海角大神

Israelis went to sleep Friday night celebrating the end of the Jewish High Holidays, looking ahead to a return to work and schools, and, while apprehensive about their own politics, fairly confident that they were safe in their beds.

The next morning, with Hamas鈥� devastating cross-border attack from Gaza, everything they thought they knew聽鈥撀燼bout their聽country and聽politics,聽security and the聽army, and place in the Middle East聽鈥撀燾ollapsed.

The abject聽failure of Israel鈥檚聽intelligence and military has shaken a public reared on the prowess of the vaunted Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The near absence of governmental authority in shattered southern Israel in the first few days of the war has undermined faith in the country鈥檚 leaders.

The savagery of Hamas commandos, left unchecked for hours as they went house to house shooting civilians聽in communities near the Gaza border, has made clear that the enemy from Gaza was vastly underestimated.

Yet in its shared trauma, the country has drawn together, with the divisions and mass protest movement against the聽hard-right聽government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put aside.

Like 9/11, but worse

The unprecedented toll 鈥� more than聽1,000聽Israelis killed, nearly 3,000聽wounded, and over 150聽taken hostage to Gaza, including women, children, and older people 鈥� made it, by far, the heaviest single-day聽loss聽in Israel鈥檚聽conflict-filled聽history.

Even Israeli officials drew immediate comparisons to 9/11. But in relative terms it鈥檚 many times worse: Given Israel鈥檚 population, it would be as if聽more than 30,000聽Americans were killed on that fateful day in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

鈥淚t was a dramatic, epic event in Israeli society. Books will be written about it,鈥澛爏ays聽one senior Israeli military officer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a game-changer in society. ... [It will] change the paradigm.鈥�

Nearly every household in Israel has been impacted by Saturday鈥檚 attack and the ongoing fighting, now in its fourth day.

Survivors from an outdoor music festival held near the Gaza border that morning recounted on live television the subsequent massacre that took place, as Hamas militants fired indiscriminately at the young revelers.聽More than 250 bodies were later recovered at the site.

Funerals for fallen soldiers were held under rocket fire in Jerusalem Monday, as relatives of those captured or still missing held a press conference pleading for any information about their loved ones.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that anyone could have imagined that something like this was possible. I wanted to believe that ... the IDF or other authorities would have the ability to know about it,鈥澛爏ays聽Adva Adar, whose 85-year-old grandmother, Yaffa, was taken captive from her kibbutz in southern Israel. 鈥淓ven in our worst nightmare we couldn鈥檛 imagine that this was possible.鈥�

The Israeli military claimed Tuesday that it had 鈥渕ore or less鈥� secured the southern region bordering Gaza, and that its warplanes were striking expansively inside Gaza.聽Palestinian authorities said more than 900 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank had been killed, and 4,000聽wounded.

Water, electricity, and the entry of fuel and goods to Gaza have also been cut, Israeli officials said.

As聽some 360,000聽Israeli reservists mobilize, analysts predict a major ground offensive deep into Gaza, a small, cramped slice of territory home to聽more than 2 million Palestinians. The goal, senior Israeli officials have said, is to completely dismantle Hamas and all other militant groups inside the coastal enclave.

鈥淲hat will be done to our enemies in the coming days will resonate with them for generations,鈥� Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a speech Monday night, girding the public for a 鈥渓ong and severe鈥� campaign.

鈥淭his is a war for [our] home, a war for ensuring our existence,鈥� he added.

Hamas was an 鈥渁ddress鈥�

That it has come to this with Hamas in Gaza has shaken Israeli political and military officials.

Despite multiple rounds of escalations and conflict in Gaza since the militant group seized the territory in 2007, the Israeli strategy for over a decade was to keep Hamas in control as an 鈥渁ddress,鈥� in the words of one senior Israeli security official, with which it could engage.

The bargain especially over the past decade was clear: Israel would ease the blockade around the territory, allowing in funds and more goods, and letting out thousands of Palestinian laborers to work in Israel. In return Hamas would, it was hoped, ensure quiet and nonbelligerence. This strategy, according to multiple Israeli officials,聽also聽collapsed over the weekend.

鈥淗amas made a strategic decision to [go] out of [its old] playbook,鈥� said Eyal Hulata, a former Israeli national security adviser, on a call with reporters. Mr. Hulata said that previously Hamas used military force to extract economic concessions, infrastructure improvement, and other assistance for Gaza, admitting that Israel indirectly negotiated with the militant group to achieve those ends.

There would now likely have to be an IDF ground offensive into Gaza that would claim many lives on both sides, with the goal being to end Hamas rule,聽Mr. Hulata added.

鈥淲e refrained from doing that for a long time because of the costs that will be coming out from this decision,鈥澛爃e says. 鈥淲e [thought we could] manage the situation. ... All of that has now changed.鈥�

Wary eye on the north

More concerning than even this scenario is the possibility that the far larger and more powerful Hezbollah, a Shiite movement based to Israel鈥檚 north in Lebanon, will enter the fray. The Iranian-backed group, which Israeli officials now refer to as a 鈥渢error army鈥� due to its vast rocket, missile, and drone arsenal, last fought a monthlong war with Israel in 2006.

The prospects of a large multifront war from both south and north breaking out, with projectiles raining down on Israeli cities, are seemingly growing. Over the past two days, over two dozen rockets and missiles were fired at Israeli territory from Lebanon, and at least one cross-border infiltration raid was made by Lebanese-based militants into Israel, with fatalities on both sides. Retaliatory Israeli strikes into Lebanon killed several Hezbollah personnel late Monday.

鈥淸Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah said more than once that if a soldier of his will be hurt, he will hit back. He already said that if Israel will enter the Gaza Strip with ground forces, he will react. As we see with Hezbollah and Nasrallah in the last years, everything he says 鈥� it鈥檚 being done,鈥� said Eyal Pinko, a former senior Israeli security officer, on the call with reporters. 鈥淲e need to take that seriously.鈥�

Amid the devastation and bloodshed 鈥� and with more feared 鈥� Israeli society has united, despite the deep cracks exposed over the last 10 months amid the Netanyahu government鈥檚 push to overhaul the country鈥檚 judiciary.

The mass protest movement has canceled its weekly demonstrations and begun organizing food and aid drives to those in need. The military reservists who suspended their service in protest at government policy have all returned to their units.

鈥淭he pain is terrible. ... Everyone knows someone who is lost and won鈥檛 return, and everyone has someone who at this moment is on the battlefield,鈥� Shikma Bressler, a prominent protest leader, said in a recorded video Monday.

Unity government?

There are even talks offered by opposition leaders about joining an 鈥渆mergency unity government鈥� alongside Prime Minister Netanyahu, which mere days before would have been unthinkable.

鈥淭he people are united, and now the leadership needs to unite,鈥� Mr. Netanyahu, formerly the most divisive figure in Israel, said in his address Monday night.

Recriminations and investigations can wait until after the war ends, say officials themselves. Analysts surmise that many top security officers will ultimately pay with their jobs, and even Mr. Netanyahu 鈥� who for years billed himself as 鈥淢r. Security鈥� 鈥� will not be left unscathed.

Even several days after the start of the war, government agencies still appear unresponsive; multiple relatives of captured Israelis say no Israeli official has yet contacted them. Talks for the release of the hostages have reportedly been rejected by both sides, at least for now.

For these reasons and so many more, the public anger and personal trauma inside Israeli society will likely take a long time to heal.

鈥淭he worst feeling of the last few days is that the country that was supposed to protect you just wasn鈥檛 there,鈥� says Ben, a young father living in Tel Aviv who asked that his full name not be used. 鈥淓veryone I spoke to is distressed. I know another dad whose son asked him if someone is going to break in and kidnap them. How are you supposed to deal with that?鈥�

Even worse, this latest war聽鈥� the most devastating since 1948 between Israelis and Palestinians聽鈥� will likely only harden the hate and distrust.

Similar to many Israelis, Ben, a political moderate, has been changed by what has transpired in recent days. Asked about the future prospects of coexistence with the other side, he聽says聽quietly: 鈥淢any years will have to pass for that to happen.鈥�