Israel's response to Iran: Blowing up military installations or destroying from within?

• Published date: 19 April 2024
• Author: HERB KEINON
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

This poem chronicles 13 miracles that befell the Jewish people at midnight. Were that poem to be written today, some might argue that what happened last Saturday night at around midnight – the sensational swatting out of the heavens of more than 300 Iranian drones and missiles aimed to kill, maim, and wreak havoc on the Jewish state – would be a good candidate for inclusion

A night that felt surreal for all

While people may debate whether what happened that night was a miracle of the divine or technological variety – or both – most will agree that the night felt surreal. Part of the reason for this was that we were all watching it unfold in real time.

It was simply bizarre, sitting at home and tracking on television the projectiles flying in your direction designed to kill you and your family. It was like watching a bullet – with an estimated time of arrival – coming at you and leaving you to wonder if, when, and how Superman would be able to divert its trajectory.

No less astounding was the fact that in this particular case, in addition to the IDF intercepting the drones and missiles, so, too, did forces from the US, Britain, France, and Jordan. Yes, even Jordan, a country whose antipathy toward Israel has been on full display since October 7.

And the astonishing developments did not stop there.

Israelis woke up bleary-eyed Sunday morning, relieved that their cities had not been destroyed, and also amazed that the international community, which 24 hours earlier seemed to have turned its back on the Jewish state because of the war in Gaza, now showered it with support.

"Israel alone," thundered the front page of The Economist only three weeks ago with a headline that did not age well.

Israel's journey in seemingly no time flat from being castigated and vilified for defending itself by waging a war in Gaza during which – as in all wars – there are civilian casualties, to receiving words of support from all over the world was a whiplash-inducing flip-flop.

As the provocative title to Dara Horn's 2021 book People Love Dead Jews hints, the world sympathizes with Israel and Jews when they are attacked; it's just when the Jews go on the attack to defend themselves that the world's support wanes.

That, too, became apparent as the outpouring of support from around the world following the Iranian barrage was accompanied by entreaties by our closest friends, including those who came to our defense, to "take the win" and not react in kind. In other words: turn the...