Red alerts and clown noses: Purim under fire |
It has been quite a Shushan Purim in Jerusalem.
We were awaken to a tzeva adom (a red alert) at around 6:00 a.m. Nothing like running half asleep to the shelter down the street to get a morning off to a quick start. No coffee needed. After visiting with our neighbors in the shelter–we’ve gotten to know some very nice people the last few days–the all-clear sounded and we headed home.
One of the most difficult challenges of this war has been deciding when it is safe to jump in the shower. After there has been quiet for a while? Right after an all-clear, the thinking being it will take them a while to launch the next round? Who knows? In any event, I got a quick one in.
The rest of the morning was quiet. Or, I should say, free of missiles. I could hear the sounds of Purim from the streets. Singing, kids laughing, glasses clinking. In the early afternoon I decided it was safe enough to take a walk in the neighborhood to soak up the atmosphere. Lots of kids and adults in costume. A festive atmosphere despite the tension and worry in the air.
Then, an alert sounded. I floundered for a moment, until a man with a big red clown’s nose on his face and clown’s shoes on his feet told me to follow him to the nearest shelter. Only in Jerusalem on Shushan Purim would I put my life in the hands of a guy with a clown’s nose and shoes. But it worked. I spent about 10 minutes in the shelter with my new clown friend, lots of cute Queen Esthers, 10 year-old breakdancers, and soccer players, among others.
The all-clear sounded and I started what I thought was a leisurely stroll back to our apartment. Another alert went off. I was too far from the shelter I had left but not close enough to the one on our street. So I again followed the crowd and found myself with another group of Purim celebrators. This time there was an assortment of dogs with them.
Another all-clear and I got home. Thinking the action was over for the day, I was relaxing or, I should say, doing the best imitation of relaxing that one can do in these circumstances, when at around 4:15 this afternoon, another alert went off. If we are reducing Iran’s ability to fire missiles, we have not experienced it today. Could they be throwing some last Hail Mary’s? Should I be bringing Mary into this? Aren’t things complicated enough?
It is not lost on Israelis that we are taking on an evil Persian regime, and that we killed an evil Persian leader, while we mark a holiday that celebrates the demise of Haman, an evil Persian Prime Minister who wanted to exterminate the Jews and who was stopped by the heroic action of the Jewish Queen Esther.
It also is not lost on Israelis and many Iranians that the Persian King Cyrus ended the Babylonian captivity in 539-538 BCE by issuing a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem, financed the rebuilding of the Second Temple, and permitted religious freedom, and that, if things go well, the Jewish nation, in partnership with the US, might return the favor 3100 years later. What goes around sometimes does come around, we hope.
Friends and acquaintances abroad understandably have many questions and concerns regarding the war or, as some American politicians prefer to label it, operation or action. Secret: It is a war.
I have been asked: Are you happy with doing this? Are Israelis? I thought you didn’t like Netanyahu–do you now? I thought you didn’t like Trump–do you now? What was Iran doing to provoke this? Is regime change realistic? Won’t this wind up being another messy quagmire costing American lives?
“Happy” is not the right word to describe the feeling here. The last few years–the fight over the attack on the judiciary, the devisiveness created by Netanyahu and his government, COVID, October 7, the hostages, the Gaza War, the world’s reaction, the intense Jew-hatred and villification of Israel–have not been easy.
People are tired, worried, stressed. Families are strained. Soldiers, their spouses, their kids, their parents, are tired. The last thing Israelis need is another war and more controversy on the world stage.
But almost everyone across the political spectrum thinks this war is a necessary and good thing to do. Not just to get rid of the nuclear threat, but to also eliminate Iran’s ballistic missiles and to further weaken or eliminate its support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
Even those who do not trust Netanyahu’s word and motives (e.g. me and most of my friends), or Trump’s motives, judgment, and understanding (e.g. me and most of my friends), appreciate the need to do this even if they prefer that some other leaders were doing it.
For many reasons, I strongly oppose Netanyahu, and I protest his government frequently. I also strongly oppose Trump. I am concerned about motivations, failure to bring the US Congress and the public along properly, lack of planning for the future, responses if things do not go well, etc. etc. etc.
David Frum makes a case for why Trump is doing the right thing, and why the way he is doing it and his response if it fails could be bad for America: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/trump-iran-attack/686191/
Anne Applebaum explains how many of President Trump’s policies have undercut his stated objective of regime change and the creation of a functioning, democratic government in Iran: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/trump-has-no-plan-iranian-people/686194/
My dislike of Netanyahu and Trump does not stop me from seeing the forest for the trees and, therefore, supporting this action. Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and of ballistic weapons poses an existential threat to Israel, and a serious, possibly existential threat to the region, Europe, and ultimately the US.
Iran provides a vital lifeline to Hamas, Hezbelloh, and the Houthis, which terrorize and murder Israelis and others in the region and around the world. After October 7th, Israelis cannot live with terrorists on our borders. We learned a bitter lesson about containment.
Iran exports terror around the world and destablizes the region. It represses its people terribly, and has done so for years. Regime change and a transition to a decent, democratic government would be a blessing for Iranians and the region. It would be a gamechanger.
But it is entirely possible that it might not happen. Iran might be left with a repressive government and another failed state. Still, from Israel’s perspective, and hopefully from our neighbors’ perspective, if this war seriously degrades Iran’s capabilities and provides relief for a decade, it is a good thing.
Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania sees the situation clearly: no matter how you feel about Netanyahu and Trump, and no matter the deficiencies in the planning and operation, how anyone can oppose crippling this regime and taking out its military capabilities is beyond me.
Brett Stephens makes the case why, despite the reservations, this action should be supported: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/opinion/trump-netanyahu-iran-free-world.html
There was a time when the Democratic Party was a beacon of freedom and democracy, and its leaders would have been strong supporters of this action. But, unfortunately, no Democratic president today would have done this. So, as much as I dislike the two leaders, and for all of the criticisms I have of some of the details, I support this action.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia and others have objected to the war based on the fact that there was “no immediate threat” to the US. By that standard, Senator Warner would have been with Lindbergh and the American Firsters prior to December 7, 1941. So much for America as a beacon of liberty and freedom.
The Internet is rife with those claiming that Israel and Netanyahu dragged the US into the war. In a hysterical column prior to the outbreak of the war, NY Times columnist Tom Friedman asserted that Netanyahu was pulling the wool over the eyes of the entire leadership of the American Jewish community as well as President Trump. After the start of the war, California Congresswoman Sarah Jacobs stated that Netanyahu had tried to drag other presidents into a war with Iran, and that he finally found one “dumb enough” to go along.
Friedman and Jacobs, along with all of their Internet compatriots, remind one of the old Flip Wilson exclamation “The Devil Made Me Do It.” They are trading on old tropes about Jews having unfathomable control and deviousness. It used to be the Jews. Now it is the Zionists. And AIPAC. And Israel and Netanyahu. They control. They deceive. They conspire and manipulate.
President Trump has many faults. One of them is his narcissism. To think that he and the United States would be the tool of a prime minister of a sliver of a country with less than 10 million people is ludicrous on its face. But here we are with public figures and hundreds of thousands if not millions of Internet experts trading on centuries-old tropes to portray Israel as the cause of whatever adverse consequences befall America.
Americans should note the response of England and France to America’s request to use their bases for supplies and refueling, and for their support of the action. Both refused. French President Macron opposed the action, calling for an end to the action. And yet when the Gulf States faced attacks by Iran, they reversed course, engaging in “defensive” action, i.e. targeting Iranian missiles and assets. With friends like that. . . .