Israeli press review: Fears Iran is prepared for a long war

Middle East Eye

23-06-2025

Israelis wary of attritional war
While many Israelis are celebrating Saturday night's US attack on three Iranian nuclear sites, fears are growing that Iran will drag Israel into a war of attrition where ballistic missiles will be fired for several months, according to an Army Radio report.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his country 'will not be dragged into a war of attrition, but we will not stop this historic operation before we achieve our goals'.
On Monday morning, missiles were fired again from Iran and a strategic facility of the Israel Electric Corporation near the southern city of Ashdod was hit.
"Fifteen missiles were launched. This proves that Iran's launch capability has not really weakened, and they still have hundreds of mobile and stationary launchers, although the Air Force has destroyed more than 200 of them so far," journalist Yossi Melman wrote on X in response.
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'It's a war of attrition in every respect.'
According to Army Radio, senior military officials have said Israel will increase attacks on Iran to push Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei into a corner.
Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert expressed reservations about the possibility that Iran would surrender in the wake of the Israeli and American attacks.
"The notion that a series of pre-emptive military strikes can bring a nation of over 90m people to its knees… is arrogant and unrealistic," he wrote in the Economist.
"Iran will not collapse or shatter, even after the exceptionally painful blow of the American attack. And remember, it still possesses a formidable arsenal of long- and short-range missiles."
Israelis flee Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv has been a ghost town since the hostilities with Iran began.
The Israeli Home Front Command has ordered only essential workers to work in the commercial capital over the past week.
"There is a feeling among Tel Avivians that the Iranians are aiming mainly at Tel Aviv. Therefore, many Tel Avivians have left the city," a resident told Channel 12 News.
"A few days ago, I went down to the shelter of our building, and there were 10 people at most, out of a building of 12 apartments.'
Many buildings in the city do not have a protected space or shelter, which has prompted people to leave after witnessing the destructive capabilities of Iranian missiles.
"Most of the people in our building have left the city. Both young couples and young families,' another resident told Channel 12 News.
Others choose to remain and seek shelter offered by the municipality.
"We have an underground parking lot in a nearby building, which we go to when there is a siren, so within a minute and a half we are there, protected," said a resident. "We don't see a reason to leave."
Iranian missiles cause extensive damage
Since Iran responded to Israeli attacks by firing missiles at Israel, extensive damage has been endured across the country.
According to Israeli media estimates, after only six days of war the damage caused to property all over the country is estimated at more than 2 billion shekels ($576m).
Since then, missiles have only caused more damage.
There is concern in Israel that many citizens whose property or homes were damaged will remain without compensation for many months.
According to a report in The Marker, the Property Tax Authority is under extreme workload pressures due to the heavy damage.
"Given that thousands of apartments have already been evacuated of their residents across the country, probably close to 5,000 apartments, and appraisers have to move between them and decide their fate, the wait for an appraiser could take days or even weeks," the report said.
"Until then, the evacuees will not be able to receive compensation from the state."
According to the report, "the dimensions of the destruction in the war with Iran are already too great to contain. In just a week, 33,000 lawsuits were filed, and about 11,000 people were evicted from their homes".
At the same time, The Marker reports that there is a shortage of workers to rebuild the destroyed residential buildings.
"Without an additional 15,000 foreign workers to rebuild the destruction in Gush Dan, the construction industry could stagnate," the report said.
A source in the Tax Authority told The Marker the level of damage from the war with Iran is not something Israelis have known before.
Just one building in a high-density urban landscape was so badly damaged it was slated for demolition due to the Gaza war. Now, according to The Marker's source, Iranian missiles have condemned another 30.