Israel’s ‘resilience being tested’ as civilians wait for Iran’s attack

Israeli military forces must prepare for “a swift transition to offense” against Iran, according to Israel’s top defense official, amid an anxious wait for an expected attack from Tehran.

“Our enemies are carefully considering their every move because of the capabilities you have demonstrated over the past year,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Israeli Air Force officials. “Nevertheless, we must be prepared for anything — including a swift transition to offense.”

Gallant issued that exhortation as Israeli civilians brace for Iran’s response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. His assassination in the Iranian capital last week set the stage for a possible retaliatory strike from Iran, just months after a massive but largely unsuccessful missile barrage marked the first-ever direct attack on Israel from Iranian territory.

“Our response will come at a time and place of our choosing,” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Hossein Salami said on Monday. “When Israel feels the impact of our strike, it will understand the gravity of its miscalculation.”

As Iranian officials mull their response, the United States and other regional power players have scrambled to prepare for attacks while seeking to persuade Tehran to avoid the kind of strike that would result in a larger retaliation from Israel. Jordan’s foreign minister, for instance, visited Iran on Sunday, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized “the urgent need for de-escalation in the Middle East” in a conversation with his counterparts across the G7 — a bloc of the seven largest industrialized democracies in the world.

“Iran and its detractors seek to surround us with a stranglehold of terror. We are determined to stand against them on every front and in every arena — far and near,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. “Anyone who hurts us will pay a very heavy price.”

Those bold comments did not forestall an attack from a domestic political rival, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, who protested that “there is no deterrence and there is no government” 10 months into a war that began with the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas, an Iran-backed proxy. As Israel countered with a large-scale invasion of Gaza, a campaign complicated by Hamas’s custody of scores of Israeli hostages, another Iranian proxy, Lebanese Hezbollah, intensified its cross-border shelling of northern Israel, prompting Israeli defense officials to order the evacuation of the region.

“Is this the new standard that the residents of the north will not receive even a hint from the government as to when they can go home?” Lapid said on Monday. “The new standard is that young parents don’t go to a public park because it’s far from a shelter. Foreign airlines don’t want to fly here, because there’s no one to trust here. Everyone waits and waits and doesn’t know what they’re waiting for.”

Lapid is one of the key figures in Netanyahu’s short-lived ouster from the prime minister’s office from 2021 to 2022. Israeli officials reportedly expect Iran and Hezbollah to launch a series of barrages “over several days” in a bid to overwhelm the Jewish state’s air defenses.

“They’ll just try to wear us out,” an Israeli official told NBC.

That looming prospect has increased the strain on an Israeli society riven by anger over the security failures made manifest on Oct. 7 and the failure to finalize a deal that would secure the release of the remaining hostages.

“Our national resilience is being tested, and we all feel that internal tensions and polarization are growing, precisely when we can afford it least,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said. “I call on public leaders to calm the situation, exercise restraint, refrain from crossing red lines, and protect our social fabric and solidarity.”

Netanyahu is reportedly exploring his options to fire Gallant. It’s a dicey political proposition, as demonstrated by the fact that he tried to fire him in the midst of a 2023 dispute over a controversial draft bill that would alter the balance of power between the judiciary and the legislature but had to withdraw the order due to domestic backlash. 

“Is it acceptable to you that for five days, an entire country has been sitting and waiting to be bombed?” Lapid said. “This government will fall when the Knesset returns from the most unnecessary and wretched recess in the country’s history.”