A sense of normality is gradually returning to Israel, even as large-scale Israeli-American attacks on Iran show no sign of abating, and as Israel expands its air bombardment and ground invasion of Lebanon in its offensive against the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. Six days on, as the intensity of the Iranian retaliation has diminished, measures that banned gatherings and closed shops and offices are being relaxed. Air raid alerts still sound, sending people across the country to shelters.
Chaya Dekel, who is in her 70s, said she had lost count of the many wars she had seen. She was tired, but defended the war as Iran "didn't want peace." "We're living here, with hope that there will be an end," she said. "Everybody in Israel hopes we'll live in peace with our people and our neighbours." Support for the war is strong in this country: a poll released by the Israel Democracy Institute on Wednesday suggested that 93% of the Jewish public were in favour of it, compared with 26% among Israeli Arabs.
Prof Tamar Hermann, a senior research fellow who helped carry out the survey, said this is "actually a consensus." "Even during the last campaign against Iran, we didn't have such high numbers," she said. One of the reasons behind that, she said, was the fact that the damage in Israel from Iran's retaliatory strikes had been "very, very limited." This is due to Israel's sophisticated air defences—a multi-layered system of protection that, according to officials, has intercepted between 80% to 90% of the projectiles fired at the country in this war. So far, the attacks have killed 10 people across Israel.
Another factor, Prof Hermann said, was that public trust in the military and the intelligence services has recovered after the security failures that led to the attacks on 7 October 2023 led by Hamas—one of the militant groups in the region that Iran has supported to form a so-called "ring of fire" around Israel. But, crucially, there is also unity over the Iranian issue which, for decades, has been framed by many as an "existential threat." That includes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister and the leader of the most right-wing government in the country's history, ordered an attack on Iran last June that significantly damaged its nuclear and military capabilities. The US eventually joined the conflict, which became known as the 12-Day War. The campaign was celebrated as a success in Israel, helping boost domestic support for the army. However, neither Trump nor Netanyahu has clearly laid out what imminent threat Iran presented which required the use of military force or what their objectives were of this latest war, which Iran says is illegal and unjustified. Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, have publicly said they hope it could lead to regime change in Iran.
Source: www.bbc.com