I’m Stuck in Israel with Kids During a Full Scale War

The Smell of Fear 

This morning I finally had the wherewithal to shower and change my clothes, clothing I had been wearing for the past 24 hours.

My tank top reeked of body odor.  This was a different kind of body odor; it was the smell of a fear that I had never known.

I will not wash this tank top, I told myself.

When I get back home to Atlanta G-d willing, I will take a whiff of it to remind me of the smell of fear and disbelief I had never known — dragging my kids down to a bomb shelter at 1:10 am, then 5:00 am, as the house shook from the impact of missiles that hit the ground less than 5 miles away.

It’s Saturday afternoon here in Israel,  and it’s not over yet.

We do not know what is in store for us this evening.

War with Iran

We are in the midst of Israel’s war with Iran, a historic event that we will all hopefully live through to tell the tale.

As I told my 15-year-old son, this experience will be good material for his future college entry essay.

Last night, Friday the 13th, we relocated to our 3rd location following the threat of a missile attack from Iran to a suburb just outside of Tel Aviv, where my husband’s sister lives with her family of 4.

On an unrelated note – a popular American influencer living in Israel tied yesterday’s pre-emptive attack on Iran with the number 613 – the number of mitzvot (commandments) in the Hebrew Torah.

There is a large safe room here – a mamad – which is made of steel and metal and strong enough to withstand a ballistic missile blast.

These safe rooms have saved thousands of lives during Israel’s wars and crisis, and we are in the midst of one of the most intense attacks, a barrage of over 200 missiles targeting the country, with several making it past Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, causing terrifying damage and loss of life in Israel’s residential and civilian areas.

A Rude Awakening

Friday morning at approximately 3:00 am, we got an alert to go into the safe room.  This was different from the other 4 alerts we had experienced during our 2 weeks in Israel; this alert was followed by an advisory on our phone in Hebrew, warning us to take shelter and of imminent danger.

According to the news, Israeli citizens were warned to seek shelter around 9:00 am amidst the threat of an imminent retaliatory attack from Iran.  I told my boys to pack their stuff quickly, “we are going to the home of a family where we will seek shelter.”

They scoffed at me, “Mom, you are being so dramatic.”

They had no idea that they would be woken up in the middle of the night, groggy and disoriented, to run to the shelter, feeling the impact of missiles destroying residential buildings nearby.

Most Israelis (including my husband) have been through episodes like this, me and my children have not.

This was not the threat of a missile attack from the Houthis, a ragtag terrorist group in Yemen who have been launching missiles against Israel for the past several months.  This was a bigger threat from a bigger player  – Iran.

Israel made a bold and brazen move, making good on a plan that’s been in the works for 20 years  – taking out a number of their nuclear operations and eradicating Iran’s top tier military leaders.

This, following years of nuclear threats and a ballistic missile assault from Iran several months ago.

Hopeful for Our Safe Return Home

As of this writing, Israel’s international airport, Ben Gurion, is closed.  There is no official indication when it will reopen, and there are literally thousands of Americans here in Israel looking for a way to fly back home.

Outside of this airport – and the small one in Eilat (located in Israel’s southernmost tip on the border with Egypt), there is no viable way to leave the country, given that Israel has lukewarm relations with all of its neighbors – Jordan, Syria, and Egypt.

Some online chats speculate that there are boats that can take people from Haifa (a port city in northern Israel) to Cyprus, but details on that are speculative and the journey may be risky.

You can’t just drive to another country to get out of town; you have to wait till the skies open up and flights resume.

We are *lucky* to have a confirmed flight booked for Monday with El Al Airlines – Israel’s official airline carrier, whom are the last to cancel flights when there is any type of conflict in Israel.

Until then, we are hoping and praying not only for our personal safety, but that for all of the 10 million citizens in Israel. May we all know better times.