Tragic Missile Strike in Bet Shemesh

We are now four days into the US-Israeli military campaign to bring down the fanatical Iranian regime. Here in Jerusalem, we have repeatedly hunkered in our bomb shelters as dozens of Iranian missile barrages sailed overhead on their way to Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities. Each time, the explosions from rocket interceptions above us got louder and the ground impacts came closer.

In fact, on Sunday we saw the tragic missile strike which leveled a synagogue and public bomb shelter in Beit Shemesh, only 12 miles from Jerusalem. Nine people have died from the blast so far. Entire families were wiped out. One woman lost her husband the day before they were supposed to celebrate their 13-year-old son’s bar mitzvah. Instead, the boy had to bury his father yesterday.              

Within hours of the Beit Shemesh disaster, Iran started deliberately targeting Jerusalem for the first time, using their best guided missiles. One unexploded warhead fell in the Hinnom Valley outside Jaffa Gate, just 500 meters from the Temple Mount. Another rocket blew a large crater in a main highway in Jerusalem. Iran even brazenly announced it had targeted Israeli government offices in “East Jerusalem.”

Like the Iranian attacks on numerous Arab countries, the missile barrages on Jerusalem are signs of a desperate regime in the last throes of their power. With the confirmed death of Ayatollah Ali Khameini and dozens of other senior Iranian leaders on day one, the Islamic Republic knows it is about to meet its end. Masses of Iranian people are longing for that moment, but we do not know yet exactly when it will come.

Since the war began on Saturday morning, many Christians have joined us in praying for a swift and decisive victory over the Iranian regime before the end of Purim on Wednesday. This festive biblical holiday marks a famous triumph of the Jewish people over their enemies within the ancient Persian empire. Thus, a resounding victory this week by the Jewish nation over its implacable enemies in Tehran would be so appropriate.

Still, Israeli authorities have told the public to expect the fighting to continue until at least March 12, while US President Donald Trump just said it could take three to four more weeks to finish the mission. We simply do not know how long this war will last and whether it might spread further throughout the region.

But what we do know is that right now Israel needs our help. This is a pivotal moment for the Jewish people gathered back in their ancestral homeland. A clear victory could radically change the dynamic in the region, expanding the prospects of Israel’s wider acceptance by its Arab neighbors. But they need to know that Christians are at their side, to give them the courage and stamina to endure the Iranian missiles now raining down on Israeli cities.