Recalling the first day of the war with Iran is still traumatic for journalist and activist Anat Saragusti, whose apartment building in central Tel Aviv began to shake as she ran to seek shelter from Iranian missiles targeting the city following the U.S.-Israel attack that morning. 

"I didn't believe my eyes," she says of what awaited her when she returned. "The whole living room was covered with broken glass - the carpets, the sofa, the chairs - all over. It was really so scary."

Matching the shattering of the glass in her home, said Saragusti, who monitors press freedom at the Union of Journalists in Israel, is the ongoing shattering of her trust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government as the war continues, and her dissatisfaction with what she views as an overly-compliant media. 

Most Israelis, Saragusti said on the Haaretz Podcast, are "glued to television screens" where retired IDF generals spout military facts and statistics. "There is no room for alternative voices, questions or doubts" regarding the war and "what the end game will be."

"They promised us in the last war in Iran in June that we destroyed the majority of the infrastructure for the ballistic missiles and the nuclear plan of Iran. Then in nine months, [Iran rebuilt] everything from scratch? I don't understand that. I feel that they are lying to us."

Read more:

Op-ed by Anat Sargusti: Israeli Broadcasters Don Uniforms as the Media Becomes an Arm of the Military

Follow the latest updates from Haaretz on the U.S.-Israel war on Iran

One Killed, Two Wounded in Central Israel Following Iranian Missile Barrage, Emergency Services Say

'You Can't Live by the Sword': Israeli TV's Tel Aviv Street Interview Backfires

Iran's Cluster Missiles: What You Need to Know About the Controversial Weapon Targeting Israel

Recalling the first day of the war with Iran is still traumatic for journalist and activist&nbsp;Anat Saragusti, whose apartment building in central Tel Aviv began to shake as she ran to seek shelter from Iranian missiles targeting the city following the U.S.-Israel attack that morning.&nbsp;
"I didn't believe my eyes," she says of what awaited her when she returned. "The whole living room was covered with broken glass - the carpets, the sofa, the chairs - all over. It was really so scary."
Matching the shattering of the glass in her home, said Saragusti, who monitors press freedom at the Union of Journalists in Israel, is the ongoing shattering of her trust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government as the war continues, and her dissatisfaction with what she views as an overly-compliant media.&nbsp;
Most Israelis, Saragusti said on the Haaretz Podcast, are "glued to television screens" where retired IDF generals spout military facts and statistics. "There is no room for alternative voices, questions or doubts" regarding the war and "what the end game will be."
"They promised us in the last war in Iran in June that we destroyed the majority of the infrastructure for the ballistic missiles and the nuclear plan of Iran. Then in nine months, [Iran rebuilt] everything from scratch? I don't understand that. I feel that they are lying to us."
Read more:
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026-03-09/ty-article/.premium/news-studios-have-become-a-war-room-and-its-broadcasters-don-uniforms/0000019c-cece-d8f8-a9de-ffdf66460000">Op-ed by Anat Sargusti: Israeli Broadcasters Don Uniforms as the Media Becomes an Arm of the Military</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/ty-tag/2026-israel-iran-war-0000019c-a52b-d3e2-af9f-efbbc44f0000">Follow the latest updates from Haaretz on the U.S.-Israel war on Iran</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-security/2026-03-09/ty-article/.premium/one-killed-two-wounded-in-central-israel-following-iranian-missile-barrage/0000019c-d23e-d3f0-afbc-de7fba840000">One Killed, Two Wounded in Central Israel Following Iranian Missile Barrage, Emergency Services Say</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/leisure/2026-03-09/ty-article/.premium/you-cant-live-by-the-sword-israeli-tvs-tel-aviv-street-interview-backfires/0000019c-cc88-dbba-ad9c-cdfa92190000">'You Can't Live by the Sword': Israeli TV's Tel Aviv Street Interview Backfires</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/haaretz-explains/2026-03-03/ty-article-magazine/.premium/what-are-cluster-missiles-irans-controversial-weapon-in-war-with-israel/0000019c-b409-db60-a7dd-f6399a620000">Iran's Cluster Missiles:&nbsp;What You Need to Know About the Controversial Weapon Targeting Israel</a>

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – a weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – a weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

Your audio guide to Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.

Haaretz Podcast

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – the Haaretz weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer. 

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – the Haaretz weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.