Home Front Command

Israel has fought a devastating war in Gaza, battled Hezbollah in Lebanon, and now finds itself confronting Iran in a broader regional conflict that's drawn in the US.

But how has the strategic picture in the Middle East changed over the past three years? Where does Israel stand today following its wars with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran? And after three years of fighting, well, what comes next? Joining me now is Alex Selsky, director of Israel and East Mediterranean Affairs at the Middle East Forum, and a reserve major in the IDF Home Front Command.

Alex, thank you very much for taking the time to join us here on The Situation Report.

Thank you, Mike.

Uh, and it was a very planned, very well-funded, a campaign, uh, in media, in social media, on campuses, on every street.

Now, regarding the claim itself, uh, Mike, I am a reserve major in the IDF.

What I do in the army, uh, is I speak on the media to Israeli public when the rockets fall to give them the instructions of the Home Front Command, to explain them the instructions of the Home Front Command, and to keep their civi- uh, uh, resilience strong to, to, to keep going during emergency.

And I can tell you from within, you know, I am, uh, almost 50 and I'm in the IDF.

And also the Border Patrol vessels, the Navy will be increasing the number of those that are at sea conducting patrol missions.

There's also some alertness in the home front command.

There will be senior officers present in each district in case there's a sudden escalation.

So it's not relying on a low ranking officer who would be normally stationed there, you know, for an overnight shift or something like that.

During the holiday, there will be senior officers in each home front command district in case of some sort of sudden event.

Right.

And these are, of course, lessons learned from October 7th.

There are also reports of an interceptor launch in the north.

The Home Front Command has since updated its directives, permitting individuals in protected areas in Menara and Margoliet to leave.

Finally, in US policy news, the Texas State Board of Education has approved revised high school social studies standards, scheduled for implementation in 2030.

These standards will teach Israel's establishment in 1948 as occurring in the ancestral homeland of the Jews, and emphasise the influence of Judeo-Christian traditions.