Correspondent: ’Israel tense after Iran strikes’
'We’re basically frozen — schools are closed, gatherings are banned, and we’re under strict Home Front Command instructions'
Israel is tense after Friday’s strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities and its senior military figures, said Maayan Hoffman, executive editor of Israel’s ILTV News, in an interview with The AJN ahead of her visit to Australia.
“Here in Israel, we’re basically frozen — schools are closed, gatherings are banned, and we’re under strict Home Front Command instructions. When the operation began, sirens sounded across the country and we all ran to our shelters.
“It’s a tense, uncertain moment. But Israel did what it had to do. It saw an opening — Iran’s proxies are weakened after nearly two years of war, its air defenses had already been hit in earlier strikes, and for now, there’s clear U.S. political backing.
“This strike sent a message. Iran’s leadership has long bragged about its strength and defenses, but this exposed just how vulnerable they really are. Now, like everyone else, we’re home waiting to see what comes next.”
Hoffman added, “The IAEA has recently officially declared Iran in violation of its nuclear commitments. In response, Tehran announced it will replace its IR-1 centrifuges with more advanced IR-6 models at the underground Fordow facility. The regime also revealed plans to open a new uranium enrichment site at what it described as a ‘secure location.’
Asked about Australia’s barring of activist Hillel Fuld, Hoffman was emphatic that entry into Australia by overseas speakers should be consistent, objectively assesed, and judged on the facts. “Any democratic society has to decide who enters and doesn’t enter their country, but it should be consistent, and it should be based on facts.”
US-born Hoffman, who has resided permanently in Israel since 2015 after a career in US media, will address events organised by JNF Australia, the National Council of Jewish Women Australia, the Zionist Federation of Australia, and various synagogues.
Asked for her outlook on the war, she said, “Twenty months is many more than we ever assumed Israel would be fighting.” US President Donald Trump is pressuring Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu “to wrap this up”, said Hoffman, even as Israel pushes further to control areas of Gaza.
At the start of the Trump administration in January, “we felt in Israel there was carte blanche for us to go ahead [but] I think the [US] patience has started to decrease”. Moreover, Trump has separate aims with Saudi Arabia.
On the hostages, she said some Israelis want more pressure on Hamas but it will be difficult, as the hostages are “all the leverage that they have to maintain their power”.
To hear Maayan Hoffman at the JNF campaign launch in Sydney on Tuesday, June 24, visit jnf.org.au/aclaunch25. Location advised upon booking
To hear Maayan Hoffman at a Melbourne lunch event on Thursday, June 26, email rsvpvic@jnf.org.au; visit jnf.org.au/goldpatrons. Location advised upon booking.
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