U of U professor describes situation in Tel Aviv amid Iranian attacks

TEL AVIV, Israel (ABC4) — A law professor from the University of Utah described the scene Friday just 10 minutes outside Jerusalem where Iran has begun retaliatory attacks following a deadly strike from Israel less than a day earlier.

Amos Guiora, a professor of law with the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, was alerted of an incoming air strike on his phone Friday afternoon.

“The air raid warning is very clear, and very loud,” Guiora told ABC4.com.

Guiora has lived in Israel for four decades, commuting back and forth between Tel Aviv and Salt Lake City.

According to Guiora, the warning came just before 9:30 p.m. IST, or 12:30 p.m. MST. Shortly after, rumbles could be heard throughout Israel, and plumes of smoke could be seen over the Israeli coastline.

“The primary focus is to make sure [the grandchildren] don’t wake up… and that they can sleep through this,” Guiora said.

There have been no immediate reports of casualties. However, the missile strikes have inflicted damage in Tel Aviv, Guiora says. The strikes come less than a day after an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites that killed at least three top military officials.

Guiora, an active demonstrator against the Israeli government, doesn’t see tensions dying down anytime soon. “This is not a ‘one and done’. The general assumption is… that there will be more coming within the next few days.”

The escalating violence began shortly after the International Atomic Energy Agency censured Iran for not working with agency inspectors and claiming they will reengage a third nuclear enrichment facility. Just one day after the censorship, Israel attacked claiming the attack was necessary to fend off a rapidly increasing Iranian nuclear program.

While U.S. intelligence agencies do not believe that Iran is actively pursuing the building of nuclear bombs, a report by a U.N. watchdog found evidence that Iran has stockpiled weapon-grade uranium.

Prior to the air strikes, the U professor was scheduled to speak at a demonstration against the government in Jerusalem tomorrow evening. He says the demonstration has since been canceled.

Just last week, Guiora spoke at a demonstration in the Israeli city of Haifa about what he calls “enablers in the Israeli government,” a major focus of his work. Beyond activism, Guiora has also written articles and books about bystanders’ and enablers’ effects in sexual assaults. He concluded his speech in Haifa by saying, “we are obligated to do something now.”

He says his current focus, however, is on protecting his family. “The critical thing is to keep the girls as calm as possible.”