By The Nameless One (my good friend in Israel who would rather me not publish his name, but from whom I get an insider’s account of what’s really happening)

The “Roaring Lion / Epic Fury” operation by Israel and the U.S. against Iran has entered a different phase: the blockade.

For the past three weeks, things have been relatively normal in Israel. That normality actually made me reflect on how crazy the previous phase was, crazy in the sense that we Israelis were just casually continuing our daily lives while factoring in 1 to 5 ballistic missile attacks a day. I don’t think I can fully convey what that feels like. Completely surreal.

As for the blockade, I’m not saying it doesn’t create havoc in the Iranian system. It clearly does. We’re hearing inside stories, like the absence of rescue teams for fatal accidents, leaving victims in their cars.

But it’s also clear to me that the materialistic West doesn’t really understand the Middle East.

As someone who has spent over 20 years teaching scripture, history, and archaeology, and studying the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim civilizations and mindsets, it’s obvious that communication between the Trump administration and Iran’s fractured leadership is unlikely to be fruitful.

The Iranian system itself is fragmented: the largely unseen Ayatollah, the IRGC, the army, and the elected civilian leadership.

They are not speaking the same language, not culturally, not historically, not in terms of values. They define victory differently. They see history differently. And........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)