Night-time bras or not?: Israeli women’s dilemma while awaiting the Iranian attack

As Israelis await the threatened attack from Iran and its proxies in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, many worry about American military support.

Still, a whole lot of Israeli women are concerned about a very different kind of support and wonder: Should they wear their bras to sleep?

For those who haven’t had the experience of running to a bomb shelter at a moment’s notice when a siren sounds, announcing that missiles or rockets from an enemy are headed your way, it’s essential to understand that here in Israel, you have between 15 to 90 seconds to make it to safety, depending on where you live. There’s not a lot of time to get yourself looking presentable.

Some Israelis have a safe room right in their apartments, so for them, it is not an issue, but those in older buildings tend to have to flee to a communal building bomb shelter or take cover on the stairs. In these cases, you come face to face with all your neighbors, and you may not want to let it all hang out with the people you see in the corridor daily.

The subject has been much discussed on social media, with typical Israeli black humor. A recent report on Channel 12 News about Israeli preparedness for the war referenced a Facebook debate in which one Tel Aviv woman posted a photo of IDF spokesman R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari with the words, “A full briefing by the IDF spokesman and he didn’t say the most important thing: Yes bra or no bra?” Dozens responded, with one expressing the general sentiment, which was overwhelmingly anti-bra: “If I’m going to die, I’ll die the way I was born.”

In another Tel Aviv Facebook group, a post headlined, “Ladies, put your bras on,” after the Haniyeh killing, drew responses such as, “I’m not putting on a bra for any man; I’ll go out to the stairwell in my Felix the Cat pajamas.” Tel Aviv being Tel Aviv, one man said he had many bras that he had saved for a “festive occasion” and offered to provide them to his bra-less single female friends; a debate ensued over whether he was a cross-dresser, and he promised to answer the question, but only in a private message. Another guy plunged into the discussion, saying he had a safe room in his apartment and offering it to his lady Facebook friends, telling them, “No bra, no problem.”

Bra-wearing during attacks

But as with so many Israeli issues, there is a secular-religious divide, and while residents of largely secular Tel Aviv may be content to let their girls go free, in Jerusalem, the atmosphere is a bit different. “On October 7, I was fast asleep when the first siren sounded, and I just jumped up and ran to the shelter wearing what I was wearing,” said one Jerusalem woman.

Jerusalem has had relatively few missile attacks during the war, just about 15 compared with hundreds or thousands in the rest of the country, but there were five or six the day the war broke out. And let’s not forget the April 14 attack from Iran, which targeted Jerusalem heavily. “So there I was, wearing a tank top, a skinny tank top, and sweatpants, she recalled. “And there were all my neighbors; about half are religious. It was Simchat Torah, the men were in the white shirts and black pants. And they were all staring at the floor.” She is now in the “be-prepared” category. “Since then, I always wear a bra to sleep.”

 In some of the recent social-media discussions about attack attire, it turned out that there are products available that might help the situation. Among them is a whole category of what is called “sleep bras,” created for well-endowed women and nursing mothers but which presumably could fit the bill when the hills are alive with the sound of missiles. Women asked where they could be purchased and shared links to websites selling them.

While those selling home generators, flashlights, and bottled water are doing brisk business lately, don’t be surprised if business is also booming at your local lingerie store.