Israelis are anxiously following the daily publications about the Iranian threat to launch attacks in the coming days, and perhaps hours, which prompted many of them to book external flights until the situation stabilizes, while the situation was most severe for residents of the coastal city of Haifa, whose residents fear the risk of being exposed to intense bombardment that may reach hundreds of missiles.
Analysts and observers believe that Israelis are accustomed to repeatedly dealing with such difficult times, especially since the October 7 attack, as they took many preventive measures by building shelters even inside their homes, and some of them traveled abroad, but at the same time they fear an escalation with no end in sight.
Israel is preparing for a "multi-front" attack that will put its defense system under great exhaustion, especially with Iran's emphasis on seeking to "punish Israel", in addition to its arms continuing to prepare for revenge operations, following the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and prominent Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukr in Beirut.
What did Israel do?
In light of these threats, the Israeli authorities took a number of rapid measures, most notably opening shelters in a number of areas of the country, such as Tel Aviv, Sharon, Rosh Ha'ayin, and Kiryat Ono, and canceling some flights to and from Israel.
Israeli media reported that more than 100,000 Israelis were stranded abroad due to the cancellation of flights to Israel.
As part of the preparatory measures, a training exercise was also conducted in the operations room of the Magen David Adom, the official medical service in Israel, according to the newspaper "Maariv", which reported that the preparations included an exercise on blood donation operations in emergency situations.
The Times of Israel indicated that the authorities had taken preventive measures in anticipation of any possible escalation, such as evacuating industrial areas of hazardous materials.
However, the situation seemed different in the city of Haifa, which is likely to be exposed to missiles and drones if hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah escalate.
Haifa, which has a population of about 280,000, has 110 public shelters in good condition, in addition to hundreds of private shelters inside residential buildings. Since the events of October 7, many residents have built their own shelters in their homes.
With the start of the latest wave of conflict, Israelis rushed to stockpile supplies, equipment and other emergency goods, although this rush to stockpile appears to have slowed down recently.
In parallel, the IDF’s Home Front Command announced the completion of trials of a new system for sending general warning messages based on location, which relies on cellular broadcast technology, a method of sending short messages to multiple phone users in a specific area.
The system will enable “receiving a message in large-scale emergencies, such as rocket fire on Israel,” according to the IDF.
Cautious anticipation
Israeli society “is in a state of anticipation and vigilance, but it continues its semi-normal life, relying on the confidence that if the situation changes, the Home Front Command will issue reliable instructions regarding the necessary measures to be taken,” says Israeli political analyst Shlomo Ganor.
Ganor added to Sky News Arabia that "the average citizen trusts the capabilities of the Israeli army, to the point that there is an increase in calls for a preemptive strike, and not to prolong the waiting period that may exhaust the nerves and disrupt personal programs and eliminate what remains of the summer season for travel and recreation."
He stressed that "the Israeli is not prepared to change his personal programs for the summer period, regardless of the security or economic conditions in the country, and this has been proven in previous wars and security tensions that usually occur in the summer months."
Regarding travel abroad, Ganor said that "it is noticeable that Israelis who left before the current tension and are abroad are pressuring the government to ensure the possibility of returning quickly to Israel, after foreign airlines decided to suspend their flights."
Regarding the opinion of the Israeli street regarding the preparations of the security institutions, the political analyst said that "the Israeli forces, according to official reports and informed sources, have completed preparations to confront any attack from Iran or Hezbollah, whether individual or collective."
Fears.. and the absence of a government strategy
With a more in-depth view of the scene from within Israel, Israeli political analyst Yoav Stern told Sky News Arabia that "there is a state of alert and anticipation within Israel, and there are those who fear the repercussions of the war and how things will turn out."
He added: "We always see such things in wars, but what is different in Israel is that this is not hidden. The issue is discussed in the media and among the people."
Stern considered that the high rate of travel abroad is linked to great fears of an uncalculated escalation, and in such cases some families leave Israel, whether to Europe or the United States, and some of them stay for a long time, while the rest quickly return to their homes.
However, despite the Israeli analyst's belief that the army did what was necessary to confront the potential attack from Iran, he stressed that "the biggest problem is the absence of a political strategy on the part of the government."
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