Israelis on Edge as Iranian Threat to Attack Looms

Israelis nationwide are preparing for an imminent attack by Iran and wider escalation in the north with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist organization based in Lebanon.

While much attention has been focused on the Israeli government’s actions to brace for a military strike, regular families are in many cases being forced to alter their plans due to fear of an attack.

Israeli youth movements, for example, are weighing the possibility of calling off their annual Passover trips. Many parents have already cancelled their trips for the upcoming Jewish holiday later this month as they continue to monitor the situation, according to some groups.

“All activities and trips in the Bnei Akiva movement take place according to the guidelines and with the approval of the Ministry of Education, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], and the security forces in the State of Israel,” said Bnei Akiva, one of the largest youth movements in Israel with more than 80,000 total campers.

“Over 30,000 campers will go on a Passover trip next week,” the group noted. “At the same time, we understand parents who are more worried these days, and because of this we have decided that this year the Passover trip will take place only one day without overnight accommodation.”

The Hebrew Scouts, the largest youth movement in Israel with over 100,000 kids, is also taking precautions and ready to change plans if needed.

“Tens of thousands of campers and guides of the Scout movement have signed up for the trips in the coming weeks. Since we learned of the situation that has arisen, the movement is acting responsibly as it has always acted in full coordination with all the relevant parties, including the IDF,” the group said. “The movement is prepared accordingly and will make all the necessary adjustments according to the instructions of the authorized parties.”

Youth movements in Israel are extraordinarily popular, with around 250,000 youth active across the country. Many have credited the skills learned in the movements to Israel’s excellence in areas such as military operations and hi-tech innovation.

The concern among Israeli parents and youth groups comes as Israel prepares for a potential attack from Iran, whose leaders routinely call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Top Iranian officials have been publicly threatening to attack Israel as revenge for an airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria last week that Iranian officials have attributed to Israel. The strike killed seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a US-designated terrorist organization, including two senior commanders. One of the commanders allegedly helped plan the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the incident. However, Israel has been bracing for a retaliatory strike amid a flurry of public threats from Iran to attack Israel.

The White House said this week that it considered the Iranian threats of reprisals to be legitimate. “We still deem the potential threat by Iran here to be real, to be viable,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Iran could launch an attack on Israeli soil within the next 24 to 48 hours, quoting a US official who cited American intelligence reports.

Israeli officials have said they are prepared to respond to an attack — warning that such a response could target Iran directly.

“We are prepared to defend ourselves on the ground and in the air, in close cooperation with our partners, and we will know how to respond,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said after a meeting with the head of US Central Command, General Michael Kurilla.

On Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on X/Twitter that “if Iran attacks from its own territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran.”

Less than an hour later, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted what appeared to be a response to Katz. “When the Zionist regime attacks an Iranian consulate in Syria, it is as if it has attacked Iranian soil,” he wrote. “That malicious regime has made a wrong move. It should be punished, and it will be punished.”

Countries including India, France, Russia, and Poland have warned their citizens against travel to the region, which is already on edge over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which began with the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7 invasion of the Jewish state. Iran provides Hamas with weapons, funding, and training.

Despite the expected attack, Israeli officials have not forbidden travel to the Galilee area in northern Israel, where an Iranian attack could reportedly take place.

“Currently, as far as the Home Front Command is concerned, there is no crowd restriction in the area of Tiberias and the shores of the Sea of Galilee, but there is no doubt that an aircraft or a missile that penetrates this space constitutes a threat to us and a big challenge,” Commander Yigal Ben Lulu of the Tiberias Police said on Friday morning. “In such a situation, you must lie down on the ground and put your hands on your head.”