Day 14: Empty Streets, Mounting Doubts, and a Country Running on Resilience

In today’s Tel Aviv Diary podcast, recorded on Friday, March 13, Marc Schulman reports from a subdued and uneasy Tel Aviv on the 14th day of the Israel-U.S. war against Iran, as fighting with Hezbollah continues in the north. The streets of Tel Aviv are unusually empty for a beautiful Friday afternoon, a visible sign of a public mood that has shifted from early resolve to growing exhaustion and doubt. Marc reflects on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s first press conference of the war, his uninspiring message to the public, and the deepening sense among many Israelis that this conflict—unlike the war forced on Israel after October 7—was a war of choice, and one whose outcome remains dangerously uncertain.This episode moves from the personal to the strategic. Marc describes the rhythms of life under missile alerts in Tel Aviv, the strain of living never more than a few minutes from shelter, and the contrast between the relative quiet in the center and the relentless attacks on northern communities such as Metula. He examines the central gamble at the heart of the war: the hope that the Iranian people will eventually rise up against the regime. It is, he argues, too early to declare that possibility dead—but if it does not happen, Israel may be left facing the worst possible outcome: a still-hostile Iranian regime, enough enriched uranium for multiple bombs, and a world furious over the economic consequences of war in the Gulf.Marc also turns to the Lebanon front, where Israel now faces renewed questions about Hezbollah’s surviving capabilities, its restored command-and-control systems, and the prospect of yet another war of attrition in the north. Alongside this, he reflects on the troubling absence of serious planning and disciplined decision-making at the top, both in Jerusalem and Washington, and on the wider consequences of this war for Israel’s diplomacy, the global economy, and American politics. The episode closes on one welcome note of optimism: the effort by Israeli high-tech figures led by Asaf Rappaport to rescue Channel 13, preserving one of the country’s major independent and liberal media voices at a moment when those voices matter more than ever. This is a candid, weary, and deeply human dispatch from a country still functioning, still enduring, but increasingly unsure where this war is leading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marcschulman.substack.com/subscribe