Tel Aviv-Based Reporter Says Israelis Were ‘Prepared’ For ‘Such An Escalation’ As Iran Launches Missile And Drone Attack
On Saturday Iran launched a missile and drone attack towards Israel.
The view from the ground on Saturday night and into Sunday morning was in many ways a familiar one — the “iron dome” lighting up the sky as Iranian drones and missiles that made it to Israeli air space were shot down in bright flashes in the night sky.
Surreal footage of the war in the air was captured over the Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
הכי יפה עד עכשיו. pic.twitter.com/rBJoVTqjo8
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And that view on the ground, from the ground, was something that Israeli civilians were already anticipating and expecting, as were local and foreign reporters in Israel as the war continues.
Emily Schrader, an American-Israeli journalist and social activist based in Tel Aviv, told Mediaite around 3 AM local time on Sunday that Israelis have been anticipating aggression from Iran.
“Israelis were prepared for the event of such an escalation and there isn’t nearly as much panic as the Islamic Republic would like to think.” She added, “The unfortunate reality is that we are used to neighbors who seek to eliminate us, but that won’t stop us from living. Israelis are calm and will take necessary precautions, but we won’t stop being who we are and loving life.”
The ILTV anchor said they have been instructed to stay near bomb shelters and follow any additional updates from the home front command. The state also canceled all public events and school for the following day. It remains to be seen what other measures (if any) will be taken.
Schrader said she has not been “told explicitly what to expect, only that there was credible intelligence that the Islamic Republic planned to launch a major attack on Israel.”
The Israeli journalist called the Iranian attack on Israel “an act of desperation by the Islamic Republic.”
“The strategy of the regime is to launch wars and scapegoat others – especially Israel – as a distraction from their own failures” Schrader continued, “As their currency is in free fall and the regime is teetering on the brink of collapse as the vast majority of Iranians want to see it fall, this act is nothing but an act of desperation by the Islamic Republic.”
And on that note, Iran has already said to the UN that the matter can be considered “concluded’ — seemingly part of an effort to tamp down international outrage after touting the attack to domestic audiences via Iranian state TV as a major success.
Former senior director for Middle East affairs at the National Security Council Michael Singh described the attack as “a slow-moving, thoroughly telegraphed, and ultimately unsuccessful retaliation” that was “largely performative,” in comments to the Wall Street Journal.
The IDF said in their own statement that very few missiles or drones made it through the coordinated defenses of Israel and its allies.
