Shpilkies is Yiddish for ‘pins/needles’ as in “I’m sitting on pins and needles.” It has the underlying context of being highly agitated while waiting for something to happen. SHPILL-keys is how I pronounce it. So at this moment I’m more than a little jumpy. I’ve got the shpilkies as we are on extremely high alert/at the edge of the cliff. But more on that later….

First a big thank you to Daya, to Mike, to Nance and Dalia. I love you Susie and Julie, and send a virtual hug to all who have reached out with emails and calls or messages over the past 24 hours to check up on us. We are ok. John and I are home, our guests left on Sunday (it was a sweltering but lovely visit) and Max is back in Herzliya grading stacks of exam papers.

Update

Yesterday I reported on what was then breaking news. A large cache of weapons found in the town across the freeway. Suspected terrorists arrested. Then a knife stabbing at the Karmi’el mall. Three people downed including the terrorist, a Muslim teen from the next down over. He came up from behind, targeting the two soldiers returning home on leave from their base. Both soldiers were wounded and ambulanced out immediately.

The IDF announced the death of Sgt. Aleksandr Iakiminskyi (z”l), age 19. He was from Nahariyya, a coastal city near the Lebanese border. Despite being mortally injured, Aleksandr displayed heroic efforts. After being stabbed numerous times in the chest area, he managed to shoot the terrorist before he could harm other civilians in the crowded mall.

Large police forces and our mayor, Moshe Koninski arrived on the scene immediately to assess the situation and make sure there were no other terrorists in the area. “Unfortunately we are experiencing such an event for the first time…It’s an old shopping center that is used by most of the surrounding communities. I hear a lot of speculation about the identity of the assailant, but we will let the police complete their investigation. I really hope it’s not a resident of the area. There are weeds everywhere, among Jews and Arabs alike.”

The assailant was identified as a 20 year old Arab Israeli Muslim from Nahef. His mother was also arrested inside the mall and taken in for questioning. Both the adjoining towns across the highway from Karmi’el were cordoned off and other suspects are being questioned. The mayor of Nahef, Mohammed Zuri was quick to denounce the attack. “We maintain good neighborliness with Karmi’el and the Jewish population, and hope that this will not ruin our relations. There is outrage in our village about this event, which we hope is an isolated incident that I strongly condemn.”

Currently, there is a thorough search of the terrorist’s house underway. Shuki Tahauko, a Circassian Israeli and police commander of the Northern District said this was a “severe terrorist attack.” Karmi’el is once again on high alert with extremely beefed up security. We had let our guard down from the early days since 7 October in an effort to return to normalcy, I’m afraid. Terror attacks are relatively rare in this part of Israel even though there is a large mixed Arab population.

New immigrant, Olga Iakiminskyi, the soldier’s mother stated, “I’m very proud of him (Aleksandr). He had it tough in the army in the beginning, and lately, he felt welcomed there. He made a lot of friends, and liked the people he served with. He was happy that he was contributing something to the country. Aleksandr was supposed to return home today.” His burial took place early this morning (Thursday).” He was a truck driver in an armed battalion in the North.

The name of the other soldier has not yet been released; however, he was taken by ambulance to the Western Galilee Medical Center in Nahariyya where he remains in stable, but serious condition.

Both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have issued statements praising the attack. It is being labeled “ a natural response to Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people and apartheid activities in the West Bank and their operations in Gaza.” The PIJ called the attacker “a true shahid and one of the heroes of our people.”

In other news, yesterday the IDF killed a major Hizbulla regional field commander in Lebanon, Nimeh Nasser, also known as Abu Ali was targeted in the city of Tyre. There were no other reports of deaths or injuries from the strike. Both sides have made it clear that a ground war is not desirable, but as the Israeli army wraps up the brunt of its operations in Gaza, the focus turns Northward.

The Ayatollah in Iran has already threatened that if Israel invades, Iran will come into the picture in full force, threatening Israel’s complete annihilation. President Biden quickly made a counter statement… to Israel and Prine Minister Netanyahu. (Was it to prove his mental acuity or his sharpness and ability to quickly take control of a situation after his disastrous performance at last week’s debates?) “If you go against Iran, you are on your own,” was his response to Israel. The two leaders are scheduled to meet in person in a few weeks when Netanyahu travels to Washington, D.C. to address both houses of Congress. In reality, Iran sees the Biden statement as a sign of American weakness and a green light to attack Israel. They continue the influx of arms and soldiers into both Lebanon and Syria.

Last night over 100 Katyusha rockets and suicide drones laden with incendiary devices were shot across the Lebanese border into Israel. The rockets were targeting military bases in the Golan Heights. Hizbulla also used Falaq rockets with heavy payloads targeting a military brigade near Kiryat Shmona. Several large fires were burning in the Upper Galilee as of this morning.

Our morning today started off rather uneventfully. It is the 4th of July, Independence Day in the US. John and I were discussing if we should do anything special (it’s not celebrated here, of course). Then we started talking about the things we loved most about this special day, and I said “Oh. That’s easy! I really miss when all the kids and their friends would climb up in the roof and we would all watch the amazing fireworks display!”

Absolutely the wrong memory and the worst possible words and timing. At 11:30 all hell seemed to break loose. The red alerts on my phone started going off faster than ever before – even faster than on 7 October. Rocket attacks. Drones. From the Mediterranean Sea town of Rosh haNikra all across Northern Israel, scattershot to the Golan Heights. Talk about fireworks!!! And of course John piped in, “I think they heard you and are helping us celebrate.”

What to do? The safe room is ready. What to do? Keep calm and carry on until I hear a siren in our neighborhood. I went outside to continue my gardening. At least I’d be able to get photos of an iron dome interception or activity fairly close by. As I was successfully fighting off powdery mildew from my zucchini (thank you Deanna at Homesteadandchill.com) and hand fertilizing the cucumbers, I could hear the warning sirens far off in the distance. Not here. Things were certainly escalating. Would this be the day that total war would break out? Where is the dog? He should be inside, easy to scoop up and take downstairs. Remove the old beans and stake back the heavily laden tomatoes. Keep calm. Be ready to move downstairs.

I begin to get the shpilkies. Will Max be able to make it to summer camp? What if he is called up for reserve duty? Will we be able to fly out in early August for our own summer vacation? Do I have enough underwear and short sleeve shirts in the safe room for John and myself? Why did we not buy a generator?

The IDF jets were and are still whizzing around the skies. My shpilkies have gone, as after an hour of heavy barrage, it was over as quickly as it began. Whew! Another bullet dodged, pun intended. I scanned all the local news channels. Lots of fires started. Over 100 instances of shrapnel falling to the ground. Warnings to report at once and NOT to go near any piece of shrapnel as it might be a yet undetonated rocket part or bomb. A couple direct hits in Akko, including an undetonated rocket that landed at the farmer’s market (we were just there Friday morning!)

The IDF and local authorities are still responding to calls of direct impact. We are fine. Thank you, G-d. But my big question is this: Did YOU hear ANYTHING of this???? In any news feed? Did this make any of your news? What would you or your country do in this situation? Obviously, this was not our red line as everything is fairly calm now. I pray there were no casualties. We shall have the rest of the story soon, I hope. In the meantime, we still pray for peace, for the protection of our country and its citizens, and for people to wake up.