Israeli resilience tested as Iranian missile strikes hit home

By Alexander Cornwell and Crispian Balmer

TEL AVIV/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Four days into their war with Iran, Israelis are shaken and anxious, yet remain resilient, still backing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to confront a longstanding foe.

Netanyahu ordered a surprise attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday, vowing to end Tehran's nuclear ambitions, which he says represent an existential threat to his nation.

In response, Iran has fired nightly barrages of ballistic missiles that have brought destruction in their wake -- and also stirred defiance among some of those who have suffered.

"We trust God and Bibi Netanyahu," said Suki Yoram, standing in front of his partially destroyed block of flats in the Petah Tikva neighbourhood, just east of Tel Aviv, which was hit by a missile overnight, killing four people.

"We are with you till the end, do not stop, go on... There is no other choice," he told Reuters.

Dozens of apartment blocks and other buildings in central and northern Israel have been wrecked by the waves of missiles since Friday, leaving 24 dead and hundreds injured.

The severity and depth of the damage have outstripped anything that either Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip or Hezbollah fighters in neighbouring Lebanon have managed to inflict on Israel in decades of confrontation.

"It's very sad. And we don't want to lose any people. But what can you do," said Adi Shindler, 71, a Jerusalem resident.

Israel's longest-serving prime minister, Netanyahu has repeatedly warned that Iran was looking to build nuclear weapons and wanted to turn them on Israel -- a small nation home to nearly half the world's Jews.

Iran has said its nuclear programme is purely for civilian purposes, but Israelis, whose society has been shaped by the memory of the Nazi Holocaust, think otherwise.

"We don't have a choice. It's better this way than to have missiles come at us, nuclear missiles. And then we're all dead," said Shindler.

Israel's own airstrikes have gutted Iran's nuclear and military leadership. Iran's death toll has reached at least 224, with civilians accounting for 90% of the casualties, an Iranian official said. Thousands of residents of Tehran are fleeing their homes and stockpiling essential supplies for fear that Israel's campaign will escalate in the coming days.

CLOSING RANKS

Netanyahu is a deeply divisive figure in Israel. Many blame him for failing to prevent the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas on southern Israel, that killed around 1,200 people and triggered a brutal war in Gaza that is still grinding on.

Opposition politicians have accused him of prolonging that conflict to stave off a reckoning over the 2023 security failings. But they have closed ranks since the Israeli airforce launched its mass assault on Iran on June 13.

"When it comes to the security of the people of Israel in the face of our enemies, we are one people, with one mission. Our children will not live in fear of an Iranian nuclear bomb. Not today, not ever," said opposition leader Yair Lapid.

A poll released on Monday by Agam Labs researchers said 70% of Israelis supported the military assault on Iran -- a number that rose to 83% among the country's Jewish population. Only 16% of people surveyed opposed the operation.

Nonetheless, the nightly rush to air raid shelters and scenes of bombed-out homes is jangling nerves.

When an Iranian rocket, which typically carries between 300-700 kg (660-1,540 pounds) of explosives, makes a direct hit near the heavily populated coast, the boom can be distinctly heard 55 km away (35 miles) in Jerusalem.

In Tel Aviv, 31-year-old chef Guydo Tetelbaun stood on smashed glass and debris outside what had once his apartment.

"It's terrifying because it's so unknown," he said in the early hours of Monday. "This could be the beginning of a long time like this, or it could get worse, or hopefully better, but it's the unknown that's the scariest."

While there is undoubtedly broad support for the attack on Iran, not everyone agrees with the war -- the biggest conflagration of the past 20 months during which time Israel has also squared off against Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

"I don't think it will bring any good," said Ben Keller, an Israeli studying for a doctorate in Britain and currently back home to see his family.

"I never really believed Iran would use a nuclear weapon. It's just something people like to have in order to make threats, but they won't actually use it," he said.

Investors, however, seemed to take the view that the conflict would ultimately be good for Israel, betting that Netanyahu would win his military gamble and manage to destroy Iran's nuclear ambitions, removing a long shadow over the country and its economy.

The shekel gained more than 3% against the dollar on Monday -- its biggest daily percentage gain since at least 2008 -- while the Tel Aviv stock market rose 2%.

"Reducing Israel's geopolitical risk significantly is likely to reduce the risk premium priced into the bond market and provide Israel with a more positive growth outlook," said Jonathan Katz, chief economist at Leader Capital Markets.

(Reporting by Rami Amichay in Petah Tikva, Alex Cornwell in Tel Aviv, Crispian Balmer, Emily Rose and Dedi Hayun in JerusalemEditing by Gareth Jones)