ISRAEL’S TERRIFYING NIGHT
At around 9 p.m. on Saturday night, after days of escalating tensions, Israel’s Home Front Command issued directives to the population to seek a safe place to shelter with adequate provisions. Iran was expected to attack imminently.
We now know that by that time, the Islamic Republic of Iran had already launched, or was on the verge of launching, more than 300 suicide drones and missiles targeting Israel.
I was at the weekly rally in central Tel Aviv in support of the Israeli hostages who have been held in Hamas captivity since Oct. 7. The thousands in attendance all received the same message simultaneously and began looking around. The uncertainty was palpable. What does one do?
Not that we all believed the strike would happen in the next moment, yet everyone felt compelled to leave. But when you’re at a rally to support people who have been locked in underground cages and abused by Hamas for six months, well, it’s natural to have a flash of guilt. “How can I leave in the midst of a forceful plea being made by the daughter of Ron Benjamin?” I thought.
The 53-year-old went to meet his buddies on Oct. 7 for an early morning cycle through some of the most beautiful terrain in Israel. After his bike was unloaded, the missile attack from the Gaza Strip began. As hell broke loose. His friends managed to escape. Benjamin was taken hostage.
On Saturday night, Benjamin’s 20-something daughter, Shay, was on stage. Addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, she challenged them to, “Come, tell me face-to-face. Look me in the eye and tell me that my father is going to be another Ron Arad.”
Arad is an iconic Israeli symbol of hope, determination and indescribable loss. In a nation where the most critical bond is between the “people’s army,” government and citizens — a closed circle inside which each institution and person will do everything possible to save the other — Ron Arad reminds us that things do not always work out as they should.
Serving as an air force navigator, the plane in which Arad and a pilot were sortieing over Lebanon in 1986 was damaged. The pilot parachuted to the ground and was recovered by the Israel Defense Forces. Arad was captured by a Shiite militia.
It is believed that he ultimately ended up in the hands of the Islamic Republic of Iran. There has been no sign of life from Arad since 1988, and no proof of death. The agony of his young wife and then-one-year-old daughter have been seared onto the collective soul of this country. And so, the 133 hostages remaining in captivity with Hamas savages weigh very, very heavily on the nation’s conscience.
As Shay Benjamin continued to speak, I slipped away and scurried home. I felt terrible. How could I leave when the hostages cannot? But I was not the only one: practically everyone rushed home and the event ended early.
We soon found out what an “imminent” attack by Iran meant. On Israeli TV, practically every minute brought new information. Iran has launched suicide drones to hit targets in Israel. They travel slowly. It takes nine hours for them to reach Israel. Maybe less. We know that Israel has a very limited defence capability when it comes to slow-moving, low-flying drones. The Iron Dome and other defence systems are designed to repel other types of offensive weapons. Everyone, suddenly, was a weapons expert.
On that night, perhaps the most dramatic since Israel’s founding, the fear was pervasive. Could this be the end? Once we knew we were safe, the talk of Israeli resilience started: “Look at us. We get up, dust off and get back to living life.”
And that’s very true for some people. But others break down. Many develop post-traumatic stress disorder. But people carry on living because the only other option is to curl up into a fetal position. Fortunately, most do not.
Even the elderly, hardened veterans of many battles and existential moments in the almost 76-year existence of this country, said that Saturday night was perhaps the worst. And it is notable that at such a dire time, neither the defence minister nor the prime minister took even a few minutes to address the nation. They sent the IDF’S chief spokesperson to do the job.
The majority of the missiles and drones targeting Israel were launched from Iranian territory, making this the first time ever that Iran’s supreme leader has made good on his regime’s decades-long pledge to attack the “rogue Zionist state.” Iran did not outsource the heavy lifting to its Islamist proxies in the region. This was Tehran’s moment of glory.
We heard on TV that drones and missiles had been launched in waves. The television screen lit up with moving dots everywhere. Drones. Missiles. Air Force jets from a variety of countries scrambling in a collaborative effort to down every last missive. It was horrific. We just sat and waited. To die? For massive destruction?
An estimated 99 per cent of the weapons aimed at Israel were destroyed. The only casualty was a seven-yearold Bedouin girl who was critically injured from falling shrapnel. Iran claimed a massive victory. Israel sighed with extreme relief. And U.S. President Joe Biden wasted no time warning Israel not to retaliate. Accept this as a “win,” he said. A “win”? We were just living on the edge of an apocalypse. People’s children asked if they were going to die. I wondered if I was going to die. Or, if I lived, what tomorrow would bring.
Then again, in the context of the hellish mess in which this country is mired at the moment, considering it a “win” seemed, initially, to be prudent. We can defer this retaliatory imperative to another day and finish what we started in Gaza. Deal with the Hezbollah threat in the north.
Until Monday morning. When new information came out, reported by Reuters, that America had, in fact, through Turkish intermediaries, conveyed to Iran that it should “act within certain parameters.” The concern, of course, was for Iran to satisfy its need to demonstrate retaliation but in a restrained manner, so as not to escalate regional tensions and conflict. The United States, one assumes in retrospect, worked to ensure that an effective, multilateral defensive capability — which it would lead — could take care of the Iranian threat. There is much we do not know but one thing is very clear. Israel was very lucky on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
On Sunday, Biden spoke with PM Netanyahu, urging him to stand down and take a “win.” In Israel, opinion on this assessment is divided.
Yes, the outcome was a huge relief.
But that does not in any way diminish the very real existential threat that Iran poses to Israel. The hawks believe that Israel should strike back hard and fast in order to re-establish a deterrent for Iran. Others — I’d call them the pragmatists — consider the strain on Israel already, militarily, economically, diplomatically and psychologically to be considerable. Striking Iran could result in an escalation of regional conflict that may also draw in the U.S., NATO, Russia and China. It is a gamble that may be too much for Israel to withstand.
And there is no question as to where Iran will strike first.
IT WAS HORRIFIC. WE JUST SAT AND WAITED. TO DIE? FOR MASSIVE DESTRUCTION?