Ami Goldman explained how the ‘boom’ from the missiles alerts his loved ones to the weapons’ size and scale. Ami and his photographer wife Roni Cnaani, wake children Michael, 11, and Jasmine, 15, and scurry into a bomb shelter.
A family of four living in central Tel Aviv has revealed the terror of living through the Iranian bomb attacks.
Dashing to a bomb shelter in the early hours of the morning has become the ‘unimaginable reality’ for the Goldman family following the Israel-US assault on Tehran. Ami Goldman explained how the ‘boom’ from the missiles in the skies above their home alerts his loved ones to the weapons’ size and scale.
Filmmaker Ami and his photographer wife Roni Cnaani, both 52, must wake their children Michael, 11, and Jasmine, 15, and scurry into the shelter at a nearby multi-storey car park.
It is a short walk from their property, but alerts come ‘many times’ during the day, and in the middle of the night. This has been part of our lives since the October 7 attacks,” Ami explained. “It is completely unpredictable; you usually have about 15 minutes in the shelter.
READ MORE: Dr Amir Khan issues warning as women ‘just expected to get on with it’READ MORE: Man Utd boss Michael Carrick gives update on two players for Newcastle clash after injury concern
Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as your Preferred Source in your Google search settings
“It often has more 100 people inside, with people standing on stairways. You can tell the difference with the Iranian missiles. They are much bigger.
“One hit Tel Aviv three days ago and you could hear the force of the blast.” Nine people were killed in a direct hit on a bunker in Beit Shemesh, a religious city west of Jerusalem, by a 500-kg Iranian warhead.
“They had no chance as it was a direct hit on the shelter,” added Ami. “Even the most protected shelter couldn’t withstand that kind of power, no one could survive that. It is a reminder of the constant dangers.”
It is a holiday in Israel so schools are closed. During term time, his son and daughter must leave lessons to dash to a bomb shelter within the school.
“My children are in a school which has a safe room inside,” Ami explained. “We live in an old property; it is a 100-year-old building so we have to cross the street to get into a bomb shelter.
“My daughter is with her friend today and they have a shelter inside their apartment. Most modern properties here have bomb shelters.
“We have had the war for years now so we know that the difference between the missiles from Gaza and the much bigger ones from Iran. It really depends on their distance. Our defence is successful against the Iranian rockets.
“But we had a really big one three days ago; it was a massive boom, very close to where my kids go to school. Since this latest operation against Iran started, the kids are on holiday so they are spending their time at home.
“This is far from a regular life, people are still frightened by this, and it has been this way for the past two and a half years.
“For us, it has become an unimaginable reality. It is like the Blitz in London, or the experiences of the people in Ukraine.
‘We can only live our lives and hope for the best; we hope it will only last a few days, but it is so hard to tell. But it may be that this operation does not succeed and fails to change things in Iran. We cannot predict the outcome.”
Ami added: “The Iranian population does not deserve the regime it has had for such a long time. I think that Governments across the world have been getting it wrong on Iran wrong, and real change is needed.
“So I hope that in the end this is all worth while.”
