'm trying to use to light the way. It's been a very surreal feeling. I would speak up no matter the recognition but I'm truly humbled by the award.”
What were some of the most unexpected challenges you experienced on your platform due to the events of October 7?
“I think, in a way, it felt like the Wild West. None of us had a manual for how to advocate on social media. We've al been making it up as we've gone. When I started my Instagram platform, I was talking about accessories, earrings and shoes, whatever was in style. I never thought that that would be the vehicle to spread the truth for Israel.
“So I've definitely learned a lot over the past few years with what works and what doesn't. I think that the hardest challenge is not reacting to the hate because it's our human instinct whenever we see this vitriol thrown our way to react.
“And I've learned, especially this past year, that it's just I only have so much time and energy, and I would much rather use it to empower my own people than to fight these people who are going to hate me no matter what because they don't care about the truth. I think that's been the hardest challenge, keeping my own gut instinct in check.”
'My family is behind me 100%'
How do your family and your close friends react to your activism?
“Thank God my family is behind me 100%. We're really a family of activists. We were all here on October 7 in the bomb shelter. I did not know how to parent through that and I'm not just an activist, I'm a mom and I think about my children and their future as Jews in America with antisemitism reaching record heights and if there's going to be a place for them.
“I didn't know how to help them really process the trauma that they experienced here in Israel and the things that they were hearing about. My 11-year-old daughter came to me and said ‘Mommy, what is rape?’ To have to have these conversations, nothing can prepare you for it.
“I was very naive. I always thought that Israel was just the strongest country in the world, and it is, but I never understood the real vulnerability and it was shocking for everyone. The only thing that I knew how to do as a mom was to put my kids to work and make them feel like they're a part of the solution and so we've really been a family of advocates.
“I wouldn't be able to do it without them. My husband is my researcher, he's reading everything, we have a meeting every morning at 6 a.m. where we talk about what video I’m going to make that day and thank God they've been so supportive.
“We try to shield the children as much as possible from all of the hate in the world, but the reality is we live in New York City and we see these protesters in the streets almost every day waving the flags of Jihad and I want them to be so deeply rooted in who they are as Jews, that they feel proud in the face of all of that hate.
“I think it is comforting to them to know that their mom is devoting her entire life to fighting on behalf of our people. “
'I couldn't stay silent'
In the recent U.S. elections, you chose to openly share your political views with your followers. What motivated you to take that step?
“I never thought that I would be talking about politics, especially in such a controversial, heated time on my Instagram platform. I had never discussed anything political before. But, I had just had it. I was so tired of seeing these protesters take over our campuses, take over the streets of my city, my children clinging to me every time we walk out of our apartment because they're scared and seeing nothing done about it.
6 View gallery
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. President Joe Biden
(Photo: Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP, AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“In fact, hearing both our president and our vice president sympathize with the protesters, say that they have a point, say that they're expressing exactly what the human emotion should be, that's what Kamala Harris said. I couldn't stay silent.
“For me, it was never about endorsing a person, it was about endorsing the policies. And nobody can deny the good work that President [Donald] Trump did for the state of Israel when he was president in his first term: moving the embassy to Jerusalem, acknowledging Jerusalem as Israel's eternal capital and the Golan Heights.
“All of these things that American presidents said they would do and didn't and he got the job done. So, as much as he can be crass and bombastic, he gets the job done, he takes action and that for me felt like an urgent thing to use my voice to promote.
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“I also wanted to destigmatize voting for Donald Trump because there was so much stigma around that and people getting ‘canceled’ for being associated. I wanted to say ‘Hey guys, I may not love everything about this man but I'm going to vote for him and here's why and it's okay if you want to do the same.”
6 View gallery
U.S. President-elect Donlad Trump
(Photo: SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
You spent a significant amount of time here in Israel even on October 7 and you've shared that, despite the trauma, you sometimes feel safer here than elsewhere. Have you considered making aliyah?
“I think about it every day all the time and I hope that my story ends here at home in Israel. This is the only place that I want to be. Right now I have an important job to do back home in America for the Jews there but there's no place in the world that's better, where my soul feels at home. Israel is the only place.