MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Iran has responded fiercely to Israel's attacks on its nuclear and military installations. Iran's military fired hundreds of missiles, and while many were intercepted by Israel's powerful air defense systems, some made it through. The result has been unprecedented scenes of destruction in central Israel. Many Israelis say they never imagined they would see anything like this. NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi visited some of those neighborhoods and brings us this report.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Walking up a street in central Tel Aviv, there are people who are taking photos of the damage. On the streets, there is shattered glass.
(SOUNDBITE OF SIRENS WAILING)
AL-SHALCHI: There is a building that is completely gutted, burned. There's lots of police, and many look shocked. They seem like they can't believe that something like this could ever happen in the center, in the heart of Tel Aviv.
Ofir Dagan sits on the sill of a blown-out storefront, shattered glass at his feet. The store is called The PhotoHouse. Established in 1940, it's been in his ex-partner's family for decades.
OFIR DAGAN: His grandfather took iconic photos of a lot of important moments in the history of Israel, like the declaration of Israel.
AL-SHALCHI: Important Israelis, like former prime ministers Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin, also came to be photographed here. Now the shop is destroyed after an Iranian missile hit close by - the doors blown out, the inside upside down, those iconic photos strewn everywhere. Forty-four-year-old Dagan says the shop reflects the chaos Israel finds itself in today.
DAGAN: And the fact that I see Herzl there like this, and Golda and all of, like, the big names of the history of Israel all over the place, I feel it's symbolic to what we're in.
AL-SHALCHI: Dagan says he believes that Iran may be a threat to Israel, but he's not sure the government is doing the right thing with its war.
DAGAN: The thing is that I'm not trust what the government tells me in the past few years. So I feel they organize reality for their needs.
AL-SHALCHI: Just 6 miles south of Tel Aviv is the neighborhood of Bat Yam. It was one of the worst hits since the attacks started. An Iranian missile struck a 10-story building here. At least eight people were killed, according to Israeli medics, and dozens were trapped in the rubble. For many Israelis, this level of destruction is new. First responder Felix Frish said the scale was just huge.
FELIX FRISH: It's something that we in Israel have not experienced. So the operational tempo is crazy, very hectic, something we're not used to, and we're trying to cope.
AL-SHALCHI: Bat Yam is a stronghold of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) Bibi, Bibi, Bibi.
AL-SHALCHI: Yoav Lavid stands on the sidelines as men chant Netanyahu's nickname, Bibi, in support. Lavid's home was damaged in the explosion.
YOAV LAVID: (Speaking Hebrew).
AL-SHALCHI: "There was a very loud boom, and a minute afterwards, we could hear the sirens of the ambulances," he says. Sixty-two-year-old Lavid says Israelis have been waiting for this war for decades.
LAVID: (Speaking Hebrew).
AL-SHALCHI: "Even though we initiated it this time, it's a war that was forced upon us," he says. Lavid echoes what many Israelis feel, that the Iranian regime is an existential threat to their country. For decades, Netanyahu has said that war was the only way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Lavid says that the destruction in his neighborhood may be the price they have to pay for their security.
LAVID: (Speaking Hebrew).
AL-SHALCHI: "There's no such thing as a cheap price," he says. Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
(SOUNDBITE OF TENDAI SONG, "TIME IN OUR LIVES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
