@cstross Jordan and Iraq offer some defensive depth, but Israel itself has none. The width of Israel at the location of Tel Aviv is about 45s of flight time for a ballistic missile.

The main explanation is IMHO that a lot of people are just completely used to the situation and therefore disregard the danger.

A lot of them rightly assumed that Iran would fire just “for the honor of the flag.”

Quote: “Some commanders could simply not stomach the thought of surrendering without even firing one shot, offering some resistance, no matter how token. These captains would fire one broadside – carefully aimed to miss – and then quickly haul down their flags (indicating surrender). Often the broadside would be fired by the guns on the disengaged side, away from the enemy. But always they would miss. Actually hitting the ship you were surrendering to invited a devastating response.”

Source: https://ricochet.com/711428/pour-lhonneur-le-pavillon/