IDF advises public to stay calm amid possible Iran threat

Israel‘s civilians need not take dramatic new precautions against the prospect of a major retaliatory attack from Iran, according to a senior Israel Defense Forces official.

“There is no need to buy generators, store food and withdraw money from ATMs,” IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari wrote on social media. “As we have done until today, we will immediately update any change if it is in an official and orderly manner.”

Hagari aired that appeal in conjunction with another IDF announcement that “leave will be temporarily paused for all IDF combat units.” Israeli forces are bracing for a range of possible attacks from Tehran, as Iranian officials have signaled that they will punish Israel for killing a group of senior Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps officials at an Iranian diplomatic facility in Syria.

“They will of course receive a slap in the face for this move,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday, per Iran’s PressTV. “The Zionist regime’s defeat in Gaza will continue and this regime will approach demise and collapse.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu countered that Israel can act “defensively and offensively” against Iranian threats.

“Iran has been acting against us for years — directly and via proxies. And, therefore, Israel acts against Iran and its proxies — defensively and offensively,” the prime minister said before a Cabinet meeting. “We will know how to defend ourselves, and we will act according to the simple principle: that those who harm us or plan to harm us, we will harm.”

The prospect of a more direct clash between Israel and Iran has added a dangerous new dynamic to a region that has been on tenterhooks since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack that ignited the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

“I have told you more than once that it is not certain that the worst is behind us, and we have complex days ahead of us,”  IDF Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, a top intelligence official, told IDF officials this week.

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The preparations for Iran’s response are underway as Israel faces intense diplomatic backlash from President Joe Biden and other Western governments outraged by an IDF air strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy. Biden demanded that Netanyahu take “a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps” or risk a loss of U.S. support.

“The two leaders also discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. “President Biden reaffirmed the United States strong support for Israel in the face of these threats and our commitment to Israel’s security.”