The day we have been waiting for arrived. More than a decade after warnings about the need to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon began, Israel was finally forced to take action to ensure that this would not happen. The world has had many, many opportunities to avoid this action yet continued to believe in old, failed policies when it comes to the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world.
As Iran was reported to be days away from having enough refined nuclear material to make 12-15 nuclear bombs and the 60 day deadline given to Iran from President Trump passed, Israel could no longer wait. In a daring attack, planned for the past 20 years, Israel did truly amazing things. The Mossad secretly built capabilities inside Iran aimed at damaging Iran’s strategic missile array and air defense systems. Mossad agents smuggled large quantities of specialized weaponry into Iran, deployed them across the country, and launched them at targets with precision and effectiveness. What Israel has publicly disclosed includes:
1. Commando Units: Mossad commando teams deployed precision-guided weapon systems in open areas near Iranian surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites to disrupt Iranian attempts to down Israeli aircraft.
2. Vehicle-Based Technology: Sophisticated technologies were installed on vehicles. At the start of the surprise attack, the weapons were launched and completely destroyed targeted Iranian defense systems.
3. Drone Base: Mossad established an explosive drone base inside Iran, which launched attacks on surface-to-surface missile launchers at the Aspehbad base near Tehran—launchers considered a strategic and civilian threat to Israel.
The Iranian military leadership has been decimated with more than 20 of their key military leaders assassinated in the inital attack with additional military leaders eliminated in the next two days. They are in shambles and what is left are sending drones and firing ballistic missiles at Israel.
Key nuclear scientists who were building the nuclear weapons for Iran were also eliminated. This included top nuclear scientists Fereydoon Abbasi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and a former member of the Iranian parliament who had conducted nuclear research at the defense ministry and Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi, a theoretical physicist, the president of the Islamic Azad University of Iran, and somebody who was on the US Department’s Entity List of actors “acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests.” Four other top scientists developing Iranian nuclear weapons were killed. Two Iranian nuclear sites have been decimated. Iran’s efforts to gain a nuclear weapon have been set back years, if not longer.
Iran has responded by firing more than 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. Most have been shot down but there have been strikes that landed, killing civilians. Imagine this happening to us in the United States. Ballistic missiles coming at New York, Chicago, LA, Miami and Washington DC. This is what Israel is facing.
Ave in Chicago, or Beverly Hills
I have many friends and family in Israel. As I talk with them regularly, some are in their ‘safe room’ that has become the family bedroom. Some have been traveling and are now stranded in the United States, Europe, or other locations. They are all worried. We are all worried. One of the leaders at Dror Israel, a client of mine doing amazing work with children and families in Israel, wrote to us, sharing what they are going through. It’s a harrowing description. It broke my heart. It also reminded me what Iran must be defeated, why we must always fight to eliminate evil. I’ve watched her endure a year of daily rockets being fired from Hezbollah towards the north of Israel. I’ve seen the stress, worry, and concern every day. It must stop. The only way it will stop, is to defeat the Iranian regime and return Iran to its people. With her permission, I have posted her note below.
Dear friends,
Dror Israel Educator
I’ve never wrote you an email on Shabbat morning. But this Shabbat feels nothing like Shabbat…
Over the past two days, Israel has entered a state of war with Iran. The situation is still unclear and unpredictable, and we don’t yet know how long this reality will last.
I wanted to share a personal update with you.
On Thursday, June 12, my sisters and I flew to Athens for a weekend with our parents, who are spending three months in Greece. We were excited—this was our first trip together as a nuclear family in 30 years, just the five of us, without partners or children.
At 3:00 a.m. on Friday, we were awakened by alerts from the Israeli Home Front Command on our phones—because even abroad, Israelis remain deeply connected to what’s happening back home. Slowly, we began to grasp the severity of the situation. Since then, all flights to and from Israel have been canceled, the airport is closed, and we have no idea when we’ll be able to return.
For those of you who know my partner and our son: they are safe. At 4:00 a.m. on Friday, they drove to Kiryat Motzkin because being alone at home was too frightening. Both of them have been experiencing post-trauma following the recent escalation in the north, and she was especially anxious to be alone during such a tense time. They are now staying with her parents and will remain there for the time being.
Meanwhile, at 8:30 p.m. on Friday evening, my parents’ building in Tel Aviv was hit directly by an Iranian missile. The damage is extensive. We feel incredibly lucky that my parents weren’t there. On most Friday nights at that hour, our entire extended family gathers in their home. We can’t begin to imagine what might have happened. The building was fully evacuated to hotels, and residents cannot return—not even to assess the extent of the destruction.
In times like these, I’m proud to be part of Dror Israel. Over the past two weeks, and even more so in the last six months, we’ve worked hard to prepare our communities for moments like these. Many teenagers, members of our youth movement are now running programs in their local bomb shelters, arriving with emergency activity kits, and helping to calm and support children and neighbors around them. Thanks to major efforts in recent months, Arab communities across the country are now much better prepared—signs were printed, videos were distributed, and people are more aware and equipped to protect themselves, more educated about the recomandations of the home front commend.
In the coming days, Dror Israel will reassess the situation and continue doing everything possible to support, calm, and educate our communities.
I hope we’ll be able to return home soon. It is incredibly difficult to be far away at a time like this. Outside, everything looks like paradise—blue seas, white beaches. But inside, it’s worry, helplessness, and fear.
I feel deeply grateful for the messages of concern I’ve received from friends, supporters, and partners throughout the U.S. and the U.K. Your care means more than you can imagine.
Praying for quieter days
What has amazed me is not the brilliance of Israel’s attack on Iran. It’s not the resilience of the Israeli people who are enduring the indiscriminant ballistic missile attacks. It isn’t the success of the attack and the potential for regime change, making the world safe. What amazes me is the people, both Jewish and non-Jewish, who are defending IRAN! The people who argue publicly that the attack was unprovoked, even after Iran has had two prior attacks of Israel with ballistic missiles. Even after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) formally found Iran non-compliant with its nuclear obligations. Evan after Israel presented proof to the United States and many other countries of the enrichment capabilities and how close they were to obtaining nuclear weapons, so convincing that none who have seen it have done anything but support Israel.
The worst of those Jews who so hate Netanyahu and are so out of touch with reality that they would rather defend Iran, a regime dedicated to their destruction, than acknowledge how Israel has just made the world incredibly safer at her own peril. They would rather defend a regime that is committed to their murder than give Israel credit for doing what had to be done. I find myself lost and truly understanding the sin of Sinat Hinam (baseless hatred).
I was sent a powerful video clip of an Iranian Jew this week, not only reminding me that while ‘it starts with the Jews but never ends with the Jews’, but also reminding me of how the Iranian regime came to power. It was the radical Islamists partnering with college students who, in 1979, overthrew the Shah and installed this theocratic government that has continued to abuse and terrorize the Iranian people. As I listened, I thought about what we have seen on college campuses and the influence of radicals who drive their agenda and create chaos. Listen, think, and learn.
We live in challenging times. I spent this weekend in Central Illinois, hanging out with a group of friends. It’s an annual gathering. We spent time talking not only about Israel, Iran, October 7th and the war in Gaza but also about where we are as a country. After talking about how broken our system is and how both political parties are controlled by the extremes, one of my friends said, “I almost feel like I have to choose a side, even if I hate them both.” I challenged him that there is a third option. We can demand better. We can push and fight and argue for normalcy. For kindness. To allow people to live their lives especially when it doesn’t impact us in any way shape or form. Love who you love. Use the pronouns that you want to use. Give me grace if I make a mistake. I reached out to a friend of Iranian descent who still has family in Iran to check on her and her family. Because that’s what friends do. I had an online debate with a friend where we very much much disagreed. I made sure to tell them that despite our different views, I still loved them.
These are challenging times. There are many people struggling. Many people living in fear. It’s a dangerous time. From the story of my friend that I shared to those who have lost loved ones in the attacks by Iran, from those stranded both inside and outside Israel who can’t get home to those scared to leave their homes for fear of what might happen to them, and for the hostages in Gaza, who we must always remember until they are back home, the world is not a nice place right now. The least we can do is be kind. That kindness makes a difference. As we wait to see what happens in the war between Israel and Iran, remember that while we cannot control that, we can control if we choose to be kind.
keithdblog 