The feared Iranian response to the targeted killing of Qassem Soleimani, the powerful head of Iran’s Quds Force, has passed with hardly a whimper. Dozens of missiles were fired at an America base in Iraq with no casualties. But if you ask the Iranian regime or its media, eighty Americans were killed and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard took responsibility.
What actually happened in those attacks, why are we getting sharply conflicting reports, and what is likely to happen next?
Let’s go to Jerusalem, to Middle East expert David Rubin, former Mayor of Shiloh and author of the book, “Trump and the Jews”.
Suggested Q&A:
- What do Israelis think about the Iranian missile response to the targeted killing of Soleimani?
Answer: It was a fairly impressive air show and a chance to save face for the Iranian regime after the humiliating elimination of their revered military leader.
- How do we account for the conflicting accounts of the casualties? Was it 80 Americans killed or zero casualties?
Answer: Remember that we are talking about a totalitarian theocracy in Iran. They need to lie to their own people to pretend that this was a strong response, while in reality, it was a fireworks photo op. However, in the age of Internet, people have learned to see through fake news, especially in a country like Iran, in which a large portion of the population has learned to be suspicious of the state-controlled media.
- Can we expect another more serious attack?
Answer: It’s possible, but I really think the regime is going to hesitate, since they have to be wary of a harsh American response. I think they listened quite carefully to President Trump’s threat of hitting 52 targets in Iran, each representing the 52 American hostages taken captive by Iran in 1979 and held for 444 days. The symbolism was no accident. Americans who know their history have not forgotten that horrible period during the weak-kneed Jimmy Carter administration.
- What about the latest Iranian threat to attack Israel?
Answer: The Iranian regime sees Israel as a vulnerable American-aligned target that they can hit hard either on their own or through the Hezbollah terrorist organization, their surrogate in Lebanon, just north of Israel. While it’s true that they can do some damage to our tiny country, we do have a very powerful military, along with the know-how to deliver missiles that know how to hit their targets.
- Hitting closer to home, you and your son were targets of a Muslim terrorist that left you injured and your son in critical condition, leading to your founding of Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund. Tell us about that and your charitable organization.
Answer: I was driving home from Jerusalem with my three-year-old son when our car was ambushed by Muslim terrorists who were perched on the side of the road with AK-47 assault rifles. I was shot in the leg and my son was shot in the head. In fact, the bullet that went into his head and through his neck missed his brain stem by one millimeter. In short, I eventually managed to restart the car, to get away from the terrorists and to get to the hospital where we had several operations over a span of several months, but the psychological trauma that my son experienced caused me to start the Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund for the purpose of creating integrative therapeutic-educational programs to heal the trauma of thousands of Israeli children and to restore some of the lost innocence of childhood to their young lives.
- In your new book, you covered a lot of territory about Iran, Israel, the Middle East and President Trump. Where can people get a copy of your book “Trump and the Jews”?
Answer: They can go to www.DavidRubinIsrael.com or just go to Amazon.com and type in the words “Trump and the Jews”.
About Middle East Expert David Rubin:
David Rubin, former Mayor of Shiloh Israel, is the author of the book, “Trump and the Jews” and five other books. Rubin is the founder and president of Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund, established after he and his then three-year-old son were wounded in a terror attack. He can be found at www.DavidRubinIsrael.com or at http://www.ShilohIsraelChildren.org
