The morning after a drone fell into the dining room of a training camp for young recruits in Binyamina, I could hardly get out of bed.

Binyamina is a fifteen-minute drive from my house. There had been no warning sirens. No indication that anything was amiss in the area. I can’t tell you how much daily life in Israel depends on those sirens. Without them, we would find it hard to move an inch from our shelters. We wouldn’t be able to shop, work, send our kids to school. We’d be paralyzed with fear.

Our street’s WhatsApp group debated whether or not the news was to be believed. Some said the reports indicated the drone had fallen “near Binyamina.” That could be anywhere.

Unfortunately, it actually had landed in Binyamina, just as the young recruits had sat down to dinner. It wasn’t even their usual time for dinner! Such bad luck that the drone had been one of three, and the air force had lost tract of it and assumed it had crashed. Instead, it had continued to fly straight into the center of the country, and into those lovely, young men. Four dead, 67 injured. A fearsome tragedy.

As I said, I found it hard to get out of bed in the morning. But my husband took my iPad out of my hands and told me to go to exercise class. That it would be good for me.

Reluctantly, I listened.

But once in the pool, I was surprised to see our regular class assembled. No one had bailed. Once we started, I thought I wouldn’t be able to move for more than five minutes. But then I saw someone smile, and someone else start moving to the music. Something about that smile… I felt a little bit more energy. And then the tempo picked up, and to my surprise, ten minutes had gone by. And then fifteen. I was still moving. The whole class was moving. And as the minutes ticked by, I kept thinking: I won’t be able to do this, to get to the end of this class. I’m exhausted. But somehow, the time passed. I kept going. Until, finally, finally we had finished.

And this is a metaphor for Israel in the midst of these brutal, endless wars that have been forced upon us by Islamic would-be conquerors and terrorists, who want to instill fear, and take over territory for the mullahs, so they can abuse more innocent civilians, the way they do their own. Exhausted, we have to keep on swimming towards the far end of the pool, lap after lap, kick after kick, until we reach our goal. Most of all, we have to keep smiling.

Minister of Defense Gallant: “Israel is making progress in creating the conditions for the return of the residents of the north to their homes. We have no intention of putting up with a violation of sovereignty, and an attempt to harm Israeli citizens and infrastructure without responding, the response towards Iran will be precise, painful and surprising.

“We have no interest in opening additional fronts and additional systems, I am involved in the preparation of the defense system together with the Chief of Staff, things reach the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, all in all we see things eye to eye –  the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff, also in the context of the need for a response, and what form it will take.

“A year ago we were at a very low point, today we are in a situation where we have almost completely cut the ability of Hamas to act as an organization and the situation in Hezbollah is becoming similar in many ways. The main reason the Iranians acted against us is because we cut these two arms very significantly. These are assets that Iran has built over decades with an investment of billions and the results are that it is facing a broken trough.”

The price we are paying is enormous. But there is no comparison between that and the price we were being set up to pay by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah which was planning a mass destruction of our northern towns and cities.

After the tragedy at the army base in Binyamina, the IDF has put new rules in place. When a drone can no longer be seen, it will no longer be assumed it crashed unless that is verified.

I trust them with my life. I will keep shopping, keep going out, keep exercising. I will keep on living, even when I haven’t slept all night, or my grandson is on the front. Because I know we have no other choice.

In the end, God, our God, will bring us victory for generations.

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