Israel's top security experts and policymakers gathered at Jerusalem's Bible Lands Museum Sunday for Israel Hayom's annual security conference, focusing on a comprehensive reassessment of the nation's defense doctrine in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 massacre, with Israel Hayom publisher Dr. Miriam Adelson in attendance and led by the newspaper's reporters and analysts.
Opening the conference, Dr. Adelson thanked the staff for organizing the event and offered her perspective on current developments. "Almost 14 months after that terrible Black Saturday [Oct. 7], Israel has finally gained some breathing room. There's a pause in the north and other fronts, including Gaza. The axis of evil isn't rushing to attack us. President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House provides us with tailwind.
"The IDF and the home front, including the economy, have withstood the war's challenges. We must fulfill our mission to free the 101 hostages from Hamas. Our leaders must find a fair formula for burden-sharing. The state must embrace the bereaved families and wounded of this war as heroes and support them beyond the letter of the law."
Dr. Adelson emphasized that nothing is guaranteed with the American administration. "Trump is the best president for Israel and the Jews, but he wants to engage with a united, energetic, rational, and successful people of Israel. He helps those who help themselves. He loves winners – and that's one reason why Israel is right to demand victory in this war. We deserve it. We need it. We've paid dearly for it, and we must be the ones to define victory because our enemies will never admit defeat."
Israel Today Editor-in-Chief Omer Lachmanovitch opened a panel with Hashomer Hachadash CEO Yoel Zilberman, reflecting on recent lessons learned.
"We have understood, at a painful cost, the importance of strategic depth, the price of damaged deterrence, and the need for everyone to shoulder the national burden. We've witnessed how vulnerable we are, yet at the same time, we've broken through the barrier of fear in confronting threats. We've dismantled the 'spider web' myth and, to a large extent, reclaimed our people's army.
"However, we also abandoned our border communities. We evacuated the communities near Gaza, which makes it clear that if Israel wants to achieve victory, it must break free from many deeply ingrained habits. This is a broader challenge that requires a new approach to concepts like independence and sovereignty. Above all, this challenge demands broad national consensus from all of us. These issues won't be resolved in a day, but we must begin addressing them," Lachmanovitch said.
Zilberman added, "We saw how creeping terror led to the abandonment of agricultural lands, which led to a policy of containment. We witnessed the state containing the establishment of greenhouses within IDF firing zones. We want to see how we push leadership to take a stand. This is within the state, and we haven't even discussed the borders yet. In Israel, farmers define the state's borders, and it's clear to us that without protecting them, we have no existence in this state."
The security landscape following Oct. 7 has revealed considerable gaps in Israel's traditional defense approach, necessitating a fundamental re-evaluation of its core principles.
The current complex reality demands attention to both external threats and internal challenges that have become increasingly apparent in recent months. The imperative to create harmony between the nation's sophisticated military and technological capabilities while bolstering citizens' personal security has reached unprecedented importance.
The conference brings together an elite gathering of experts, policymakers, and decision-makers, including senior defense officials, active and former military commanders, hostage families' representatives, lawmakers, cabinet ministers, municipal leaders, and civil society organizations. Notable participants include Ministers Gideon Sa'ar and Bezalel Smotrich, Opposition leaders Avigdor Lieberman, Yair Lapid, and Benny Gantz, as well as chief of the IDF Ground Forces, Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai.
