Waterford RTM member steps down as he plans Israel trip to console relatives

Waterford — Fourth District Representative Town Meeting member Jerry Fischer has resigned because he plans to spend two months in Israel after a relative there was killed in the Hamas attacks.

Fischer, the former president of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, said Monday he will travel with his family to Israel during March and April to console family members of 49-year-old Aviv Atzili, who was killed during the Oct. 7 massacre at Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Fischer said Monday he would continue to stay active in the town, but that it didn’t feel right for him to continue to hold his RTM seat when he would have to miss what he called the RTM’s two busiest months.

“When I agreed to run for RTM I was excited about the chance I would have to become part of our local government,” Fischer wrote in his Dec. 26 resignation to RTM moderator Paul Goldstein.

“Alas, October 7 happened; my cousin, Liat, was kidnapped and released (through the efforts of Congressman (Joe) Courtney, the U.S. State Department and the FBI), but her husband, Aviv, was killed that day,” he continued.

Atzili’s wife, dual American and Israeli citizen Liat Beinin, is Fischer’s cousin. Beinin had been taken from her southern Israel home by Hamas militants during the same attack.

“His body is still in Gaza, and we despair of ever having it returned. His death was confirmed by DNA gathered from a wall at his kibbutz where he was apparently shot in the head,” Fischer wrote.

Fischer added in his resignation letter that he deeply appreciates the support he’s received from his neighbors, fellow citizens and town officials, and the rapid and firm response to swastikas that were painted in Leary Park in October of last year.

“I hope we will have a more peaceful year ahead,” he wrote. “I look forward to other opportunities to serve our town.”

On Monday the six other RTM members from the fourth district elected Democrat Erica Casper to replace Fischer.