We must be grateful for the support - but that does not negate our concerns over US policy when our survival is on the line.
By Jonathan Feldstein
I made it a point not to go to sleep knowing what was coming from Iran. After Shabbat, we received the instructions from Israel's Homefront Command that for the next two days, all schools would be closed and Israel's airport and airspace closed.
Jitters in Jerusalem. Anxious hours for the residents in Israel's capital as Jerusalem's night sky was lit up with Iran drones and missiles being intercepted on April 14, 2024.
To be honest, I went into Shabbat (sabbath) nervous that something would happen, particularly that we were near the airport which for sure would be a prime target. Prior to Iran launching hundreds of drones and missiles, the mood of the country was already tense. Then, when we realized what was happening, and that a multitude of missiles were heading our way, people became even more anxious. I didn't fear as much for myself, but the waiting felt like waiting for an execution to take place – our own!!!!!
Counting the Cost. An Israeli police officer and Arab residents inspect the remains of a rocket booster that critically injured a 7-year-old Bedouin girl near Arad in southern Israel after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel. (Photo: Reuters/Christophe van der Perre)
I felt like there was a schizophrenia in the White House that was only emboldening the Islamic regime to act as aggressively as it did. There is no doubt in my mind that President Biden does not want an all-out regional war, and genuinely cares about Israel's safety. While I am grateful to the US for sharing intelligence and leading the way for other nations to join in supporting Israel's defense by taking down some of the incoming Iranian missiles and drones before they arrived in Israeli air space, I cannot escape the sense that it has also facilitated the plight where Israel finds itself today vis-à-vis Iran. In November, the Administration released $10 billion to Iran, providing much needed funds for it to pay for its domestic and global terrorist infrastructure, weapons, incitement, and race toward a nuclear bomb. Just imagine what would have happened last Sunday if Iran was armed with a nuclear arsenal?
"Death to Israel". Shouting slogans, demonstrators in Tehran outside the British Embassy wave Iranian and Palestinian flags in support of Iran launching a massive drone and missile attack on Israel.
While the Administration has "threatened" Iran with tough words like "don't", and that its support for Israel is "ironclad", its further actions tell a different story. These actions inter alia have been notably:
- enabling a damaging UN resolution against Israel
- threatening to withhold essential weapons to Israel
- public displays of friction
In addition to Iran and its proxies in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen who are looking closely to see how much they can get away with, so is the rest of the Arab world which considers Iran no less of a threat. They are watching closely to see how reliable the US - as a friend - really is.
Evaluating Biden's post-Iran attack, there is reason for concern. While the US President did condemn Iran "in the strongest possible terms," his wording in the official White House statement referred to "an unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel." I guess the president must have been snoozing when I was jolted out of bed and sent to a bomb shelter with an attack on my community and hundreds of other communities from large cities to small towns, most definitely not "military facilities".
Intercepting Iran's Missiles. Israel's Iron Dome air defense system in central Israel launches intercepts to take out missiles fired from Iran.
Amid the missiles exploding, I could imagine chuckles in Tehran for was Biden deliberately or foolishly misrepresenting the facts?
Biden also reportedly told the Israeli Prime Minister that the United States would neither participate in nor support offensive actions against Iran. The message regrettably went public which consequently undermined its "ironclad" support to an ally that had just been brazenly attacked. It also sent the wrong message of weakness to Iran and its terrorist proxies. The net result is that it puts Israel, the Arab world, and the rest of the world at even greater risk.
So, while Iran's attack was a failure militarily and we are grateful to the US and the others who played an important role, we are disturbed by these same countries and their leaders warning Israel not to respond for fear it might escalate the situation. The Iranian Islamic regime and its Islamic terrorist proxies now smell opportunity. They calculated that they could launch hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel and get away with it. They may well be right.
In calculating its own response, balanced with the pressure from the US and others, Israel needs to consider whether other nations, if attacked like Israel was, would respond harshly or would they roll over. Israel needs to calculate that even with the successful air defense array it built and now demonstrated, are these defensive weapons sufficient to keep Israel safe?
Again, it's the 'Day After'. While President Joe Biden who is seen here in the White House Situation Room with members of the National Security team during the unfolding missile attacks on Israel from Iran, was quick thereafter to caution Israel against retaliating. (Photo: Adam Schultz/The White House)
Standing strong and defiantly against the Iranian regime and its proxies is the only effective way to achieve peace, to bring moderate Arab states together in an alliance with Israel, and to protect the world. Also, Iranians need the external support so they can take to the streets and end the 45-year tyrannous Islamic regime.
Failure to stand up to the Islamic terrorists emboldens and empowers them.
The afternoon following the attack, I dropped off something for my son and daughter-in-law and my three-year-old grandson was on the couch "reading" a book. When I sat next to him, he said:
"Saba (grandpa), last night we had a siren and I cried."
"Why did you cry," I asked.
"Because I was scared."
So, I told him that:
"Abba (dad), Saba and Savta (grandma) had a siren too," and then he went back to his book, as if everything is normal. He's young enough that he may forget this, but if it escalates, perhaps not. Then again, I feel better about dealing with the threat now even with the trauma, rather than kicking the can down the road for his generation.
If we can even wait that long!
About the writer:
Jonathan Feldstein - President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians - is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Jornal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
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