Iranian-Israelis back air campaign despite living under fire

Iranian-Israeli residents of Bat Yam south of Tel Aviv woke up to a shocking reality on Sunday morning as overnight bombardments on the coastal town left it the worst-hit in the country since the Iranian bombardments began on Friday.

The community's hyphenated identity puts them between the region's arch-foes, but their loyalties to the Jewish State and its war effort appear to have been boosted.

The town of 125,000 was hit by a medium-range missile carrying 500kg of explosives, according to an Israeli official’s latest updates given to Iran International.

Iran International spoke to Iranian-Israelis in the town, who say that in spite of the price Israel is now paying for the preemptive strikes on Friday morning, it was a vital move to protect the country.

Tehran-born Sharona Ben-Avraham, 62, has lived through most of the country’s big wars since she came to Israel aged 15, but admits this round feels “hard, scary”.

“People are dying, getting injured. It’s not different to what we’ve been through but war is scary. War is always hard but what’s hard now is that we didn’t bring the hostages first,” she said.

“But we need to do this because if we didn’t now, it would be a matter of months before Iran would become a threat to the whole world.”

She was in the shelter beneath her building when the missile, just a few hundred meters from her home, hit, the impact of which affecting 61 buildings across eight or nine streets, according to rescue service, United Hatzallah. “The whole shelter shook and everyone laid on the floor,” she said.

In spite of having lived through decades of conflict in Israel, she does not take the latest war lightly. “The Iranians are smart and strong, but we haven’t done this for nothing. But we should have got the hostages back first.”

'New Middle East'

Amnon Sadeh, 83, agrees. “It will be a new Middle East after all this war here,” he said. “Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] did the right thing in spite of the price we are paying now.”

He remembers the time when Israel and Iran were firm allies, the time before the 1979 revolution when the Shah was deposed and the Islamic Republic began.

“We loved the Shah and our countries supported each other,” he said. “Now, the mission is for us to help bring down the government and see the return of what we had before the revolution before religion took over Iran.”

The two pensioners dream of visiting a land which has, since 1979, become a forbidden fruit to the country's exiled Jews, which once numbered hundreds of thousands. Now, there are just 10,000 left.

“It’s my dream to visit Tehran,” said Ben-Avraham. “I was so young when I left that I only have a few memories so I long to visit. My grandparents are buried there, our family roots are there.”

Sadeh, whose whole house shook in the Sunday morning attacks, agrees. “I’m third generation Iranian now as my family came to Israel in the 1920s, but all of us dream to see our homeland. We will never leave Israel but Iran remains a place in our hearts, it’s our heritage.”

Until then, there is a war ahead which US and Israeli officials say could take weeks, not days.

He was in the safe room in his home when the missiles hit his neighbors in the nearby streets, but he was lucky. While thousands of residents now have to face rebuilding or repairing homes, his is so far, in one piece.

“What chance do we have with these ballistic missiles when they hit? Even if I’m in the safe room, if it’s time, it’s time,” he said.

Spy games

In the wake of rising numbers of Iranian spy operations inside the country, with dozens of Israelis arrested accused of working for Iran, including a boy aged 13, Ben-Avraham said the attacks from Tehran have likely had help from within.

“There are people here helping the Iranians with the targets here for sure, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to launch such an operation,” she added.

As of Sunday at 14:00 local time in Israel, the government said there have been approximately 270 launches since Friday from Iran, with 22 landing sites, at least 13 dead, and 390 people injured across the country, nine seriously, 30 moderately and 351 lightly.

In a media statement, an Israeli military official said that in Bat Yam alone, three people had died, with a further three trapped in the rubble and four more missing. However, as the day continued, the death toll was believed to have risen to six.

“Following last night’s barrage of rockets and UAVs, we are facing several hit sites in Israel, and the IDF is working on cooperation with other Israeli security agencies - these are hits of 100s of kilograms of explosives,” they said.

Amid the tragedy, there is still hope for a better Iran. “I can only wish that this could bring down the government,” said Ben-Avraham.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, multiple missiles struck residential areas in Israel, in Ashdod and Haifa in addition to Bat Yam. Four people were killed in the northern Arab town of Tamra.

Netanyahu, on a visit to Bat Yam, warned Iran will pay “very heavy price” for strikes on civilians as Israeli strikes in Iran continued on Sunday.

Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin told press on Sunday: “Challenging days are ahead. There will be more launches and impacts in the coming days.”

The Israeli Air Force is “not stopping striking for a moment”, he said.