“We thought it was a joke.” Here are some of the reactions on the ground to the Iranian missile attack

“We thought it was a joke.” Here are some of the reactions on the ground to the Iranian missile attack

As Iran fired numerous missiles and drones at Israel, there were mixed emotions among those on the ground.

As for Tamara Jafar, a 34-year-old woman from East Jerusalem, she said no one in her neighborhood took the attack seriously.

“Last night? It was a movie directed by the U.S. and Israel. It was prearranged — because of the election in the U.S. and politics in Israel. No one in my neighborhood took it seriously.
“We’re scared but we’re used to it.”
David Levy, a 19-year-old student from Jerusalem’s Givat Mordechai neighborhood, said he first heard a loud explosion, “like I’ve never heard – ever – in my life,” then sirens.

“My family and I were in a closed room and we all read psalms and thank God we saw Israel’s 99% success rate.”
Tour guide Evelyn Lufan thought Iran was just making threats.

“At first we thought: Just another threat. It doesn’t mean anything. When we saw the 48-hour deadline we thought it was a joke.
“On the news we saw the launch had started and I had to update my tour group, 48 people from Mexico. They were a bit scared but they knew coming here had built-in dangers. I told them Israel is strong. Don’t worry. So they calmed down and believe
“We Israelis are used to this.”