A ceasefire, putting the US-Israeli war with Iran on hold for two weeks. Nothing substantive achieved since war broke out on February 28. Cosmetic destruction. Loss of innocent lives. Israel more vulnerable.

Ceasefire in Lebanon part of the understanding. Israel understands differently. IDF planes returned from Iran now attack Hezbollah.

Version one of me opposed war with Iran. Immediately a war with Hezbollah too, for Israel. Free associations: In 1980-81, as a graduate student in Jerusalem, before Israel’s “Operation Peace for Galilee,” the first Lebanon War. A woman in my class, from Kiryat Shmona, with every Katyusha, pleading that other students from throughout Israel try to grasp the terror of daily life in Kiryat Shmona. Flashback to 1979, hitchhiking to Gaza, approaching Rafah, albeit not our intentional destination, but that’s an anecdote for another time. It took about 25 years until cities, towns, kibbutzim, and villages bordering on Gaza struggled to make their voices heard throughout Israel, as they suffered attacks, post-trauma, and more attacks from Gaza, while the northern border with Lebanon remained quiet, above ground. Residents complained. They heard drilling. Hezbollah drilling tunnels under their homes like tunnels Hamas built in Gaza – enabling plans to destroy Israel.

Israel should protect its citizens in the north from attack. Less than 50% of the population evacuated from Kiryat Shmona after October 7 returned. Nothing since February 28, 2026, encouraging them to stay. Frontier communities. A pioneering adventure? Lost its charm? Looking like a death wish? Hezbollah successfully reducing our residential space?

Life-threatening. Justifies defense. But is war that defense? Aggression and defense, indistinguishable throughout our history, a feature of the point of departure for your analysis.

The White House, contrary to Pakistani announcement of the ceasefire now says warfare between Israel and Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire. I want an end to attacks from Hezbollah. I suspect most people in Lebanon would happily be freed from Hezbollah, and happy to no longer be subject to Israeli attack.

Iran – pointless for me to reiterate themes of multiple commentaries and analyses of the ceasefire terms. Just reiterating my sentiment: feeling more vulnerable. Relieved to think life without Iranian missiles threatening lives throughout Israel might resume. Knowing Iranian capabilities and intent remain focused on destroying Israel. Its nuclear threats still hover overhead, implications not for Israel alone.

Will the afterword be similar to the foreword? Hamas remains a threat. Trump’s proposed riviera in Gaza as much a matter of the past as any discussion of rebuilding Gaza. Rebuilding Iran as a new US interest. Prioritization rendering wreckage in Gaza inconsequential.

Last week, I asked our 6th grade, 11-1/2-year-old granddaughter how she was doing without school for over a month. We laughed, and she preempted her brief response, “the social framework over the isolation.” I worry what she understands about her father’s reserve duty in the north, how she copes with air-raid sirens. She brushed off my concerns, assuring me she copes, and reminding me, “My whole life has been wars.”

As this Pesach concludes, it seems we missed the sign for this festival of freedom. We are locked in shelters in our minds, at a loss to defend our actions, and it would have been enough (Dayenu) to figure out in terms of Iran and Lebanon, but we must add Gaza, West Bank, legitimate means of defending ourselves from our government’s lies, and its attempts to hijack remaining threads of our liberal democracy.

Harriet Gimpel, April 8, 2026

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