Israel Week Ending April 16th

Iran, Politics, Memorial Day and Covid

IRAN AND ISRAEL

Israel's covert war with Iran has heated up another notch, or two. Two serious actions against Iran have been attributed to Israel in the past two weeks — first, the attack on the Iranian spy ship, and second, the explosion at the Natanz nuclear site.

While the impact of each of these events is not clear, it would seem that whoever set off a bomb at Natanz appears to have destroyed many, if not all, of the centrifuges operating at the site. The abrupt loss of both main and emergency power disrupted the spinning of the centrifuges and caused serious damage to them.

Some in Israel are concerned Netanyahu is acting primarily in his political interests, and not necessarily in the interest of Israel's security. The issue is not Netanyahu’s actions themselves, rather, it’s leaking the story Israel was responsible for taking action against Iran. Israel has always been careful not to implicate itself in any actions against Iran. The Iranians, no doubt, knew who carried out the aforementioned attacks. However, when there was no definitive attribution, and the source officially remains a mystery, the Iranians felt no need to retaliate. Ever since famous archives were stolen, Israel has been either directly or indirectly taking credit for that action. People in the intelligence services who have been involved in similar secret missions in the past are livid. Covert operations are supposed to remain covert, they say.

There is a fear in Israel that relations with Iran could spiral out of control. It may not be in anyone's interest to start a war, but many conflicts have begun due to a miscalculation. As to the American interests, while the attack may have angered the Iranians, it helps the US negotiating position — since if it did indeed disable Iran's enrichment capabilities, then signing a new nuclear agreement quickly is less urgent.

POLITICS

We are currently ten days into the four weeks allotted to Netanyahu to try to form a government. He and Naftali Bennett have held four meetings so far, with Bennett being invited to the Balfour residence for the first time in many years. Netanyahu has, of course, offered Bennett the sky, including both the Defense and Foreign Ministries. Netanyahu wants to get Bennett to sign a coalition agreement, so that he can paint Smotritch and the National Religious party into a corner, saying that if you do not support the coalition just because the Muslim Ra’am party supports it, you will be responsible for the fall of the right-wing government. So far, that approach is not working, but who knows? If we find ourselves in a national crisis…

COVID-19

No more Covid charts are necessary. At least for the moment, the number of new infections is very low, with the daily numbers of new cases under 200, and the number of severely ill now down to 221. As of Monday, Israelis will no longer have to wear masks outside. On Wednesday night, Independence Eve, there were tens of thousands of people, (mostly young people), strolling through the streets of Tel Aviv. People celebrated both Israel's Independence and the end of the Corona pandemic here in Israel. 85% of those over 16 have either been vaccinated, or recovered from Coronavirus. The assumption is we have reached herd immunity, and as long as vaccine-resistant mutants do not enter the country— Coronavirus is over.

MEMORIAL DAY FOR IDF FALLEN AND VICTIMS OF TERROR

Tuesday night and Wednesday was Israel’s memorial day for our fallen. A solemn day when the TV and radio broadcast the stories of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation. The official, national ceremonies even share stories of individual and their families. Someone remarked to me that this more intimate, personal form of communal commemoration is a relatively recent phenomenon. That notion resonated within President Rivlin's statement when he addressed those gathered at the Kotel ceremony that opened Yom Hazikaron. Rivlin stated that once a year, we all try to join in the pain of those families who lost their loved ones —personal stories serve as a sincere tribute and remembrance of the simply unimaginable loss. When I first moved to Israel in 1975, the country lived in the shadow of the Yom Kippur War. It did not require the sharing of any stories to connect to the bereaved families; the country, as a whole, was still living the trauma. Everyone knew someone who was killed or wounded. Thankfully, today, memorial day has become for all, but the directly bereaved, a national day of mourning that is not as personal as it once had been.

ECONOMY

The high-tech sector continues to be on fire. During the first quarter of 2021, Israeli firms raised a total of 5.37 billion in 172 deals. That is double the amount raised in the first quarter of 2021, and 89% more than raised in the last quarter of 2020.

DEFENSE

This week marks the tenth anniversary of the first successful interception of a rocket launched from Gaza by the Iron Dome System. This system has revolutionized Israel's ability to deal with rocket attacks. Since its debut, the Iron Dome System has been continuously upgraded. Today, it can also handle mortars, remote planes, and even cruise missiles. Ironically, as Israel’s Channel 13 was airing a retrospective on the Iron Dome System, a rocket was fired at Israel from Gaza. It landed in an open field.