No, last night was not Hanukkah. It was a night in the life of Israel. Truly, last night was quite surrealistic. After the television news media informed about the launch of missiles from Iran towards Israel, most of the country sat up and waited for the missiles to arrive. The announcement of the launch was said to be of “suicide attack drones”, but that statement was soon followed by another one saying that a second launch would follow with ballistic missiles and then, finally, by a third launch of cruise missiles. The threat was such a major concern that once the news of the first launch was announced, it was enough to cause the dispersion of the crowds that gathered for one of the major, nightly demonstrations against the present government and their unceasing call for an immediate deal to release the hostages being held by Hamas, whatever may be the price that Israel will be requested to pay.

“There’s nothing like a dose of existential dread to turn the People of the Book into the People of the Meme.” In typical Israeli fashion, once they are confined to their homes, they seek to alleviate the emotional pressure by posting different forms of humor over the internet. Last night, they included poems, limericks, drawings of Mullahs on missile-driven Persian carpets and a straight-forward announcement that the missiles were the “First direct flights to Israel from Iran since 1979”, as posted by British Journalist Matthew Kalman on Facebook.

The different types of missiles were given different names, as if one was ordering a food delivery from a restaurant and listing alongside estimated delivery times, ranging from 12 minutes to 2 hours to 12 hours, depending on the type of “delivery” to be anticipated. The first expected to arrive was the ballistic missiles, while the last to be expected was the “suicide attack drones”, with the cruise missiles making the journey in only about two hours. These extended time periods (except for the ballistic missiles) allowed time to organize both a ground and aerial defense. To their credit, television news teams remained at their posts, reporting on areas of the heaviest missile traffic and on-the-scene photo-journalism that captured the tracking, intercepting and downing of some 350 Iranian missiles having a combined weight of close to 50 tons of explosive material. Sirens blared as the night sky was lit up and the in-coming missiles were tracked and eliminated by a combination of Israel’s Iron-Dome Defense System, David’s Sling anti-missile system, the Israeli Air Force and Fighter Jets from the United States, the United Kingdom, Jordan, France and others. By mid-morning, an assessment was made that some 99% of all of the missiles were destroyed, which was confirmed by the IDF Spokesman and that no drones or cruise missiles entered Israeli airspace . A 7-year-old girl suffered serious shrapnel injuries, but there were no other reports of physical injury. No matter how ones looks at it, a great miracle happened here last night.

The areas of “Red Alert” sirens are shown in the attached photo.

Also attached is a photo of an Iranian ballistic missile that was shot down. It has a range of 1,700 kilometers, carries an explosive warhead of 750 kilograms (1,650 pounds) and is accurate to within 50 meters.

Iran claims that only “strategic areas” were targeted, including the F-35 (Phantom Jet) Air Force Base, in southern Israel, which suffered minimal damage and continues to function as usual. But, despite its claims, it is clear that its missiles were also directed at civilian locations, as air-raid alarms were set off through most of the center and eastern areas of the country.

Iran’s attack on Israel was widely condemned, including by G7 leaders, who said: “With its actions, Iran has further stepped toward the destabilization of the region and risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation. This must be avoided.” While Israel is the last country that would want to cause “regional escalation”, the events of last night cannot be ignored, particularly in its dealings with a soon-to-be nuclear powered Iran. 

Following last night’s missile attack against Israel, which was a military failure and an embarrassment to the Iranian regime, it became necessary for Iran to fabricate a success story in a blatant effort to “save face” in the Middle East and, particularly, vis-a-vis its proxies in the region. As reported by Iran International : “In the face of the humiliating failure of Iran’s first ever direct hit on Israel, Hossein Salami, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard chief commander, also alleged that the attack had been a success ‘beyond expectations’.” Iran also claimed that it has evened the score for the alleged Israel air strike on the Israeli consulate in Damascus at the beginning of the month that killed a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. 

The Guardian reports that: The chief of the general staff, Gen Mohammad Bagheri, claimed that an Israeli intelligence centre close to the Syrian border and an airbase had been destroyed ‘to a significant extent and put out of operation…We see this operation as a result, and in our opinion, as over and there is no intention to continue it, and if the Zionist regime takes action against us, either on our soil or in the centres belonging to us in Syria, or another country does, our next operation will be bigger’. He said the operation could have been 10 times larger.” The threat contained in these statements is that any action against Iran or Iranian personnel or interests in the Middle East will result in a far-greater Iranian military response. This is intended not only as a warning against Israel, but against the U.S. and any U.S. or Israel-military ally. So, far from being over, the events of last night are actually an attempt by Iran to flex its military muscles and to try to maintain “face” in this region and towards other Shiite entities. It needs to be remembered that in this region, if one is not emphatically shown to have lost, then he is considered to have won.

Israel needs to be careful and not be carried away by its achievements in the missile attack against it. Nor should it deceive itself into thinking that it has achieved a strategic “win” over Iran, but needs to exercise wisdom, discernment and patience in analyzing yesterday’s events and outline her actions for the immediate and not-too-distant future. In this regard, the Op-Ed of David Horowitz, appearing today in The Times of Israel, is helpful and provides eight insights into the events of Iran’s missile attack upon Israel and how Israel should deal with it. The article is a worthwhile read.

For the time being, this was the day that was.

We are thankful for answered prayer and continue to encourage you to bless, be blessed and be a blessing.

Have a great week.

Marvin