Every evening, before going to bed, Sarit Zehavi wonders about the reality in which she will wake up the next day. So, very often, the young woman does not sleep. Or very little. This Israeli woman lives near Haifa, a few kilometers from the border with Lebanon, and knows that another war could break out at any moment. Many of his neighbors have already evacuated. “In the last few days, I was very worried because members of Hezbollah destroyed our border cameras, the ones that monitor a possible invasion,” says Sarit, pointing to a map of Israel and Lebanon displayed behind his desk. Fortunately, we also have surveillance drones, but the idea is clearly to blind us.”
Israel transformed “into a war zone everywhere”
Sarit Zehavi heads the Alma Center, a group of civilians whose mission is to control Israel’s northern border and help the armed forces in their face-to-face with Hezbollah. Since October 7 and the massacre by Hamas of 1,400 Israelis near Gaza, there have been daily exchanges of fire in the North between the Israeli army and the Lebanese armed group, supported by Iran. “In Israel, the atmosphere everywhere is that of a war zone,” Sarit summarizes. “Children no longer go to school, everyone prepares food for the soldiers, houses them or provides them with equipment. “The Israeli people are taking action because we understand that this is a matter of life and death for our state.” Surrounded by potential enemies, in a highly flammable situation, an entire country believes its survival is at stake in the weeks to come.
Already at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Jewish state fears the opening of several other fronts: in Lebanon with Hezbollah, but also in Syria with Iranian militias, in the West Bank with terrorist groups, and even since Yemen with the Houthis. So, Israel puts all its forces into battle, with the mobilization of 360,000 reservists from its army. A first since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. “From the first hours, we knew that Iran could encourage Hezbollah to enter the war, and that is why we called up so many reservists,” explains Yaakov Amidror , researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and former national security advisor to Benjamin Netanyahu. The regular army would have been sufficient for our intervention in Gaza but we must be ready in the North, with a massive ground force and our air forces which can intervene anywhere in a few minutes. Our planes were in great demand initially in Gaza, but they are no longer as essential there and can be easily moved to Lebanon.”
If a new front opens with Hezbollah, Israel’s main concern concerns the capabilities of this armed organization, which are much greater than those of Hamas: the Lebanese group would have more than 150,000 rockets. “Normally, the Iron Dome intercepts 90% of projectiles and, until now, despite the thousands of rockets launched from Gaza, its success rate remains very high,” assures Yaakov Amidror. But Lebanon is a different challenge. important, and the battlefield will be the only way to know if Iron Dome is up to the task… In theory, it will be.” Otherwise, the damage could be terrible for the Israeli population.
Civil society in support of the armed forces
In the meantime, the 9 million Israeli citizens are united behind their army, united by the horror of October 7. In a huge hangar at the port of Tel Aviv, Maya has just finished her handwritten letter, which she slips into a food parcel intended for the soldiers stationed near the Gaza Strip. “To our soldiers, thank you for your courage and strength,” wrote the 16-year-old, who is taking part in a national collection for the Israeli forces. “I can’t join the army because I’m too young, but I want to show our soldiers that we are 100% with them,” Maya explains to us.
A little further on, Talia sorts donated clothes, some of which appear new. “Look, there’s still the label,” she points out. Recently employed in high-tech, this lawyer participated in all the demonstrations against the reform of the Supreme Court, which divided the country for nine months. Today, she works hand in hand with her yesterday’s adversaries. “This fight against reform is still present in us, says Talia. But on the ground, we are all together. In the same way that Hamas does not differentiate between our opinions, we no longer make differences between us. This I don’t care which soldier this item of clothing is for.” She even shares her days with Amitaï, knitted yarmulke on her head, who clearly displays her belonging to the religious Zionist sector, fervent support of the reform of the Supreme Court. “When we have a common enemy, everyone unites,” he observes, happy to see so many “leftists” mobilized for the IDF.
If the domestic front appears united, Israel must also ensure international support. From the dawn of the conflict, the United States positioned two aircraft carriers in the eastern Mediterranean, ready to intervene in the event of war with Hezbollah. But the Jewish state knows this fragile support, particularly from Western public opinion horrified by the images of thousands of Palestinian civilians killed and injured by Israeli bombs in Gaza. So, the government is choosing, in this area too, to respond massively. The day after the Hamas attack, the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the IDF launched a vast campaign on social networks, sponsoring the broadcast of videos and photos of the victims of the October 7 massacres.
In one week, more than thirty “ads” comparing Hamas to the Islamic State were sponsored on X (formerly Twitter), reaching more than 4 million people. According to information provided by Elon Musk’s social network, the Israeli authorities paid for these videos to primarily reach adults over the age of 25 living in Munich, The Hague (seat of the International Tribunal), Brussels and Paris . On YouTube, the Israeli government broadcast 75 advertising videos, particularly targeting the British, German, French and American markets.
“During previous conflicts, Israel understood that its war communication was very poor, underlines Sarit Zehavi, of the Alma Center. Today, this communication has been decentralized, with the State getting involved but also many private associations.” A strategy which bore fruit on October 17, when the explosion in a Gaza hospital was first attributed to Israeli bombardment. By communicating massively and calling into question the first version of this tragedy, Israel was able to contain the conflagration that threatened the entire Middle East. For this time.
.