Iran Targets Israel's Nuclear Program
Will the Passover Seder be cancelled this year?
After a relatively quiet Shabbat in Jerusalem, nearly 200 people were injured by Iranian strikes in the southern cities of Dimona and Arad on Saturday, 11 of them seriously, the MDA reported. Among those seriously injured in the strikes on the South were a 12-year-old boy suffering from shrapnel injuries in Dimona, and a five-year-old girl hurt in Arad.
MDA also said that as of this morning, there are no live people trapped under the rubble.
Dimona, the location of the secret-not-secret nuclear site is the most natural target for our enemies, second only to their joy in killing civilians. Iranian state media said the strikes were targeting Israel’s nuclear research facility in retaliation for an alleged US attack on Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility earlier in the day.
Earlier on Saturday, an Iranian cluster bomb warhead hit an empty kindergarten in Rishon Lezion, without any injuries reported; only because the kindergartens are closed on Shabbat.
As a result, any schools in “yellow” zones that were meant to open today for in-person classes have been cancelled, announced Minister of Education Yoav Kish. Which frankly was no a no-brainer, given that the official Pessach vacation for all schools starts on Tuesday in any case.
Sunday morning 22/3/26, 7:51: We all sat in the bomb shelter discussing our Seder plans, as booms pounded overhead. Honestly, this recent development of cluster bombs throws mine and Raphaela’s intentions into question; normally every year we celebrate with family who live in the Jerusalem neighborhood of San Simon, which is a 45 minute to one hour walk from our current apartment. Unfortunately, a large portion of the walk takes place in the wide open, with only a sidewalk and a highway, and if there were to be a siren and shrapnel, we would have nowhere to hide.
Reminiscent of Covid-19, the government is considering forbidding gatherings – large or small - for the Pessach Seder, in fear that Iran will especially target citizens during this holiday.
According to Israeli statistics, 80% of all Jewish families, regardless of religious identification, celebrate with their extended family the night of the Pessach Seder; the other 20% normally flee the country and fly overseas, though perhaps not this year.
One of the neighbors, a father, brought down his three week old infant, without a blanket. Immediately, all the women in the bunker started fussing, “It’s so cold down here, why didn’t you bring a blanket for him?” “Here, take my sweatshirt and cover him up!” “What, you didn’t cover his head, that’s the place where most of the body heat escapes!”
Family helping family, that’s what we Israelis do when we’re under fire.