We started wondering if we were going to be able to make it to Kiryat Eqron for our family dinner or if the Iranians and their "Axis of Resistance/ Axis of Evil" allies - would be firing missiles all night long. We packed some blankets with us in case we were going to need to stop the car on the way and find a safe spot near the side of the road.
We of course received phone calls and messages from friends and family members wondering if we should stay home and just have the Seder at our place. But by 5 p.m. or so, everything had stopped and we decided to take our chances. So off we went (crazy? perhaps. But that's life in Israel). We made it to Kiryat Eqron (about a 40 minute drive) uneventfully. We started our Seder at about 7:40 p.m. and finished about 12:30 a.m. and had no sirens or warnings throughout the whole Seder.
As you might know, there is only one Seder in Israel - and we were able to enjoy it thoroughly with some really nice wine, telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt as set out in the Haggadah, singing lots of songs, enjoying lots of food and most importantly spending the evening with our extended family - with the chance to pass on and teach our children these lessons and traditions.
Once we had cleaned up, packed up all the food and finished whatever else needed to be done, we wound up with our first and only siren of the night at about 2 a.m. Fortunately nothing landed anywhere near us. We also had one bright and early at 7 a.m. (which is really bright and early after a Pesach seder - especially if you have fulfilled your obligation to drink four whole cups of wine....).
The rest of our Chag day was relatively quiet. In the afternoon - we decided to go back to Eqron for a family barbecue. I won't get into all of the details here - but barbecues on Chag days are common in observant Mizrahi communities in Israel. They take a more lenient approach to the idea of getting a charcoal fire going - as long as it was started from another existing flame.
Again, we were able to get through all of the preparations, have all the food made, eat most of it and even get to our hot beverages - until we wound up with three missile alerts in a row. So we joined some of the neighbourhood folks in the community bomb shelter and waited for about 20 minutes until the missile barrage was over. One person was "lightly injured" in the nearby town of Mazkeret Batya (about 2 km away from Eqron) from pieces of shrapnel. We went back to the house to finish our coffee and tea and it began to rain. Much more welcome than missiles but still rain tends to send an outside party indoors.
It felt like a Chag day today - Friday - a holy day - since so many people in Israel are doing a "bridge" and turning the holiday into part of a three-day weekend. Good Friday is not observed here as a national holiday - only by the Christian communities living in Israel - so mostly, it was a regular Friday - but I think most people were still home lazing around after enjoying the first evening and full day of Pesach.
What's Next in the War?
I understand that President Trump gave a speech on Wednesday night at about 9 p.m. - after the Seders in Israel but in the middle of the Seders in North America. On the one hand, he pledged to finish the war within 2-3 weeks - or at least take the American forces out of the area in that timeframe. On the other hand, he threatened to bomb Iran "back into the stone ages where they belong..." as he put it.
Now I'm not sure that this kind of threat will engender the Iranians to rise up and form a U.S. friendly government - not really the kind of language that suggests that we are waiting to work with the Iranian people to build a better future.
In any event, it is hard to conclude that the U.S. has achieved any of its stated objectives at this point in the war. The Iranian regime is still in place (perhaps even stronger, despite the loss of many key personnel). The Iranian nuclear program has not been destroyed, as far as we know. Apparently, the Iranians still have their enriched uranium. The Iranian missile supply has certainly been degraded but not eliminated. And the regional proxies of Iran have not been eviscerated - though Hezbollah has certainly taken some heavy blows.
On the other hand, the Iranian regime has strengthened its control over the Hormuz Strait, increased and improved its ties with China, Russia and apparently North Korea, and has so far refused to agree to anything close to U.S. terms.
If things do not change dramatically by April 6th at 8 p.m., President Trump has threatened a series of massive attacks, designed to secure some of the stated U.S. objectives. Or he could announce another extension. When I first heard of the 10 day "extension" that he gave the Iranians. my thought was that this was a pretext to concluding the operation - and claiming that a deal had been reached with the Iranians.
At this point, it does not appear that the Iranians have any demonstrable interest in negotiating a deal with the U.S. that would be acceptable to both sides. As a result, I am leaning to the view that we will see some type of major attacks on Monday April 6th - if not before. It may be an operation to secure the Straits of Hormuz. Or it might be an operation to try and seize the enriched uranium that is in some underground Iranian storage facilities. Or perhaps the U.S. might try to seize Karg Island and its oil transportation and storage facilities. I guess we will have to see. It seems unlikely that the Iranians will capitulate between now and then. While it is still possible that Trump will declare victory and leave - I think a ramped-up attack is looking much more likely now.
Other Israel News
The Israeli Knesset, before its Pesach break, passed a budget for the year that is intended to enable the government to function until and beyond the elections (end of October 2026). The big news here was that the governing coalition passed a budget even without passing the the "Draft Evasion Law" that had been promised to the Charedim (the ultra-religious Jews). How did Netanyahu get around this? He basically threw more money at the Charedim. The government added in a few proposed "amendments" to the budget bill.
Normally such amendments only come from the opposition and are routinely voted down. The opposition votes in favour, the government votes against and all such amendments are defeated. Here there were more than 100 such amendments.
The governing coalition dropped a few amendments into the list - including a proposed amendment called an "Education Amendment" - which gave hundreds of millions of shekels to the Charedim. The opposition dropped the ball and believed that this was one of the amendments they had proposed as a form of filibuster. As a result - they voted for the amendment - granting the Charedim hundreds of millions of shekels in exchange for supporting this year's budget.
Later the Knesset also passed a death penalty bill - though the bill only includes the death penalty for Arab perpetrators of terrorism against Israeli targets. Irrespective of one's view about capital punishment in general, this is a terrible bill - since it does not contain one equal universal standard for defining crimes that would warrant capital punishment.
Sadly, there have been acts of terror committed by Jews in Judea and Samaria (called the "West Bank" by some) against Palestinian Arabs. In my view, perpetrators of these acts should be arrested, prosecuted and subject to the full weight of the law. Unfortunately, there have not been a sufficient number of arrests and the IDF has had to divert some of its resources to preventing these attacks. Coupled with this one-sided capital punishment bill, this does not make for a great picture. We have enough problems to deal with - facing a world full of anti-Israel voices, even when we are morally correct. We hardly need to fan these flames by enacting lopsided pieces of legislation or by failing to protect Palestinian Arabs in areas that are under our control.
Passover Holiday Trips
Israelis usually love to travel during Passover - since some people have as much as two to three weeks of holidays. Options are very limited now. People can go down to Eilat - but the prices there are crazy. One radio show was reviewing various costs - three day packages for 4 people - ranging from 16,000 shekels to 25,000 shekels. Sure these packages might include food. But that is still about $5,500 USD to $8,200 USD for a three day vacation in a moderate level hotel. In normal times - people can fly to Rome/Athens/ other European destinations for a few hundred dollars per person - and would be nowhere near these costs.
Other people are travelling into the Sinai desert to enjoy the sun and beaches in Egypt. Might not be the safest plan around for a variety of reasons - but it is generally "missile-free."
Still others are taking flights from Aqaba or Taba airport - or even Sharm-El -Sheq airport, which is a few hours away from the Egyptian-Israeli border at Taba.
I would say that overall, many Israelis have expressed the feeling that they feel "trapped" in Israel to some extent. The airport is running very few flights, with low numbers of passengers per flight. That being said, there are various flights available to Israel - on El Al and other airlines. To twist the famous lines from the Eagles' sign - "you can check in any time you like but you can never leave.... " We also have the "dark desert highways" - and the "warm smell of colitas..." and with all of these missile warnings - lots of "shimmering lights."
It looks like we are staying put for now - and it seems to me that is likely to be the case for most Israelis for a number of weeks, if not longer.
Sports Comments
Since I am on a Hotel California lyrical binge (definitely one of my all time favourite songs), might as well reference another well known line - "we haven't had that spirit here since 1969...". In the case of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it has been since 1967 - the year the Leafs last won the cup. And here we are 57 years later and the Leafs were officially eliminated from contention yesterday. I hope I will have the zechut to see a Leaf Stanley Cup in my lifetime but I am not optimistic these days.
On the other hand, the Montreal Canadiens have won 10 Stanley Cups since 1967, with the last win being in 1993 (a most auspicious year for our family). As someone born in Montreal, I have and ample supply of Habs' fandom in my blood. I am always cheering for whichever Canadian teams are in the NHL playoffs. For the last 10 years that has included the Leafs - even though they haven't really gotten anywhere. This year, the Canadiens are super-hot approaching the end of the season. They will join the Edmonton Oilers as the only two Canadian terms that are in for sure - with chances still for Ottawa and Winnipeg to squeak in. So I am hoping for a dark horse Montreal victory - but I would also be happy to see the Edmonton Oilers win the cup. Either way, I'll definitely have less hockey to watch this year than some other years - with the Leafs not even making the playoffs. The NHL playoffs start this year on Saturday April 18, 2026. For those watching from Israel, this means about 2 a.m. on Sunday April 19th.
The World Cup of Soccer, from June 11, 2026 to July 19, 2026 will attract much more viewership in Israel than the NHL playoffs (by multiples of thousands or tens of thousands) even though Israel is not participating. It is simply too difficult for Israel to make it in since Israel is forced to compete in the European division instead of playing its neighbours.
One day, hopefully sooner rather than later, Israel will have to play soccer luminaries like Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran in order to earn its berth - instead of having to beat countries like Spain, France, the Netherlands and Italy. Jordan and Iran are both in this year's tournament. While Israel might not fare so well against Iran in a soccer match, I am fairly confident that the Israeli side would be able to beat Jordan quite easily.
Finally, I have to mention that I am super excited about baseball season and the Toronto Blue Jays. Normally, I don't pay much attention to baseball until the hockey playoffs have ended. But with the Blue Jays' heart-breaking loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series last year, and the various upgrades made by the team in the off-season, it looks like it's going to be a fantastic year for the Jays. They are only 4-2 so far - but I think this is one of the most exciting baseball teams that Toronto has had in many years. I am looking forward to getting to some games when I am in Toronto. Tough to watch from Israel - especially weekday games that are on at 2 a.m. Israel time - but I'm often on Toronto hours anyways.
That's about it for now. I want to wish everyone a "Mo'adim L'Simchah" (or Chag Sameach if it is Chag for you - or if it was when I sent this) and a Shabbat Shalom. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of this Pesach holiday and that there is some good news - "b'sorot tovot" soon. For friends and readers celebrating Easter - I wish you a meaningful Good Friday and a wonderful Easter weekend.
