Diary of a "War Dad", Day 100: What Day of The War Is it?

Israel is turning into Sparta.

05:15 Dad where’s Mom?

She’s out running or swimming. or riding. Leave me alone. Go back to bed.

But Daddy, I’m having a bad dream. Terrorists are coming to kill me. Can I sleep with you?

I don’t believe you. go back to your room.

It’s true! They were Hamas. I promise. Allahu Akbar.

OK fine. Keep it down. Just don’t wake up your sister.

06:30 Wake up alone. Girls are eating cereal and watching Disney+. I reach for my phone —since Day 1 it also sleeps with us in the bedroom again— check if any soldiers fell in battle overnight.

There is. Shit. Another one from my town. This is the 5th or 6th in the 100 days since October 7. Major (res.) Dan Weidenbaum, 24, 5037 Battalion, Yiftach Brigade.

I stay with the sadness for a few moments. I say, Thank you Dan, for giving us another crack at life.

06:35 Check Telegram to see the enemy’s channels. Know thy enemy.

07:00 While making coffee for Mrs. and me, the second for both of us:

Did you see there was another soldier, from Ra’anana?

She knows. She checks much earlier than I do. 100 days of bad sleep. And we’re the lucky ones. Our friends’ sons fight inside Gaza. Their sleep is much worse.

07:15 Toilet.

07:50 Out of the toilet. Children all out the house. All clear.

08:00 Another coffee. And now for the news

We are turning into Sparta.

Israel Radio adds: The Israel Defense Forces will be enlarged. Army units will be stationed in border area villages and kibbutzim. Kibbutz and village civilian rapid response security units will be given new weapons, equipment, and training.

And to think all this time we believed we were Athens.

Good thing I got my gun license yesterday. It was too easy. Next steps: go to the shooting range, train up, buy a gun, keep training. Use the training?

But this story is local. Me, my family, and our gun.

Out there, our war has been the biggest World News story for 100 days straight.

Will things get even bigger? I have a theory. Bibi Wants To Bomb Iran. For real this time.

Tbf, If I had a shekel for every time Netanyahu talked about this particular existential mission..(pulls out calculator) …at least 30 years of shekels… a lot.

Bibi botched Oct 7. Previously known as Mr. Security, he’s now Mr. Oct 7.

Now Iran is this close to a bomb.

Netanyahu, Mr. Security, King Bibi, has nothing left to lose. Time is running out on Gaza. Time is running out on the hostages. Time is running out on a Palestinian state. Time is running out on the Democratic Party. Time is running out on trusting Trump. Time is running out in Lebanon. Time is running out in Tehran. Time is running out on Biden. And time is running out on Bibi.

What is Netanyahu’s next move?

The man who said his life’s mission was to secure the Jewish and Democratic State of Israel, the national home of the Jewish people, has overpromised and under-delivered. And that’s being kind.

Could he be thinking about a strike on Iran’s nukes? Would he be wrong to?

08:45 OK that’s enough. This is going to a dark place, and it’s not even 09:00. Need to do yoga.

09:00 Yoga

During Yoga: roar of a warplane above. it’s the sound I imagine a dragon would make. It takes around 90 seconds to pass, on its way north, south, east. At least they’re our warplanes, an inner voice says, taming the dragon. I know they’re our planes but the roar still scares me. Imagine they weren’t our planes. The Jews have “air superiority” except for the rockets and suicide drones, and the bombs, guns, axes and knives.

During Shavasana I think: Perhaps we were always Sparta, from Day 1. Meaning, from Day 1, 1948 to Day 100, 2023-24. In which case it really doesn’t matter what day of the war it is, does it?

10:30 Coffee, emails, Slacks, What’sApps, breakfast, and news.

You know what the ax(e) was for, right? 🤪

11:00 —13:00 Work.

13:00 Make lunch for the kids, coffee for me, catch up on the news

Doing War Dad stuff. More work. I’m an essential worker.

22:35 Decaf. More warplanes. This time it’s confirmed they’re going north.

Time is running out on Day 100. Feels like just another day in this nightmare.

It’s always Day 1 in Sparta.

My thoughts close out Day 100 with what David Grossman wrote on Day 5 of the war: “the painful understanding that we Israelis will always have to live here in heightened alertness and constant preparedness for war. In an unceasing effort to be both Athens and Sparta at once. And a fundamental doubt that we might ever be able to lead a normal, free life, unfettered by threats and anxieties. A stable, secure life.”

Going to bed. The girls are sure to come.