This is a post about how Israel prepares for war.

I don’t know if we are going to war. But the awful attack on a school bus by an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza on Thursday, seemed tailor-made to push Israel over the edge. Following weeks of escalation between the IDF and Hamas, the airwaves went into broadcast interruption mode and by the weekend, southern residents went into the shelters, said Israel radio, as the crossfire continued.

In the hours after the bus attack, the surrounding Negev communities felt like a well-designed Israeli stage set for war. There was the press, kicking around the TV vans in sweeping desert dusk. There were the high school kids from nearby kibbutz Mefalsim, eager to talk. They are just a bit younger than the co-ed military police pair, languidly awaiting the opportunity for some desert romance.