Since our move from Albany to Jerusalem 24 years ago, this week has been the most challenging time we have faced. The impact of the current conflict is felt throughout the entire country, making every war in Israel, including in Gaza, personal.
During the weekend, we were in Tel Aviv, staying at our son’s apartment. On Saturday morning, my wife woke me up to inform me that missile sirens were blaring. We took shelter in the building’s staircase, as there was no bomb shelter available, and we had to do this three times that day. In the evening, our daughter, who had just returned from a vacation overseas, drove from her boyfriend’s house up north to pick us up. We left at 7 p.m. and, shortly after at 8 p.m., a bomb fell just 200 meters from our apartment’s front door, injuring several people.
Our daughter serves as a lieutenant in the army. Normally, she oversees soldiers who conduct interviews with high school students as they receive their draft notices. However, her unit of 50 soldiers is now responsible for organizing and attending military funerals, handling everything from flowers to carrying the caskets. She recently arrived home this morning after a strenuous 36-hour shift, seeking some rest.
As she approached our front door, she messaged us on our family WhatsApp group, asking where everyone was. We were in the basement bomb shelter of our building because Jerusalem had also been targeted by incoming rockets. Thankfully, the rockets either fell without causing harm or were intercepted by the Iron Dome system.
On her way into the building, our daughter encountered a young man who lives upstairs. He had been at an all-night party in the southern Israeli desert where over 250 young people were killed, and others, including him, were taken hostage by militants in Gaza. He hid for hours, and his parents couldn’t reach him for an entire day. Although traumatized, he managed to make it home safely.
I could share countless stories like this one. Each of our friends has had one or more children called up for reserve duty. For example, my cousin, who just turned 40 and has three young kids, is currently stationed at a base in the north, monitoring Hezbollah activities. Also, my wife’s cousin’s son was wounded in his leg by shrapnel yesterday and is now recovering at home after a day in the hospital. Unfortunately, his sister’s wedding scheduled for this week had to be canceled. Our daughter’s friends and boyfriends will also be on the front lines. I even had the opportunity to drive a reserve soldier to his base in the south. Afterward, we planned to play guitar together, but there were hundreds of reserve soldiers reporting for duty. Each one of them has a unique story to share.
When I say that every war in Israel is personal, this is what I mean. The current situation has stemmed from the most significant intelligence failure in the history of our country. It surpasses even the events of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which did not involve an invasion of the home front. It’s worth noting that the Hamas invasion did not occur in settlements beyond the Green Line but in kibbutzim and small villages within Israeli territory near the Gaza border. Entire families have been wiped out, and numerous people have been taken as hostages. Our government will undoubtedly face severe consequences for this failure once the conflict ends.
Gazans, both those celebrating and those condemning this action, will also bear a heavy burden. Israel’s response is expected to leave much of Gaza devastated. It is likely that Hamas’ leadership will not survive. There will be significant costs and consequences.
While Israel has made mistakes in managing the Israeli-Palestinian situation, leading to much suffering, this war is not solely about the Israelis living in the West Bank. Its objective is to eradicate the Jewish presence in this region, as stated by the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah. Despite this, there are thousands, if not millions, of Palestinians who would support coexisting in a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Some individuals in Gaza harbor similar hopes. I have had the opportunity to work with and know young Palestinians who desire peace and democracy. There are also those who envision a binational state.
However, the current conflict does not involve these individuals advocating for peace. Unfortunately, those young people who long for peace lack political power. Hamas has dispatched approximately 800 trained and armed fighters, fully aware that they were likely to perish in the process. Most of them have, as they stormed Israeli towns, broke into homes, and took people, including seniors, adults, and children, as human shields and bargaining chips to complicate negotiations and cease-fire arrangements.
This war will undoubtedly bring significant changes to the region, although the extent remains uncertain. Could it sabotage the Israel-Saudi talks? That is certainly one of its objectives. Will it trigger an uprising in the West Bank and East Jerusalem? So far, it hasn’t. Will Arab political leaders risk jeopardizing their improving relationships with Israel and the West for the sake of the Palestinians? Probably not, but nobody knows for sure.
For now, we are personally safe and know how to protect ourselves. Hamas doesn’t want to unintentionally damage the Dome of the Rock, which is less than three miles away from our home, with its unguided rockets. Combat soldiers have been stationed near us at our community center. Nevertheless, we will all experience trauma, and most likely, we will all lose someone we know or are related to.
Peace will not emerge from this war. Its ending will be different from previous rocket exchanges that maintained the “status quo.” I have often stated in my lectures and writing that there is no such thing as a status quo in this region, and unfortunately, I have been proven right.
Alan D. Abbey, a former executive business editor at the Times Union, is a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. He lives in Jerusalem, Israel, with his family.
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