Thursday morning power walk after delay due to air raid siren, hoping not to encounter another while walking, charting my route calculating run time to a public shelter if necessary. Working remotely. A siren. Haim working in office, in Ramat Gan. My lunch break and a batch of baking therapy – lemon cookies.

When Haim came home, we went to visit his daughter – a 15-minute drive. Her husband is in the reserves. Never a word about her fears. Never a word of complaint about managing their three daughters (11, 8, 4) stuck at home. Suggesting I come to her place next time I have a cluster bomb episode – cope with her daughters to overcome it.  That doesn’t count as complaining.

Cluster bomb episode? That’s when I scream at the paper towels for falling on the floor, bang my knee into the laundry room door because I’m angry at the dryer. It didn’t finish the job in the programmed time. Calm.

But in the car, I made a declaration: I’m done.

I meant, in the moment, I’m done – with war. I won’t play along. I’ll act like there is no war and go about life as usual. Oops. That’s right. Pool still closed so no morning swim. My office is only working remotely. Too many employees from different parts of the country would have to travel when safety precautions suggest remote is safer. One guy had a few days of reserve duty. Most employees have school-age children at home. As it was announced that school would reopen in locations least attacked since the beginning of the war, Iran began attacking those locations. Dimona today. One missile. Cluster symbol.

Disrupting our normal lifestyle is their war tactic? Didn’t anybody tell them we’ve adapted and readapted and that this is no disruption? It’s a way of life.

I’m done. Opting out. Oops. I want to be safe. I value my life. Ok. I will certainly not stop going into saferooms – at home, at Haim’s daughter’s – or public shelters if I happen to be in a location where that’s an option when there is a siren.

I’m done? Sounds good. Feels good to say. As good as screaming when paper towels fall off the kitchen counter.

Then the Prime Minister, the Chief of Staff, the anchorperson on the news congratulate, commend, and thank the public for their resilience and abiding by Home Front Command rules that save lives. Wait! We are following the rules to save our lives. And we’re following the rules to minimize reasons for ending the war? The message of civilian safety – and we demonstrate it – leave fewer arguments for ending a war. Leaves me in a bind. Serving the establishment leveraging its justification for this war.

Not that I have a convincing argument against attempting to destroy Iranian nuclear potential.

Not that I have an alternative to war, but isn’t it an easy way out? Thinking out of the box is old. War – tried and true. Guaranteeing cultivating justification for the next war?

I’m done. Now, there’s an effective tactic. But I haven’t even fooled myself.

Chief of Staff Zamir took his valuable time to condemn extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank this week. No accolades for that lip service. This reality is old, remaining unchecked, with recognizable IDF complicity. Maybe Zamir got a headline that momentarily jolted those listening from denial. Because Jews don’t do such things. Jews had it done TO them. And the press has more pressing things to cover. A tactic in service of allaying should-be collective guilt feelings, knowing someday we’ll be done, done with war for an interval and we’ll need to reconcile our narratives.

A tactic, if you think we can be fooled.

Preoccupied, working again in my shelter. “The event ended,” the Home Front Command announcement comes through my telephone. But absorbed in my work, the door and window remain closed. I prefer maintaining my train of thought.

If my thoughts drift, I might realize I’m surrounded by people who were told in June that Israel accomplished military feats in Iran to be applauded for generations, worldwide. Believable. The Prime Minister, other government representatives and the IDF said so. My thoughts might drift to messages delivered by the same sources about Hezbollah no longer posing a threat to Israel. Made sense. We were convinced. We can heal and recover because we are safe.

But the 12-day war in June seemed terrifying. In some objective world that escapes our comprehension, the past three weeks of war against Iran pose a greater threat. We just improved our ability to take them in stride. Until the next truth the government packages for the public.

Truths, like processed foods, should have their nutritional values listed next to risks and warnings. And why would I want to sort through information to find the truth?

The tactic of confusion with truths and falsities. It’s preferable to run for shelter, convinced we are invincible, fighting the war to save the world. Fooled?

Harriet Gimpel,  March 21, 2026

Born and raised in Philadelphia, earned a B.A. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University in 1980, followed by an M.A. in Political Science from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Harriet has worked in the non-profit world throughout her career. She is a freelance translator and editor, writes poetry in Hebrew and essays in English, and continues to work for NGOs committed to human rights and democracy.