Some God

For the second time in six months, Iran fired missiles at Israel.

Tuesday’s barrage, which the IDF unironically criticized for endangering millions of civilians, came as Israeli troops entered Lebanon for what the military described as “limited” raids on Hezbollah infrastructure.

The IRGC cited the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last week and the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, in July, as justification for the missile volley which, like the last one, had virtually no chance of doing any serious damage. The Pentagon announced Iran’s intentions hours in advance, as did the IDF. Lloyd Austin said US assets in the region were “well-postured” for any eventuality.

“The air defense system is fully operational,” Daniel Hagari told Israeli citizens, moments before Iran’s hapless retribution arrived. “You may hear explosions, which could be the result of interceptions or impacts.” To the shelters you go. Or under a freeway. Put your trust in God. And in the Dome. God bless this Dome.

On-the-ground reports from Tel Aviv described a discernible difference in the nature of the thunder. As one Washington Post reporter put it, “[these] sound like heavy warheads exploding — very different from the more familiar sound of air defenses intercepting Palestinian rockets.”

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris — or perhaps I should say Kamala Harris and Joe Biden — watched from the Situation Room. The White House ordered the US military to “shoot down missiles targeting Israel.” Again, the only way Iran was going to do any real damage was by accident. The same was true on April 13 when, after nearly two weeks of deliberations, the regime finally got around to “avenging” Mohamad Reza Zahedi, a uniformed IRGC officer who ran the Quds’ operations in Lebanon. He was killed along with seven of his deputies in a brazen IDF strike on Iran’s diplomatic compound in Damascus.

In Beirut on Tuesday, militants who’d be advised to stay out of sight lest they should be carbonized where they stand, fired celebratory gunshots when the IRGC announced the missile launch. In Tehran, locals shouted about how great God surely is.

Do note: Most everyone on every side of this insanity spent Tuesday praying. For the lives of their own families. For the death of someone else’s. For it all to stop. And for all manner of other things, besides. Never does it occur to either side that this might not be god’s work or will. That this “bloody inanity,” as I called it a few weeks back, is the handy work of god’s greatest mistake. And that stopping it is as simple as… well, as stopping it.

Initial reports suggested no one was killed in Israel Tuesday, although the IDF cautioned they were still assessing the situation. By contrast, lots of people were killed in Gaza and Lebanon. And three in Syria, including a TV anchor, now that you mention it. Israel and the US downed all, or at least most, of the Iranian missiles which posed a threat to Israeli population centers. That said, video shot from a hotel in Tel Aviv underscored the proximity and, in some respects, the reality, of the threat. Some of Iran’s missiles did make it through, even if they fell harmlessly on depopulated areas between the river and the sea.

Hagari was a voice over for the entire episode. He narrated it for Israelis from start to finish, almost in real-time. When it was over, he promised “consequences” for Iran. “We have plans,” he said. “We will act in the time and place we decide.” Bezalel Smotrich was… well, he was Bezalel Smotrich. “Like Gaza, Hezbollah and the state of Lebanon, Iran will regret this,” he fumed.

The regime in Tehran — which is by now facing a kind of checkmate where the Guards have to choose between humiliation and giving the IDF an excuse — offered the customary overwrought bombast. “Should the Zionist regime dare to respond or commit further acts of malevolence, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue,” Iran’s UN mission shrieked, sounding every bit like a KCNA broadcast.

There were multiple casualties in Israel Tuesday. Just not from Iranian missiles. Several people were killed in what various reports described as a terror-related mass shooting near a metro station in Tel Aviv’s Jaffa neighborhood. Israeli police “neutralized” two gunmen carrying large rifles at the scene. Minutes later, the wail of air raid sirens enveloped the city. And the Iron Dome went to work.