Despite wars and missile attacks, there's no place like The Holy Land - opinion

It was the second time it happened while I was in the shower. I was rinsing out the last bit of shampoo from my hair when that "one in a kind" alert signal sounded on my phone.

It is a unique tone and volume that always made you cringe, knowing that Israel is once again under a ballistic missile attack. My heart started to race, knowing that in less than 10 minutes, your life could literally be over.

Besides the obvious requirements I needed to address in these critical moments, it was also a moment for odd thoughts passing through my mind at lightning speed. Here was one such thought as the alerts sounded: I raced to quickly rinse out my hair, get out of the shower, and then dress myself, given the fact that I didn't want to be found butt naked whether I was rescued or a dead from these horrible missiles falling.

Then came an alert for Jerusalem Center, but by this time, you only have a few minutes to seek shelter, I used those few minutes to put on a dress, grab my phone and walk out on my balcony to watch this surreal "show" of massive ballistic missiles flying over my head, sent maliciously to try murdering as many people as possible in Israel.

But honestly, it was not the sight of the missiles that frightened you, strangely enough, because these barrages looked "pretty" (like fireworks for celebration) in a deadly and bizarre way; it was the sounds of the concussion created by the rocket blasts that shocked you so deeply. The horrific sound of the massive explosions from the interceptions penetrated every single nerve, cell, muscle, and fiber in your body.

It all started 2 weeks earlier when the first siren went off around 3 am in Jerusalem. I admit I was both confused and surprised. I mean, we had been under attack from the vile Houthi militia in Yemen numerous times, as they tried to murder us with drones and ballistic missiles. However, we had always received a warning on our phone.

Now, out of the depths of this dark night, the sirens were blaring, and something just felt different.

Then, the entire nation of Israel was notified on their phones that the IAF had begun an attack on Iran, and that a response was to be expected.

My first thought was: "Here we go, Lord protect your Homeland."

I had heard the fighter jets above Jerusalem earlier that night, and now the attack that our Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had spoken and warned about for years had begun.

For the next 12 days from that moment, I barely slept, my TV was on 24/7 as I watched the news, and I prayed for God's protection over His Holy Land as I watched in wonder what David did against Goliath.

I'm sure that Israel spent years preparing for this operation against Iran’s nuclear and missile programs; there is no question in my mind about it.

And then it was reported in mainstream media that Israel had built a drone base inside Iran and smuggled precision weapons systems and commandos into the country.

Apparently, Israel spent months smuggling bomb-laden quad-copter drone parts into Iran via suitcases, trucks, and shipping containers.

How about that? I'm just so impressed with the work this tiny little nation of Israel has done against the “mother ship” of evil, Iran. This is a mighty military accomplishment for Israel!

As a side note, before Operation Rising Lion was launched, I had actually planned a trip to America to attend a conference, and also to rest and take some much-needed vacation.

I haven't done that for a number of years, but I cancelled because of two things: a knee injury that is giving me problems, and I have said to so many people in the preceding months, something will happen this summer regarding Iran.

Now, all of a sudden, I found myself living in the midst of these words coming true, because Israel had no other choice as this nuclear threat reached a point of no return. This operation had to happen, something we all knew and all supported 100%

So, while the mighty Israeli Air Force did the most extraordinary precision attacks in Iran, it was naturally expected that retaliation would come from Iran against The Holy Land; and for 12 days, we were literally going in and out of our bomb shelters like clockwork.

Everything has been completely surreal and traumatizing; while in your heart, you knew that “David” had risen for such a time as this to eliminate the existential threats against Israel from the “Goliath” ayatollah and his murderous henchmen in Iran.

Every night before I went to sleep, I made sure that my shoes were ready, together with my dress, and my phone was charged, because I knew that at least once each night, the missile alerts would blast on my phone to seek cover and not get killed.

Then it happened again in the morning and often also in the afternoon, while at the same time I cheered on when our Lions in the sky flew above Jerusalem on their way to strike Iranian targets.

Although Jerusalem was never a target, I still had ballistic missiles flying over my building again and again, which I watched and recorded on video because I wanted the world to see the reality of this happening.

That, and many other situations, proved to be nothing short of a miracle, and honestly, we have been experiencing several of those the past 12 days as He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.

To be honest and transparent, these triumphs were not without great sorrow and pain for all of us, the resulting deaths of 28 people who were murdered by direct hits by ballistic missiles from Iran.

The numbers just came out that Iran launched approximately 500–550 ballistic missiles and around 1,000 UAVs at Israel. Israel’s defense systems intercepted 80–90% of the missiles and 99.99% of the UAVs.

Around 50–60 missiles struck Israeli territory, resulting in 28 deaths and 3000 injured. More than 9000 people were evacuated as their homes and apartments were destroyed.

80% of Iran’s air defense network was destroyed, including 80 anti-aircraft batteries.

IDF forces struck, among many other things, six Iranian regime airports in western, eastern, and central Iran. Of these, the farthest one is over 2,300 kilometers (1,500 miles) away from Tel Aviv.

The Israeli Air Force had complete aerial superiority—no aircraft were downed, and no pilot rescues were needed.

As all this occurred, the entire nation was told to hunker down, due to the official guidelines that stipulated no work, school, or public gatherings. Only essential services operated, as we were running in and out of our bomb shelters. There were a few brief reprieves for a day and a half, when those restrictions were lifted, but they came back in full effect after the mighty US military strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran.

It is very difficult to describe what it has been like to be here in Israel, while living through David's attack on Goliath, but I know that I have been here in the Holy Land during one of the biggest, if not the biggest, military accomplishments in the history of modern Israel. What an honor and privilege this has been for me.

The operation in Iran is over, as Israel has removed a treacherous duo that posed an immediate, existential threat away from itself, both in the nuclear field and in the ballistic missile field. It's beyond impressive what the IDF did.

So, now I can breathe easier, and I had a night without red alerts and ballistic missiles being launched at Israel and me from Iran. Additionally, I am spared from the necessity of running for my life to get into my bomb shelter; it was actually quite nice!

Shops and stores are open again, as it appears to some degree that "life returns to normal." Well, not quite…

I don't think so, that will take a while, and what is normal after the October 7th massacre?

There is still operations and casualties happening as I speak in Gaza, as our brave soldiers fight to eliminate the remaining threat posed by Hamas and other entities in Gaza.

While we were successful in the operation in Iran, the axis of evil inside the Middle East and Israel will never stop their attacks against the Jewish people.

We are all tremendously affected by this; no words can really describe it. It is only now that you can begin to digest, process, and react to what we have been through. There's no question about our entire bodies and minds being traumatized.

To be very blunt, when people ask if you are “okay,” the answer is simply, “No, but I will be at some point!”

I'll share more about that in a future blog, so keep an eye out for that.

There's much to be shared about the reality of living in Israel during the attacks from Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemen and Iran, but for now, I need to catch up on sleep and rest a bit while my heart is so grateful to the IDF for everything they have done and is doing for us 24/7.

I can honestly say that even through wars and missile attacks, there is no place like The Holy Land. The spirit and soul of the Jewish people are simply remarkable.