BAKERSFIELD, Calif (KBAK/KBFX) Sirens echoed across Jerusalem on Tuesday as people rushed to shelter, including near the Western Wall, where Jewish people continued praying as the alarms rang out.
In the Old City of East Jerusalem, intercepted Iranian missiles could be heard over the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In Bakersfield, locals shared their views on the ongoing war.
Bakersfield Rabbi gives insight on what daily life in Israel is like with ongoing war{ }(Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
“My thoughts are its justified. I’m glad they’re moving in there and taking care of that guy. He’s killed many Americans. I think it’s totally justified, and I think the world will be a better place after it,” said Martin Downs, a Bakersfield local.
Another Bakersfield resident said, “But like I said you got to stop them because if you don’t, they’ll just go from country to country to try and take over.”
At Temple Beth El in Bakersfield, Rabbi Jonathan Klein, the synagogue’s spiritual leader, described what he said Israelis are experiencing amid the war.
“Situation in Israel is a combination of, scared, and a sense of we’re in this now,” Klein said.
He said many Israelis are taking shelter to escape Iranian missiles.
Bakersfield Rabbi gives insight on what daily life in Israel is like with ongoing war (KBAK/KBFX)
“People are spending a lot of time in their bomb shelters. The whole country is filled with bomb shelters as it is. So, this is not their first time in this situation,” Klein said.
Klein said members of the Jewish community in America, including in Bakersfield, are experiencing the war in different ways.
Bakersfield Rabbi gives insight on what daily life in Israel is like with ongoing war. (AP Photo/Mohsen Ganji)
“There’s some of us who are more focused on American policy and others of us are more focused on what’s happening on the ground for Israelis themselves,” Klein said.