Israel Strikes Iran - Plus Grocery Store Stories

At about 3:00 AM, I woke up to sirens blaring, which usually means that Hamas, or more recently, the Houthis (Yemen terrorist group), have launched missiles that could land in Ashkelon. The sirens only lasted a few minutes before our phones began to alert us—which we knew must be urgent since we put them on silent mode when we sleep. Because I know how hard it is to get back to sleep when the adrenaline is pumping, I chose not to read it and jumped right back into bed.

Elana, however, read it and turned on the news in another room. When I woke up, she was still awake, and I had just realized when I checked my phone that it was not incoming missiles, but outgoing jets. Israel did what she has talked about doing for well over a decade. The Jewish nation attacked Iran's nuclear sites and killed many of the top military leaders.

“We have internalized the lessons of history: When an enemy says he intends to destroy you — believe him. When the enemy develops the capabilities to destroy you — stop him, ” said PM Netanyahu in an address in English.

Netanyahu laid out the justification for the attacks in a video released before 5:00 AM Israel time. Iran is only moments away from weapons-grade uranium and a nuclear bomb. “This is a nuclear weapon in a very short time. … this is a clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival.

The IDF top brass meets with Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, today.

The Prime Minister said that Israel targeted:

• Iran’s nuclear program—the IDF claims significant damage to Iran’s most important facility, Natanz, while Tehran claims it was cosmetic damage only.

• Their ballistic missile program.

• Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on a nuclear bomb.

• While it was not in his speech, we now know that several senior Iranian military officers were killed while sleeping, including Hossein Salami, Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), one of the world’s most dangerous men. (UPDATE: 20. Top Iranian commanders were eliminated.)

A defense official said, “If this opening strike succeeded—then what we did to senior Hezbollah officials over 10 days—we did to Iran in 10 minutes.” By all accounts, the mission was a success.

Israel was able to destroy many of their ballistic missile launchers through a Mossad-led effort inside Iran, using drones to attack the launchers.

The Prime Minister had a special message for the people of Iran: “Our fight is not with you. Our fight is with the brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years.”

The message I ignored in the middle of the night was from Pikud haOraf “Homefront Command.” It read, “Due to preparations for a significant threat, the Homefront Command's instructions, which are currently being distributed throughout the media, must be followed immediately.” A message about an hour later said that we had to stay close to a safe room or bomb shelter. Avoid crowds and obey any other messages from the Homefront Command. It didn’t actually mention Iran, but it was all over the news.

Business Insider reported, “The Israeli military said 200 aircraft were used to hit military and nuclear targets.” Around 100 targets were struck. Avner Boskey wrote, “At least thirteen Iranian fighter jets have been downed in dogfights with IAF fighters.”

Why today?

Yesterday, it was reported that the top nuclear watchdog, the IAEA Board of Governors, passed a resolution, 19 to 16, that declared Iran in breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It showed Iran to be very close to a nuclear bomb, which Jerusalem found alarming. The Israeli Security Cabinet wasted no time approving the strike early this morning.

Clearly, the plan had been prepared long ago. Just like the pagers that exploded, killing or injuring thousands of terrorists in Hezbollah, everything was in place, including Mossad agents in Iran.

We are finding out today that the Mossad had been inside Iran planning for years. The Times of Israel reported this morning, “[Israel] built a drone base inside Iran and smuggling precision weapons systems and commandos into the country. … Mossad agents set up a drone base on Iranian soil near Tehran. The drones were activated overnight, striking surface-to-surface missile launchers aimed at Israel.”

Grocery Store Stories

In a feeble response, Tehran launched over 100 drones at the Jewish state this morning. By this time, I was in line at the grocery store. For those who have followed us since we moved to Israel, I used to have many stories about the Israeli grocery store. Always an adventure. Elana was going to go, but I offered, foolishly I might add, to go instead. When I arrived, it was a madhouse. There were no carts, and you had to follow somebody with their groceries to their car to get their cart … actually, you would have to walk with them back to where they placed the carts so they could get their five shekel coin back. Some people will give five shekels to the person unloading their groceries. Because I only had a quarter (which is the same size and works), I had to walk back with him.

It took me about 25 minutes before I got a cart, and when I went into the grocery store, it was chaos. Wall-to-wall people—equivalent to Virginia the night before a big snow—but here it snows missiles and rockets. After finding everything I needed, I got into a line that went way back into the aisle. Every checkout area was manned. 

When I got home, I realized I forgot to get toilet paper, and we were almost out. Elana said something about me going back… I won’t tell you how that conversation ended. But our attention turned quickly to our two daughters in Tel Aviv. Danielle lives there, and Sharon is visiting. As soon as they were awake, I told them that I would come and pick them up because Tel Aviv would be targeted, and Danielle does not have a bomb shelter in her apartment.

I was alerted to the hundred drones while I was in the checkout line. Everyone was still being told to stay close to a shelter, but I needed to go get my daughters. When I finally arrived, an all-clear text message was sent out. Israel had easily taken out the Iranian drones long before they ever reached Israeli airspace. And if that wasn’t good enough news, there is a minimart across the street from Danielle’s apartment, and I was able to pick up the much-needed toilet paper.

Trump and Bibi

According to The Independent, President Trump warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call earlier in June, advising against military action while nuclear diplomacy continued. However, the breaking point came when it became clear that Tehran was on the verge of nuclear weapons capability.

President Trump posted on Truth Social today in support of the attack and told the Iranians that they had every chance to avoid it. However, even though the Israeli plan is to continue attacks for several days until we are satisfied that the nuclear program is dead, Trump seemed to indicate that they could still come to the negotiating table.

Israelis are skeptical that the Iranian Regime can be trusted at any level since they have been funding Israel’s destruction for decades. On October 7, a three-prong proxy attack was unleashed against the Jewish nation by Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.

President Trump probably understands that Iran has no plans to negotiate and is simply sharing words for worldwide consumption, while quietly supporting Israel. Saudi Arabia condemned the Israeli attacks: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the blatant Israeli aggressions against the brotherly Islamic Republic of Iran, which undermine its sovereignty and security and constitute a clear violation of international laws and norms.” They have been waiting for this day for a long time, as Iran has been a thorn in their flesh for a long time.

The Effort Continues

The Times of Israel just reported, “According to the IDF, Israeli fighter jets destroyed dozens of missile launchers, storage facilities and additional military sites in recent hours, including a concealed launch system hidden inside shipping containers in western Iran.”

I24 is reporting that the IDF just concluded another round in operation “Rising Lion,” targeting more Iranian nuclear sites.

Shabbat Shalom

This is not the day I had planned. This morning, we were going to Herzliya Beach to be with bereaved families of soldiers who have died in the war. They are part of a group that you, our donors, have supported for the past year. Then we would go to our congregation and dinner. We were going to stay the night in Tel Aviv at our daughters and go to a birthday party of a friend in the morning. But here we are in Ashkelon, stuck. But we’re stuck with two of the most important people in our lives—our daughters, Sharon and Danielle. Not so bad. It would be great if Yael were here too, but we will see her, God willing, in a few weeks.