Is Raf OK? -- Installment #183
2025-06-17 -- Jerusalem
First Time Here? Readers suggest starting with the expanded Gaza Explainer in #133 and #120.
Top Ten IsRafOK Entries: #85; #123; #128; #140; #144; #154; #161; #162; #164; #171
Tags: 15+ Min Read; Videos; Jumbo Mail & Raf Analysis; Jumbo Relief
Yes, Raf is OK.
Sorry I didn't post yesterday (and thank you for the pings asking!).
Life in wartime: The streets are quiet. Schools, universities, large malls, cinemas and Ikea are closed. Cafes, most restaurants and stores are open. We went furniture shopping yesterday. Discovery of the day: There is a made-in-Israel foam mattress manufacturer with factory stores. (One such manufacturer is on Kibbutz Zikim.) A short walk away from the Baka neighborhood in Jerusalem is a three block district loaded with furniture and mattress stores. You can visit at least five mattress stores within two blocks, including some American brands.
Consumerism at its ________.
A block away, here in the Baka neighborhood of Jerusalem, the pizza and shawarma shops are open but the falafel stand is closed. The hairdressers appear to be %100 open.
There are alerts two or three times a day. They start like this:
Which means:
This comes to every phone in Israel, whether or not you have the Home Front app installed. It comes ten to thirty minutes before the actual Red Alert, which means "Go Into The Protected Space Now" (within 90 seconds). It is a huge improvement over the alerts for rockets from Gaza and Lebanon. In this war, you have time to get dressed (or out of the bathroom or whatever). You hang out near the shelter. Either there is an alert and you go in, or there isn't. Either way you wait for the all clear--this is a change from the earlier phase's "10 minute rule:" You entered the shelter, watched the time, and ten minutes later were free to go. So far, the time in shelter is ten to twenty minutes.
The last two "pre-alert warnings" in this part of Jerusalem were not followed by actual alerts. But in all cases, you wait for this:
[The two shots above are from different events.]
Because Israel has visibility over Iran, it can see the launches. It takes ten+ minutes from launch to impact. I suspect Israel may be detecting the preparation for launches. The above "pre-alert warning" is triggered when the launch occurs (or is certain to occur). Then, once trajectories are calculated, "Red Alerts" are triggered in the expected landing areas. Even though the "boomim" are much louder (the Iranian missiles have very large bombs on them), at least half of the "pre-alert warnings" in this part of Jerusalem did not lead to a red alert in this neighborhood.
This morning in Jerusalem, we saw this during the "non alert" alert:
Below, the same Iranian barrage as seen from the Ramallah area in the West Bank:
Telltales of interceptors.
Nationwide during the past day or so, there were no reports of injuries. A friend of mine had a lamp break from the shockwave of an interception.
Reportedly, during the recent few Iranian launches there were red alerts in some parts of Jordan. (I continue to be amazed at the Arab world's tolerance for such violence. That said, Adina's daughter was just at a meeting of Israeli and Palestinian peace activist from meet.org on the U.S. East Coast. She reports sense of solidarity in the face of Iran-originating violence. And everyone is equally cut off given the closure of regional airports.)
To shift gears, we hosted a small gathering here in Baka last night to sing songs and study the parshat hashavua. The study posed some interesting questions. The gathering started with discussing the go-to-shelter arrangements in event of an alert.
I observe that a side effect of the Coronavirus episode is that society has already identified "critical" enterprises (health care, food stores, pharmacies etc.) and can fall back to Zoom (like my Tel Aviv gym and many university courses did).
The following is a thought exercise.
If I Zoom Out... (with a lens, not a web site )
I stand before a map. The map has a dial that lets me wind time forward and backward. I can twist the dial left and see the map at 1400 CE. If I then twist to the right, I can move the map to 1700, 1900, 2000, 2020, 2025 or any year in between.
In the region between Greece and India, as I scroll across the centuries, what would I see?
I would see the ebb and flow of empires.
Persian
Ottoman
British and French
(American?)
On this map, if I put a post-it on top of Israel and focus on the rest of the map, 1979 would be the gradual rise of a new Iranian empire.
Syria/Lebanon:
As Syria and Lebanon decline from 1979-2020 it is Iran's influence in that region that rises. (Recall that to many in this region there is no country of "Lebanon." All of Syria, a chunk of Lebanon and all of history sees Lebanon as part of Syria. Why? Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire for over 400 years, in a region called Greater Syria. Data point: Syria itself only "recognized" Lebanese sovereignty in 2008!).
During this period, Syria evolved from Cold War Soviet-aligned proxy to Russia-Iran aligned from the mid-1990's forward.
While Syria morphed into a hollow narco-state propped up by Iran and its Hezbollah proxy, Lebanon suffered from the Hezbollah "state within a state." This paralyzed Lebanese politics and caused a multi-decade stagnation of the economy and body politic.
All this on top of the long-established Iranian domination of Iraq and Afghanistan (essentially given to Iran by the U.S. as a result of the U.S. invasions of those countries in the early aughts).
Thus, the "New Iranian Empire" stretched from Afghanistan across Iran and through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to the Mediterranean, encircling to the East and North our post-it on Israel.
Until October 2024. [When Hezbollah/Syria began to fall.]
But that is jumping ahead.
Southern Prong
Iran also intervened in dirt-poor Yemen, funding and arming the Houthis.
The Houthis’ infamous, Iranian-inspired rallying cry points to their ambitions beyond Yemen: “God is great, death to America, death to Israel, a curse upon the Jews, victory to Islam.” The United States designates them as a terrorist group. [source: Council on Foreign Relations]
The Houthis played a dual role for Iran: They help Iran encircle Saudi Arabia and they, in theory, could be used against Israel.
It is useful, perhaps, to note that the Ayatollahs of Iran have long hated Saudi Arabia:
“Even if it were possible to forgive Saddam Hussein [for the multi-year war with Iran that killed over 200,000 Iranian soldiers], it would never be possible to forgive Saudi Arabia. […] these vile and ungodly [Saudi] Wahhabis, are like daggers which have always pierced the heart of the Muslims from the back […] Mecca is in the hands of a band of heretics.” Ayatollah Khomeini, circa 1987
The Saudis and Houthis were in full-on military conflict for several years, with thousands of casualties. This conflict wound down a few years ago, in large part because the Biden administration paused arms sales to Saudi Arabia in response to civilian casualties in Yemen.
As we all know, ultimately the Houthis were armed to the point of being able to shut down international merchant shipping through the Red Sea and launch daily ballistic missiles at targets 1000's of kilometers away.
The last prong being Hamas in Gaza.
Shrinkage of The New Iranian Empire
When the half-century-long Assad regime fell in late 2024, it was replaced by a Muslim-brotherhood flavor-of-the month government that is closely tied to Turkey. (I call it "flavor-of-the-month" because the leadership is comprised of individuals and groups who have been part of extremist groups. Today, they wear suits and ties, though they will not shake hands with a woman. The West, so far, is so thrilled to have someone to talk to in Damascus who is not Assad that it is supportive, even enthusiastic. How will this situation age? TBD.)
The fall of the Assad regime is 100% due to the long-planned Israeli attack on Hezbollah. The Israeli military had been planning this attack for many years (15 or more). There was no alternative to this planning: Hezbollah had a single military mission: Attack Israel. Hezbollah's military was 100% offensive: Not a single rocket of their tens of thousands was assigned to protect a Lebanese city. Not a single civilian bomb shelter was built by Hezbollah.
It turned out that the Assad regime could not survive without Hezbollah's support. Several weeks after the fall of Hezbollah in Lebanon the Assad regime was over. Israel followed this up by destroying what was the densest anti-aircraft array on the planet: The Russian and Iranian arms that had been piling up in Syria for ten to twenty years.
Is there anything so valuable in Damascus to protect?
Nope.
That air defense system existed to protect Iran.
Shrinkage May Occur: The Iraq-Syria-Hezbollah-Houthi-Hamas empire
Entering 2025, Iran is suddenly a lot smaller. The Houthis and Hamas still operate. But the Northern Branch of the New Iranian Empire is in tatters. Further, Turkey is building its presence in the New Syria at a furious clip.
The rise of the New Turkish Empire and the wane of the "New" Iranian Era?
Back in April in #173 (gawd that feels a long time ago), we compared the GDP's of Turkey and Iran. Here it is again:
Turkey (population: 86 million):
GDP: $1.455 trillion (nominal, 2025) $3.614 trillion (PPP, 2025)\ GDP rank: 17th (Nominal, 2025) 12th (PPP, 2024)
GDP per capita: $16,876 (nominal; 2025) $41,913 (PPP; 2025)
GDP per capita rank: 55th (Nominal; 2024) 54th (PPP; 2024)\Iran (population: 92 million):
GDP: $463.747 billion (nominal; 2025 est.) $1.782 trillion (PPP; 2025 est.)
GDP rank: 36th (nominal; 2024) 23rd (PPP; 2024)
GDP per capita: $5,300 (nominal; 2025 est.) $20,369 (PPP; 2025 est.)
GDP per capita rank: 117th (nominal; 2024) 93rd (PPP; 2025)\The Turkish economy is at least double the size and GDP per capita is double or triple that of Iran.
Let's hold these numbers in mind while we think about Iran:
The people of Iran are intelligent and industrious
As a country, Iran has been unable to even provide electricity reliably to its own capital city
Countless Iranian billions have been invested in building the Iraq-Syria-Hezbollah-Houthi-Hamas empire described above
Countless Iranian billions spent on the nuclear program
Countless Iranian billions spent on anti-aircraft defense and ballistic missile development
All of this built on a hollow "enemy over there" ideology that milked Iranian oil revenue for arms and empire instead of developing itself into an "honest" regional power.
I was just listening to an interview with Amit Segal. He was asked if Israel is considering taking out Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His response, "Khamenei has made so many bad decisions, it doesn't make sense to have him replaced with someone who might do better."
Operating Conclusions
The Western media, from what I can tell, isn't talking about the outbreak of dancing by leaders in the Middle East. It's indoors, mind you. And probably not mixed. In the halls of power from Riyadh and Amman to Beirut and Istanbul the destruction of Iran's weapons program is being celebrated.
Part of that celebration comes, I strongly suspect, from the offenses Shia Iran has done to the Sunni regional majority. But most of it is directed at the hoped for wane of the New Iranian Empire. This Empire offered the region nothing but bloodshed (which is ongoing in Gaza, to be clear). There was no agenda of regional cooperation or development (Iran itself being no example of that). Whatever the "merits" of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, post-revolutionary Iran fought and funded war after war after war--hot and cold. These cost the region a million+ killed (Iran-Iraq war: half a million+ dead; Yemen Civil War 150K+ dead; Syrian Civil War 600K+ dead; Gaza 2008-2025; Lebanon 2008-2025) and 10-20 million displaced.
A Tactical Scorecard -- One Perspective
Someone I call a "professional OSINT [Open Source Intelligence -- e.g. social media, media and other public sources] war-watcher" posted this "score card" as of the afternoon of June 16:
The War Between Israel and Iran: Interim Summary of Achievements by Both Sides After 3 Days of Fighting
Iran’s Achievements:
Approximately 380 ballistic missiles were launched from Iran toward Israel.
About 100 UAVs were launched from Iran toward Israel.
24 Israeli civilians killed by ballistic missiles, and hundreds were wounded, most of them lightly.
Significant damage was caused to buildings in Israel at impact sites.
Israel’s Achievements:
About 120 out of 360 Iranian ballistic missile launchers were destroyed. [200 as of June 17]
Around 15 senior nuclear scientists were eliminated.
Dozens of senior officials in the Iranian security apparatus were eliminated, including:
The Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards
The Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces
The heads of Iranian intelligence (including those of the Revolutionary Guards)
The Commander of the Air and Space Forces of the Revolutionary Guards and his senior command
The Commander of Khatam al-Anbiya
The Commander of the Tehran Police [subsequent OSINT indicates this is incorrect and he yet lives]
Iran’s air defense systems were destroyed or rendered ineffective—Israel has achieved complete air superiority over Iranian airspace.
The nuclear facility in Natanz was destroyed.
The nuclear facility in Isfahan was destroyed.
The heavy water facility in Arak was attacked.
Minor damage was inflicted on facilities adjacent to the Fordo nuclear facility, which is located 90 meters underground. [Only the U.S. possesses conventional weapons that can damage this facility.]
Several government offices in Tehran were attacked.
Hangars containing Iranian fighter jets were destroyed.
At least one refueling aircraft was destroyed.
Several economic targets were attacked: fuel depots and a refinery in Tehran, the Fajr Jam refinery at the Bushehr gas field. There are reports today of attacks on refineries in Kermanshah. [This was only done after Iran's attacks on Israeli cities.]
Mossad agents are operating freely on Iranian soil, carrying out assassinations and sophisticated attacks from within Iran.
Residents of Tehran are fleeing their homes. Iranian citizens are fleeing the country.
According to the Iranian Ministry of Health, as of last night, there are 224 dead and 1,277 wounded Iranians.
Israel is receiving full military support from the United States and international legitimacy from the West. [Canada, France, Germany and many other governments officially]
Some Numbers
It is considered that Iran possessed, as of last Wednesday, about 1,600 missiles. Further, it is understood that the Iranian plan was to respond to an Israeli attack by launching 1,000 missiles. Such an attack would overwhelm defenses and cause thousands of Israeli civilian deaths.
The initial Israeli attack did two things: It "faked out" Iranian military leadership into meeting together in a bunker, which was bombed. Thus there was no leadership to order the counterstrike. Further, about a third of Iran's missiles were destroyed.
June 17: According to IDF data, so far more than 200 launchers have been neutralized—about half of Iran’s ballistic missile launcher array—and this, according to the IDF’s assessment, is one of the reasons for the reduction and decrease in the scope of fire.
Iran has fired about 350 missiles since the war began. One school of thought: If a third were destroyed at the beginning of the war and Iran has used 350, that would mean around 800 remain. If they were to fire 50-100/day, that would mean another 1-2 weeks of missile fire. However, the IAF [Israeli Air Force] is destroying launchers every day. At some point, the infrastructure just won't be there?
Raf's rubric (so far): The war will end when Iran runs out of missiles (or the ability to launch them).
Perhaps Raf means: The Israel-civilian-life-impacting phase of the war.
Or—more likely?—Iran is stubborn and the war never ends (the Iran-Iraq war dragged out for years)
Does the example of Hamas apply? Never surrender. Better that every civilian die than the ideology be humbled?
An obvious counterpoint: Iranian barrages in the past 24 hours have been relatively small--3-10 missiles each, it is reported. At that rate...
Significant U.S. Buildup in Saudi Arabia
OSINT sources: 20 American refueling planes, accompanied by several squadrons of F-35s and F-16s, are making their way to the "Amir Sultan" airbase in Saudi Arabia.
I have no idea what this is about. (Tr*mp ratcheting up pressure on Iran to come to the table? Do Iranians respond to pressure? [Hamas doesn’t…])
Mail
The pacifist in me shivers at the idea of justifying pre-emptive attacks, but this case seems at least somewhat justifiable. Or maybe I am just brainwashed...
Raf doesn't think you are brainwashed...
The world had a choice: Keep dancing with Iran, like it did with North Korea, and end up with a nuclear armed Iran (with better ballistic missiles than North Korea and a declared "use case" for them), or this war.
The U.S. and Europe have never taken military action to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation. Israel has some number of times (Iraq in 1981, Syria in 2007, the multi-decade campaign against Iran's program). I imagine any set of tea leaves would say: If military action will be taken, it will be Israeli.
I don't consider it brainwashing. I consider it a basic read of recent history: The choice was either to use force or to face an Iranian nuclear weapon.
This Iran Thing is Just Bibi Clinging To Power
Raf, and the Israeli security apparatus disagree.
Any Israeli Prime Minister in 2025 would do the exact same thing vis-a-vis Iran.
For about twenty years, the Israeli defense and security establishment have been on the road to this day. (It is said that some of the Israeli remote-controlled infrastructure used three days ago to take out Iranian anti-aircraft weapons were installed in the heart of Iran by the Mossad twelve or fifteen years ago.)
The Iranian nuclear arms project has a schedule independent of Israel's political landscape. The IAEA letter is visible to the public. Behind that letter is a ton of bomb-relevant-detail that a) Is outside the IAEA's scope [such as trigger development and weaponization technology]; and, b) Is watched by Israel more closely than by European non-proliferation bodies.
Further, the work to know what Iran is up to and plan a war of this kind, is done by career spies and soldiers. Not by appointees, ministers or MKs. These professionals would know what they know and plan what they plan regardless of who is Prime Minister. (Israelis forget this when they vote.)
I agree that this war may help Bibi cling on to power and continue his destructive governance of Israel. I can't fix that. The path to the-disaster-that-is-Bibi was chosen by Israeli voters many times over twenty years. (He was always an ugly political operative who has been recommended for prosecution by Israel's police several times starting in the 1990's.)
That does not mean the decision to attack Iran or to attack now was wrong.
Based on available information, this was a perfect time for this attack. When it comes to nonproliferation, I don't care who is in the Prime Minister's chair. Such developments have their own calendar.
RE Rising Bus Fares in #181: More importantly, did the 9 shekel falafel store raise prices?
Since the Iran war, I haven't been in Tel Aviv to answer that. Going out on a limb I will say it went to 10, but I don't know yet.
Dept of The Invisible
Items invisible in the Western media. (Now combined with the Postmark concept, to help consolidate topics by locale.)
Iran
Exodus from Tehran
For the first time in history, the IDF issued an evacuation notice to a large section of Tehran. Already a day or more before that notice there was a large exodus from Tehran. A traffic jam on June 16:
It is reported that Pakistan has closed its border with Iran.
Psy Ops?
Iranian channels affiliated with the Iranian regime claim that Mossad agents burned tires around Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran to create panic among Iranians.
Or is that the regime putting a spin on something else?
Or, perhaps most likely, the “agents” are members of the Iranian opposition… Burning tires is a low budget way to intimidate. Mossad agents have, I imagine, more important things to do….
Beirut Deja Vu
Tehran is now having the "Hezbollah Experience."
Part 1: Iranian Commander Ali Shadmani
After being named three days ago as Chief of Staff, to replace the killed-in-action Emergency Command Center Commander Ghulam Ali Rashid, Commander Ali Shadmani was killed in an airstrike.
I understand that this role is the real Chief of Staff of the Iranian military, from this backgrounder released by a Israeli Military Correspondent Doron Kadosh:
As a lesson from the Iran-Iraq War, the Iranians realized that it was necessary to bring order to their two armies – the Iranian Army (from the Shah’s era) and the Revolutionary Guards (established after the revolution and the rise of the Ayatollahs to power).
The lesson was to establish an emergency headquarters that, in times of war, would command both armies and coordinate between them, because tensions that exist during routine times cannot be managed in emergencies, and a single authority is needed to make decisions and command the campaign.
Therefore, the emergency headquarters was established – called “Khatam al-Anbiya” (which is an Islamic title for the Prophet Muhammad – Seal of the Prophets, meaning the last prophet) – and this is the headquarters that, in times of war, assumes command over the entire campaign and commands both the Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian Army.
Ali Shadmani, who was eliminated last night in Tehran, was the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, meaning the supreme commander of the campaign, who replaced General Rashid, who was eliminated in the opening strike.
When Supreme Leader Khamenei appointed him to the position last Friday [three days ago], he was essentially expressing his confidence in him to serve as the supreme chief of staff of the campaign.
Part 2: The IAF Over Iran
I cannot believe the footage being released by the IAF. They are operating 1,300-2,000 kilometers away from base.
IDF Spokesperson: The IAF struck an Iranian aerial refueling aircraft at Mashhad Airport in eastern Iran, approximately 2,300 kilometers from Israel. The IAF is operating to establish aerial superiority over Iranian airspace.
This marks the longest-range strike conducted since the beginning of the war.
Below: An Israeli Hermes in the skies over Tehran:
That means... I think... that Israel has set up an airbase somewhere inside Iran. Even, from what I know of these UAVs (which is perfectly incomplete!), in central Iran.
Below: IDF Spokesperson, June 16: On the main road between Tehran and Qom: The Air Force destroyed another truck carrying a surface-to-air missile launcher.
A short time ago, an Iranian truck carrying a SAM launcher was identified on the main road between Tehran and Qom.
Within minutes, the Air Force attacked the truck and destroyed the launcher and the missiles.
This is how the IAF operates in nearby places like Lebanon. Doing this at long range is, for a country the size of Israel, formidable. (Raf notes: I have seen a dozen or more videos of the IAF blowing up mobile launchers across the western half of Iran.)
Below: Iranian missile bases in Tabriz in northern Iran after treatment by the IAF:
Hezbollah & Hamas -- The Iranian Strategy
It is said that Iran and its proxies play on Western psychology. More than said, we can all observe it. Example: Claiming Israel is inhuman for attacking hospitals. That Hamas built tunnels under the hospitals... the "media" won't lead with that (or even mention it).
Iran recently claimed that Israel bombed Farabi Hospital in Kermanshah in western Iran.
Iranian opposition sources clarify:
The damage to Farabi Hospital in Kermanshah in western Iran was not caused by an Israeli attack on the hospital, but rather by the explosion of a weapons cache at a nearby Iranian Revolutionary Guards base that Israel attacked.Like in Gaza: Proximity between hospitals and ammunition and weapons depots. There is plenty of space, in both Iran and Gaza, to separate military infrastructure from civilian.
Bits and Pieces of Iranian Manufacture
Are falling everywhere, including the West Bank and Jordan.
Nablus:
Birzeit University north of Ramallah (West Bank):
Village of Khit in western Daraa, southern Syria:
Uncovering The Mossad
June 16: Official Iranian media outlets reveal a 3-story residential building where they claim the self-manufacturing of UAVs for use by the Israeli Mossad was carried out.
The building is located in the city of Rey - a southern suburb of the capital Tehran.
Additionally, Iranian television said a Mossad collaborator was caught and executed a few days ago.
Iranian Society and Stability
Banks
Iranian opposition channels report that all ATMs of the Iranian Sepah Bank (established in 1925) in Tehran, Yazd, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Tabriz have stopped working—it is not possible to withdraw cash.
Is there a run on the banks as folks exit Iran?
Alternately, from official Iranian news:
The Iranian Fars News Agency reports that ATMs in Iran are down due to a cyber attack.
Prisons (Well, Prison--singular)
Prisoner escape in Tehran
Channels affiliated with the Iranian opposition are reporting the escape of prisoners from one of the prisons in Tehran.
According to one report, the prison facility was attacked by Israel, which caused riots in the facility and the escape of prisoners.
Gaza
Combat continues.
IDF social media documents the same ground battle that has been going on. And IDF death announcements, as a few Israeli soldiers fall each week.
Below, the tunnel under the European Hospital, where Muhammad Sinwar was killed a couple of months ago, being filled with concrete. (It can’t be blown up because there is a hospital on top.)
From an Israeli street:
What About The Hostages?
[Hostage] Alon Ohel is losing his vision in Hamas' tunnels - he has no time to wait for a complete victory, not in Iran, not in Gaza, and not a complete victory for Netanyahu in the war to preserve the coalition and hold on to power.
The time for a deal that will bring all the kidnapped people home and end the war is now.
Take a sign, a picture or a flag and protest outside your home or near the homes of politicians. The kidnapped people and their families need it
Relief Area
Alef
The Twitter account of the Supreme Leader of Iran recently posted:
Victory is near from Allah
The Islamic Republic will overcome the Zionist entity with God's help.
(This is non fiction. I put it here because... really?)
Bet
Gimmel
(As there are typically barrages at midnight and four AM... Though, last night they were at midnight and 8 AM, you could squeeze a whole night in that frame!)
Dalet
Seems crazy that a weapons trade show would ban a maker of weapons… Right?
Hey
Daniel Hagari comes back after his post-army travels.
[The super well known and popular IDF spokesperson who was fired by Bibi a couple of months ago.]
[After three or four years in the army, Israelis often go on extended travel to India or South America or such.]
Vav
It feels like Corona and October 7 got married and now we are at the event celebrating their child.
Zayin
The people, like a lioness, will rise up!
But not every two hours!
[The Israeli name of the war with Iran is: Rising Lion.]
Chet: The destruction at the Weizman Institute
(Hit by an Iranian missile. Raf is told this is non fiction.)
Tet
When the psychologist asks me how it was in the shelter.
Compared to the Holocaust, it was amazing!
[One level of this joke: “Compared to how it would have been had Iran had a nuclear bomb, Amazing!]
Yod
Me, in the shelter, waiting for the Red Alert
I've been waiting half an hour already!
Chaf: Where is Ali Khamenei’s Hiding?
Exclusive footage from the hiding place of Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran (:
Mem - Rising Lion, Lego Version
(Music from the—recommended!— TV show Tehran.)
A quote from a Jewish businessman in Hong Kong:
In a way Israel is in its best geopolitical situation for years although antisemitism as its worst since the second world war. -G.W.
How does this all end? Andrew Fox wrote a set of thoughts on it (not rocket science).
In the next day or two, Ben Gurion airport is expected to start operating on a limited basis. I expect this will expand considerably over the next week. In the meantime, a cousin from Chicago got on a bus this morning in Jerusalem to Amman. Sounds like it took a couple of hours at the Jordanian border.
I came to Jerusalem for a long weekend… Now it’s an extended stay… One result: The beard trimmer here gave me a much shorter buzz than usual.
But the barber was open, so my hair is now tip top!
To Peace,
Raf
(Thank you A.K., M.T., O.K., N.Z., M.Z., S.D.)