Posted on 02/24/2003 10:23:50 AM PST by July 4th
Tel Aviv, Israel - It was a pretty quiet afternoon at the gas mask distribution center.
The video describing how to use your gas mask played continuously, but usually with no one watching. No one stopped to look at the bulletin board display of gas mask equipment, which looked remarkably like a school science fair project.
A trickle of people came in, bringing in their old gas masks, going through the process of exchanging them for updated equipment and listening attentively as an Israeli soldier showed them the proper technique for putting one on.
If there didn't seem to be tension in the air at this large gas mask center on the north edge of Tel Aviv several days ago, that seemed to be a fair signal of the attitude across much of Israel as the question continues to loom of whether there will be a U.S.-led war against Iraq, with Israel as a potential target of Iraqi retaliation.
Maybe it's just that Israelis, with their crisis-of-the-day lifestyle, seemed in interviews around the country in recent days to be already almost bored with a threat that has been hanging there for weeks, and eager to get the issue over with.
Or maybe it's that with so many other crises all around them, many Israelis haven't felt that this rather uncertain one belongs on the front burner. You're much more likely to get lively conversation going talking about the slumping economy here than about Saddam Hussein.
In fairness to the quiet scene at the gas mask center, it was weeks ago when most of the country got going on this, and centers across the nation were reportedly busy then.
As he paused while working in the Machane Yehuda open-air market in Jerusalem on Friday morning, Yoni Deitcher, a recent graduate of Yeshiva University in New York who has split his time in recent years between North America and Israel, said he was not worried about the threat of war.
"I just want them to get it over with already," he said. So many issues seem to be on hold across the world until the Iraq issue is resolved, he said. He did not believe the war was a threat to Israel.
Elise Einhorn, who lives in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, and has worked in business development in the past, said she had gotten her gas mask equipment ready.
"I am not a fatalist," she said. "I'll do my utmost to protect me and whoever is with me."
But the looming war is just another concern among many - the economy, Palestinian attacks, national politics.
"I'm worried every single day of my life" about threats to Israel, she said. "But I love my life, and I'm still here."
Some Israelis have made plans to go to the more remote sections of the country if war with Iraq begins, but that appears to be far from a majority feeling. And many among the more fervently religious Jews say they have been assured by their rabbinical leaders that they need not fear Iraqi missiles.
It's not that the Iraqi threat isn't being taken seriously. Tel Aviv was Iraq's prime missile target in the 1991 Gulf War, and several consecutive nights of attacks left vivid memories, even if they did remarkably little damage overall.
But many doubt Iraq's capacity to deliver severe blows now. Hussein didn't put chemical or biological weapons in the 1991 missiles, and many Israelis doubt that even he would be willing to face the consequences now. Some talk openly of their hope that Israel will respond with nuclear weapons if such a thing happens.
Many Israelis say, almost with pride, that they don't have a gas mask, but most say that they've followed the government recommendation to bring in their old masks, to get the new gear and to prepare supplies (water, reading material, children's games, etc.) for use in sealed rooms in their homes.
A 52-page government booklet on how to get ready and what to do in case of what it gently calls "a genuine alert" is chock full of tips on how to get ready, and is available in multiple languages.
And last Wednesday, schoolchildren across Israel, even kindergartners, took part in a drill on what to do if there is an attack while they are in school.
Dani Avital, 45, who operates a wall magnet shop on Tel Aviv's trendy Sheinkin St., said he was uncomfortable that his 4-year-old daughter was among those who went through the missile attack drill at school. "They made it like a game," he said, but he wondered what impact such things had on children.
Avital said he had mixed feelings on the war: He regards Iraq as an enemy, but he isn't sure why the war seems to be approaching at this time. "This war with Iraq came out of the blue," he said.
Hopes and fears
Many Israelis appear to hope that the war will rid them of a major enemy and cause changes in the balance of power in this region that might help their country.
But that means there is the opposite concern: What if the war does not lead to a decisive defeat of Hussein? That could embolden enemies of the U.S. and Israel, many suggest.
Menashe Kadishman, a leading Israeli artist, said in his Tel Aviv studio that he wasn't worried about an Iraq war. "I trust the Americans," he said.
But he is concerned that if Hussein is not destroyed in the war, he will seem to much of the world to be the David who beat the U.S. Goliath.
Yishi Cohen, 33, a high-tech company executive currently out of work, said he thinks Iraq will launch missiles against Israel, but they won't be loaded with chemicals.
He and his wife, Merav, have limited their preparations to stocking up on water for their home in Ramat Beit Shemesh, roughly midway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
He said his biggest fear is that the Americans will not win a decisive victory, which will diminish the respect and fear that Mideast nations have for American power. Throughout the region, people are waiting to see what the outcome says about who will have power in the future, he said.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.