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Adam Zivo in Tel Aviv: That sound you hear is Israelis shrugging

While bracing for retaliation from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israelis are enjoying the cafes

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TEL AVIV — Sirens and phones blared across Israel Saturday morning, signalling that war had reignited with Iran’s Islamic regime. On social media, Israelis quickly learned that the American and Israeli militaries had preemptively struck Tehran, as intelligence sources suggested that the Mullahs were preparing to launch their own attack. Several missiles were fired at Israel from the Islamic Republic of Iran, resulting in dozens of injuries, but no deaths.

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I walked to a nearby bomb shelter in downtown Tel Aviv, finding a stream of people calmly descending into the reinforced basement. Their stay was short-lived, though, because after a few minutes of confusion, everyone realized that there was not yet any sign of a retaliatory attack — so they cleared out.

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Although the streets were mostly deserted, I saw some residents carrying luggage, seemingly relocating to rural areas that are less likely to be targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles. In the neighbourhood grocery store, the lineup of people buying provisions was moderate and orderly.

I wandered over to Chachos, a popular hipster cafe that had been a social hive during last summer’s 12-Day War. As always, there was a bustling, youthful crowd outside — some groups were laughing, while others were absorbed in purposeful conversation. Amid them, a young woman was inexplicably dressed up as a strawberry, with red makeup on her cheeks.

“I feel numb. I feel like all the anxiety is waiting to explode maybe someday,” said Anat, a bespectacled 44-year old woman who, just before the war began, had celebrated her birthday with an early morning swim. A helium birthday balloon billowed beside her, glossy and exuberant.

“We’re used to living in a state of war… we’re used to bombing,” she continued, explaining that she was not particularly worried because her children were already out of town: “I feel sorry for the Iranian people because they are less protected than us. We are the more lucky side in this war.”

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A few metres away stood Maya, a young woman with fringe bangs who cradled a cannabis joint between her fingers. “They’re kind of scaring us for a very long period of time,” she said, describing the weeks of anticipation leading up to the war as “stressful.”

She planned on staying with her family up north, because her neighbourhood had already been struck by a ballistic missile, with devastating results, during the 12-Day War. “The last time it happened, it was really, really bad here, so I’d prefer not to be in the centre of Israel when it happens,” she said.

Deeper in the crowd was Orr, a young father playing with his toddler.

“I feel safe. My wife is stressed, but I feel safe. But last time, it was actually pretty scary. There’s some level of fear, like, some people died and a lot of houses got ruined,” he said. “Here in Israel, it’s really weird. Somehow you manage to live normal life in an unrealistic reality. Who can think of being bombed and then opening Zoom and having a meeting with a client?”

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His son, vacillating between curiosity and distress, began to fuss and grasp at my microphone. Orr explained that taking care of a small child during wartime is “interesting,” because of the “dissonance” between “what is actually outside” and how they — laughing and playing in the shelter — experience things.

When asked what message he would give to everyday Iranians, he said that they were “beautiful people” who deserved “better leadership” than the “horrible regime” in Tehran.

Michelle, a woman in her 30s, said that the emergency alerts that morning triggered her like “acid reflux” and sent her into “survival mode,” which was “quite a way to wake up on Shabbat morning.” Nonetheless, she felt that “you have to take every moment in between running to the shelters to hug you friends and enjoy a cup of coffee and find reasons to smile.”

“Obviously, no one wants war,” she said, but added that Israelis are “used to living through difficult times” and that all she can do is “text my mom so she knows I’m okay… and the rest is up to God.”

Like most Israelis, Michelle felt affection for the Iranian people and admired their pro-democracy protests: “I don’t know, if I were in their position, if I would have the strength to go out and put myself in that vulnerable position… we only want the best for them, and we want them to live freely and with dignity and prosperity.”

As the day wore on, the emergency alerts blared repeatedly and, each time, the residents of Tel Aviv calmly walked to their shelters, without panic, often chatting with friends. The rhythm was structured and predictable: a pre-alert, giving everyone five or so minutes to find a safe place, and then a follow up indicating that there was 90 seconds to get inside. With bomb shelters being ubiquitous and borderline impregnable, all one needs to do is follow instructions.

“Guys, why does everyone have a signal except for me,” said a girl to her friends, during one of the earlier alerts. “Ugh, I want to hear what Trump said,” replied her friend, who tried to play the U.S. President’s wartime address on TikTok. Without data, only a few of his words stuttered out before his face froze.

By late afternoon, after no fewer than seven emergency alerts, the anxiety of the morning was, for some, supplanted by a sense of tedium, even annoyance.

In one cafe, where I tried to write this article between alarms, half the patrons audibly groaned after their phones screeched yet again. They had all just left the shelters five minutes earlier. Even so, they obediently returned and waited. As we entered the reinforced basement, I noticed a few people carrying pint glasses of beer.

“Welcome back!” joked one young woman, who had simply stayed in the basement between alarms. She put on glittery butterfly sunglasses and pet her dog. “It’s because I’m lazy, not because I’m scared,” she explained. As the space filled up, an older lady arrived with a plateful of date pastries, which she cheerfully distributed (they were delicious).

During one shelter stay, tightly crammed into a basement the size of a large living room with dozens of other people, I spotted the young woman who had dressed up as a strawberry. She introduced herself as Ilona, and said that she had put the costume together for Purim, a Jewish holiday she compared to Halloween.

“We dress and we have fun, and even though we’re in a complicated situation, we got to keep our spirits up,” she said. “Life in Israel is pretty absurd. I mean, that’s what’s up… but we got to keep our spirits up, and nothing is going to stop me from being a strawberry.”

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