Jonathan Spyer

Iran’s attack was just a taste of what could be to come

A billboard depicting Iranian ballistic missiles in central Tehran, Iran (Credit: Getty images)

The Iranian drone and missile attacks of 13 April brought less drama for many in Jerusalem than one might have imagined. War brings with it the disappearance of expectations of daily continuity, or of a reasonable and logical sequence of events. 

It has been wartime for six months now here in Jerusalem; in another way it has been wartime for the last 75 years. If one insists on drawing out the camera range still further, it has been war, or a state of emergency for Jewish people for as long as history can remember. Next week, after all, Jews worldwide will gather to read and recite a nearly 2,000 year old text which contains the assertion that ‘not only one enemy has risen up against us to destroy us, but in every generation men rise up against us to destroy us, and God delivers us from them’. 

Western admonitions to Israel to desist from further action against Iran fit the Iranian plan

I was at a neighbour’s house when the news of the impending attack came in. We

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Written by
Jonathan Spyer

Jonathan Spyer is a journalist and Middle East analyst. He is director of research at the Middle East Forum and the author of The Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict.

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