Sirens – 11:30 PM, 1:47 AM. Relieved the next siren only awakened us at 6:30 AM, followed by frequent sirens until 2:00 PM. Resuming after 9:00 PM. Today, 9 casualties in Beit Shemesh – a ballistic Iranian missile hit a synagogue where people were sheltering in the basement.

So far, taking this war in stride, more easily than I did during the June war with Iran. Maybe the fact that Israel no longer has hostages in Gaza somehow plays a role in it. It? My state of mind. Or a resiliency tactic and in retrospect, I’ll describe things differently.

Worked remotely today. Home Front Command instructions – stay at home. Reading material online distracted me from frequent, constant, irritating, buzzing warnings of imminent air strikes (to prepare you to get to a shelter) preceding air raid sirens, or warnings and sirens distracted me from working. But I focused.

Media photos. Opening lines of social media posts. Conventional media headlines. Op-eds unread: US shouldn’t have… In my sociopolitical bubble, some Israelis are inclined to think Israel should have avoided this. Eliminating the greatest regional threat and lifeline of the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas distracts public attention from Bibi’s trial and responsibility for October 7.

Projected scenarios in my orbit are substantive for foreseeable blame games. In other orbits, utopia is euphorically envisioned. That’s one way to pad running in and out of a shelter. Air space supremacy doesn’t engineer promises of an Iran suddenly ruled by liberal, reasonable leaders, much less democratically elected leaders.

Iran bereft of nuclear assets and the ability to recover such potential sounds comforting. As imminent as that is, reality has a way of surprising with unexpected twists. But why go there? I’ll just go back into my safe room and seal the door behind me.

If Israel and the US share fundamental, ideological interests in defending democratic regimes, and supporting the demise of cruel, authoritarian regimes like the totalitarian theocracy in Iran, I would presume them accountable for reinforcing – not undermining – the democratic underpinnings on their own home turf. The uncertainty of that disturbs my sleep.

Harriet Gimpel – March 1, 2026

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