Israel to California: “Rick’s Day #66”
"After the devastation in Gaza and the loss of life, it would be a catastrophe for all sides if we don’t finish the job."
By Rick Borenstein
Editor’s Note: Tel-Aviv-based Rick Borenstein began a journal on Day 1 of the Hamas-Israel War. JEWDICIOUS is pleased to share various of his personal pieces.
I am heading to the US to see my grandchildren. I must admit that I leave Tel Aviv with mixed feelings, as the war is not over. I’ve experienced powerful new emotions being here and living through it. I’ve thought about things that never occurred to me before. I’ve crossed the chasm and become an Israeli in heart and mind.
I’ve never felt afraid for my own safety, though, living in Tel Aviv. On the other hand, we have not ventured south, into harm’s way, to Ashkelon to visit family as it is too dangerous. Our Hanukkah Shabbat dinner was “paused” by sirens. Our five-year-old granddaughter led the way into the shelter where all 10 of us waited for 10 minutes. The shelter moonlights as our second bedroom most of the time. It is a room with four concrete walls, a retractable blast cover over the window and a metal door.
The Israeli people have remained unified in their commitment to end this war successfully. Early on I wondered just how long the world would give us to complete our mission. I thought then maybe a month, but no more than two. Here we are on Day 66 and guess what? The world is calling for a cease-fire. Some here say it will end on December 24th as a Christmas present to Biden. The War Cabinet says publicly two months more. The universities are restarting on December 31st…perhaps a sign?
There is little doubt that this war will impact Israel’s near-term ability to do business globally. Prospects for diplomatic breakthroughs will be indefinitely postponed; a key Hamas objective in this war. Political upheaval in Israel is a given. The day after the war is over, a million Israelis will be in the streets calling for Bibi’s removal. The new normal will be quite different than the old one. Israelis are quite resilient, though, and proud of it.
I asked my wife Doritte what her recollections were of the time after the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Her comment was simply, “all of us came back from the war totally screwed up.” Many took months to come out of their funk and learn anew how to relate to their family, friends, teachers, and lovers. The war scarred her generation. This war is scarring another generation.
This war is different for Israelis. It strikes at the core of their being. The massacre pierced our complacency and the country exploded. Who lives this way and tolerates it?? Enough already. We’ve got to stop this “once and for all.” There, I’ve said it. InShallah.
We’re in Day 66 and we’ve experienced rocket attack warnings in Tel Aviv every night this week. We are protected by Iron Dome, but when you see the rockets coming up, you are transfixed by the sight. Iron Dome interceptors race towards the Hamas rockets from the opposite direction and meet in a fireball, followed seconds later by a huge sound blast. You feel the danger viscerally, and immediately understand why this war is necessary.
The hostage question still hangs over the country like a shroud, with at least 138 hostages remaining in Gaza. We’re happy for the ones who have come home — but they are not well. Released children still whisper rather than talk. They still hide a piece of their food in case they need it later (echoes of stories told by Holocaust survivors). The older people are in bad shape, having lost an average of 20 pounds each and been deprived of their medications for two months. The plight of the younger women saddens me most. Hamas backed out of the cease-fire deal before completing the return of the remaining 10 women, all young. They were likely repeatedly raped and emotionally destroyed. If they are ever released or rescued, they will be witnesses to the terror and inhuman behavior.
We have confirmation of this from a 38-year-old woman who was returned in the last group of hostages released. Doritte knows her father and he says his daughter is totally lost to the world. She was raped “numerous times” and abused in every way possible. He wonders if she will ever be the same. Before checking into the hospital, she, like many of those who were lucky to return, went to “Hostage Square” (in front of the Tel Aviv Museum) to thank those who supported her release and to demand the release of all remaining hostages.
Have the Israelis made mistakes? Of course they have; no one is disputing that. This war has extracted a horrendous price on the Palestinians living in Gaza, and to an extent, in the West Bank as well. Was the high civilian death toll and growing humanitarian crisis justified? As always, it depends on your point of view. Every thinking, feeling Israeli (that leaves out certain of our ultra-right wing ministers) wishes the war could have been fought in a way that would have adequately sheltered the civilian population.
But Hamas gave us no choice. Every home, mosque, school and hospital had weapons, tunnel entrances and in some cases, missile launchers next door. This is not an exaggeration. After the devastation in Gaza and the loss of life, it would be a catastrophe for all sides if we don’t finish the job. The rebuilding task will be monumental.
I know some readers won’t agree with me. Perhaps I wouldn’t agree with Israel continuing the war if I was “living the dream” in California during this period. I’m here though, feeling, breathing, digesting and reflecting on what Israel should do from one day to the next. War really sucks. We have no choice.
Anti-Semitism, always present everywhere, has a newfound political correctness around the world because of this war. The Israeli government has issued travel warnings for all of Europe and most of the rest of the world because of anti-Semitic rallies and threats of violence. Seems to Doritte and I that the US is the only safe place to visit. And even there, sadly, calls for Jewish genocide aren’t really threatening and provocative according to the three Ivy League stooges who were over-lawyered and just plain stupid. Shame on them.
As a final thought, I’m concerned about reentering a familiar environment that hasn’t been living through this war. It will feel strange and be hard to get used to. No evening rocket attacks. No constant war news. I can only imagine how hard it will be for our returning reserve soldiers to come home after three months of fighting. And even more so for our twenty-somethings in the regular army who will remain in Gaza for an unspecified period.
This war will reverberate for generations on both sides.
RICK BORENSTEIN is a “Silicon Valley escapee” who now lives with his family in Israel. He a coach, investor, NGO adviser — and Tel Aviv-booster.
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