Israel at the crossroads: latest hours of tension with Iran and the impact on the heart of the Israeli people

When you’ve spent years covering the Middle East, you learn to read between the lines of silence between the headlines. And in recent hours, that silence has been deafening. Just as Shabbat gave way to a new week, reality hit with a rawness few expected. The echoes of strikes on Iranian soil have shaken not just regional geopolitics, but the spirit of an Israeli people who, once again, are clutching their phones for updates, barely daring to breathe.

It all started to spiral in the early hours. No sirens sounded in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, but the threat was as real as the one that’s been hanging in the air for weeks. According to sources close to the security cabinet, Israel’s response to the Islamic Republic’s previous attack has been surgical, but loaded with symbolism. This isn’t a minor exchange; it’s a whole new game.

The tension map: from Dimona to the shipping routes

What worries me most, and what I’m hearing in conversations with security analysts here in Madrid, isn’t just the military impact. It’s the economic fallout. The images coming in from the south of Israel show a tense calm around strategic facilities, but the real war right now is playing out in energy infrastructure hundreds of kilometres away. Information from the area suggests the world’s largest LNG plant, located in a critical zone, has been hit by indirect attacks, and European markets are already feeling the tremors. Several European capitals are now assessing potential supply cuts. This, folks, hits close to home.

Meanwhile, on the ground, daily life tries to carry on with that mix of resilience and madness that defines the region. It’s odd: just yesterday, before this exploded, I was checking Israel Railways schedules for someone travelling to Haifa. It seemed like a normal day. Today, the advice is to avoid large gatherings and, of course, to follow Home Front Command instructions to the letter. The logistics of a country on edge are impressive, but no less distressing for a society that has lived on this pendulum for decades.

The Western perspective and the diplomatic factor

The international community, as expected, has jumped in. But the interesting part isn’t in the press releases; it’s in the moves you don’t see. The emergency talks between security cabinets all revolve around one question: where’s the point of no return? In the diplomatic corridors of Brussels and Washington, the consensus is that we’ve entered a phase where the concept of "deterrence" has blown up. What used to be a chess game with unwritten rules has turned into a poker match where both sides are showing their cards with fury.

For the Israeli people, this means something very specific: uncertainty. Not just about the rocket that might fall, but about whether Ben Gurion Airport will keep operating as normal, or whether the economy, already strained by months of mobilisation, can weather a prolonged escalation. And here’s a detail I find crucial: unity. Despite the deep internal divisions of recent months (which have filled headlines worldwide), in moments like this, that sense of belonging to the community, to the Israeli community, sharpens. It’s the instinct for collective survival.

What can we expect in the coming hours?

Based on past patterns and the information still coming in real-time, we can expect:

• Regional airspace closures: Several airlines are already cancelling routes to Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut. If you have flights, check with your carrier.
• Reservist mobilisation: It wouldn’t be surprising if the security cabinet authorises additional call-ups to cover potential fronts. The Israeli military is on maximum alert.
• Pressure on energy markets: The price of crude oil and gas is set to spike when Asian markets open. This will directly hit European wallets, and Spain will be no exception.

The world has changed in the last 48 hours, and Israel is at the epicentre of that change. It’s not the first time the region has faced a challenge of this magnitude, but what’s new is the simultaneity of the fronts: military, energy and diplomatic. As I write this, correspondents on the ground speak of an unusual buzz in the streets of Jerusalem, not panic, but a cold determination. The kind you recognise when a country knows it is, once again, forging its destiny in the slow fire.