Patience. Along with it, perseverance. That’s our challenge here in Israel now. Not easy. Not simple. But we are up to it. This is our role, as we wait for victory over Iran.
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Home Front Command has regulations in place about the number of people who can gather, which institutions will be open, etc. The same situation does not pertain in all areas of the country. The north is being bombarded with the greatest number of missiles, along with the center of the country – Tel Aviv, etc. Although today in Jerusalem it has been a bit difficult as well.
And it’s not just danger from ballistic missiles – the shrapnel fall-out after a missile has been hit can be lethal. Sometimes the part of the missile that falls from the sky is quite large.
What is more, the Iranians sometimes launch cluster missiles. Like cluster bombs: the missile itself carries small explosive devices that can scatter over a wide area when the missile is hit. We are cautioned to avoid approaching or touching what may be such a device.
And so we are urged to stay alert and follow instructions. Identify our safe place. Shelter as necessary.
Savlanut.
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Part of the challenge right now derives from the lack of clarity about what is going to happen going forward.
In a “60-Minutes” interview aired on Sunday, US Secretary of War Pete Hesgeth had this to say (emphasis added):
“This is war. This is conflict. This is bringing your enemy to their knees. Now, whether they will have a ceremony in Tehran Square and surrender, that’s up to them…
“They should’ve come to the table and said, ‘OK, we get it. You mean business. We’re not going to have nukes.’ And they haven’t. And as a result, when the president looks at it, generationally, he sees a threat that would continue to gather.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/423603
Well, to expect the Iranian regime to admit defeat is simply not realistic. They are Islamists and do not function that way.
And so Hegseth is thinking correctly when he speaks of military pressure on the Iranians that will simply leave them unable to continue fighting: “Our capabilities are overwhelming compared to what Iran’s are. And frankly, when you combine our Air Force with the air force of the Israeli Defense Forces, it’s the two most powerful air forces in the world.”
Let us stop for a moment and consider what he has just acknowledged: After the air force of the US, Israel’s air force is the most powerful in the world. Tiny Israel. And it is amazing. We built that force because we understood it was necessary.
If what Hegseth attributed to the president is correct – that he looks at the situation across generations, and “he sees a threat that would continue to gather” – we can be reassured by this as well. It clearly suggests that the president is prepared to see it though.
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Yet with all that he does that is marvelous, Trump continues to be Trump. And so he makes statements from time to time that confuse us. Perhaps this is deliberate. There are those who maintain so and sometimes I am sure it is.
However, he does demonstrate a propensity for speaking off-the-cuff on occasion without first mentally assessing what he is about to say. Just days ago, he was implying that the war with Iran was just about over, and he was interested in turning his attention to Cuba. That generated a good deal of unease.
Then on Monday, he declared, that the operation could be over “very soon…
“I always thought it would be four weeks, and we’re a little ahead of schedule…I don’t want to see it go on too long…
“We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened. This big one is coming soon.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5762824-trump-us-iran-military-operation/
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Just how can we parse this? How do we reconcile Trump’s “I don’t want to see it go on too long…” with Hegseth’s statement?
In his Sunday broadcast, the secretary said, “What I want your viewers to understand is this is only just the beginning.” As to how the war will proceed from this point, and whether there will be US troops on the ground: “President Trump knows, I know, you don’t tell the enemy, you don’t tell the press, you don’t tell anybody what your limits would be on an operation. We’re willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful.“
Savlanut.
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In his statement to the nation on Saturday night, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared: “Regarding what we will do next in Iran: We have an organized plan with many surprises to destabilize the regime and enable change. We have many more targets, and I will not detail them here.”
https://www.gov.il/en/pages/statement-by-pm-netanyahu-7-mar-2026
This suggests a steady, planned process (Trump’s “big wave”?) that will yet take time.
We must not forget that it was Netanyahu who persisted in bringing warnings about the dangers of the Iranian regime to the world, while its leaders responded with deaf ears. It was Netanyahu who was steadfast in his determination to confront Iran, which presented an existential threat. It was Netanyahu who went before the UN repeatedly with his message, and before Congress as well.
Could Israel have attacked Iran as effectively without the close cooperation of the US? Clearly not. But when the time was right, and there was a president in the White House who heard Netanyahu’s warnings and was determined to join forces with Israel’s military, everything became possible.
On Sunday, Trump said that a decision on when to end the war with Iran will be a “mutual” one that he’ll make together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Enormously reassuring. The information that has come out about the level of cooperation between Israel and the US, and the synchronization of their military operations, is astounding.
“’We are at an unprecedented point of operational coordination,’ said a senior defense establishment official. ‘Absolutely,’ added an officer participating in the operation. ‘What we are seeing now is different from anything we have seen before.’
“Another Israeli official familiar with the Americans described the relationship as something like a love story: togetherness. In the IDF, it is referred to as ‘a joint, parallel synchronized campaign.’
“In dozens of war rooms across Israel and the US, Israeli and American officers now sit before the same systems and lean over the same maps, combining forces.
“’We are one, they are one, together we are 11,’ Israeli Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar told the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet this week.”
The entire story is well worth reading:
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/03/06/the-operation-that-stunned-the-world/
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Iran is being hit very hard and is considerably diminished, but at this point is still capable of launching ballistic missiles and drones.
Secretary Hegseth said today (Tuesday) has seen the most intense strikes by the US in Iran since the war began. Some of the operations have been stunning. Something like 60% of Iranian launchers are gone. In recent days, Israeli Air Force jets have struck several Iranian fuel storage complexes used to support military infrastructure and supply fuel to military entities.
Iran is saying that it will block oil until the attacks cease. Trump has threatened “death, fire and fury” if Iran blockades the Strait of Hormuz. Trump is meeting resistance at home because of risks to oil supplies and rising prices.
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The regime made a serious mistake in hitting neighboring Gulf states. The rationale was allegedly to hit nations that housed US military bases. But the motivation is more complex, with Iran apparently hoping that this would move the Gulf states to pressure the US to stop fighting. What has happened instead is that these states are furious with Iran: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE are all reporting ongoing missile and drone attacks.
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With this all, the regime still stands and is still defiant. Mojtaba Khamenei, second son of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has been selected as his successor by the Assembly of Experts. He is as hardline as his father was and has the full backing of the Revolutionary Guards.
There are questions being raised as to the capacity of the civilian populace to take over the country.
IDF Gen. (ret.) Yossi Kuperwasser, director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, interviewed on March 5 by Jonathan Tobin, editor-in-chief of JNS, expressed reservations: As long as the “minority within the country that is still loyal to the theocrats has a monopoly on armed force and the opposition is deeply divided along ideological and sectarian lines.”
https://www.jns.org/is-iran-regime-change-a-realistic-option/
Kuperwasser’s comment about a divided opposition expresses an on-going concern. There has not been a strong unified opposition with leadership inside of Iran.
Just days ago reports surfaced – which I wrote about – regarding plans by the CIA to back Iranian Kurds who are currently in Iraq, and who would come into Iran and help foment the uprising. Now there are indications that this plan has been put on hold. Nothing is ever simple, and so there is no reason why this should be: There are six different Iranian Kurdish groups; five have expressed readiness to act against the regime but not all are in sync.
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Monday night, Prime Minister Netanyahu said toppling the regime in Tehran is up to the Iranian people, but in the meantime, Israel is operating to enable that.
“Through the actions taken so far, we are breaking [the regime’s] bones—and there is more to come. If we succeed together with the Iranian people, we will bring about a permanent end [to hostilities]—insofar as such things exist in the life of nations.”
https://www.jns.org/netanyahu-were-breaking-the-regimes-bones-and-theres-more-to-come/
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And if the regime stands, but has, as Hegseth has described the situation, been brought to its knees and rendered unable to fight further? Will it hold then? Or be brought down, finally?
Savlanut, my friends. And prayers, please!
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©Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
