Herb Keinon

Gantz's steep decline can be traced to June 9, 2024, when he resigned from the government after issuing an ultimatum a month earlier demanding that Netanyahu present a post-war plan. 

NATIONAL AFFAIRS: Israelis rally because they cannot imagine abandoning their own. Hamas raids because it cannot imagine a better strategy.

Israel has always wrestled with questions of motivation, service, and sacrifice. Yet when tested, the country has rediscovered its resolve.

The idea of establishing a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria is one that a majority of Israelis once entertained, but no longer.

Sunday’s strikes, roadblocks, and protests - though they disrupt life in Israel - are unlikely to move Hamas toward releasing anyone; if anything, they encourage Hamas to dig in further.

NATIONAL AFFAIRS: For Netanyahu, the calculation is now straightforward: win the war quickly, and the rest will sort itself out.

'The nerves of even the most adoring grandparents can get shot. I understand that now. I didn’t understand it then.'

NATIONAL AFFAIRS: Whether this is chaos by design or simply dysfunction on full display, talk over reoccupying Gaza have led to a critical inflection point.

Sa’ar said the right things, but in a world where Hamas’s word is often trusted and Israel’s is doubted, there's no guarantee it will matter.

Herzog’s visit to these three small EU states, with a combined population of 6.1 million, reflects Israel’s effort to secure dependable allies as its standing in Western Europe declines.