- Cardinal Timothy Dolan is in Bethlehem as part of a week-long visit to Israel
- Had to seek shelter on Saturday during Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel
- Iran launched an unprecedented attack that was largely repelled by Iron Shield
US Cardinal Timothy Dolan had to take cover when Iran launched its drone attack on Israel during his visit to Bethlehem.
The Archbishop of New York is spending a week in Israel, partly to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. He started in Jerusalem on Friday and was in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, on Saturday evening when the Iranian drone armada arrived.
‘This Sunday in Bethlehem everything seems calm and clear. And it’s for us. We feel safe and secure,” he told his followers in a video on Sunday morning.
“That wasn’t the case last night when the air raid sirens went off and we had to go downstairs to find security at the Notre Dame Center.
“But right now it’s looking good, and we’re grateful for that.”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan described how he had to take cover when Iran launched its drone attack on Israel during his visit to Bethlehem
Iran launched 170 kamikaze drones and at least 120 rockets and 30 ballistic missiles at Israel, almost all of which the Iron Shield intercepted.
The Islamic dictatorship attacked in retaliation for Israel killing Iran’s top soldier in Syria in an attack on the embassy in Damascus.
Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi was assassinated on April 1 along with other Revolutionary Guard commanders.
Cardinal Dolan linked Israel’s long history of defending against attacks from its neighbors to his visit to the nursery, where nuns care for abandoned babies.
“They said to me, every time a new baby arrives on our doorstep … with no one to care for him or her, we feel like it’s Christmas again,” he said.
Cardinal Dolan linked Israel’s long history of defending against attacks from its neighbors to his visit to the nursery, where nuns care for abandoned babies
“As another of God’s children is born, we are honored to love and care for them so tenderly.
“Those are inspiring messages that you get here in the Holy Land that I think have given people the resilience and hope for which they are famous.”
Cardinal Dolan began his trip in Jerusalem with a Shabbat dinner with Jewish leaders and will remain in Israel and Palestine until Thursday.
He will meet with other Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders and visit Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups.
Smoke rises over the area of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila near the border with Israel on April 14.
Drones or missiles battled for targets at secret locations in northern Israel yesterday
The Iranian attack marks the first time Tehran has launched a direct military attack on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
On Sunday morning, Israel said it “thwarted” Iran’s unprecedented attack on its country, revealing that 120 ballistic missiles and 200 drones had been used.
Syria has said Iran exercised its “right to self-defense” in attacking Israel.
And according to the New York Times, US President Joe Biden last night stopped Israel from giving the green light to an immediate retaliatory strike on Iran.
US National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said the US has communicated to Iran “what we would do” if US forces or facilities are targeted amid growing conflict in the Middle East.
President Joe Biden’s National Security Council spokesperson reiterated that the US has no plans to become involved in counter-attacks on Iran on behalf of ally Israel – but will continue to help defend the Jewish nation.
Amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas terrorists in Gaza, some Republican lawmakers are unhappy with the Biden administration’s response so far to the escalating conflict and want an immediate response to last night’s attacks by Iran and its allies.
‘The president has made it clear: we are not seeking a war with Iran. We are not seeking a broader war in the region,” Kirby told NBC host Kristen Welker on Sunday morning.