Published: 27 October 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
HEZI: WE GREW UP IN ISRAEL, in a small town called Nahariya, near the Mediterranean coast. It was a great childhood. We were 10 minutes from the coast, so we spent time with friends at the beach, riding our bikes or playing soccer.
Gabby is my older brother, so I looked up to him. He always had cooler friends. They would go surfing, but I couldn’t because I was too small. I’d go down to the beach and wait for someone to flick a board at me and say, “I’ll teach you.”
In 1986 our family moved to Melbourne, because Dad thought there would be better opportunities here. He worked at a warehouse in Richmond fixing telephones. On Saturday, the family would clean the warehouse for an extra $80. We talked a lot at dinner about selling stuff, and how to get ahead.
GABBY: Hezi was always a good boy – an angel! He was smart, intelligent, always studied hard. I looked after him. At primary school, we’d come home together at lunchtime and I’d make him a sandwich with Nutella.
Our bedroom was tiny. My bed was on one side of the room; his was on the other. I had a Samantha Fox poster on my wall; he had a Superman poster. We kept a small TV on the table between us so we could both lie in bed and watch it at night.
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Photo: Hezi Leibovich (left) and Gabby (Josh Robenstone)
