June 16, 2025 • 7 mins
Ari Hoffman speaks with Mendte in the Morning from Tel Aviv about the war between Israel and Iran as Iran has begun shooting missiles at Tel Aviv.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now let's get right out to Arie Hoffman, associated editor
of the New York Sun, who is still in Israel
as the missiles are coming in. Iri. I I hope
you're well. I know that your safety was probably in
jeopardy there for a little bit. Can you can you
bring us up to date and tell us about your experience?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Absolutely? And hi everyone, I'm actually speaking to you from
a bomb shelter right now. Larry. You know, basically we've
seen a real intensification of the war between Israel and
Iran over the last few days. Last night, Tel Aviv,
which of course is not Israel's capital, but if it's
kind of New York, let's say, right at the Cultural Center,
(00:44):
it's sort of where where the where the cool young
people go, has been under sustained rocket fire. I just
did to walk around the neighborhood here and saw, you know,
lots of rubble, lots of restaurants. You know, israellies are resilient,
so people are out. It's a beautiful day, lots of
people are on the beach playing volleyball. But you know,
(01:07):
things have things have definitely been intense here. And I
think the main thing people have to know is that
while Israel is engaging in really extraordinarily precise operations against
Iran's military leadership, it's nuclear facilities, and it's military facilities,
Iran is really lobbing ballistic missiles discriminately and at civilian,
(01:29):
heavily populated civilian centers.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Put us in the position that you were in and
what other people are in in Tel Aviv. Tell us,
were you fearful? Did you see fear in other people's
faces or are they getting used to this by now?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, I mean I think from talking to folks, and
of course I'm usually you know, in New York. I mean,
people are used to rocket fire, you know, from whether
it be from Gaza or Huti's and Yemen. But this
the sort of level of this has been really new
sophistication the Iranians can bring to bear, and it might
be helpful just to kind of fell people in on
what it actually feels like. Right generally the bombings that
(02:09):
has been overnight, so anywhere from eleven PM to five am,
the first thing that happens is you get alert on
your phone. Imagine the most annoying alarm clock in the world,
and that tells you that you have to be on alert,
So from that moment, you're not sleeping, you're kind of
finding your way to near a bomb shelter. Every building
is supposed to have one, but sometimes it might be
(02:30):
across the street, website. And then you get a subsequent
alert when you have a minute and a half to
get to safety, and that happens when the bombs are
already in the air, have already been launched from Iran.
Then you have to shelter in place until you get
the all clear. And you know, these bomb shelters are
you know, pretty by necessity, pretty grim places, concrete, underground,
(02:53):
no cell service usually. You know, I've seen people sleeping
in them, their old people, dogs, young people, have to
all have to get themselves, get themselves to safety. So
you know, then once you get all clear, louder you
then you go back and you try to get some sleep.
But of course, as you can imagine, you know, unless
unless you have ice water in your veins, you know,
(03:14):
your nerves are going to be jangled and sleep might
not come so easily.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
I guess I'm confused when you hear that there's twenty
four dead, because I know that you just explained it
very well that you get an alert and the sirens
go off, and there are bomb shelters everywhere. Are these
people that just can't make it to the bomb shelters
or have been through this so many times they don't
(03:39):
go to the bomb shelters. Do we know how those
people died?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, we do. And that's a great question, And it's
a mix of things. The first thing to say is
Israel generally is protected by the iron dome system. Right,
so the number of rockets who make it even into
kind of the atmosphere above Israel is a small percentage
of the total. But it's not you know, it's not.
The system isn't one hundred percent successful, and so even
(04:07):
if it's ninety five percent or ninety percent successful, you're
still gonna have some rockets. So, you know, I think
some of it, honestly is non compliance, Larry. I mean
it's you know, people are complacent. They say, well, I'm comfortable,
I'll only get to a shelter if I hear a boom.
I spoke to one person who who that's what he said.
He said, you know, I can't be running out of
bed every five minutes. You know, I'll do it when
(04:28):
I have to. The other is some people are just unlucky.
I mean, you know that yesterday overnight saw a direct
hit on a shelter and those people unfortunately died. I mean,
there's only so much, you know, so much protection you
can have against a hunk of metal, you know, hurdling
through the atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Why are you there, Eric?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, so I was here just to cover some some
other stories and lots, like lots of other folks. I
was sort of I was sort of stuck. You know,
It's things change so quick. I Thursday night was is
the weekend night here, the big weekend, and every everyone
was excited. It's the summer, It's everyone was going out.
And then all of a sudden, you know, the war
(05:09):
began that evening. So I've been speaking to people from
all over the world, from Gibraltar, from Zambia, from elsewhere,
all of whom are are here. Remember if the airport
is closed, and I think what we're going to see
first is Israel make efforts to bring its own suitans
back from abroad, especially fighting age men who might be
needed to patrol the borders, and then eventually start to
(05:35):
start to fly people out.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
See you want over there for another story, and you
suddenly find yourself a war correspondent. Are you going to
be staying there for the duration or are you coming home?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Well, you know, I I I eventually I'll come home.
But at the moment, I'm like like a lot of
other folks and and just just here. You know, obviously
with this level of rockets fire, you know, operating an
airport is impossible. You know, on two levels. One, you know,
lots of people congering on airport is of course it'sself
(06:07):
a target. And the other is is having planes flying
through the air I just saw someone it. This is
the longest Israel's airspace has been closed since the War
of Independence in nineteen forty eight. So no doubt about
it that this is a this is a real war.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
No. I think that we all understand that now. You
better than the rest of us. So you have no
idea when you'll be able to get out of there.
I'm sure a lot of people there are in your
same position.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, yep, here here for as long as as long
as it takes. Wow.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Well, ARII I really appreciate you talking to us today.
I hope we're able to talk to you again soon.
And stay safe, my friend. We're all thinking about you.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Ariy Hoffman, Associate editor of The New York Sun. Can
you imagine he was over there to cover another story,
and now he's a war correspondent and he was actually
reporting from there from the bunker while missiles were coming in.
So wow. We're so proud to be able to have
(07:13):
him on our air, and we're so proud to be
affiliated with him in any way.
Now let's get right out to Arie Hoffman, associated editor
of the New York Sun, who is still in Israel
as the missiles are coming in. Iri. I I hope
you're well. I know that your safety was probably in
jeopardy there for a little bit. Can you can you
bring us up to date and tell us about your experience?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Absolutely? And hi everyone, I'm actually speaking to you from
a bomb shelter right now. Larry. You know, basically we've
seen a real intensification of the war between Israel and
Iran over the last few days. Last night, Tel Aviv,
which of course is not Israel's capital, but if it's
kind of New York, let's say, right at the Cultural Center,
(00:44):
it's sort of where where the where the cool young
people go, has been under sustained rocket fire. I just
did to walk around the neighborhood here and saw, you know,
lots of rubble, lots of restaurants. You know, israellies are resilient,
so people are out. It's a beautiful day, lots of
people are on the beach playing volleyball. But you know,
(01:07):
things have things have definitely been intense here. And I
think the main thing people have to know is that
while Israel is engaging in really extraordinarily precise operations against
Iran's military leadership, it's nuclear facilities, and it's military facilities,
Iran is really lobbing ballistic missiles discriminately and at civilian,
(01:29):
heavily populated civilian centers.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Put us in the position that you were in and
what other people are in in Tel Aviv. Tell us,
were you fearful? Did you see fear in other people's
faces or are they getting used to this by now?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, I mean I think from talking to folks, and
of course I'm usually you know, in New York. I mean,
people are used to rocket fire, you know, from whether
it be from Gaza or Huti's and Yemen. But this
the sort of level of this has been really new
sophistication the Iranians can bring to bear, and it might
be helpful just to kind of fell people in on
what it actually feels like. Right generally the bombings that
(02:09):
has been overnight, so anywhere from eleven PM to five am,
the first thing that happens is you get alert on
your phone. Imagine the most annoying alarm clock in the world,
and that tells you that you have to be on alert,
So from that moment, you're not sleeping, you're kind of
finding your way to near a bomb shelter. Every building
is supposed to have one, but sometimes it might be
(02:30):
across the street, website. And then you get a subsequent
alert when you have a minute and a half to
get to safety, and that happens when the bombs are
already in the air, have already been launched from Iran.
Then you have to shelter in place until you get
the all clear. And you know, these bomb shelters are
you know, pretty by necessity, pretty grim places, concrete, underground,
(02:53):
no cell service usually. You know, I've seen people sleeping
in them, their old people, dogs, young people, have to
all have to get themselves, get themselves to safety. So
you know, then once you get all clear, louder you
then you go back and you try to get some sleep.
But of course, as you can imagine, you know, unless
unless you have ice water in your veins, you know,
(03:14):
your nerves are going to be jangled and sleep might
not come so easily.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
I guess I'm confused when you hear that there's twenty
four dead, because I know that you just explained it
very well that you get an alert and the sirens
go off, and there are bomb shelters everywhere. Are these
people that just can't make it to the bomb shelters
or have been through this so many times they don't
(03:39):
go to the bomb shelters. Do we know how those
people died?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, we do. And that's a great question, And it's
a mix of things. The first thing to say is
Israel generally is protected by the iron dome system. Right,
so the number of rockets who make it even into
kind of the atmosphere above Israel is a small percentage
of the total. But it's not you know, it's not.
The system isn't one hundred percent successful, and so even
(04:07):
if it's ninety five percent or ninety percent successful, you're
still gonna have some rockets. So, you know, I think
some of it, honestly is non compliance, Larry. I mean
it's you know, people are complacent. They say, well, I'm comfortable,
I'll only get to a shelter if I hear a boom.
I spoke to one person who who that's what he said.
He said, you know, I can't be running out of
bed every five minutes. You know, I'll do it when
(04:28):
I have to. The other is some people are just unlucky.
I mean, you know that yesterday overnight saw a direct
hit on a shelter and those people unfortunately died. I mean,
there's only so much, you know, so much protection you
can have against a hunk of metal, you know, hurdling
through the atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Why are you there, Eric?
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, so I was here just to cover some some
other stories and lots, like lots of other folks. I
was sort of I was sort of stuck. You know,
It's things change so quick. I Thursday night was is
the weekend night here, the big weekend, and every everyone
was excited. It's the summer, It's everyone was going out.
And then all of a sudden, you know, the war
(05:09):
began that evening. So I've been speaking to people from
all over the world, from Gibraltar, from Zambia, from elsewhere,
all of whom are are here. Remember if the airport
is closed, and I think what we're going to see
first is Israel make efforts to bring its own suitans
back from abroad, especially fighting age men who might be
needed to patrol the borders, and then eventually start to
(05:35):
start to fly people out.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
See you want over there for another story, and you
suddenly find yourself a war correspondent. Are you going to
be staying there for the duration or are you coming home?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Well, you know, I I I eventually I'll come home.
But at the moment, I'm like like a lot of
other folks and and just just here. You know, obviously
with this level of rockets fire, you know, operating an
airport is impossible. You know, on two levels. One, you know,
lots of people congering on airport is of course it'sself
(06:07):
a target. And the other is is having planes flying
through the air I just saw someone it. This is
the longest Israel's airspace has been closed since the War
of Independence in nineteen forty eight. So no doubt about
it that this is a this is a real war.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
No. I think that we all understand that now. You
better than the rest of us. So you have no
idea when you'll be able to get out of there.
I'm sure a lot of people there are in your
same position.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, yep, here here for as long as as long
as it takes. Wow.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Well, ARII I really appreciate you talking to us today.
I hope we're able to talk to you again soon.
And stay safe, my friend. We're all thinking about you.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Ariy Hoffman, Associate editor of The New York Sun. Can
you imagine he was over there to cover another story,
and now he's a war correspondent and he was actually
reporting from there from the bunker while missiles were coming in.
So wow. We're so proud to be able to have
(07:13):
him on our air, and we're so proud to be
affiliated with him in any way.
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