Israelis remain calm and carry on in face of Iranian threat

Israelis remain determined to go about their ordinary lives even as the threat of an Iranian attack hangs over the Middle East.

Iran has vowed to avenge the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran on Wednesday. The assassination has been widely attributed to Israel, though Jerusalem has neither confirmed nor denied this.

Potential missile and drone attacks from Iran and its proxies have prompted Israelis to stock up on food, water, batteries and more. The run on stores was reminiscent of the days leading up to Iran’s barrage of hundreds of missiles and drones in April.

“I know that if [Iranian leader Ali] Khamenei says he’s going to do something, he usually follows through,” Yael Sasson, a 56-year-old homemaker from Ashkelon told The Press Service of Israel. “The question is just what form the attack will take, and in my opinion, the news channels have overreacted a bit to this whole situation.”

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A mother of two, she said her family is well-stocked. For now, Sasson notes, Ashkelon’s parks and beaches are still full of people.

“We’re trusting in the defensive abilities of the IDF, and God-willing everything will be fine,” Sasson said.

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Nick Gottlieb, a 26-year-old U.S. immigrant who works at a tech VC firm in Tel Aviv, told TPS-IL that life continues in Tel Aviv.

“If there’s a war, someone forgot to tell Tel Aviv. It’s business as normal — the beaches, shuck [marketplace], and bars are still full,” he said.

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“There’s definitely a low-level stress in the air, but people are still going about their lives. I’m not going to not show up to work over this.”

Gottlieb told TPS-IL he is fully confident in Israel’s defensive abilities.

“I think that Iran is a house of cards resting entirely on income from oil and weapon sales to terrorists. If Israel gets the green light to attack them back, their regime is done,” he said, emphatically. “To put it into just two words, ‘bring it.’” 

TPS contributed to this report.