What Happened During Iran’s Attack Against Israel?

Things haven’t slowed down on the Israeli front in the last week. Iran fulfilled its promise of reciprocation to the strike on IRGC General Zahedi in Syria by firing hundreds of ballistic missiles, UAVs, and cruise missiles towards Israel in the early hours of April 14th. Miraculously, 99% of the missiles were intercepted by Israel and their allies. Following the darkened night filled with countless explosions, there was only one serious injury to a young, 7 year-old Bedouin girl. Even with Israel’s impressive military victory, a response was still deemed necessary. 

What Was the Global Response?

Prior to the strikes, Iran informed Israel that they planned to attack within the next 24-48 hours. Israel had already prepared its military defenses and following the Iranian notice, they also decided to close schools throughout Israel on Sunday and Monday, as well as limit large gatherings. Once the attack began, the main areas targeted were Jerusalem, southern Israel, and the Shomron (Samaria), but only a few of the ballistic missiles were able to enter Israeli airspace. Israel was able to show Iran and the rest of the globe its incredible military defense systems as they shot down 99% of the missiles and UAVs before they entered Israeli airspace. 

As the attack seemingly ended as quickly as it had begun, many people began to wonder what would happen next. The IRGC has threatened that if Israel chooses to retaliate following Iran’s attack, the Iranian response will be far more severe then the events that took place Sunday morning and also noted that the U.S. must stay away from any offense against Iran. Unfortunately, the U.S. appears to be in agreement with Iran. Following the attack on Sunday morning, U.S. President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu: 

“You got a win. Take the win.”

Biden also noted that the U.S. will not support Israel in an offensive against Iran, but will only support them when they defend themselves. Based on these statements, it appears that the chasm between the two nations only continues to widen. An important note is that, while Israel’s military capacity to keep 99% of the missiles and UAVs out of Israeli airspace is an incredible defensive victory, Biden’s statement that this was a “win” is absolutely insane. Wars are not “won” by incredible defenses that are then followed by more threats from the enemy. By God’s grace, only one person was injured in this attack, but the potential for devastation was massive. Iran did not differentiate between the military and civilians in their attack on Sunday and would have murdered both without regard if it hadn’t been for Israel’s incredible defense. Israel must make it known that they will not tolerate this type of attack and must not cave to the threats of a stronger response from Iran. To put it simply, if the U.S. had been victim to this same attack, they would not consider their defense a “win” but would immediately begin to plan a counter-offensive attack. By placing this impossible ideology on Israel, they are essentially giving Iran a free pass to attack Israel whenever and however they please without consequence as long as Israel is able to defend themselves. This absolutely cannot become a reality for the people of Israel.

However, through this attack, the dynamic in the Middle East has significantly shifted as the middle men have been taken out of the Israel-Iran equation. Iran has now opened the door to openly attack Israel by their own means and capabilities without going through their numerous proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. In addition to this, the world was shocked as Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates chose to help in the defense of Israel. Despite the fact that Jordan was the only Arab country to actively shoot down missiles, the other two countries shared information with the U.S. relating to the attack.

UPDATE: Israel’s Response to Iran

When this article was first written, there was still a major question as to whether or not Israel would retaliate, but as of this morning, April 19th, Israel chose to respond to Iran’s attack by sending a strike on Isfahan, the location of Iran’s nuclear site and an army base. Following this strike, many may see America’s decision to withhold help from Israel as a concern as to whether Israel would be able to effectively attack Iran and handle the “maximum response” that Iran has promised in return, but it can also be seen as a story such as Gideon’s. The fewer fighters that Israel has standing behind them, the greater God’s hand is shown. As the war that began on October 7th continues to grow larger, the might of the God that fights for Israel has also been seen and will continue to be seen in far larger ways.