Israel Is ‘Counting the Minutes Until an Iranian Attack’

Israel is “counting the minutes until an Iranian attack,” according to Israel’s Army Radio, broadcasting at 7:00 a.m. Monday, local time.

For days, Iran has threatened retaliation for the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh last Wednesday in Tehran, where he was visiting for the inauguration of Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.

Reports have indicated that American efforts to convince Iran to hold off on a large attack have fallen on deaf ears.

The Iranian regime suffered a massive blow to its prestige when Haniyeh was killed, because it highlighted the fact that Iran has poor defenses against attack, even as it uses terrorist proxies abroad to attack Israel and other enemies.

The regime is also keen to reverse the humiliation it suffered in April, when it fired some 300 projectiles at Israel, nearly all of which were intercepted, including some by the Jordanian Air Force, the U.S., and other regional allies.

Life in Israel reportedly continued as usual, with civilians going about their everyday tasks, knowing that Hezbollah could attack the northern portion of the country at any moment, or that air raid sirens could sound in major cities.

The mood was leavened slightly by news of Israel’s Olympic successes over the weekend, including a gold medal for Tom Reuveny in windsurfing. But the focus remained on news of Iran’s potential attack — where, when, and how.

In similar circumstances in the past — such as the run-up to the Six-Day War in 1967, when Arab leaders made their genocidal intentions known — Israel has launched preemptive strikes rather than waiting to be attacked first.

However, the Biden administration has reportedly indicated that Israel will be on its own if it goes on the offensive. So unless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has any surprises planned, Israel will have to brace for attack.

Monday marks the first day of the month of Av, and the start of a nine-day period of mourning, culminating next Tuesday on the Ninth of Av, which is a catch-all day on which various tragedies in Jewish history are commemorated.

It is a particularly inauspicious time on the Jewish calendar. Yet on Sunday, Israeli leaders sounded a note of resolve as they called on the nation to be prepared.

“Whoever seeks to harm us will pay a very heavy price,” Netanyahu said.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.