The Hetzi Hinnam (Half Free) supermarket branch in Rishon LeZion was packed with customers on Friday morning. It was almost possible to forget that a missile threat loomed outside, were it not for a siren that briefly interrupted preparations for Shabbat. But shoppers did not panic; they calmly walked to the protected areas and waited quietly for the Home Front Command’s all-clear. Scenes from previous rounds of fighting—carts piled high with six-packs of water and canned goods—were not seen this time.
The nearby Cinema City complex, which reopened this week following the easing of Home Front Command restrictions, was also filled with visitors. “There are quite a few breaks between the waves of missiles,” said Maor Gabai, who came to the complex with his wife and two children. “People are looking to get some fresh air and go places that are a short drive from home. There’s early warning, and you can reach a protected space anywhere. It gives you room to breathe and live.”
“Unfortunately, we’re already experienced—we’ve gotten used to living with the sirens. Everything is full as usual,” he said, adding that, in his view, children could also return to school. “There are protected spaces there. If we want to bring the economy back to routine, then children also need to go back to school.”
From Lod, Rishon LeZion, Tel Aviv Port and Jerusalem: Israelis on how to stay normal during this
(צילום: עידו ארז, מוטי קמחי, אלכס גמבורג, מאיר תורג'מן )
A security guard at the entrance to the Cinema City complex said, “I arrived at 7 a.m., and people were already coming as usual. The coffee shop was packed. In this war people are going out—it’s not like the previous operation when everything was empty.”
In Tel Aviv, too, signs of a return to routine were felt. Ofir Dro, 30, who arrived at the port earlier in the day, said: “I went to do yoga after a week when I was scared. I felt I needed to move my body again. A week of anxiety is a long time, and we all need this release. I wasn’t afraid because I know there are protected spaces here, and because it’s more dangerous to stay shut inside the house for so long.”
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Residents' voices on the situation and how to manage daily life during wartime
(Photo: Meir Turgeman)
“It’s nice to see people going out a bit and not letting fear take over and prevent them from seeing daylight," she added. "I hope that after this weekend we’ll be able to return to some kind of routine.”
At a flower stand in the Pisgat Ze’ev mall in Jerusalem, the seller described a busy workday, like any typical Friday. Avihai Cohen, who arrived at the mall with his wife and son, explained: “It’s a beautiful day outside, pleasant sunshine—we’re not afraid to go out. If there’s a siren, there’s a protected space in the mall and an underground parking lot, and everything will be fine. We’re used to the sirens and getting into the safe room quickly. This is our country, and we will win.”
He also commented on the recent changes to Home Front Command guidelines: “They’re not clear. I hope they change them. How can people return to work when the children have no frameworks? As long as there’s risk, we’ll stay with the kids.”
Ada, a local resident, was having coffee with a friend on Friday. “If there weren’t a protected space in the mall, I wouldn’t have gone out,” she said without hesitation. “This morning I told myself I had to get out, so I took advantage of the nice weather and the safe room and came for coffee. If there’s a siren we’ll carefully go to the shelter and everything will be fine. I’m not worried or afraid. In the first days there were a lot of sirens and there was concern, but now it’s calmer.”
Ori Jabouri, 14, also came to the mall and sat with his family eating ice cream. “We’re not afraid,” he said. “We have the IDF and Iron Dome, there’s a safe room nearby, and if there’s a siren we’ll go calmly.” Speaking about recent days, he added: “We’ve gone back to remote learning—we already have a schedule. I’m not afraid; we will win.”
In Lod, the parking lot at the shopping center on Yoseftal Street already looked like a typical Friday. The area, which had been quiet earlier in the week, especially at the beginning, filled with cars that took up every parking space, and the shops were bustling. Passersby left the supermarket with bags, stopped by the bakery to buy challah for Shabbat, and shopkeepers welcomed the return of the crowds.
“At first, earlier in the week, people were afraid to leave the house,” said Nachman, who works at the Chalat Ha’aretz bakery in the complex. “Even during Purim, traffic was relatively weak. But now, thank God, you see the bakery working and people coming. They’ve gotten more used to this routine and understood that you can’t stay closed at home all the time. So people go out, drive around, do what they can. We hope to do our best for the people who come and buy, that the food will be good and that they’ll have a peaceful Shabbat.”
Among the shoppers was Menachem, carrying several bags. “Actually, last night was relatively calm,” he said. “The kids are still at home because there are no frameworks, but we’re trying as much as possible to keep a routine. We’re shopping for Shabbat, and when there are alerts we go into shelters. Otherwise, we try to behave as normally as possible, of course according to Home Front Command instructions.”
Yitzhak, also at the shopping center, said the ability to go out helped ease the atmosphere. “It definitely gives a bit of hope when you can go out and shop and reach these centers,” he said. “It gives a slightly more normal feeling. Take a walk, step out of the safe room for a bit, take the kids out, look at what a beautiful day it is, wonderful sunshine. Two hours ago there was a siren—we went into the shelter for 15 minutes, they announced we could leave, we came out and continued shopping. We hope everything will calm down and that we’ll slowly return to routine.”