As Iranian drones and missiles fly in the air in the direction of Israel, I can't help but imagine that many Israelis feel as I do, holding in a long breath before the weapons reach us.
Yet Israelis have had to hold their breaths many times, waiting for their enemies to attack. The knot in our stomachs as we inhale is not new. The churning and twisting in my gut is the same as the one I felt on October 7, as the air raid sirens rang and reports of mass infiltrations began to trickle out in the early hours.
This is not the first time Israel has faced long-distance projectile attacks. Iran's neighbor, Iraq, fired Scud missiles at the Jewish state over the course of weeks in 1991. Factions in the country have reportedly joined in the current attack by launching missiles.
Since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, it had launched thousands of rockets into Israel. Before this, it had been regularly launching mortar bombs into Jewish towns.
Israelis were forced to endure these constant rocket barrages, pressured by the international community into managing the issue. Our allies and many of our leaders thought that we could contain Hamas, every year or two resolving ourselves to the task of reducing their military and rocket launching capabilities for a little bit of quiet, enough time to exhale and draw another breath.
Before Hamas carried out its pogrom, Israelis living in the north were holding their breath, waiting for Hezbollah to try to launch their own October 7. They had threatened to do so for years. Since the 2006 second Lebanon War, they have waited for the unresolved issues with the terrorist organization to rear their head again. No doubt Hezbollah rockets will take to the skies in service of their Iranian masters.
As with Hamas and Hezbollah, Israelis have been expected to live with an Iranian scimitar hanging above their heads. The Iranian regime has been rattling a nuclear sabre for years, threatening to destroy the Jewish state.
The Western world has not taken Iran seriously
The rest of the world has not taken the Iranian regime's determination to destroy Israel seriously, leveling weak sanctions that it relaxed any time the rogue state made moves to unsheath its sword.
The willingness of the West to act or allow Israel to solve these problems has advanced them to where they are today, and the breath we hold is not out of expectation for this to change.
The breath in our collective chests is not one of fear. Israel is inhaling before the plunge into yet another pool of conflict. We have felt the shocking chill of this dive before, and we will resurface again to breathe.
The knot in my stomach is apprehension before the leap onto another page of our history. It will not stop us from doing what needs to be done. No doubt many like me are checking their military reserve bags, in case we are called for service. Those who are not in reserves will volunteer, help their neighbors, and do what they can.
When this long breath leaves our lungs, we will take another, because it is a sign of life. We will taste the air of our homeland, and we will resolve ourselves to face our challenges together as we always do.
I hope that the meeting of this challenge will end differently than in the past, and at the end, we will be able to breathe a little easier.