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SALT LAKE CITY — Diane Warsoff had phone conversation with her 20- year old daughter, Sarai, Friday. Sarai is spending part of the summer in Israel as a counsellor with a teen group sponsored by United Synagogue Youth. She called from the northern city of Haifa.
“There was one siren that went off last night at 3 a.m.,” Warsoff said. “They did go to the bomb shelters. There was no explosion. They went back to bed, and today they performed all their normal activities.”
State Representative Patrice Arent’s 19-year-old son, Josh, is working as an intern at a small company in Israel. He’s been there since May.
“We've been in contact a lot this week,” Arent said. “But the specific call I remember was talking to him Tuesday night. And I said, 'How are things?' And he said, 'I just left a bomb shelter!' Obviously, it makes me nervous.”
Nerves are likely to be on edge for a while yet, as the conflict between the Israeli military and Hamas doesn’t appear to be slowing down. On Friday, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu said he will not cave in to international pressure to stop military action in the Gaza strip. Netanyahu says if Hamas keeps launching missiles into Israel, Israel will respond.
“Neither side is inclined to back down, it is the Middle East”, said Daniel Peterson, Professor of Islamic Studies at BYU. “Hamas has never been willing to do more than sign a temporary truce with Israel. They will not recognize Israel’s right to exist.”
Peterson adds that Hamas’ missile capability has gotten much stronger over the years.
“They’re able to reach beyond Tel Aviv, beyond Jerusalem, which means they can reach Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. That puts about 5 million of Israel's 8 million civilians in range. So this is serious,” Peterson said.
Amos Guiora, Professor of Law and Co-Director Center for Global Justice at the University of Utah agrees. He says the conflict is likely to last for some time, unless some sort of “collateral damage,” such as bombs hitting schools and killing children, bring matters to a halt.
Hamas has never been willing to do more than sign a temporary truce with Israel. They will not recognize Israel's right to exist.
–Daniel Peterson, BYU Professor of Islamic Studies
“History also shows that this operation will come to an end, brokered or otherwise," he said. “Both sides will then do after-action reports, what worked, what didn’t work, then we'll have quiet for a year or two. It’s fair to say we'll have a re-re-repeat a couple years down the road.”
Warsoff said her daughter and the group she’s with may have to alter some travel plans, but there are no plans to cut their tour short.
“She has sent several emails to worried grandparents and friends assuring us that they're safe and that their primary concern is that the campers who are with her are taken care of.“
Students at BYU’s Jerusalem Center have had to go into shelters twice over the last few days when the sirens sounded. Jim Kearl, Assistant to the University President for the Jerusalem Center said the students are continuing with their normal classes and extracurricular activities, but some travel restrictions have been put in place.
So the delicate and violent situation continues, that can change day by day.
“This could go quite a ways if there's a ground attack into Gaza,” Peterson said. “It could be terribly costly to both sides.”
In the meantime, Utahn’s with relatives in the area are watching the developments closely.
“There's no question that I’m paying more attention," Arent said. I always pay attention to Israel because it's important to me, but I'm paying more attention as any parent would.”
Warsoff added, “We also have friends and family there and reached out to them and they say, 'Hey, we go down to the bomb shelters and we go back to life as usual.' ”
