I am usually not an alarmist, but given what has occurred this week in Beirut and Teheran, and then Israel’s peculiar timing of piling on with an official declaration of last month’s killing of Hamas leader Muhammed Deif, followed by unusually bellicose statements by Iranian and Hezbollah leaders, something is likely to happen this weekend. Last April, Iran shot 300 missiles and clued everyone in ahead of time. This time it could be much worse. This is not a drill.
The decapitation of Hamas and Hezbollah leadership, while arguably deserved, will not go without a response from Iran and its proxies. This game of tit for tat is becoming increasingly dangerous, unpredictable and unhinged. See below an account of how dire that response could become. Hillel Fuld’s tweet might actually be an understatement. I pasted it here even though I don’t agree with some of his points; but I share his anxiety.
On the positive side, Israel now has the pretense to declare victory and finally negotiate that ceasefire and hostage deal. But this messianic government can not be expected to show such a spasm of sanity. Elections have never been more urgent. New surveys show that Israelis increasingly do not trust their government. President Biden has sent reinforcements to the region to help, once again, and reportedly raised his voice at Netanyahu, telling him in no uncertain terms to get back to the ceasefire talks.
All we can do is prepare - and pray. And hope that none of the attackers, be they missiles, drones or people, get through. Pray for Israeli athletes in Paris too, and for all of us.
Listen to David Burgur’s Prayer for the State of Israel chanted by Ha-Zamir. And pray that the wilderness journey recounted in this week’s Torah portion of Matot-Ma-asay, will end for all the peoples of the Middle East as it did for the ancient Israelites: in peace.
Shabbat shalom.
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