Israelis prepare for Iran attack : NPR

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Iran has vowed retaliation against Israel after the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran last week. The senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said today that Israel can expect a, quote, “crushing response.” Israel is bracing for that response. NPR’s three correspondents there are spread out around the area, including Kat Lonsdorf, who joins us now from Jerusalem. Hi, Kat.

KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.

CHANG: OK. So what is it like in Jerusalem right now? Like, what are you hearing from people?

LONSDORF: Well, I mean, it’s pretty much business as usual here. You know, the hotel we’re staying at, which is in central Jerusalem – it’s pretty full. People are in the restaurants. And today the pool was packed, although I will say that the maintenance staff here were hanging up signs in all the hallways pointing to the nearest shelter, so it wasn’t exactly an ordinary day. We took a walk around the neighborhood, and people were out having coffee, getting dinner, including Hani Zakin, who was out shopping with her young son.

HANI ZAKIN: (Speaking Hebrew).

LONSDORF: She told me, you know, “what needs to happen will happen. And it’s a very, very bad situation, but we have to go on living.” She says she was here in Jerusalem back in April, when Iran sent hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for a strike on its consulate in Damascus. Israel shot most of those down, many of them over here in Jerusalem. And there wasn’t really much damage at all. She says that gave her a sense of security, especially going into this uncertain time. But she also acknowledged that, here in Jerusalem, it’s generally more calm, unlike in the north, for example, where there are a lot of sirens and rockets every day.

CHANG: Yeah. Let’s talk about that. I mean, we have teams spread out throughout Israel.

LONSDORF: Yeah.

CHANG: What is the sense outside of Jerusalem?

LONSDORF: Well, like Hani Zakin pointed out, in the north, it’s different. That area has been bombarded constantly with rockets from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and Israel has been fighting back. You know, our colleague Hadeel Al-Shalchi is in Haifa in the north, and the streets there are pretty empty, she says. She talked with the municipality there, where they’re preparing for the worst, stockpiling shelters with food, water, generators. She said that people there were a little worried but also generally calm. They said that they’re pretty used to this. You know, there’s the same sense that whatever will be will be, and there’s not much we can do about it.

CHANG: Well, what do we know about how the Israeli government is preparing at this point?

LONSDORF: Yeah. So today Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened Israel’s security chiefs to discuss the situation. He’s been having nearly daily security meetings for the past week. The Israeli military has said time and time again for months now that they are fully prepared for any situation, and while the intention is not to escalate the conflict, they are prepared for that as well. And more broadly, the U.S. is moving fighter jets and warships to this region as backup. Remember; the U.S. helped Israel shoot down many of those missiles and drones that Iran launched back in April, and many of those were in Jordanian airspace, which is a strong U.S. ally. So today President Biden spoke on the phone to Jordanian King Abdullah, and they both urged the importance of de-escalation and calm.

CHANG: Well, all the rhetoric around the Iranian retaliation makes it seem imminent. Is there any idea of what to expect?

LONSDORF: Well, we have some clues. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his counterparts at the G-7 yesterday that the attack could start as early as today, which is one of the reasons we’re all bracing over here. And Israeli intelligence officials have told NPR they expect the attack will focus mainly on military targets in Israel. And while they say it may be similar to the attack in April, which lasted a few hours, they are expecting this one to be longer.

CHANG: That is NPR’s Kat Lonsdorf in Jerusalem. Thank you so much, Kat.

LONSDORF: Thank you.

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