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Israel Transforms Itself for War

(Washington Post) Steve Hendrix - On the road outside the military base, hundreds of cars were pulled onto the shoulders for a half-mile in either direction. It was a pop-up parking lot for military reservists, hurrying into the base as civilians and leaving as soldiers. No one knows when they will be back to their civilian lives. 360,000 people are back in uniform in one of the largest mobilizations in the country's history. Schools are closed. Shopping malls are empty, with almost every shop closed. Ashdod Port, the country's largest, with more than 8% of its staff departed for the army, is calling in retirees to keep the cargo moving. "We're working under fire now, but we have no choice," said Shaul Schneider, executive chairman of the port, where crane operators 200 feet above the ground have to hope for the best when Hamas rockets scream overhead, sometimes 10 times a day. Construction sites are silent, and the Palestinian laborers who normally work at them have been prohibited from crossing over from the West Bank since Saturday. Apartment buildings instructed residents to remove bikes and personal items from safe rooms and stock them with emergency provisions. Ofek Iyzem, 22, was a university student last week. Daniel Blum, 30, was a counselor for troubled teens. Ron Dahan worked for a tech company and was on holiday in Vietnam when he got the call. "It's a big change, but for us very natural," Dahan said. "When you live in Israel, you always know that you'll be back in the army."
2023-10-13 00:00:00
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