War, more war and no diplomacy in sight

RISING DEATH TOLL: Rising death toll: the death toll from Iranian strikes on Israel, overnight into Sunday has risen to 10. This adds to three people previously killed in Israel and at least 78 killed in Iran during the recent flare-up of hostilities, as reported by authorities in each country., NO END IN SIGHT: Israel’s operation against Iran is expected to take “weeks, not days” and is moving forward with implicit US approval. (CNN, Sunday, June 15, 2025)

On Friday morning June 13^th, at 3am, the citizens of Israel were awakened with very loud sirens and announcements of “an emergency situation”. We were not being attacked. Rather, our Air Force was attacking Iran, and we had to be ready for retaliation from Iran, which would actually only come many hours later. Some of us went back to sleep, others watched the news to try to understand what was happening.

During the day on Friday, we went food and medicine shopping to prepare somewhat for the unclear days ahead, when, we were told, we would need to stay close to our safe spaces. Not to go far, everything was closing anyway, including the airport. It is now closed and the pariah state of Israel is completely closed off from the outside world.

On Friday night, during shabbat dinner, ballistic missiles arrived from Iran and we had to go into our safe room twice during dinner. Later that night, there were two more rounds of attacks and we went into our safe rooms again.

When we woke up on Saturday morning, we learned that 3 people in the Tel Aviv area were killed and 77 injured from Iranian missiles which slipped through our mostly excellent air defenses.

Last night’s damage was even worse. Several people were killed, dozens were injured, one building is collapsing, and several people are under the rubble.

In the meantime, the Israeli Air Force is continuing to attack sites in Teheran and other Iranian cities, in retaliation for the retaliation. And on and on it goes, as the conflict between Israel (and the USA) and Iran escalates. Where it will end, when it will end or how it will end, no one really knows.

In the meantime, we are on lockdown in Israel, in another “war emergency”, this time initiated by Israel, as a so-called “pre-emptive attack” (to remind us of the golden days of the pre-emptive strikes on the Arab air forces in June 1967, at the beginning of the Six Day War). No synagogues are open, no schools, nothing (except for vital things, like hospitals and supermarkets). We are told to stay close to home, close to our safe rooms, for those of us who have them, or close to our public shelters, for those who have them (for the record, most Israeli Arabs do not have safe rooms in their homes,  nor do they have enough public shelters in their cities, towns and villages).

We are at war again! Hooray for us!  Many of the citizens of Israel, pundits on radio and television, and right-wing and centrist politicians are happy and even exhilarated.  We have the best Air Force in the world. We are fighting a just war with Iran. Our little country of 10 million people will defeat this regional power of 85 million people. We will topple the regime in Iran! Maybe we will even bring back the shah or his son, since, like the USA, we love friendly dictators.

Like the renewal of the war with Hamas, which the state of Israel initiated in March of this year, killing and injuring thousands of Palestinians since then, and starving most of them, this war is supposedly necessary at this precise moment in time.  But now that we are at war with Iran, Bibi wants us to forget about Gaza!  We are expected to even forget about the 53 hostages still remaining in Gaza. War is more important than redeeming hostages, even if we have no exit strategy for the war in Gaza, even if it were to end one day, which is not the plan of the government. Rather, the plan of the government is military occupation, like in the West Bank.

What is the policy of this government now? Very simple: war, more war and then even more, all the way to “total victory”, with no end in sight. There is no diplomatic strategy. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Diplomacy is for weaklings and sissies. It is not the way of Ben Gvir, Smotrich and the fanatic ultra “religious” and ultra-nationalist right-wing government, led by Netanyahu, who is their stooge by now.

Where will this war strategy lead us? To more wars! According to Bibi, we are now fighting a war on 8 fronts. Bibi and his partners love to boast about this. It excites them, gets their juices flowing, and keeps them in power!

Some here are already saying that these attacks on Iran are essential first steps in Bibi’s election campaign! Just as he has kept the war with Gaza going, against the will of most of the people in Israel, and many of the security experts, and certainly of all the families of the hostages. Bibi will stop at nothing to remain in power, to avoid his trial.

Just a few days ago, on Wednesday night of last week, he reached a political agreement with the ultra-Orthodox political parties who were ready to bolt the government, as it were, if the law was actually enforced to draft their young men, or if a law was not passed to prevent this. In another scandalous and shocking last minute “arrangement”, he delayed the beginning of the dissolution of his reckless, warmongering, and irresponsible government. Nevertheless, for a variety of reasons, it looks like we will have elections in Israel at the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026 (and not in October 2026, at the end of a full term of this government).

Let it be clear to everyone. This is a government in Israel which only knows war and military force. They don’t believe in or speak of peace, in any way, shape or form. The American government at least talks about peace sometimes, even if they have no idea how to get there. But now, they are being dragged into a war with Iran that they didn’t want.

The current government of Israel rejects  diplomacy which might prevent war. The Trump administration was trying to negotiate with Iran, to prevent war. But Bibi didn’t like this, so he twisted Trump’s arm (again!) and apparently persuaded him and his partners to give the orange light to this war against Iran. Those who thought that Trump would control Bibi, prevent him from going to war against Iran, or prevent him from violating the agreement with Hamas (via mediators) in March, relaunch the war and abandon the hostages, were apparently naïve or just plain wrong.

The people of Israel are exhausted from Bibi’s endless wars. There is great anxiety here since we are already beginning to see the heavy costs of this war to the home front. We are now confronted with nightly attacks from Iran, that kill people and destroy property, every night. We rush to our safe rooms, take a deep breath and hope for the best. But the government continues to deliver the worst! The Bibi/ Ben Gvir/Smotrich wars are leading us nowhere, except closer and closer to the abyss, to a situation of despair, in which there is little hope for a better future. Many of us are trying desperately to resist this despair, to somehow keep hope alive, but others are simply fleeing the country.

There is another way– a way of peace, of dialogue, negotiations, reconciliation and rational strategic planning. This is not the way of the current fanatic government. Only a new government can find another way.

“Seek peace and pursue it” – בַּקֵּשׁ שָלוֹם וְרָדְפֵהוּ   (Psalms 34:15)