Good morning from just outside Tel Aviv. It’s shortly after 8 a.m., with people heading off to work, babies to nurseries, kids to camp or school,
Except, that, for the last few days, sometimes the sirens wail and everyone has to quickly run to a shelter.
If you’re in your car or on a bus, you need to crouch near the vehicle. If you’re on the street, you need to look for a building to stand beside. You have 45 seconds or less to find “safety.”
In other parts of the country, it’s far less — in Sderot, in the south, just 15 seconds.
The threat’s been a daily reality for years now; Israel’s strikes at the source of the rockets and missiles in Gaza only produce a pause of some months.
And the reality has expanded, as the increased range of new terrorist missiles now means sirens blaring in major cities like Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Rishon L’Zion, Beer Sheva and Haifa.
As a New Yorker, I can’t fathom this routine — the traumatized children, the whole on-edge population. Could you?
Here is a number to make your head spin with your coffee — Hamas has launched 365 rockets and missiles just in the last three days. By the time you read this, it’ll be closer to 450 over four days.
Food for thought. As they say here in Israel, l’hitraot — see ya!
It’s 11:30 now; I thought I’d have a cup of coffee around 11:30 this morning, but have to run: sirens!
Lynne Rabinoff is an NYC-based literary agent.