Israelis awoke on Sunday to a new reality after the United States military joined Israel’s war against Iran with a huge pre-dawn attack on three of its key nuclear sites. They were just confused about what that reality might be.
Some Israelis were elated, saying they believed their country was entering a new era of peace and prosperity, with the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran no longer hanging over it.
Others worried that the American intervention was likely to lead to a stronger Iranian retaliation and a broader, prolonged war.
The differences of opinion played out among supporters and detractors of President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, his close ally; among citizens sharing space in bomb shelters; within families; and among bewildered individuals who did not dare to presume the ultimate outcome.
Around 7:30 a.m., a few hours after the American strikes, Iran launched two barrages of ballistic missiles, sending millions of Israelis into bomb shelters while the Israeli Air Force continued to strike targets across Iran.
Still, many Israelis, including Yair Lapid, the leader of the political opposition, agreed that the events overnight were “historic,” regardless of the results, and thanked Mr. Trump. “Israel, the Middle East and the world are now safer,” he wrote on social media.
“I’m happy to the high heavens,” said Eldad Ella, 48, a pest exterminator who was eating breakfast with a friend at a sidewalk cafe in Jerusalem’s nearly deserted city center during a break in the missile fire. “Bibi and Trump are our saviors,” he added, referring to Mr. Netanyahu by his nickname.
His friend Tomer Shoshani, 49, a businessman, said, “On the way here, I said finally, the wars will end, we’ll be a normal country and tourists will come.”
Israel’s air defenses intercepted most of the Iranian missiles fired at it on Sunday morning, but at least two direct hits caused widespread damage in a Tel Aviv neighborhood and in a city about 15 miles south. There was alsodamage in the port city of Haifa to the north.
More than 20 people were wounded, mostly lightly. But the Israeli authorities had closed schools and all nonessential businesses and services, and much of the population had taken cover in shelters or fortified safe rooms in their homes.
Shelly Lixenberg, 61, moved out of her apartment in north Tel Aviv a week ago because mobility problems had made it difficult for her to reach the bomb shelter in the basement of her building. She is staying with her daughter and son-in-law, who have a more accessible safe room in their apartment, in the south of the city.
At least four direct hits have since wrought destruction within a mile or so of her old neighborhood, including one on Sunday morning, and several other strikes have fallen near where she is staying now.
Ms. Lixenberg said she was glad that the United States attacked Iran. “We could see Israel wasn’t going to be able to complete this mission entirely on its own,” she said by phone. “And once it’s started, it needs to be completed.”
Yet she was skeptical that Iran’s nuclear program had been wiped out and was concerned that the conflict would escalate. “I can’t believe that it’s done and dusted so quickly,” she added.
In Jerusalem, some residents hung Israeli flags from their balconies and windows in a show of patriotism usually reserved for Independence Day each spring. But people’s lives were upended even though the city had been spared the worst of the missile threat.
Daniel Karni, 21, a music student who rushed to a bomb shelter in Jerusalem early on Sunday, said he hoped U.S. intervention would bring an end to the war with Iran closer.
“I think our government didn’t have clear goals about how and when the war would end,” he said. “But the United States is helping us.”
Ghassan Bazazu, 24, a Palestinian resident of the Old City, in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, said his formerly full-time job in a luxury west Jerusalem hotel had just been reduced to 16 hours a week because of a dearth of visitors to the country. Tourism from abroad has been down since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the war in Gaza. Since Israel launched its assault on Iran on June 13, Israeli airspace has been largely closed.
“Nothing will stop the war now,” Mr. Bazazu said on Sunday, glumly predicting that it could go on for three more years.
Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
Isabel Kershner, a Times correspondent in Jerusalem, has been reporting on Israeli and Palestinian affairs since 1990.
The post Some Israelis Expect New Era After U.S. Strikes on Iran. Others Are Skeptical. appeared first on New York Times.
