Friday Wrap: Flowers. War. Flat Tires.

A snapshot of the banalities and urgencies of everyday life

I’ve decided to review the week in chronological order, beginning last Saturday, January 31. However, if you’d like to skip to the moment - the ever-changing and heated scenario with Iran - then go straight to the bottom…..an up to the minute brief is there.

Kalaniyot season is in full bloom. The annual winter celebration of nature and life - when southern Israel is transformed into a never-ending impressionist painting…. has begun. “Kalaniyot” (anemones, in English) seem to have been sprayed everywhere overnight.

I think of them as poppies.

Last Saturday was perfect. Sunny. Warm. And the landscape had seemingly transformed overnight. As I drove to my local pool for a swim the usually empty roads in these parts were – well – what passes for jammed out here in hillbilly territory. Cars were parked everywhere. People out for hikes, picnics, dirt biking (a huge deal in these parts), whatever. On the way to town (Sderot), I pulled over and took this quick video of the scene at nearby Sharon Farm – as in - the family homestead of Ariel and Lily Sharon (the former PM, Minister of Defense, IDF general, etc) which is a few minutes down the road from my kibbutz. As you can see, there is a hill that becomes a magnet for city folks. There are much more beautiful spots if you venture just a little further in from the road. The area is like one big nature reserve.

But I was out with purpose and did not linger. I took this video (sorry about the blasting music) quickly, from my car, and sent it to my kids, who were comfortably ensconced on my deck at home. It was a motivational film to encourage them to get off the farm. Literally. And it worked.

This season of renewal - pre-spring in these parts - is probably the most beautiful time of year in Israel The hard rains are subsiding. The landscape is verdant. Crops are nearing harvest time. The weather warms. And in the south, fields of kalaniyot suddenly appear. From one day to the next. In recent decades, for several weeks there have been big weekend festivals. Family friendly stuff. Activities for kids. Big family picnics in the fields. The festival period was called “Red in the South”. It works better in Hebrew - because it rhymes: “Adom b’Darom.”

There was no festive spirit in February, 2024 and 2025. As we have written and spoken about here, the repatriation of the remains of the last Hamas hostage, Ran Gvili, was hugely important in Israel. Indulge me in a moment of saccharine sentimentality as I point out that literally the day after Ran was laid to rest, in the cemetery of the moshav nearby where he grew up and his family resides, the south blossomed. Red kalaniyot were suddenly everywhere. Metaphor in extremis.

The festival is now called - “Darom b’lev,” or - the south is in the heart (a more or less accurate translation). The festival is much lower key, for now, than it was in February 2023. But it is back. A slow, careful revival.

On Wednesday I organized one of my regular Tel Aviv forays, combining necessities (like hair touch ups and pastry at my favorite patisserie) with “work”-related stuff, like joining the fabulous English language crew at the i24 television studio at the Jaffa port. I always seem to be arriving in the nick of time, no matter how well I think I’ve planned things…..but the awesome i24 makeup team has gotten used to buffing me up for the camera in 5-10 minutes. Masterful.

This week I had the pleasure of being on the 6pm News Update show with host David Matlin and security expert Jonathan Regev to discuss – what else? Iran and Gaza.

I have been quite delinquent in self-promotion for years now and am resolved to try to remedy that. Now and then I will post clips from media appearances, a new practice I began last week.

There were three great clips, in my opinion, from the show on Wednesday, but my daughter selected this one, so who am I to argue?

I was late for i24 because I had to swing by my fish guy in the north end of Tel Aviv, which was absolutely in the wrong direction. In Tel Aviv rush hour. But I made it. And have a look at the video, below. He sends these out now and then - my fish guy. This. Is Israel.. You don’t need to understand a word (although half the words are Hebraicized English) to appreciate his superb product and even better showmanship: And the Mizrachi music in the background……

I can’t find quality like this in the south, so every few months I stock up.

After the fish guy had loaded up my car, we got onto the topic of a terrible accident around midday that had snarled northbound traffic from the south. I was stuck in the standstill behind the accident for about 45 minutes, which is why I hadn’t swung by earlier (and why I was late for everything that day). Fish guy had heard about the accident on the radio – it was extremely serious. When my car finally crawled by the actual scene there were about a half dozen uniformed soldiers (unusual), multiple ambulances and motorcycle-based paramedics, several demolished cars, multiple trucks, many police officers. It was a deal.

On my way home that night after i24, I had a repeat experience. About 15 minutes outside of Tel Aviv, there had been another dreadful collision involving multiple vehicles brought southbound traffic to a long halt. Again, as I rubber-necked when inching by the scene, I counted multiple emergency vehicles, stretchers, police vehicles, etc.

Israeli accident rates are notoriously high. More people have died in automobile accidents than all the wars combined. But in the last year or so there has been a marked uptick in vehicular accidents and fatalities and I am certain that it is yet another consequence of the extreme stress with which we have all lived for far too long. The Ministry of Transportation recently launched an intense safety awareness campaign: don’t touch the cell phone when you’re at the wheel and for goodness’ sake - do not speed! Hopefully people will pay attention.

As it turns out, I was lucky to make it home. My tire pressure warning light had had been flashing all day, but subsided once I filled up with air before leaving Tel Aviv. Thursday morning I awoke to a major flat. Fortunately, among the many fine attributes of Israeli men is that they know how to do things like change tires. So as soon as one of my friends on the kibbutz heard of my woes he came over to get it done. And - on a kibbutz - your business is everybody’s business, trivial or life-changing.

In my previous (almost fifty….shhhhh) years of driving I think I might have had one flat tire and it was because of too much urban construction in my midtown Toronto neighborhood. Nails and things littered the road. In the last 18 months, since I moved to the south of Israel, I have lost count. This one is my fourth or fifth flat. “Puntcher” in Hebrew. (I think they mean “puncture.”)

Good news is that it’s not just me – it’s a kibbutz thing. Flat tires are everywhere all the time.

Unfortunately, my tire refused to be changed. Trust me, you don’t want the details. Over the course of several hours, numerous people passed by. They stopped to chat. Some brought food. It became a thing. Everyone brought at least one opinion and so many questions. About what exactly had happened and when; as if that would in any way resolve the very straightforward conundrum as to how to get the damn tire off so that the rest of the operation could proceed. An older man who ran a garage back in the day had a lot to say and was not impressed with what he was seeing. He disappeared briefly and returned with a length of discarded pipe that he found who knows where. He was convinced that the pipe would be just what we needed to somehow leverage the tools I had in my car to remove the tire.

This is the endearing and maddening quality that makes Israelis so Israeli. They simply do not give up. Ever. And when the determination works we tell ourselves we are brilliant. And when we spin in endlessly repetitive circles, we drive one another crazy. And blame whoever comes to mind.

When I suggested gently that we had probably done all we could for now I was rebuked by the chorus for lacking faith. That turned into a discussion about, yes, faith.

I live in a sitcom waiting to be written.

Really. All I wanted was for someone to fix my flat tire.

That was not to be.

Nevertheless, the appearance of the pipe re-energized the communal effort to get the flat removed and replaced with the spare. As the sun set, and the evening cold set in, people drifted off. One by one. They left the food they’d brought.

The flat remained flat and the tire was stuck on the axel. It refused to be dislodged.

Today is Friday, February 6. Getting someone to come and change a tire in these parts on a Friday is a Big Deal.

See – I live in real Israel now. Not the State of Tel Aviv. That’s why it was so difficult to rouse anyone yesterday. Thursdays are for preparing for Friday, which is all about getting ready for Saturday. Weekends are taken very seriously here.

I am not an early riser but I shot out of bed at 6 am today. Full of faith. And the universe responded. My neighbor who actually works with cars for a living. (On a kibbutz you can have a tech multi-millionaire living next to a rock star and a car mechanic and a former diplomat. It’s a magnificent jumble. Lots of artists. And something I’ve noticed over the years in Israel - people are constantly reinventing themselves. They change careers, and not infrequently. It’s refreshing. Change, in my view, can be very restorative.)

So - my tire savior showed up. He got down to business. And within minutes of him stopping by they all appeared - the crew from last night. The older man with the pipe. My neighbor across the path who brought home made pizza last night. And my other friend who could not remove the flat tire after two hours of huffing and puffing - he phoned - at that moment, to check on the status of the tire.

All is well on Kibbutz Ruhama.

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Also on Thursday night, there was big, late breaking news: Sara and Yair Netanyahu did not board their flight on Wednesday in Miami, as planned, and apparently they forgot to tell their staff and the crew of the El Al flight. Newsworthy?

Yair has been residing in South Florida since October 7. Sara is said to be spending significant time with her eldest son in a posh condo in Miami. Their “no show” fired up speculation that perhaps whatever is going to happen with Iran is imminent. It also set tongues a wagging about the millions of shekels in security costs to support their transcontinental lifestyle. In fact, the legitimacy of Yair’s “entitlement” to 24/7 security and a full-time driver has been called into question but, as yet, remains unchallenged in any serious way.

But people are wondering - do Yair and Sara know something that we don’t - and should? Why did they choose to stay in Miami rather than return to Jerusalem?

All of which brings us to the seriousness of the moment.

Will there be armed conflict between Iran and America?

Throughout the week, much anticipated “negotiations” between America and Iran for a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis have been on and off and on and off and are now, apparently, on again.

Today in Muscat, Oman, Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, was expected to sit across the table from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi.

In fact, on Wednesday - as I was in the i24 studio - the Iranians announced that they would not participate in talks that had been planned to take place in Ankara today, with various nations in the room. Nope. Iran decreed, “It’s just us and America. And we will meet in Oman.”

Why? Likely because every additional nation would bring its particular concerns to the table and that would only complicate things for Iran. As well, as supportive as Turkey’s President Erdogan is of the Islamist regime in Tehran, he has his own set of interests to protect. So, moving the whole thing to Oman keeps it tight, close to home and in a location that Iran can control.

In the meantime, Iran has made it clear that the terms for negotiation set out by the United States are unacceptable: zero uranium enrichment, the removal of Iran’s existing enriched uranium stockpile, a halt to its ballistic missile program, and an end to its support for regional proxies.

Iran has come out swinging hard. Several commercial ships carrying oil have been boarded and detained by Iran. Last I read it was not known which flag they sailed under.

Iranian forces have also launched at least one - possibly several - drones targeting US commercial and military seacraft. Honestly - it is difficult to keep track of all the comings and goings. I am not in any way making light of waht is a very serious and, seemingly, escalating situation…..but there are constant updates and one has to be careful regarding the source. Things are fluid. Volatile. And confirming sources can be challenging.

And then there has been the bluster. Non stop. At 7:45 am Israel time today, one of the Open Source feeds I watch carefully posted this:

The same post added that, “The unveiling of the ‘Khorramshahr-4’ missile sends a clear message to the United States that even during negotiations, we will not relinquish our military capabilities.”

Indeed, there was much discussion on the Israeli news last night regarding the capabilities of the Iranian Khorramshahr 4 missile, which has a range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles) and is capable of carrying a 1,500 kg warhead. Targets: Israel and all U.S. military bases in the middle east.

Iran further broadcast on Thursday that these missiles were locked and ready to go in at least one of the regime’s subterranean missile storage and launch sites. (We included video of one such site in the update podcast earlier this week with Ya’akov Katz, available to premium subscribers of State of Tel Aviv and Beyond here.)

“Locked and ready.”

America responded with confusion, unfortunately. On the one hand the U.S. set out its stated terms for discussion with Iran. Then, there were statements from senior U.S. officials saying that the main concern of America was the Iranian nuclear capability.

But, wait. President Trump has been saying since June that the regime’s nuclear program was somewhere between “obliterated” to severely set back. So then why is that suddenly the most pressing concern?

Furthermore, after encouraging protesters in Iran to take to the streets and bring down their “institutions” while reassuring them that “help is on the way”, President Trump went quiet. He spent several weeks moving significant military assets into place in the region, ensuring that he had maximum choice for an appropriate response. As the Iranians maintain their momentum of public threats, the US has moved its marquee warship - the USS Lincoln - closer to strike range of Iran. That, apparently occurred in recent hours.

But it is believed that tens of thousands of Iranians have been slaughtered in recent weeks, waiting for the help that the American President promised was coming. And they are still waiting. President Trump said clearly that if the regime killed innocent civilians that was a red line (hence our over-use of red-lines in this article today) he would not abide.

Tens of thousands of red lines have been crossed in recent weeks. The Iranian people have expressed disbelief at what they regard as a profound betrayal. There remains a faint hope that America will act decisively. But there is also a widespread view that the “isolationists” in the US Administration - including Vice President J.D. Vance - may have prevailed in this policy disagreement. Should America intervene or should it leave the details to Iran and other regional actors?

And if America does not act decisively, will President Trump not be viewed as being - not just weak - but also having betrayed the people of Iran more profoundly than did President Obama?

We shall see.

The Muscat meeting was delayed a few hours. By the time you read this dispatch we will likely have more information on what will transpired today, but I’ll take a wild guess and predict that it will not go swimmingly.

The truth is - President Trump blinked first. He has left the Iranian people utterly exposed, defenseless and devastated. Either Iran accedes to US terms as articulated or America backs down. Or - America attacks. Or - a bellicose Iran attacks Israel. Perhaps even from a missile launch base in Iraq - complicating any retaliation. The possibilities seem endless but time is of the essence.

Israel, meanwhile, waits and watches. We are prevented from reporting much by the military censor but it is well understood here that the IDF is on high alert. Missile defense systems are deployed. Public shelters have been cleaned out and opened up.

I will close by referring (as I did in the i24 clip, above) to the extraordinary meeting that took place in Jerusalem on Tuesday night. In attendance were U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, PM Netanyahu, IAF Commander Tomer Bar, Shabak head David Zini, IDF Chief Eyal Zamir and Mossad head David Barnea. That is quite a room.

Initial reports stated that the meeting lasted for three hours. Today we are hearing it went longer, closer to four. And yes, that matters. Think of the talent in that room. The knowledge and power. Gatherings like this do not happen often. They are not undertaken lightly.

Multiple reports indicate that the focus of the meeting was to ensure that Steve Witkoff was briefed fully on the reality of Iran’s nuclear and other capabilities and how various scenarios may play out in the region. There is no question that the Iranian regime would relish the opportunity to attack Israel. Hard. And if it did so, the United States would be put in quite a squeeze.

After a late start in Oman today, the Iranians and Americans were thought to be in the same room in a palace just outside Muscat, Oman, for 90 minutes. Vague reports initially stated that the US negotiating team “appeared to have left” the site in a motorcade after an hour and a half. We now know (three hours later) that the Americans and Iranians are not physically together. Omani officials are acting as intermediaries and passing messages back and forth. Iran is insisting that all economic sanctions be fully lifted. If America accedes to that demand then it’s game over for any hope of reform. That will be a total cave.

The regime has to go.

Iran must be defanged militarily and in terms of nuclear capability.

And the murder of so many innocent civilians must be addressed by the civilized world. Isolationism has never really worked for the U.S. Superpowers cannot have influence and lead if they cannot inspire confidence and fear.

Yes. I am a hardcore adherent of realpolitik.

Tire update. Another kibbutz guy was able to fix me up to get to Sderot before the tire guy closed at 2pm for Shabbat. What a madhouse. Among those waiting for flat tire fixes (but he didn’t have the shlep with the owner that I do - cuz of my kibbutz buddy) was a man who was a dead ringer for Tamir Pardo, a former head of the Mossad. He stood out like a farmer at Buckingham Palace might. Only, the reverse.

I’m in the market for a new car - I’ve had mine for 12 years (as a Canadian I’m used to getting a new car much more frequently…..salt and snow take a toll……but my vehicle is in fabulous condition, still). So - I’m paying attention these days to cars. Israeli roads are suddenly jammed with electric vehicles, many from China. The Tamir Pardo lookalike man was driving a Volvo hybrid. When I had to deal with Toronto winters I was a hardcore Volvo fan. But a winter car seems like more than a little overkill here. I asked him how he likes it. “Love it,” he responded, somewhat expressionlessly. “And it’s not ‘loud ‘- like a BMW.” As in, flashy. Could not agree more.

Volvo guy stood out like a man from Herzliya (which I learned is where he lives) who got lost in the rough and tumble of southern Israel. He had come to enjoy the kalaniyot for the day and was angry at the world. He got a flat tire. How on earth did that happen? Life in the south, I told him. A little rougher down here.

Aside from the Volvo, he was wearing stylish, fancy orange sneakers (low key in Herzliya, I guess…..a neon sign in Sderot) and his upscale leisure wear gave him away. He was taking in the chaos of the local messy car lot that doubled as the best tire joint and carwash in town. People yell and the chaos is barely organized.

Distaste registered on his face. But he could see that I had bougie tendencies like him, so he warmed, quickly.

And you know what? It may well have been Tamir Pardo. Too bad I didn’t think to ask the time. I knew he looked familiar, but…..could not quite place the face.

Anyone out there know if Tamir Pardo drives a Volvo XC 60 and lives in Herzliya?

And just when I thought I was done, I came home and read the Friday column of Ya’akov Katz (great friend of the State of Tel Aviv and Beyond podcast) in the Jerusalem Post, which he co-authored this week with Peter Lerner, former IDF spokesperson.

The piece is about an astonishing comment made last week by an official in the IDF Spokespersons Unit, conceding that Hamas statistics regarding fatalities in the Gaza Strip since October 8, 2023, are accurate.

Yes. You read that correctly.

This paragraph is a knockout:

For two years, Israel has operated without a head of the National Information Directorate – the body created after the 2006 Second Lebanon War to coordinate government messaging and public diplomacy during crises. The position was simply left vacant.

This is not an accident. It is the result of a deliberate decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has consistently preferred chaos and fragmentation in Israel’s messaging over coherence and accountability, treating strategic communication as an accessory rather than an operational necessity of modern warfare.

I highly recommend reading the full column, here.

Shabbat shalom/have a restorative weekend.

Until next Friday, that’s a wrap.