Avigail Abarbanel: What's Going On Inside Israel Right Now? 📂 Archived Message Posted by sashimi on June 25, 2025, 9:29 am h/t "Ian" over at Craig Murray 18 Jun 2025 Lede: Ongoing impressions from the Israeli media I've been keeping a close eye on the Israeli media since Israel launched its unprovoked attack on Iran. Below is a spread of what I am finding there. • The Israeli media have always been subjected to the military censor - which essentially means the Government. Except for fluff, no newspaper, TV or Radio station can publish or air anything without the direct approval of the military censor. As you would expect, the censorship and control are now tighter than ever. But you can still learn a lot from what is not being said or how things are reported. You can also read between the lines if you know something about Israeli society. • There is, obviously, a great deal of sabre rattling, and triumphalism. However, Israel is grossly 'exaggerating their military successes', as a professor interviewed just a couple of hours ago said in a live interview on Kan11, a government TV channel. The insufferably smug presenter did not like the professor's sober and rational analysis, which argued that Israel has not achieved as much in Iran as it would like its people to believe. The professor reminded the presenter that Iran is a huge country with a lot of people, and that while Israel has successfully damaged a few particular targets, it cannot expect to overcome such a big country. In answer to her question about whether the opposition in Iran is rising against their government, the professor reminded her that when a people are under threat they tend to unite, and put their differences aside (as the presenter should well know from her life in Israel). At some point the somewhat unsettled presenter said to this Professor: "You're hurting our national pride"... She wasn't joking. She was genuinely uncomfortable hearing the truth, which goes against the directive of the broadcaster and their editorial policy. But she could not just cut him off in the middle of an interview. As soon as the interview was over, the relentless barrage of propaganda and triumphalism resumed. In a cult-state like Israel the media are always ready to rouse and foment patriotic emotion and zeal. • The damage on the ground in Israel is far more extensive than people realise. The Israeli population is less interested in the success of their military, when they fear for their very survival, and have lost their homes. A normal flat in Israel - most people live in flats - costs millions of Shekels, and the housing situation there is dire. In addition to those whose homes have been directly hit, thousands of people, including entire families are evacuated from buildings whose structure is compromised by shockwaves from missiles, and by damage from shrapnel that is falling on the ground from intercepted missile. • Israelis are not used to war in the streets of their cities, not since Saddam Hussain scud missile attacks in 1991. Areas in Israel's cities and towns are looking increasingly like Gaza. • Since that 1991 Iraqi scud attack, Israel has introduced building regulations to install something they call 'protective spaces'. I didn't know what they were and then discovered they're basically concrete boxes that are fitted into flats and buildings for people to hide in. In places constructed before 'protective spaces' regulations were introduced, people could buy ready made ones and install them in their flat, if there is room and if they could afford them. There are certified and non-certified versions of these boxes; the non-certified obviously are cheaper and poorer quality. In the Tel Aviv satellite town of Petach Tikvah a missile hit one of those 'protective spaces' directly in a flat on the fourth floor of an apartment building killing the couple sheltering inside. In another attack in the same town, a missile exploded between two of those boxes killing everyone. The psychology behind these things is more important than their physical function. A civilian population that feels powerless to protect itself is dangerous. Powerlessness generates rage which can translate to anti-government riots. Back in 1991, when concerns were raised that Saddam Hussain might use chemical warheads, the Israeli government distributed gas masks to every citizen. Those of us who had training in chemical warfare could see immediately that those masks would be useless against nerve gas, which enters the body through exposed skin. Gas masks can only protect against gas that enters through the respiratory system. In other words, it was completely nonsensical. If Saddam Hussain actually used chemical warheads, countless would have died while wearing gas masks. I never bothered putting mine on.... But people needed to feel that they could do something to protect themselves. Something tells me that those boxes, which look increasingly like death traps are intended to fulfil the same function. • As the impact of the missiles grows, Israeli society's faith in those 'protective spaces' falters. In response, the media are bringing in experts to do damage control, and convince people that it's still safer to shelter in one of those boxes than not to. But missile attacks are messy and random. They cause harm in a number of complex ways, including shock waves caused by kinetic energy, which can flatten entire streets even at a considerable distance from where a missile touches the ground and explodes. • Many residential buildings have bomb shelters, but older buildings don't. I grew up in Bat Yam, which has suffered severe damage in the past few days, including to the building in which I grew up. I was able to identify it from a report on the government's TV channel. That building was built in the early 1960s, and we did have a bomb shelter. But many blocks of flats from the 1950s were built cheaply and in a hurry, and do not have shelters. In 1991 I lived in one of those older buildings in Ramat Gan. The point is there is a great disparity in the population between those who can enjoy relative safety, and those who don't. • Some of the most deprived areas in greater Tel Aviv are in B'nei Brak, a predominantly religious orthodox area. It is an overcrowded neighbourhood with old infrastructure and residential buildings without shelters. There was a public outcry after B'nei Brak was hit by missiles, because apparently public shelters were all locked, and people couldn't get in. One shelter in a local school that could be used by local residents was inaccessible because the school had been locked. This was mostly because of local authority incompetence, and something like, 'so and so had the key but we couldn't get hold of them'... Local councillors tried to calm the situation, but this is yet another example of Israelis losing faith in their authorities - not to mention how the 'have-nots' fare so much worse under Israel's wild jungle capitalism. • The media in Israel are under orders not to disclose where Iranian missiles hit. This is standard procedure so that Iran can't aim better, or evaluate its success in its retaliatory attack against Israel. They mention names of towns or cities but would never name specific streets and are careful with the footage they show. However, it is clear enough that the damage is extensive and also widespread far beyond Tel Aviv. • No one knows the real number of casualties in Israel. They've stopped reporting it, except mentioning one person here or there. There is a good chance there are people trapped under the rubble in many places. Israel won't advertise the numbers, because it is bad for the already faltering public morale. It also doesn't want the Iranians to have that information. • Israel's gross economic inequalities are widely exposed now. With the poor, and not just in B'nei Brak, hit much harder, and not having anywhere to go once their flats are destroyed. Poorer people are renting and don't own the flats they live in. Whatever support system the Israeli government has seems chaotic and arbitrary, and it is crumbling already, because it cannot cope with the extent of the damage. There are already fights between the state authorities and local authorities. 1991 was a walk in the park by comparison. There have been reports of disabled people unable to get to shelters. Israel is not a lovely fluffy society that takes care of its citizens. It's harsh, unkind, and ruthless. Israelis are bonded together by a shared sense of threat created by heavy cult-like lifelong indoctrination and fear-mongering. But fear is a poor social glue that is not a substitute for real and resilient social cohesion. Fear as a social glue can only hold so far when a society is in crisis. -- Cont'd at https://avigail.substack.com/p/whats-going-on-inside-israel-right Message Thread: Avigail Abarbanel: What's Going On Inside Israel Right Now? - sashimi June 25, 2025, 9:29 am Avigail Abarbanel: What The Israeli Press Wants Its Public to think about The UK's Relationship With - sashimi June 25, 2025, 9:44 am Oops, ... Relationship With [Israel] (nm) - sashimi June 25, 2025, 9:47 am An excellent article from Avigail .. - t June 25, 2025, 10:18 pm Thanks! nm. - Shyaku June 26, 2025, 7:18 am « Index   Searching