DAY 190 OF THE GAZA WAR: Iran Attacks Israel With Over 200 Drones/Missiles, 99% Downed, Demonstrations

Tel Aviv Diary, April 14, 2024

The Chinese curse says, "May you live in interesting times." Indeed, these are certainly interesting times. Tonight was a historic evening in military history—and likely a historic night in Israel's history. After days of rising tensions, tonight, that tension reached its zenith when the IDF announced that all educational institutions would be closed tomorrow (Sunday).

As the evening progressed, it became clear that the Iranians had fired hundreds of suicide drones towards Israel. It soon became apparent that not only drones but also cruise missiles had been launched. The estimation was that they would arrive between 1-2 AM. As that hour neared, Israel closed its airspace, and Ben Gurion Airport was shut down. All outgoing flights were rushed out early to get the people and the planes airborne before the attack could arrive.

Reports started pouring in stating that a joint force of Israeli, American, British, Jordanian, and even Saudi aircraft began to shoot down the drones over Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. Close to the time the first drones were supposed to arrive, the Iranians announced that they had fired ballistic missiles at Israel. Soon, air raid warnings were activated across various South and locations in the Golan. The targets were two air bases in the Negev and one near Bet Shemesh.

Almost all the missiles were intercepted by Israel's multi-layer missile defense system. In total, 200 projectiles were launched, and 99% were intercepted, marking a historic night for missile defense. It was also a historic night for Israel's integration with foreign Air Forces that all worked together. US involvement was critical, and it was effective. Additionally, the investment over the last 20 years in all levels of missile defense has proven to be an excellent decision.

The next question is what the Israeli response will be. However, that will be tomorrow's story.

Tonight, Biden issued the following statement:

I just met with my national security team for an update on Iran’s attacks against Israel. Our commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad.

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Prior to tonight, it had been a strange 36 hours. Last night, warnings of an imminent attack from Iran filled the airwaves. There was a palpable level of fear. The streets of Tel Aviv, usually quiet on Shabbat morning, were quieter than normal.

This afternoon, a container ship registered in Portugal, crewed by Filipinos but partly owned by an Israeli business, was hijacked by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. The ship was traveling between the UAE and India. The Iranians have publicly taken responsibility for the attack.

DEMONSTRATIONS

Tonight was the night of the weekly demonstrations in Tel Aviv. Three demonstrations took place very close to each other: the first was the weekly solidarity rally, and the second involved hostage demonstrators who were somewhat more militant in their attitude toward the government. Finally, the largest demonstration was on Kaplan Street, demanding immediate elections. I attended two of the demonstrations, including the one on Kaplan. There were at least 50,000 people at that one; it was a somber demonstration, unlike the demonstrations before the war against the weakening of the justice system. Then, there was a sense of optimism; tonight, there was more sadness. We were no longer fighting for the type of government we wanted to maintain, but now it was a fight for the very physical existence of the country. One particularly poignant speech was by a female major in the reserves who had spent most of the last six months in uniform. She had been one of the protest movement's leaders before the war. She described how, two weeks ago, she was arrested at the demonstration. That night, she was seen as an enemy of the state; then, the next morning, she put on her uniform and headed to her base near Gaza

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WEST BANK

This afternoon, authorities discovered the body of Binyamin Achimeir, a 14-year-old from Jerusalem, in proximity to his last known location, where he disappeared on Friday. Achimeir had been herding near the outpost of Malachei Shalom, close to the West Bank town of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah. Initial reports suggest that Achimeir was fatally stoned. Following Achimeir's murder, reports indicate that some settlers initiated retaliatory actions in the Palestinian town of Duma. The unrest escalated to include not only local Palestinians but also an Israeli news photographer, Shaul Golan of Ynet, who was reportedly assaulted by settlers who also destroyed his equipment.

The IDF Spokesman released the following statement this evening:

In the last few hours, clashes have developed between Israeli citizens and Palestinians at several locations in the Judea and Samaria area, during which participants threw stones and opened fire. Dozens of Israelis and Palestinians were injured in various ways.

LEBANON

It was a night and day of heavy rocket fire and drone attacks from Lebanon. Last night, over 40 rockets were fired at the northern part of the Golan Heights. Today, there were six separate sets of attacks in the North. One set included two suicide drones that attacked Kibbutz Hanita. One reserve soldier was seriously wounded in the attack. It was particularly strange because last night on the news, there was a special segment where the correspondent visited Hanita, which is one of the stockade and tower kibbutzes founded in 1936 and is now abandoned except for the security personnel there, many of whom were shown on the show last night.

GAZA

Last night, rockets were fired from Gaza on Sderot and other communities along the border. In response, the IDF took action. Here is what the IDF stated about its actions:

Following the alerts activated last night (Saturday) in the area of the city of Sderot, Air Defense fighters successfully intercepted three launches that crossed from the Gaza Strip territory. IDF forces attacked the launch area with artillery fire.

Air Force combat aircraft attacked and destroyed three launchers containing about 20 rockets ready for launch towards the center of the country.

The combat teams of the 401 Brigade, the Nahal Brigade, and other units under the command of Division 162 continue their focused activity to eliminate terrorists and destroy terror infrastructures in the center of the Gaza Strip. In the last day, the Nahal Brigade's combat team destroyed Hamas terrorist organization infrastructures, including a weapons storage facility, and confiscated additional military equipment of the organization.

Simultaneously, in a focused activity in the Beit Hanoun area, IDF fighters under the command of the Northern Brigade in the Gaza Division located several armed terrorists operating in the area using a drone. An Air Force aircraft attacked the terrorists and eliminated them.

Over the last day, in several focused airstrike missions, Air Force combat aircraft and other air vehicles attacked more than 30 terror targets across the Strip, including terror infrastructures, military buildings, and anti-tank missile launchers.

AUSTRALIA

This morning, there was news of a stabbing attack in Bondi, a Sydney suburb. Six people were killed. The suburb has a large Jewish population, and Jews own the shopping center where the stabbing occurred. The police have not yet announced the identity of the attacker or his motives. However, at least for the moment, the Jewish community believes it was a terror attack.

Completely coincidentally, I received an email on Friday from one of our readers in Australia.

I have just read the email from your reader in New Zealand. I am from Australia, just across "the ditch" as we say in the Antipodes from NZ. 

The sentiment is the same in both countries. We have woke journalists and politicians as well. I find it very frustrating and confusing that allegedly educated persons believe the information coming out of Gaza, given its source. Our Foreign Minister, Ms Penny Wong, is pedaling a two-state solution in her recent speech, and our Prime Minister is now trying to cover for her. He is a little embarrassed as that is not the official Government position. 

We also have pro Palestinian protests which I find abhorrent. If you support Palestine, you support Hamas, and you support the horrible, horrible acts perpetrated against innocent Israelis on October 7, 2023. I have seen the photographs and videos and it brought me to tears. I still cannot believe humans could commit those filthy vile acts against fellow human beings. Maybe if a news organization had a backbone and showed some of those photos and videos to the masses on free-to-air television, then perhaps support for Israel would grow, and some of these pro-Palestinians would grow up and think about what and who they are supporting. 

BUSINESS

NoName Security, which specializes in API security, is in advanced negotiations for a sale to the public company Akamai for half a billion dollars, as reported by the American tech site TechCrunch, according to a source familiar with the deal. The transaction is reported to be in cash.

NoName Security was founded in 2020 by Oz Golan (CEO) and Shai Levy (former CTO, who has already left the company). A year later, NoName became one of the symbols of the tech bubble of those days, when it raised $135 million at a valuation of one billion dollars. The startup became a unicorn when its annual revenue was only a few million dollars. If indeed it is sold for half a billion dollars, this would represent a reduction of about 50% from its last valuation.

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A PIECE OF HISTORY

Ben Gurion Retires

By the 1950s, Ben Gurion had grown weary. Despite taking several vacations, including a three-week trip to Greece, England, and France, he remained fatigued. He concluded that he needed an extended break. In the spring of 1953, while driving back from Eilat, Ben Gurion encountered a cluster of shacks in the desert. Curious, he inquired about their purpose and learned they housed army veterans who had fought in the region and were now establishing a new settlement.

Intrigued by their mission and combined with his own exhaustion, Ben Gurion became captivated by the idea of beginning anew and assisting in the foundation of a new Kibbutz in the Negev. He had always envisioned the Negev as integral to Israel's future, and this presented an opportunity for him to personally contribute to that vision. Before stepping away from his responsibilities, he wanted to ensure the nation's defense was robust. He dedicated three months to inspecting army units, culminating in an 18-point plan for the military's enhancement. On November 2, 1953, he penned a letter to President Shazar, and by November 7, he had transitioned from the government to his new life in Sde Boker.

Ben Gurion’s Letter to Shazar

My Dear Mr. President:

I consider it my duty to advise you in writing, as I have already done in person, of the reasons that compel me, to my great and profound regret, to retire from my work in the Government in the near future.

For six years I have been working under extreme tension and with great effort, something I doubt anyone will understand even after I have explained it. Fateful problems crop up constantly and every difficult question has weighty arguments, both pro and con. Some think that for this it is sufficient to have a "line" that, if once drawn, will automatically lead along the straight and easy path. I must admit I have had no such "line." I have been guided rather by a "point," the point of the desired target. To the best of my knowledge there is no ready-paved road leading to a desired end, but amidst the endless fluctuations and changes of a reality that never repeats itself, one must continuously and unceasingly hew out a difficult pathway toward the target. There are steps that, though correct yesterday, may be disastrous tomorrow. I am not qualified to state whether I have succeeded in finding the proper path toward the target every step of the way, but this I can say: I have not spared mental, intuitive, or cognitive effort in each and every case to find the right step, and you can believe me if I tell you that all these years I have worked under supreme mental tension, knowing full well the gains and losses involved.

This crushing tension, however, did not begin six years ago. Ever since 1936, when as chairman of the Jewish Agency I met with the Peel Commission, I realized that the promise of the British Mandate, ie, aid by England for the creation of the "National Home," had come to an end and no legal or political claims of international obligation, even if justified, would change this fact or be of any avail, and henceforth the entire Zionist policy would have do be different. From that time on, a period of sixteen to seventeen I have been working under the greatest tension, as I have attempted to describe it to you. I need not tell you that I have done it out of love. Nor would I conceivably claim any credit for myself.

You know that in my world there is nothing dearer than the State of Israel, nor any privilege greater than to serve it faithfully. It is not only a privilege but a duty, and I am not afraid to say a sacred duty, a duty that must be done until one's last breath.

However, for a year now I have felt unable to bear any longer the psychological strain under which I work in the Government — the tension without which I cannot and am not entitled to work. This has not been just ordinary fatigue; on the contrary, when I leave my work in the Government for a few days I feel practically no tiredness and am capable of working, from both the physical and psychological standpoints, as I did twenty or thirty years ago. But there seem to be limits, at least in my case, to the psychological effort one can make. I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that I have no choice but to leave this work for a year or two or more. A close friend, whom I have consulted on this matter, has advised me to request from the Government an extended leave of absence of a year or two. I have weighed the matter carefully and concluded that even if it were permitted constitutionally, an extended leave for the Prime Minister is inconceivable.

There is one thing that has bothered me especially, and that is my departure from the Ministry of Defense. I have devoted many weeks to a thorough examination of the problems of security and the structure and needs of the Army, and have come away encouraged and heartened. At two special meetings devoted to that purpose I have submitted to the Government a detailed report on the problems of the Army and security, as well as a three-year program of action. I have given you a summary of this plan orally and will not go into it in this letter. The Government has approved it. Let me merely say this: the security of the State is in good hands: the Israel Defense Forces are built on a firm foundation and its corps of commanders and tens of thousands of soldiers on land, at sea, and in the air are worthy of their mission.