Shabbat, March 21, 2026, sent at 00:45
It's now 21:30, and I just finished a cup of tea, after finishing washing the dishes after dinner. It's time to start writing a review. So I guess that predictably, if not logically, we'd get a preliminary alert. From what the television news, still on since 20:00, is reporting, our area is outside of ...
Well, I wrote a bit too quickly. How's that for real time. I was still in the middle of that sentence when a siren for our area went off, and now I'm trying to continue this in our safe room. Since my intent was to start reviewing the day, I can do this from here as well. So ...
I slept late this morning, waking at 08:30. Shortly thereafter we had a preliminary alert. I was about to make a piece of toast when a siren sent us to our safe room. When about fifteen minutes later we got the all clear I went out to my 93 year old student and then to the archives, and then back home. But it wasn't going to be a quiet day. We had another preliminary alert at 10:40, and then again at 10:50. And once again, after ten minutes, when we were quite sure nothing was going to materialize by us, we had to get-to-your-safe-room siren and we sat there until about 11:15. Not long after that I organized some utensils and went up to the chadar ochel and kol-bo to meet Eitan and get food for the weekend. Tzippi also prepared a mushroom and onion pie for the vegetarian of the family. (Yes, Hila is as well, but she's not here.)
Having had a number of alerts before noon, we figured that we should leave the television on throughout the day. When I got back from my shopping I noticed on the television screen a review of Netanyahu's press conference of last night (the person on the screen is being interviewed):
The text reads:
Find the differences: The Prime Minister in Hebrew and in English
Netanyahu's statement (in Hebrew) "the war will take as long as is necessary" - and in English: "it will end soon".
[21:55 - I'm out of the safe room, and continuing my review of the day]
Very shortly after that we received a report on missiles to the south, but it turns out that it was very far south of us and this time we didn't even get an alert. This was quickly followed by a report of missiles in the north, but that's already something that's almost non-stop throughout the day, meaning, I guess, that it's "normal". The television reported that since the morning and until 13:00 there had been four separate barrages.
But of course that was only the beginning. Between 13:15 to 13:30 we were again in the safe room, and this time we heard a few booms, though we don't know of anything that landed in our area. And we went to the room again at 13:55. In the interim we succeeded in eating our lunch which had been ready before the siren but then needed reheating. I took my laptop with me that time and wrote:
I haven't taken my laptop with me to the safe room for a couple of days, but now I did. I've got a couple of things to read on it, and FWIW, I can do some real time reporting.
Because we're home all we have to do is take the few steps to our safe room. The television shows us real time video of people in the public shelters - primarily underground parking structures in central Tel Aviv. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that lately more and more of the people who realize that they're on television wave, or even dance. It's also clear from the large number of people who we see in these shelters that many of these people aren't going out of their homes in order to reach a protective space, but instead that they're out shopping or whatever when the alarm goes off.
14:15 - out again - Tzippi will stay put to take a nap without having to move if required, and I'll wash the dishes.
[Now I'm back to reviewing.]
Last week's cover story of the HaAretz Shabbat magazine was about Ali Larinjani. It was fascinating, and it's now available in English (I think I could have waited for the translation. There was nothing specifically Hebrew about it that warranted the slower read):
Gid'on Lev (HaAretz) - Ruthless Leader and Brilliant Philosopher: Who Is Ali Larijani, Iran's Most Powerful Man? (https://archive.li/PuuWc)
Larijani was killed a few days ago, and today I saw an article by Bobby Ghosh (whom I only recently "discovered") who wrote about him as well:
Bobby Ghosh - Ali Larijani: Kant’s Disciple of Death .
I suppose that as we read articles like these we're expected to understand that being a brilliant intellectual doesn't prevent you from being a terrible person. But of course we already knew this. I found myself, however, asking whether something similar could also be written about Netanyahu (though he's very far from as brilliant as his groupies like to think).
It's now 00:30. I think I wrote until about 23:00 and then read parts of the Shabbat paper. Tzippi continued dozing off in our safe room. I didn't want to finish writing too early. After all, we've become accustomed to late night alerts. But I'm not objecting to the fact that it's been quiet since leaving our safe room, and on 'erev Shabbat I usually try to get to sleep earlier than on weekdays, so there's no reason why I shouldn't finish this report now, hoping that the quiet will continue throughout the night. We had enough excitement, if that's the right word for it, in the morning and afternoon.
to: Sunday, March 22