If Hezbollah was at level 100 on October 6, 2023, it reached the ceasefire on November 27, 2024 at roughly level 20. And its condition at the end of 2025? A slight improvement — somewhere around 25.

In the first two months after the war ended, Hezbollah was unable to staff platoon- and company-level command positions. The blow to its firepower capabilities was not only physical but systemic: the concept of dispersing and concealing the rocket and missile array collapsed. The same applies to the Radwan Force, which will not be able to storm northern communities due to the new buffer zone and the destruction of its bases in Shiite villages near the border.

The time since has therefore been used for rethinking. One conclusion is not to respond to Israeli strikes. In Israel this is interpreted as weakness on the part of an organization that for years deterred Israel and operated in Lebanon as if it owned the place. That is the truth — but not the whole truth. Hezbollah also refrains from responding because it understands that at the end of each week it is still stronger than it was the week before. So why give Israel a pretext for a broader attack?

Weakening Hezbollah is only one side of the equation. The other is strengthening the Lebanese state. Israel excels at doing its part, but it will never be able to eliminate the organization on its own. The reason for Lebanon's weakness is Lebanese trauma. The Israeli "never again" is the Holocaust; the Lebanese equivalent, by contrast, is the civil war that destroyed the state. Hezbollah's threat of war is deterrent enough. What threatens the Lebanese are Kalashnikovs, not rockets — and those the IDF cannot destroy.

So what is to be done? The story is also a race between bad money and good money. In the year since the ceasefire, despite efforts to block it, a billion dollars smuggled by Iran has nevertheless entered Lebanon, all of it devoted to rebuilding Hezbollah. And the good money? A quarter of a billion Western dollars has reached the country, but it is locked in a special fund that will be released only once anti-corruption conditions are met. At present, for example, the Lebanese army can operate only half its forces at any given time. Earning starvation wages of about $100, most soldiers work week-on, week-off — in the army and on side jobs — just to survive. Raise their salaries, and force strength would double overnight. If the United States and its regional allies want to close the story, they need to open their wallets.

An alliance of interests

The product at the heart of the dispute over the investigation into the October 7 failure is not the commission of inquiry. The product is time. We are rapidly approaching the moment — if it has not already arrived — when the conclusions of any commission will become irrelevant, when the investigative material will be completely contaminated.

One aspect, the most dramatic of all, has already been neutralized: personal conclusions. Of all the senior officials in the system on the morning of the massacre, only one remains in office — Benjamin Netanyahu. Fate would have it that he is also the only one against whom personal conclusions cannot be determined. A commission can rule that someone may not serve as defense minister, because the authority to appoint and dismiss lies with the prime minister. It can rule that someone may not serve as chief of staff, because the authority lies with the defense minister. But it cannot order the Knesset to dismiss a prime minister. Anyone who doubts this should ask Ariel Sharon, whom a state commission of inquiry barred from serving as defense minister — only for him to later become prime minister. The commission that will be formed will be able to impose personal conclusions about as effectively as the famous commission Menachem Begin established for the Arlosoroff murder affair almost fifty years earlier.

One may agree with Likud's criticism of the complete politicization of the Supreme Court in general and of its current president in particular. According to a Jewish People Policy Institute poll published this week, only 21% support Chief Justice Amit alone appointing the members. But it is very difficult to agree with the solution they propose: an even more political commission. If the opposition agrees to appoint half the members, the commission will turn into a Knesset committee, complete with heckling and zero substance. If they refuse, the Speaker of the Knesset will appoint all the members. Is a politician less political than the president of the Supreme Court?

MK Ariel Kallner is considering interim solutions, such as having the state comptroller or the president of the Supreme Court appoint half the members if the opposition refuses. It is doubtful that salvation will come from there.

The correct solution was and remains that the president of the Supreme Court waive his honor and entrust the formation of the commission to Deputy President Solberg, who enjoys far greater public trust. This is the scenario Netanyahu fears most, since the judge is likely to appoint an independent commission — and such a commission is likely to determine who is responsible. Fortunately for him, he has a partner in fierce opposition to this scenario: the president of the Supreme Court himself. Heaven forbid he acknowledge the problem he has with broad segments of the public and attempt to fix it. If he does, from that moment on he would be a president on probation.

There is an old saying that history writes straight with crooked lines. An example? The Yom Kippur War led to the political upheaval and the right's rise to power. And yet it was that very right which brought about a complete withdrawal from Sinai, down to the last centimeter — far to the left of the platform of the preceding left-wing government. The public wanted an agreement with Egypt, but subconsciously preferred that it be carried out by the hawks of Likud, not the doves of the Alignment.

A fascinating article by Professor Amir Goldstein, published in the equally fascinating book "To the Right of Zionism" edited by Avi Shilon, argues that the withdrawal should not have surprised anyone. In the years after the war, Begin shifted leftward under public pressure. The public wanted to remove the Alignment but feared its opposition to agreements with Arab states. In response, even before the 1973 elections, the Likud leader accused the Alignment of presiding over repeated wars and bloodshed. He sent his number two, MK Bader, to publish an article titled "Who Said No Retreat," stating that the movement was not in principle opposed to withdrawal from Sinai and the Golan.

Begin himself was forced in 1974 to propose a "plan for peace and security" that included three years of ceasefire with Arab states. He ironically referred to himself as a "warmonger for peace." When a party activist called for withdrawal from Sinai, he was heckled with cries of "What about Jabotinsky?" Begin replied coolly: "Sir, for a hundred days in Sinai I do not hear about Jabotinsky; I hear about life in this country."

Likud's platform ahead of the 1977 elections already included an explicit promise: "Within Sinai the border will be set between Egypt and Israel, and on the Golan Heights the border will be set between Syria and Israel." Still, one cannot do without attacking the left, so Begin railed against the Communist Party for being "ready to abandon all of Sinai" — something he himself would do two years later.

"It is precisely in a change of government that the chance for peace lies," he said at the time. The media's conception was that it heard Begin's double talk — one voice for the base and one for the swing voters — but chose to believe the hawkish one.

From historical parable to contemporary lesson: if after Yom Kippur '73 the public moved left while growing tired of left-wing rule, after Simchat Torah '23 the public is moving right while raging against right-wing rule. The opposition parties are discovering, as Begin once did, that to translate anger into an upheaval it is not enough to point to the failure itself — they will need to abandon decades-old ideology. And so Lapid embarrasses Netanyahu's government by approving a law to apply sovereignty; Gantz votes against the establishment of a Palestinian state; Eisenkot attacks Netanyahu for agreeing to two states; and Golan scolds the government for excessive hesitation in the war against Hezbollah.

Are the interpretations, as in the 1970s, missing the sharp turn to the right and treating it as mere campaign theatrics? And might the politicians of the "Anyone But Bibi" bloc find themselves in a government taking steps even more radical than Netanyahu's? His position was strong enough to end the war while Hamas was still standing and not apply sovereignty to Judea and Samaria. What about theirs?

Ballad for a aouble agent

The decision to recruit Eli Feldstein to the Prime Minister's Office was made by Jonatan Urich. In the second week of October 2023, Benjamin Netanyahu had slightly more urgent matters on his mind than hiring an assistant spokesman. But the general direction was clear: someone who would speak with the military correspondents through a semi-official channel, based on the assumption that if there is 100 percent responsibility for the failure, then the larger the share that falls on the chief of staff's shoulders, the less will weigh on the prime minister's.

Feldstein was, ostensibly, the perfect candidate: well-connected in the IDF, with astonishing familiarity with the internal politics of the senior officer corps, knowing exactly where the information caches were hidden that would continue to trouble the chief of staff for a long time. It was no accident that senior General Staff officials were alarmed when they heard of his appointment.

Journalists not knowing until the affair exploded that they were being fed Qatari messages is one thing. No less intriguing is the fact that deep into the war, many of us did not know that Feldstein was working for the Prime Minister's Office at all. The employment arrangement was crooked in substance and defective in its paperwork.

Urich paid the full price for this employment. After several days of shifting explanations, he produced a shocking version: the money I received in the chain from Qatar was a substitute for payment from the Prime Minister's Office, with Urich's knowledge. That was the moment the affair threatened to shake Netanyahu's position. After all, if his ties with Qatar are so close that it functions as his petty cash fund, the implication is that fanatic messaging is influencing national security inside the Prime Minister's Office.

That version collapsed long ago and finally died this week with the publication of Feldstein's correspondence by Avishai Grinzaig. This was not a fictitious employment by Netanyahu but a deal between the adviser and Qatar: money in exchange for PR. The question is Urich's knowledge. The entire argument that he was "in the loop" inside the office (not during the 2022 World Cup) rests on a single refined phrase — "shitting cubes" — which he used in response to a text from Feldstein containing a briefing that helped Qatar. The slang term means something approximating "ok, got it". More will be required to tie him to the dark deal. He will also be required to explain, in parallel, whether he worked for Qatar abroad during the war as alleged — a claim his associates deny.

The most fascinating figure in the affair is Urich, not Feldstein. He is the adviser behind the move that turned Netanyahu, in the eyes of his voters, into the leader of a movement, and he is signed onto a record of six election campaigns with thirty mandates or more. Urich exits them with three indictments, in what appears to be targeted treatment by law enforcement: the Filber harassment affair, the Bild leak, and Qatargate. These proceedings will conclude in the mid-2030s, while in the meantime he is barred from contact with Netanyahu and can at most work within the Likud. Does anyone know a way to run a prime-ministerial candidate by telepathy?

His temporary departure coincides with Ron Dermer's permanent exit. When people talk about Netanyahu's inner circle, these two were his environment: one handled the diplomatic flank for the prime minister, the other the communications front. Netanyahu is entering a year of diplomatic decisions and a political election year without either of them. One is in business, not answering the phone; the other is under investigation, unable to call.

The post What is Hezbollah planning? appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Meeting the new operational demands requires the IDF to procure additional aircraft, including Apache helicopters, while also extending the service life of older platforms. Alert schedules have also been revised. Fighter pilots, for example, are now expected to strike within minutes of being called up, compared with 45 minutes under the alert posture in place on October 6. Within the first hour, they are required to strike at least 60 targets to disrupt enemy activity.

Minimum requirements have also been set for the number of unmanned aerial vehicles that must be airborne at any given time, as well as for the quantity and types of munitions carried by various aircraft. Five helicopters have been placed on constant alert to rapidly deploy intervention forces from Shayetet 13, Sayeret Matkal and Shaldag. To enable rapid insertion of forces near unfolding incidents, the IDF has prepared hundreds of landing zones across the country, allowing troops to be set down in numerous locations. In Judea and Samaria alone, more than 500 landing zones have been established.

The IDF stresses that the Israeli Air Force does not replace regional commands for border defense. However, despite the fact that the Air Force met all of its alert requirements on October 7 and even exceeded them, it proved ineffective in the face of the scale of the attack. As a result, the aerial response to eruptive incidents has been fundamentally reworked.

Rules of engagement have also been revised. Under the new directives, when a division commander declares the code word "Ra'am," signaling an eruptive incident within the division, orders come into force that delegate significantly greater authority to pilots. For example, pilots may strike enemy forces identified either on Israeli territory or across the border, while making every effort to safeguard Israeli troops and civilians.

Fighter jets have also been assigned predefined targets in every sector based on terrain analysis. Even if contact with headquarters cannot be established, pilots know that during an incident in a given sector they are to strike targets already designated in advance. To cope with dozens of simultaneous incidents, the Air Force has defined "air combat teams," combining crews from observation, transport, attack helicopter and UAV squadrons. These teams are usually positioned close to the area of operations and can divide and manage incidents from the air if the Air Force's central command bunker becomes overloaded.

To embed the changes, a "Border Defense Airpower" conference was held about two weeks ago for commanders and officers from the Air Force and the Ground Forces. The shift represents a conceptual change, under which the Air Force commander approved an updated mission for the air and space arm, formally adding "border defense" to its mandate. In parallel, the Participation and Helicopters Command has changed its name and mission to the Participation and Border Defense Command. Headed by an officer with the rank of brigadier general, the command is now responsible for border defense during eruptive incidents and for providing aerial support to ground maneuvering forces.

In addition, while on October 7 the Air Force operated through a single control, during the war a new control, dubbed "Oz," was established. It operates around the clock and is tasked with providing a rapid aerial umbrella to all forces fighting across all fronts.

Further changes include adding a phone to pilots' helmets and distributing the phone numbers of all local security coordinators nationwide to every squadron. In light of the communications breakdowns on October 7, the IDF has also institutionalized five communication channels linking forces managing incidents in the air and on the ground, ranging from standard military communications to the use of civilian networks to ensure connectivity between all forces responding to an event.

The post How October 7 forced the Israeli Air Force to change everything appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

"I always called Qatar home, and now it's the most hated place in the world for me because of the racism, xenophobia, and injustice I experienced. I always excused racism and xenophobia in Qatar by saying there are uneducated people. But my story shows how the educated elite behaves in the same way," he accused in a letter he sent to none other than Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, mother of current Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and one of the most powerful figures in the state.

Hassan Abd al-Sadiq, a foreign worker from Sudan, tells Israel Hayom about similar abuse. Like many citizens of his country, he was forced to migrate and came to Qatar in search of work. According to the contract with his employer, he was supposed to receive comfortable accommodation and medical care in exchange for work as an accountant at a sewing company – a respectable position by all accounts. Nevertheless, he found himself living in a room that served as a garbage collection point, without basic equipment like a refrigerator or a washing machine. He was forced to pay for medical services out of pocket. Shifts lasted 12 hours each day, six days a week, and workers who dared use their phones were charged fines.

In late 2023, Awwadallah fled to Egypt after staying there a year without work. He doesn't pay the alimony imposed on him.

It's easy to take his words with a grain of salt, but according to him, the Al Thani family's money will only be effective in the short term. In the long term, he believes, they won't be able to hold out.

From there, he feels safe to say what's on his mind. In November, for example, he turned to the Qatari ruler on social media and exposed what he went through in prison: "Your Highness, the Emir of Qatar, what motivated me to write this message is a story that occurred between us, and you weren't aware of some of its details. I was kept in solitary confinement from the moment I entered prison until I left. I was forced to shower with cold water in winter and hot water in summer from the bathtub's bottom faucet. This was an act of injustice toward the citizen, in the complete absence of human rights – or what is falsely called 'human rights in Qatar.'"

The post Worse than you thought: Inside look at Qatar's hidden brutality appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Let us assume that Israel had decided to destroy Coca-Cola as an organization. Five army divisions would land in Atlanta, aiming to destroy the infrastructure and leadership. What are the chances that after two years of intense fighting, with 90% of the company's top leadership eliminated and headquarters bombed, the recipe of the world's most famous drink would survive? Probably very low. The secret is closely guarded by few.

But this isn't Coca-Cola, it's Hamas. And the secret survived.

Good news sometimes leads to grim thoughts. The good news: Hamas returned all the hostages' bodies in its possession, except one. Before the deal was signed, the IDF assessed that some remains might never be returned because those who knew their locations had been killed. Yet except for Ran Gvili, who is still being searched for, all were found and returned. "Hamas isn't making a 100% effort, they're making 140%," said a senior Israeli source.

How is this possible? The dilemma intensifies in light of Sinwar's obsessive secrecy, his strict compartmentalization aimed at countering Israeli intelligence. That's why Hezbollah was informed only an hour after the October 7 massacre began. That's why the lone informant on the ground could only say, "Something's happening in the mosques, but I can't get close."

For Hamas, the hostages are nuclear weapons. The circle of those in the know was extremely limited. What are the chances they all survived to reveal the burial sites?

This also ties back to us, says a senior security official. Some people survived because they were in the know. For example, one man knew exactly which wall in the maze-like "Dror Lavan" tunnel in Rafah held Hadar Goldin. "We knew "We knew who held the information we lacked, and we acted accordingly," he said, or rather, did not act. In other cases, the IDF recovered massive data caches, such as the archive found in the bunker where Muhammad Sinwar was killed. That archive helped recover eight bodies relatively quickly.

But there is another message here, one that shows just how long the road to Hamas's destruction still is, and how "Phase Two" in Trump's plan is still a strange fantasy. Hamas is disciplined, fanatical, and messianic. Look, for example, at how long—and under what conditions—the terrorists survive underground in Rafah: with no future, no hope, no oxygen. For years, Israel thought this fanaticism could be calmed with work permits or expanded fishing zones, or that Hamas would disarm willingly. To return to the Coca-Cola metaphor: their "taste of life" is death.

There's a children's book called "What Do You Do With a Problem?" So what do you do with the problem in the polls, which mostly show that the Zionist opposition doesn't have 61 seats?

Gadi Eisenkot offered his solution this week, hinting that if such were the election results, he would work to form a minority government with the abstention of the Arab parties.

Everyone was furious. Naftali Bennett was angry, his silence since Saturday night speaks volumes. The last thing he wants is a campaign focused on Arabs instead of the ultra-Orthodox. He certainly doesn't want to be dragged again into a promise not to sit with Abbas, which would immediately become a campaign on his credibility. Avigdor Lieberman was angry, declaring he would not agree to such a government. Yair Golan was also angry, but for a different reason, he supports Ra'am being a full coalition partner.

The most surprising anger came from Abbas himself: before the formation of the "Change Government," Ra'am's leader set a rule: either we vote in favor, or we vote against. He understood well that abstention is a free gift, but voting in favor has a price. He certainly doesn't want to find himself lumped in with the other Arab parties who reject any partnership. He wants to be a legitimate partner, not a mistress.

Eisenkot has no regrets and hasn't taken back his statement. Maybe it wasn't planned, but the scenario he described has been discussed for a long time (and was even raised here three months ago). In the Change Bloc, some now believe that Netanyahu has a very high chance of forming an obstruction bloc. Being prime minister gives endless opportunities to control the national agenda. Multiply that by the expected mobilization from US President Trump, says a key source in the Change Bloc, and it becomes almost impossible to steer public attention toward a campaign about ultra-Orthodox draft dodging.

Yes, he says, there's no doubt we'll pay a price if we form a government with Arab abstention. But in the immediate elections that would follow, whatever we lose from forming that government we would gain by setting the public agenda, while Netanyahu would be an opposition member with no control. Besides, he added, why should Netanyahu set the rules of what's allowed and what isn't?

Here's the catch: Eisenkot running under Bennett might earn him the Finance Ministry (since Lieberman wants Defense and Lapid wants Foreign Affairs). More likely, he'll end up with the Education or Interior Ministry. If polls show that an alliance doesn't improve the bloc's standing, maybe it's better for him to run independently at the head of a mid-sized party, securing at least the Defense Ministry.

Such thoughts are entertaining, but the bloc has its own goals and power brokers pushing for unity. They want fewer parties, fewer conflicting directions—and ideally, fewer surprise interviews.

When he says, "Who said I'm in your bloc?" one could answer: You did, when you attended every Saturday night meeting of the opposition leaders.

True, Gantz would reply, but I came to discuss how to topple the government, not to agree that those in the room should form the next coalition. In a house meeting in Alon Shvut, Gantz explained his reasoning:
"What was the problem with the last Change Government? That it failed to address anything significant. There were good people, but everything we passed was overturned by the next government. As long as it's bloc versus bloc, this will never end. We must connect between the blocs."

Connection does not mean Gantz joining Netanyahu's government alone, he's already tried that twice in major crises. The accumulated experience from the COVID and war governments left his party with little appetite for a repeat. "We won't be Netanyahu's 61st vote, that's important to know," said MK Chili Tropper at that same meeting. "It didn't achieve what we hoped for, and both times we were the small players in a broad coalition. On October 7th there was an emergency, so it was wrong to set conditions. But hopefully, if that situation returns, there will be brave people on our side willing to do what's right for Israel. Breaking the blocs doesn't mean joining at any cost."

So, the picture becomes clearer: a potential coalition negotiation with Netanyahu alongside at least one other opposition party, aiming for a government with broad representation. Gantz gave an example of strength in unity:
"I went to Netanyahu on October 7th. He looked gray. I told him, 'I'll join an emergency government.' Then I went to Lapid, who said, 'Kick out Ben Gvir and Smotrich.' I told him, 'When we talk about unity, it's not the time to kick people out. We want to do the opposite. Come join us, and we'll isolate them.' I joined, and we succeeded. Imagine if he had come with us."

Still, it's fair to assume that Gantz's frustration with his former partners also contributes to his new strategic direction. He feels the bloc is treating him unfairly:
"Didn't Bennett bring in Kohelet? Didn't he form a government with six seats in his party? When he didn't pass the threshold, did anyone say anything? But I'm under attack from within, and I'm telling you I won't waste votes. Remember this talk, I'll end up with 40–60% more than predicted."

Disclosure: Ze'ev (Z'abo) Ehrlich, who was killed last year in Lebanon, was my childhood neighbor in Ofra—only three houses down the street.

Second disclosure: 9 Iyar Street in the town that I grew up in is probably the street with the highest concentration of journalists per square meter. Were it not for that—and were it not for the fact that they knew him, his immense contribution to the IDF, and the circumstances of his death—it is possible that the attempts to smear him posthumously would have succeeded, and justice would never have come to light.

For his death last November was exactly the kind of raw material from which blood libels were, until recently, routinely manufactured. On one side, a bearded settler clutching a Bible; on the other, the soldier Gur Kehati, killed alongside him while securing the fatal patrol in which he participated—inside an ancient mosque—and who also happened to be the grandson of a well-connected veteran left-wing activist.

The claim, in short, was that Gur had been sacrificed on the altar of a settler's colonialist archaeological obsession.

The principle of "don't speak ill of the dead" was not applied to Ehrlich; instead, the rule that he was guilty until proven innocent was. One senior journalist wrote that he had "perhaps been searching for signs of the grave of an obscure rabbi," accusing him of impersonating an IDF officer and asserting that there was no difference between his case and that of an impersonator from Southern Command.

Haaretz stated as fact that "Kehati was dragged against his will into the irresponsible adventure of the senior settler." Channel 13's cameras—of course—gleefully documented the disruption of a memorial conference held in his honor, attended by members of the Kehati family.

"It is outrageous that the IDF speaks of the fine qualities of a man against whom an investigation is underway," it was declared there, despite the fact that no investigation was ever conducted against him.

Now, the facts: This week, in his initial ruling, the Military Advocate General, Itai Ofir, determined that the patrol had been scheduled in advance in order to investigate the death of Staff Sergeant Uri Nisanovich at the same location two weeks earlier. This was testified to by the patrol commander, who was seriously wounded and hospitalized for an extended period. The patrol would have taken place regardless and was operationally necessary.

Two questions now remain: why was Ehrlich attached to the patrol, and was he properly enlisted.

As for the first question, Colonel Yoav Yarom, who invited him, stated that Ze'ev's expertise was required in order to locate terrorists at the site. Dozens of officers, past and present, had relied on him—from mapping alleys in the Nablus casbah for targeted killings to locating caves in which Hamas murderers might hide. The Military Advocate General ruled that this claim could not be refuted at the criminal threshold.

What remains is the technical issue of Ehrlich not having been properly enlisted. That is irregular, but it is not the fault of the civilian—and it is, of course, entirely unrelated to the original blood libel, according to which soldiers were killed for messianic fantasies.

How much malice can one absorb? How many lies and how much incitement can be hurled at a citizen whose only sins were his place of residence and his extraordinary understanding of archaeology and history?

On tours in Samaria, Ze'ev used to tell hikers, "Be careful not to step on verses." Those of us who rushed to write against him trampled the verse: "Words of hatred surrounded me; they fought me without cause." (Psalms 109:3)

The post Hamas' return of the hostages should alarm Israel appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Not iPad – iPod. Apple's mythological music player, which first launched 24 years ago and whose sale was officially discontinued in 2022. Ultimately, these are still relatively small numbers, but behind them stands an entire industry: add-ons and upgrades that expand storage capacity, enable USB-C connections, and transform the iPod's appearance into something aesthetic and modern. Instructional videos on the subject have reached millions of views on YouTube.

But in a world where a subscription to a streaming service places all music within reach, in a universe where YouTube exists, and in an era when every person carries a technological marvel in their pocket that plays music at the highest quality available why would anyone want to walk around with an ancient, limited MP3 player in their pocket? The convenient explanation is that this is a vintage fashion trend. Gen Z, born into a world where nothing is needed except credit to listen to whatever music they want, enjoys playing in a reality where a dedicated device and computer files are required to reach their favorite song.

Except there's an alternative, more complex explanation. The major streaming services, led by Spotify, don't actually allow us to listen to all the music we might want. Periodically, albums or songs disappear due to conflicts or disputes with studios or artists, for political or geographical considerations. Just recently, we "earned" a reminder of this, with the artist boycott that removed entire catalogs from playability in Israel. Additionally, the algorithms of streaming services aren't really programmed to present us with new music that fits our taste, but rather to direct us toward what increases their bottom line.

The inconsistency in song availability and suspicion toward the algorithm add to the periodic tendency of streaming services to raise subscription prices. The last element is perhaps the most interesting: the only advantage of a player who can do just one thing is disconnection from the world. No notifications, no pushes, no feed, no social anxiety, no FOMO. It's just us and the music we chose for ourselves, cataloged and uploaded to the device. In other words, the iPod's technological disadvantage turned it into a kind of therapy.

This exact phenomenon occurred a quarter-century earlier, for the previous generation. Napster, the mother of all pirate file-sharing software, solved a particularly frustrating market failure: in the 1990s, greedy music studios reached record profits at the expense of artists and consumers, who were required to pay an average of $17 for a disc where not all the songs were worth the investment. Music collecting has become an expensive business for teenagers, unlike for their parents' generation.

Napster offered a revolution: all the music in the world in one pirate place, in friendly and convenient search - but with a big question mark regarding its legality and morality. At its peak, about 80 million users were registered, sharing about 1.5 billion music files among themselves. The pirates changed the face of the industry and led to the birth of iTunes, and after it, Spotify and its like. And what the music companies understood first came to the television industry very quickly as well.

The fate of "Gozelan" and "Sdarot"

"The word 'piracy' doesn't exist in copyright laws, even though creators use it," says Dr. Carmel Weissman, a digital culture researcher from Tel Aviv University. "It's a word created by corporations to establish the criminalization of copyright infringement in popular culture. The thing is, the metaphor is murky. Piracy isn't good or bad in an absolute sense, it's a matter of perspective. And therefore the image the corporations chose itself became a debate."

Until just over a decade ago, the battle between the pirates and the establishment was waged with intensity across platforms like Kazaa, eMule, and others. At the center stood a market failure: the television industry's business model relied on cable companies, which offered giant packages of countless channels, too little quality content, and prices that never stopped rising. Those who wanted to watch other high-quality content, assuming it was even available in their area, were required to pay premium prices for HBO, Showtime, and other premium networks responsible for the golden age of television in the early millennium.

The inflated content budgets and rise of multiplex cinema complexes turned going to a movie into an experience whose price can reach hundreds of shekels for a family. This is how it happened that viewers chose the freedom and convenience of pirate viewing at home, despite the legal and moral problematic nature.

In Israel, the struggle focused on sites for pirate viewing. The largest and most famous of them was the "Sdarot" site, established in 2011, which offered a wide variety of movies and series for direct viewing (streaming) with built-in Hebrew translation. About 975,000 users were registered on the site, and of them about 10,000 paid a subscription fee of about 50 shekels ($14) per month for access to fast servers that enabled continuous viewing. It was considered at the time one of the most popular sites in Israel, with millions of visits per average month. ZIRA (the umbrella organization representing major media bodies in Israel on copyright issues), led the lawsuit that brought about its final closure in January 2024 (and subsequently required its founder to pay compensation of 5 million shekels, or $1.4 million).

Another prominent case was the "Gozelan" site, which offered pirate content for direct viewing and was closed in 2016 after half a year of activity, during which it climbed into the list of 100 most popular sites in Israel. The court ordered internet service providers to block access to the site, after it accepted ZIRA's claim about copyright infringement that took place on it. Both the "Gozelan" people and the "Sdarot" people, for their part, claimed that their activity was "a necessity of reality against media companies, which exploit the public and the creators."

Israel's copyright law is based on similar laws from other countries, which are anchored in international conventions. According to Attorney Yaakov Lashchinsky, a copyright expert, the law grants only the rights holders the authority to authorize copying and/or make them available to the public for the public's benefit, and any action that takes this authority away from them constitutes a violation of their rights. The initial maximum compensation for copyright infringement, even before proving damages, stands at 100,000 shekels ($28,000) and can grow significantly if it reaches trial.

Although much of the preoccupation with piracy in recent years focuses on the television worlds, the situation in the cinema field was no different. The inflated content budgets and rise of large multiplex cinema complexes turned going to a movie into an experience whose price can reach hundreds of shekels for a family. This is how it happened that viewers chose the freedom and convenience of pirate viewing at home, despite the legal and moral problematic nature, while the corporations conducted a battle to close one pirate platform – only to discover that a host of alternatives arose the day after.

And then Netflix arrived. "In its first years, Netflix was the place to find everything," explains Ido Yeshayahu, a television critic and founder of the "Coffee+Television" blog. "It purchased everything from everyone, and offered this selection in one place for a few dollars. In parallel, it released its series not in weekly broadcast, but all at once, and that was significant. Within a few years, a whole generation grew up for whom this was their way of consuming television, devouring entire seasons within a few days. Suddenly, piracy became irrelevant."

Attorney Yaakov Lashchinsky: "There will always be those who choose to consume pirate content and clean their conscience by tying crowns of 'freedom fighters' and 'heroes.' At the end of the day, the technological revolution happening around us does good for everyone: content prices are laughable compared to the past."

This model was good for Netflix and consumers – but the large entertainment corporations, the third side of the triangle, didn't benefit. Suddenly, Netflix became the place where their series gained popularity. The decision to fight the new queen by building competing services will lead us to the chaos we're immersed in today.

Not ready even for free

The annual report of MUSO, the company specializing in monitoring and measuring pirate downloads, reveals the ongoing tension between consumers and large entertainment corporations. At the beginning of the current decade, a moment before the inflation in streaming services, piracy data reached a low. From a situation where almost a quarter of world internet traffic was used for file sharing, with the rise of Spotify and Netflix there was a decline to single-digit percentages. While piracy didn't become extinct, the trend was consistent: in North America, Western Europe, and the Nordic countries there was a significant decline in pirate content consumption.

Data collection regarding the phenomenon in Israel is very sparse, but the trend is clear: many consume illegal content to one degree or another, even though it's a questionable activity. "The shaming campaign for downloaders is an American cultural thing, which succeeded in creating the symmetry between downloading and theft - and even there it didn't catch on for long," explains Dr. Weissman. "In the rest of the world, piracy is a non-issue, also because very many contents aren't available in them, and in the East it's almost a state enterprise. The story with Netflix and Spotify was a precise, specific answer to changing consumption patterns. If everything is convenient, in one place, and at a sane price – then the problem stops being a problem. People were willing to pay the 'Sdarot' site despite it offering pirate content, because it simply offered a solution."

The great streaming war that broke out at the beginning of the decade led to enormous inflation of competing services: Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Peacock, and more. All produce original content available exclusively to the platform, all charge monthly subscription fees that keep growing – and in the middle are the consumers. A subscription to three-four streaming services reaches the peak prices paid in the past to cable companies. All this, at a time when works disappear and appear on another service on a regular basis, some aren't available in some regions, and in other cases they're perceived as not justifying the money charged for them - exactly like at the beginning of the 2000s with the music industry, and at the beginning of the previous decade with the television and cinema industry.

The "solution" came in the form of a new and improved wave of pirate services. No longer complicated software requiring basic technological understanding and dealing with downloading subtitles and matching them. Services like Stremio look and feel like Netflix's feed: organized lists of series and movies by category, with official posters, a quick and convenient search, and, especially, the availability of all content in one place.

"It's clear there's weight also to the insane cost of living in Israel," explains Yeshayahu, "but I get the impression that many people choose piracy because they don't want to search for where what they want to watch is broadcast. We're also a piracy-loving nation from always, so when a convenient app arrives – it conquers the Israeli audience."

ZIRA, which represents major media bodies in Israel on copyright issues: "We see a sharp transition to decentralized piracy, the kind that isn't through public internet sites, but rather through illegal converters and additional services 'under the radar' of the public internet."

MUSO data reinforces the feeling that the piracy rate worldwide has jumped to an all-time high in recent years. 230 billion visits were recorded on pirate sites in 2023 - almost double the number recorded just three years earlier. In the US, Europe (especially in the East), Asia, Latin America, and even in the Middle East, the piracy rate jumped significantly. In 2024 a slight moderation was recorded, but not because of a return to good behavior: the researchers claim the reason is a decline in content that justifies pirate consumption. In other words, viewers aren't interested in the new content, even when it comes free.

The striking difference is that the current wave of piracy is led by a new generation of young people, Gen Z, which champions values and worldviews different from those of the previous generation. So how is it that they, too, chose the same method?

A process of "enshittification"

One of the recurring concepts in recent years when it comes to services of large technology companies is "enshittification" – from "shit" – which author and blogger Cory Doctorow coined. The concept describes the pattern of operation of platforms competing for our attention: initially they place user experience at the center, to attract more and more subscribers; then they exploit the huge user base to adapt the platform to attracting advertisers and business clients, with the goal of increasing their profit balance; and finally, they trap users and subscribers in a situation where they're dependent on the platform, which serves only them, without motivation to preserve the quality standard. This, in a nutshell, is one of the main reasons for the growing buds of the new rebellion.

"In the days of the British Empire, in many cases the empire would hire pirates to attack the Spanish enemy for it and disrupt its trade – without having to bear responsibility," explains Dr. Weissman. "In this analogy we're the Spanish. Not infrequently, the large companies use piracy to expose products to the public and create buzz around them, and in parallel they try to make the action criminal. But if we're sailing in a sea of enshittification, then the pirates are floating too. So we've made a full circle and returned to the nineties."

Attorney Lashchinsky opposes this determination: "What we're seeing here is Israeli greed. There will always be those who choose to consume pirate content and clean their conscience by tying crowns of 'freedom fighters' and 'heroes.' At the end of the day, the technological revolution happening around us does good for everyone: content prices are laughable compared to what was customary in the past." However, Lashchinsky clarifies that the key lesson from past battles against piracy is to fight the platforms and bodies that enable it, not consumers themselves.

If, in the past, piracy was practical despite its inherent problems, now it's already wearing an ideological cloak. In Sweden, for example, piracy has become "Kopimism" – an official religion protected by law, based on belief in freedom of information and file sharing as a way of life. This is one of the reasons why Pirate Bay, the world's largest torrent site (a method where files are broken into many "puzzle pieces," and thus it's possible to download them from a large number of users), remained active against repeated attempts to close it - because it operates from within the country. The struggle against media companies has become activism in which piracy is not only not shameful but also a utopian fight against corporations and a defense of fairness.

Ido Yeshayahu, television critic: "It's clear there's weight also to the insane cost of living in Israel, but many people choose piracy because of the convenience issue. We're also a piracy-loving nation, so when a convenient app arrives - it conquers the Israeli audience"

"The story of buying iPods by itself is currently a marginal phenomenon, but there's a broad message in it," claims Weissman. "The message is that streaming companies exploit the artists, and also the users. So we, as users, will take it upon ourselves to balance. It's a fairness problem, not a price problem, and this connects very much to the ethos of this generation. There's recognition that piracy can sometimes be perceived as a moral action, a 'Robin Hood' ethos."

The current status quo is problematic for both sides. The intriguing question arising from it is: is there a chance to return to the balance that Netflix and Spotify brought with them at their beginning? "In recent years there's been talk about bundles (combining several services into one subscription, which allows lowering costs; I.K.), but something that will concentrate everything in one place isn't exactly on the horizon," explains Yeshayahu. "A lot of ego of the various companies is involved in this, and it's likely the regulator won't rush to approve such moves either. What is certain is that we'll see acquisitions and mergers. It's not implausible to assume that by the end of the decade we'll see much fewer streaming services, which also means much fewer opportunities for niche works, like in the good days of Netflix."

Dr. Weissman actually believes the coming storm will lead to better results in the future. "Piracy is a tool that challenges power structures that don't serve consumer expectations. The enshittification brought this feeling to a new peak." According to her, the niche phenomena at this stage, of young people completely disconnecting from social networks or choosing to purchase a "dumb phone," may reach the level of a real counter-movement to the current technological reality.

"It's interesting to look at the hypocrisy of defining piracy from the AI direction. After all, what is that if not piracy? An attempt to use copyrights to train technology that serves the corporation. AI is not our liberator - it's the pirate serving the Queen of England. It could be that we'll need to reach some extremism, for example, a significant decline in consumer demand, to lead to change. At the end of the day, these phenomena occur in waves, and those who survive will be those who adapt the products to our need."

Piracy on steroids

ZIRA responded: "Piracy hasn't disappeared, it simply changed form. After years when pirate viewing was conducted on large streaming sites, like 'Sdarot,' today we see a sharp transition to decentralized piracy, the kind that isn't through public internet sites, but rather through illegal converters and additional services 'under the radar' of the public internet. All of these are aggressively marketed on social networks and other communication channels. This formula creates 'digital piracy on steroids': piracy that's faster, more accessible, and at the same time less visible to the eye. The additional disturbing change is the involvement of content giants in providing a stage for enabling and marketing the new digital piracy.

"Piracy constitutes a direct threat to the existence of a diverse and competitive communications market in Israel, and the damage that pirate viewing causes to the content industry in Israel reaches enormous dimensions, estimated at hundreds of millions of shekels per year. This damage cascades through the entire 'food chain' of the industry. Rights holders, broadcast and content bodies, workers in the industry, directors, screenwriters, actors, lighting technicians, editors, musicians, production people, designers, makeup artists, casting directors, graphic designers, and holders of additional roles in this valuable and important industry.

"ZIRA continues in a constant war to eradicate the pirate viewing phenomenon against the entire distribution chain, from the sites and platforms that enable publication or that make the content itself accessible."

The post Digital piracy surges as streaming costs spiral out of control appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

With an Israeli flag hanging on the wall behind him, the detainee detailed trips to Iran, voyages across Africa, clandestine meetings with Hezbollah's chief military commander Fuad Shukr, and directives flowing directly from the organization's leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Throughout the year he remained in captivity, Imad Amhaz, known as "The Captain," systematically laid out the complete picture behind one of Hezbollah's most secretive and organized operations – a strategic, creative, and ambitious project dubbed "The Clandestine Maritime File." Only now can the existence of this underground initiative be disclosed for the first time, along with fresh details about the commando mission to abduct Amhaz from the heart of Lebanon – a bold and extraordinary operation that remained submerged in the depths of memory due to the torrent of wartime events.

This narrative, which could easily become a Hollywood film, might begin on the night of November 2, 2024, when a handful of Shayetet 13 commandos silently raided the Lebanese coastal town of Batroun, located 87 miles from the Israeli border, and removed Amhaz while he slept in his bed without firing a single shot. Alternatively, the story could open with a close-up of Colonel A., head of Naval Intelligence, standing on the dock at the Shayetet base in Atlit, welcoming the fighters returning home from the successful operation, merely patting their shoulders and verifying everyone's health and safety. The account might also start with a scene unfolding in the basements of Dahieh, starring Secretary-General Nasrallah, Chief of Staff Shukr, and "The Captain," where the three architects weave a hair-raising conspiracy.

However, the story begins with A., a quiet, slender 23-year-old woman who, had you passed her on the street, you would never imagine was primarily responsible for one of the war's most astonishing operations.

A. started her path as an "Arabist" (an Arab world specialist) in Unit 8200, subsequently transferring to serve as an analyst in Naval Intelligence. Today, she serves as a permanent staff member with the rank of Sergeant First Class, whose role is to track anyone who could pose a threat to Israeli Navy vessels. "We have, in Naval Intelligence, operational methods and capabilities that allow us to search for almost anyone in the fringes," she stated.

At the end of 2021, A. began monitoring a mid-level Hezbollah operative named Imad Amhaz, whose organizational nickname was "Jarich." Amhaz, 39, a Shiite native of the Bekaa Valley, joined Hezbollah in 2004. In 2007, he completed a several-month military course in Iran, and upon his return to Lebanon, joined Unit 7900 as a radar operator – Hezbollah's coastal missile unit that has deeply troubled Naval Intelligence personnel since the Second Lebanon War and the deadly strike on the INS Hanit.

The interrogator asked Amhaz: Who knew about the project?

The operative responded: "Who was aware of this was the team itself, Nur al-Din, the operator, Male,k who was the head of the bureau of Fuad Shukr (Hezbollah's Chief of Staff who was eliminated in July 2024), Fuad Shukr himself, and Abu Musa, who came after Fuad Shukr but didn't stay for long. All were killed except Nur al-Din. I don't know if he was also killed while I wasn't (in Lebanon)."

Q: Did you meet with senior officials? For example, with Fuad Shukr?

Amhaz answered: "The first time we returned from the file, he asked to meet with us... This file is related to the maritime domain ... These can be defensive or offensive operations... As long as you have a ship, money, and people, you can operate against anything. Israel is the main target."

Q: Does Hezbollah operate against other targets as well?

Amhaz confirmed: "The organization sees the US as an enemy, for example."

To all appearances, Imad Amhaz was just another Hezbollah operative among dozens who appeared on A.'s radar. Yet something about him was unusual. Despite being a devoted operative who was educated in the Hezbollah youth movement, Amhaz was not a devout Shiite. He spent much of his time at the gym, his body decorated with muscles and tattoos. One of these was a portrait of his wife, who was herself tattooed. "She had tattoos of roses," A. said. "During his interrogation, he shared that he and his wife had many fights, and at one point, they separated. After that, he had to hide the tattoo with her portrait until they eventually reunited. He is not the perfect partner – one who likes to play the field and loves to live the bachelor life, even when he is not single. He cultivates his muscles, a true hedonist. In short, he was not the conservative operative. During this period, I tracked several figures, but Amhaz was always at the back of my mind. Each time I returned to him to see what was new. I tried to understand why he was exposed, what his value was as a Hezbollah operative."

Q: It sounds as though you knew him well.

"Yes. I knew his daily routine, his weaknesses, his character – everything."

Q: And what can you say about his character?

"That he is a good soldier. When he is given an order, he says 'yes' and executes it."

To identify a big fish

I met A. in the office of the Head of the Naval Intelligence Department, Rear Adm. A., who has held the most senior position in Naval Intelligence for the past year. Several floors below us is the unit's "Pit" (underground command center), from which the operation to abduct Amhaz was managed. Joining the conversation was Lt. Col. D., who began her military career as a combat soldier in the Snapir Unit (naval port security unit), fell in love with the sea, and rose through the ranks to become head of the Targeting and Direction Branch in the Naval Intelligence Department.

The branch's production floor is filled with analysts like A., all of whom are Arabic speakers who serve as intelligence detectives. "Fishermen," as the veteran seaman Rear Adm. A. phrased it. "It is like casting a line and seeing which fish is caught on the hook. The point is to identify, amid the blur of people on the other side, who could be a 'big fish' and then focus on him. This is exactly what happened with Amhaz."

From the moment she began to take an interest in Amhaz and to focus more and more of her intelligence resources on him, A. discovered that he held mysterious meetings with senior Hezbollah officials. One of them was Ali Abed al-Hassan Nour al-Din. Nour al-Din is married to the daughter of Fuad Shukr, who, until his assassination in July 2024, served as the Hezbollah Chief of Staff and the right-hand man of Hassan Nasrallah. As such, Nour al-Din managed several of Hezbollah's secret projects, those directed personally by Shukr and Nasrallah. And now, for some reason, it turned out that he was meeting secretly with the muscular and tattooed Amhaz. "They sat at the same table and passed messages," Lt. Col. D. said. Later, during his interrogation in Israel, Amhaz would reveal that he also met Fuad Shukr himself. "This was a great excitement for him," D. said. "The connection to senior officials gave him pride and motivation."

During the interrogation, the goals of these secret meetings were also fully clarified. It turned out that several months before A. began to focus on him, Amhaz was chosen to be the central axis in an ambitious Hezbollah venture – the kind of secret projects that Nour al-Din managed for Shukr and Nasrallah. Amhaz, the organization's leadership decided, would become the captain of the "Secret Naval File."

"A very, very secret strategic project, an event that could have changed the situation against us and also against other countries," Rear Adm. A. said. "This is the big fish we caught on our hook."

"The big surprise"

The "Secret Naval File" germinated sometime in 2016. From fragments of information that reached Israeli intelligence over the years, it became clear that the goal was generally to create a Hezbollah "terror ship" – an infrastructure that would allow the organization to independently operate a large civilian merchant vessel that could roam the seas without suspicion, enter civilian ports, and carry out attacks that would change the balance of terror against Israel and its allies. "To take a civilian vessel under cover and place offensive capabilities on it as far as the imagination can go," Rear Adm. A. said. "Think about September 11 – you take a civilian platform and use it to carry out a strategic terror act. This was the goal."

The project, which, due to its importance, was directed personally by Hassan Nasrallah and Fuad Shukr and whose management passed to Nour al-Din after their elimination, was, as stated, highly compartmentalized and included only a small handful of secret partners. "Nasrallah and Shukr treated this as their big surprise," A. said. "Because of this, everything was managed in a very centralized manner, without intermediate ranks."

After several years of delays due to budget difficulties and internal organizational problems, in 2021, by order of Nasrallah, the project gained momentum. One of the first steps was to choose the captain of the future terror ship, someone who could manage the project from a maritime perspective. The Captain.

Amhaz was the one chosen for the role. Beyond his mysterious meetings with Nour al-Din, he began sailing between European and African countries and gained experience as a worker on cargo ships, all under the guise of an innocent civilian. "He simply boarded ships as a civilian and sailed with them with the aim of gaining maritime experience," D. said. "The ambition was to log enough sea time, rise through the ranks, and eventually become a civilian captain who could lead a civilian merchant ship himself. Alongside the practical hours, he also studied theory, and he progressed. This path gave him both operational experience and civilian cover so that once he became a certified captain of a civilian ship, he would not be suspected. In fact, he was operating under cover."

What kind of attacks did the leadership plan to carry out using the terror ship that Amhaz would sail? One can only imagine – the hijacking of a passenger ship, an attack on the Karish gas field, a raid by dozens of armed operatives through Israel's Haifa or Ashdod ports. "In the interrogation, we insisted with Amhaz, saying to him, 'Come on, tell us what you planned,'" D. said. "But then we realized the goal was still only to build the capability, this muscle. He said, 'Whatever the organization decides, we will know how to do.' For them, everything was on the table – from hitting strategic points to striking the soft underbelly of Israel."

As part of his training as a civilian captain, Amhaz was absent from his home in the village of Qmatiye for many long months, where he lived with his wife and children. "In the process, he received a salary from Hezbollah, and while he was absent from home, the one who took care of his family was Nour al-Din," A. said.

In 2024, he returned to Lebanon, and in September, he began studying for a captain's degree at the Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute, a civilian institution located north of Beirut in the town of Batroun, a Christian-majority area where Hezbollah has only a minimal presence. Amhaz also rented a vacation cabin in Batroun, even though his home was about an hour's drive away. "He could finish the school day and drive home, yet he chose to rent an apartment in Batroun and sleep there," Lt. Col. D. said. "This is part of his hedonism, perhaps also part of his desire to concentrate on his studies." And Amhaz concentrated very much on his studies. "A diligent student," D. said. "Even in the interrogation, you see that he is an educated person, not a peasant who just came to fight."

In December 2024, after three years of preparation and several more weeks of study in Batroun, Amhaz was supposed to receive his coveted captain's diploma. He never received it. "The moment Amhaz moved to live in the coastal town of Batroun, I realized there was an opportunity here," A. said. "I understood that he could be plucked."

Setting out

Part of the role of analysts like A. in the Targeting and Direction Branch is not only to research the enemy on the other side of the border but also to direct operations toward them. When A. realized that she had indeed caught a big fish on her hook, she began to pull. "A. is the one who brought the initiative, the tug on the sleeve to set out on an abduction operation," her commander, Lt. Col. D., said. "She came and said, 'Someone is interesting here, let's bring him.' And from the moment this idea was thrown into the air, we, as commanders, said, 'There is a cool idea here, let's examine it.'"

The idea, which A. first raised during September 2024, progressed through the chain of approvals at a dizzying speed. "Everyone understood that there was someone privy to the secret, who was part of a strategic capability that Hezbollah is building," D. said. "Beyond that, the timing was good. We were already in Operation Northern Arrows (the military offensive against Hezbollah) and amidst an escalation in the campaign against Lebanon, and it was possible to dare more and challenge the boundaries and carry out operations of this type."

Naturally, the unit chosen to carry out the abduction was Shayetet 13, the elite commando unit of the Navy, which was practically born for operations of this kind. In the Shayetet, they took the mission with both hands, drew on all the intelligence A. had to provide about Amhaz and his daily routine, and within a few short weeks, they prepared a detailed raid plan. "The Shayetet enlisted immediately; they were very enthusiastic," D. said.

Although this was a dangerous move intended to take place deep in enemy territory, within a short time, the operation to abduct "The Captain" had received all required approvals, including that of the prime minister. "It was necessary to convince the appointed levels that the risk level for the force justified this operation," Rear Adm. A. said, who was present at some of these dramatic meetings. "These are places where you feel the weight of responsibility."

When A. received the news that "her" operation was moving forward, she found it hard to believe. "I was in shock, they were so on board," she smiled with embarrassment.

The operation was carried out on the night between November 1 and 2. Around 1:00 a.m., a small force of Shayetet soldiers positioned themselves at the entrance to Amhaz's vacation cabin in Batroun. The operation was accompanied by Naval Intelligence personnel from within the Navy's Pit in the Kirya (IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv). "It is as if you are part of the force," A. recalled. "We are not physically with them, but we understand exactly what is happening on the ground. Many times, the executing force looks to intelligence for guidance, asking whether the target is at the objective and whether everything is working according to the plan. When you answer 'yes, he is there,' it is a moment with a lot of responsibility, but also a moment of a dream coming true."

According to reports in the Lebanese media, the abduction operation was carried out by a force of about 25 combat soldiers and lasted only four minutes. In a short video recorded by a security camera in the area of the operation, Shayetet personnel can be seen in their combat gear leading Amhaz down one of the streets, his head covered by a shirt.

In an urgent military inquiry conducted in Lebanon in the days following the abduction, it was claimed that the Lebanese Navy did not identify the Israeli infiltration into Batroun and that German naval forces, who are supposed to secure the maritime arena in the area under the UNIFIL mandate, did not report any suspicious movement during the night. "The army cannot identify small boats that slip under the radar," the Lebanese Chief of Staff Joseph Aoun, today the President of the State, was quoted as saying in a local newspaper.

By the time the inquiry was published, Amhaz was already deep in Israeli territory, having vomited several times on the way from Batroun and shown signs of anxiety. "I held my breath until the moment the commandos returned to the country's territory," A. said. "It was a sense of relief. I have been on this thing for two years, and here – we finally reached that moment."

Lt. Col. D. said, "If it were possible to open champagne in the army, we would have done it."

Rear Adm. A. said, "For me, in this event, there were two moments of satisfaction. The first was when they realized the force had arrived in Israel along with Amhaz, and we knew our soldiers had returned safely. I waited for them on the beach at the Shayetet base in Atlit, and it was a great pride. Shayetet 13 is a wonderful, mission-driven unit. It is a cliché, but there is no mission they cannot meet. The second moment of satisfaction came after several days of interrogations, when we realized we had not caught a small fry. The moment he spoke about the 'Secret Naval File,' about what he knows how to do – and it took several days – we realized we had done something valuable that truly contributed to the security of the State of Israel."

Not exactly an "innocent civilian"

The interrogation of Amhaz indeed revealed new details to Naval Intelligence that they had not known about the "Secret Maritime File" and the extent of Hezbollah's seriousness in implementing the project. "At first, he completely denied any connection to Hezbollah," A. related. "But slowly, as time passed, he began to open up. He gave us a lot of information about the file and also revealed to us the meetings with Shukr."

Rear Adm. A. said, "Before that, we knew a general story, and he not only confirmed it for us but fleshed out the details for us. This gave us the understanding that there was a real, actual project here, with intentions."

The publication of details from Amhaz's interrogation, for the first time, may certainly change the narrative built in Lebanon around his abduction. His family took the trouble to demonstrate and be interviewed wherever possible to claim that Amhaz is merely a civilian seaman who was abducted through no fault of his own. "My son is a civilian maritime captain who took a course at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Batroun," his father, Fadel, said in a newspaper interview. "My son is at sea most of the time and has no connection to parties. He is not connected to politics."

The Prime Minister of Lebanon at the time, Najib Mikati, also announced the day after the operation that Lebanon would file an official complaint with the UN Security Council regarding the abduction of Amhaz, and the Lebanese Transport Minister said that Amhaz was a "captain of civilian ships."

"We are now sending a clear message," Lt. Col. D. said in response. "The Navy is not bored and does not abduct innocent civilians. This is an exceptional operative in Hezbollah who was entrusted with a secret project that was supposed to surprise Israel completely. He is as far from innocent as possible."

The Lebanese attempt to attach a civilian image to Amhaz fit well with another move that took place about a year after his abduction – the release of the Israeli Elizabeth Tsurkov from captivity in September 2025, who was kidnapped in Iraq and held there by a pro-Iranian terror organization. The official Iranian news agency Tasnim claimed then that Tsurkov was released in exchange for two Lebanese figures held by Israel, including Amhaz.

In the Naval Intelligence Department, they are not aware of any such thing, and in any case, Amhaz is still in Israeli hands while Tsurkov is at her home. In our conversations, we were unable to confirm that the release of Amhaz was part of the move to release Tsurkov.

Despite Amhaz being in our hands, the analyst A. and her commanders are not at rest. "For us, the operation is not over," D. said. "We are still following the 'Secret Naval File,' and Nour al-Din, who stands at the head of the file, is still with us. To our understanding, he is still promoting this project, and perhaps other secret files as well, and it is important to us that he knows the account with him is open."

Q: By the way, did you meet Amhaz after he was brought to Israel?

D. said, "A. and I were in the same corridor with him, but we only looked at him. Interrogation is less our field. The unit responsible for his interrogation is 504, and there is a clear division between us. Even if Amhaz noticed us, he has no idea who we are and what our connection to him is."

A. said, "We saw him from a distance, but we did not speak with him."

Q: And how did it feel to see "The Captain" like that, face to face, after two years in which you tracked him from afar?

"Shocking," A. said. "Absolutely shocking."

The post How Hezbollah's '9/11' was thwarted appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The robot accomplishes all this in one place: the simulator. Nvidia's simulation world, Omniverse (the company's virtual environment platform), serves as the environment where robots are "born." It functions as a cognitive kindergarten where humanoid robots learn to walk, operate, understand, react, fall, and rise. Just as an infant develops cumulative motor and cognitive abilities, the robot learns within an artificial world governed by real-world physical laws.

The simulator generates thousands of situational variations: a glass falling at a different angle, a slightly higher step, weak lighting, a person crossing too quickly in the movement path – to teach the robot to react to as many scenarios as possible.

"If we want to build intelligence that understands the physical world and operates within it, we need to teach it in a world similar enough to reality so it can function within it safely, efficiently, and controllably," Rev Lebaredian, Nvidia's vice president of simulation technologies and Omniverse, said in an exclusive conversation with Israel Hayom.

A defining moment in the journey

Lebaredian joined Nvidia in 2002, after working in the film industry. Early in his career, he worked at production houses like Disney and Warner Bros., and later founded a startup developing advanced rendering technologies. In cinema, the rendering process transforms raw graphics into realistic images that appear as if filmed by a camera – a process that was particularly slow and demanding in the early 2000s, sometimes requiring hours of computation for each frame.

As part of his work, he contributed to creating effects in films like "Armageddon," "X-Men," "The Sum of All Fears," and Disney's "Mighty Joe Young," a film nominated for an Oscar for effects thanks to the digital gorilla character at the story's center.

In the early 2000s, Nvidia was primarily a gaming chip manufacturer, far from the AI giant it is today, valued at approximately $5 trillion. Lebaredian joined exactly when Nvidia's flagship product, the graphics processing unit (GPU), began transforming, and he accompanied the company from the crude computer games era of the early 2000s to today's AI revolution, changing the world at rapid speed.

"I joined Nvidia at a defining moment in its journey, precisely when we launched the ability to program shaders (programmable graphics functions) directly on the GPU. This significantly accelerated rendering capabilities, but more importantly, this was the moment the GPU opened for the first time to free programming. I worked then on the first programming language for graphics processors, CG, which became the first brick on the path to CUDA (Nvidia's parallel computing platform), the language dominating parallel computing today," he recounted.

Today, as head of the company's simulation division – Omniverse – Lebaredian is among the handful of senior executives leading simulation and physical intelligence at the company. Nvidia believes this field will drive the next major technological revolution, bringing artificial intelligence into the physical space of daily life. In this revolution, the division Lebaredian heads will have one of the most significant roles.

"Nvidia CEO and founder Jensen Huang said years ago that the most important algorithms will be those understanding the physical world and capable of influencing it," Lebaredian stated.

From language understanding to world understanding

Those algorithms Huang discussed years ago are materializing today in a new field of artificial intelligence: the world model. Just as a language model learns from billions of sentences to predict which word will come next with the highest probability, and thus essentially understand language, meaning, and context – a world model learns to predict what will happen next in the physical world. Namely, how an object will move, how force will affect, what will happen if a door opens too quickly, or where an object placed at this or that angle will roll.

"A world model is the central foundation of the next revolution: physical intelligence, meaning AI that understands not just words, but the universe," Lebaredian explained. According to him, this is a statistical model developing a probabilistic understanding of dynamic reality, not of text. This model will essentially be the robot's "brain," decoding the environment's visual information and knowing how to operate, where to turn to avoid an obstacle, and what force to apply to crack an egg while making an omelet, for example.

But to do this, it needs data of a type that doesn't exist on the internet. Not words, but material, movement, acceleration, friction, light, temperature, interactions, human environments, and physical infrastructures. The training process is fundamentally similar to that of language models – learning from countless examples and situations – except that here the examples must come from the physical world itself.

"The major problem with physical intelligence," Lebaredian explained, "is that we don't have a digital archive of physics. We need to capture it from reality – and that's expensive, dangerous, and limited. The solution is to recreate reality in simulation, and then produce synthetic data from it."

According to Lebaredian, Nvidia's simulation world is not merely a three-dimensional model. It is an engine of natural laws. A city where every lamppost, sidewalk, car, and tree branch is coded to behave as in reality. In this environment, a robot can walk thousands of simulated years in a short time, accumulating experience impossible in the real world.

Releasing the "genie" from the GPU

To understand Nvidia's role in the AI revolution and the magnitude of the mission the company placed on Lebaredian's shoulders, one must return to the story's beginning – and trace the development of one of recent decades' most influential components: the graphics processing unit.

This development did not amount to gradual increases in performance. This is deep evolution, where each new GPU generation changed the computer's very nature. To such an extent that some believe that without Nvidia, not only would a large language model not function at the required speed, but we might not have imagined the very possibility.

Language models, world models, and advanced robotics all feed on enormous parallel computing power, the kind that needed to be born before theoretical thinking about them became possible. Twenty years ago, the GPU was a dedicated graphics unit designed to accelerate computer games. It was designed as a "drawing machine," receiving a series of fixed commands defining how a three-dimensional object should appear on screen. All stages were rigid: how light falls, how reflection forms, whether the material is shiny or matte. The processor could execute these tasks quickly, but nothing existed beyond this.

"In the early 2000s, everything was very simple and limited," Lebaredian recalled. "You couldn't write your own code. Performance was high, but flexibility didn't exist." According to him, the field's first significant revolution occurred when Nvidia opened the shading stage to programming. Instead of built-in models, developers could write their own functions, recreate light and material laws, and build graphic worlds as they imagined them. The change then appeared as a breakthrough for the gaming world alone, but in practice, it freed the GPU from its initial engineering constraints.

The drawing machine became a machine that understood somewhat more about how the world behaves. The hardware ceased being a black box and became an open platform. This was the moment the seed was planted that later became a computing superplatform.

"I've been at Nvidia for 23 years," Lebaredian said, "and almost throughout this entire period, the company has dealt with the question of what else the GPU can be beyond what it was designed for."

"Far beyond what we imagined"

Lebaredian recounted that as shader programs became more flexible, more and more developers identified potential within the GPU far exceeding graphics. Thus, for example, academic researchers began using the graphics processor for physics calculations – they took the same shading function that calculates light and adapted it to compute airflow, water movement, or particle dynamics. The graphics processor's essence as a computer with powerful parallel computing capabilities gradually became clear.

"We saw researchers using it for things completely unrelated to graphics – physical simulations, fluid dynamics, molecules. This was the moment we understood our processors could serve far beyond what we imagined," he stated.

At this stage, Nvidia understood it must change direction and give this computing body a new form. In 2006, CUDA (Nvidia's parallel computing platform) launched, a software environment allowing regular code to run on the GPU. No more disguising scientific problems as graphics, no more manipulating textures or pixels – but a complete computer capable of processing large arrays, running loops, and executing complex algorithms quickly. Historically, this was the turning point at which the GPU ceased to be a graphics accelerator and became a general-purpose computing engine.

The network that learned to "see"

Here arrived another defining moment in the development of artificial intelligence, made possible by Nvidia's programming language. AlexNet – that groundbreaking 2012 neural network learning to identify objects in images with high accuracy like cats, dogs, cars – ran on CUDA. AlexNet marked the beginning of the past decade's computer vision era, with countless applications from smart security cameras to facial recognition systems in smartphones. That same processor, previously drawing shadows, became a machine learning model to identify complex patterns – learning to "see."

Here, it became clear how critical this link was. Those telling AI's history usually emphasize algorithmics but almost always ignore the fact that behind all this stood infrastructure that realized the vision: parallel computation of enormous data quantities at speeds and prices that enabled the very idea of large models.

In a sense, had the GPU not first freed itself from its graphic constraints, we might not have been able to think about a language model as a feasible project. In retrospect, the GPU appears to have undergone the most dramatic transformation chain in computing history: from drawing machine to scientific computer, from graphics accelerator to global AI engine, and from imaging system to virtual reality source, raising the next generation's robots.

Nvidia did not merely improve the GPU. It reinvented it repeatedly until it became the foundation supporting today's entire artificial intelligence revolution – and likely will be tomorrow's as well. "We are only at the beginning of the process of creating foundational world models. No one will 'own' them or be their exclusive owner – this is a project all humanity will need to contribute to," Lebaredian concluded.

The post How Nvidia plans to teach AI to live in the real world appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Throughout the year he was held captive, Imad Amhaz, "The Captain," methodically laid out the complete picture behind one of Hezbollah's most secret and well-funded initiatives – a strategic, creative, and ambitious project that received the name "The Secret Maritime File." Only now can the existence of this underground project be revealed for the first time, along with new details about the commando operation to kidnap Amhaz from the heart of Lebanon – a daring and extraordinary operation that, due to the torrent of war events, remained buried in the depths of memory. Until now.

Nothing about the apparent IDF naval commando raid on Batroun to capture a single mid-level Hezbollah commander Imad Amhaz adds up.

The IDF doesn't seem to lack info from inside Hezbollah, and they have not been shy about eliminating targets with F-16s as they find them. Could… pic.twitter.com/MVVNbozbG4

— Saul Sadka (@Saul_Sadka) November 2, 2024

The codename: Jarih

A. is a 23-year-old woman, slim and quiet. If you passed her on the street, you wouldn't imagine she was the primary person responsible for one of the war's most impressive operations. She began her career as an "Arabist" in Unit 8200 and later transferred to Naval Intelligence as an analyst. Today, she's a permanent service member with the rank of staff sergeant, whose job is to track anyone who could pose a threat to Israeli Navy vessels.

The Israeli Navy's Shayetet 13 commando unit carried out a raid in northern Lebanon last night, capturing a Hezbollah official, the military confirms.

The Hezbollah operative, Imad Amhaz, is considered by the IDF to be a "significant source of knowledge" in the terror group's… pic.twitter.com/21GZJGcgkh

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 2, 2024

 "At Naval Intelligence, we have operational methods and capabilities that allow us to search for almost anyone's traces," she says.

At the end of 2021, A. began tracking a mid-level Hezbollah operative named Imad Amhaz, whose codename in the organization was Jarih. Amhaz, 39, a Shiite native of the Bekaa Valley, joined Hezbollah as an operative in 2004. In 2007, he completed a several-month military course in Iran, and upon returning to Lebanon, joined Unit 7900 – Hezbollah's shore-to-sea missile unit – as a radar operator. Since the Second Lebanon War and the fatal strike on the INS Hanit, this unit has greatly troubled Naval Intelligence personnel. He managed to assist the Assad regime forces in the Syrian civil war, and his brother was also a Hezbollah operative as a fighter in the Radwan Force.

In retrospect, it would become clear that a few months before A. began focusing on him, Amhaz was chosen as the central axis of Hezbollah's ambitious and secret project. Amhaz, it was decided at the organization's leadership level, would become the captain of "The Secret Maritime File" – "a strategic project, very secret, an event that could have changed the situation against us and also against other countries," says Colonel A., head of the Intelligence Division in the Navy.

"We can grab him"

After two years of surveillance, Naval Intelligence understood there was an opportunity to kidnap Amhaz and bring him for interrogation in Israel. "I realized we could grab him," says A., who initiated the idea. Her proposal advanced up the approval ladder with dizzying speed and received the prime minister's approval as well.

Naturally, the unit chosen to execute the kidnapping was Shayetet 13, the Navy's elite commando unit, which seemed born precisely for operations of this type. The Shayetet took the mission with both hands, extracted from A. all the intelligence she had to provide about Amhaz and his daily routine, and within just a few weeks prepared a detailed raid plan.

The plan was executed in early November 2023 and carried out with stunning success. Amhaz was kidnapped from the apartment where he was staying, approximately 140 kilometers north of the Israeli border, without a single shot being fired.

The full article will be published this weekend on the website and in the "Israel This Week" section.

The post The raid that exposed Hezbollah's secret naval plot appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

However, in 1975, when she was 10 years old, her life was turned upside down. "The fear of dying shaped my worldview more than anything," Gabriel, an American journalist and author, said in an exclusive interview. "My September 11 or October 7 happened when a combined force of Palestinians and Muslims bombed my family's home. I was injured and hospitalized, and we found ourselves living in a shelter.

"I remember running to the shelter almost every night at the beginning of the Civil War, and the sounds of bombs around us. We expected death every day. We lived in constant fear. One day, we heard that our town was about to be attacked, and that our Christian militia would not hold the line. I remember putting on my burial clothes and waiting to be slaughtered. I wanted to look beautiful when I was dead, knowing that when they came to slaughter me, there would be no one to bury me. At this stage, I was 13, and I didn't plan to go to college or think about any future, because I didn't believe I would live to age 20."

Tragedy, ultimately, saved the Lebanese girl from additional, larger tragedies. Her mother was wounded in an attack, and Hanaan (who later changed her name to Brigitte) accompanied her when she was taken for medical treatment in Israel. The experience at Ziv Medical Center in Safed was formative for her. The Israeli doctors treated all the wounded with endless dedication, which profoundly affected her opinion and her values.

Later, she settled in the US, and after the September 11 attacks, she established the organization ACT for America there, designed to curb Islamic extremism. In other words, she survived a tangible danger in her country - and dedicated her life to an activity no less dangerous.

And today, in an era when many prefer to avoid confrontation with Islamic extremism and ignore the threats it poses to the free world, Brigitte Gabriel is a rare figure: a woman who does not hesitate to stick to uncompromising truth, even when it costs her dearly, in a stubborn and dangerous struggle for the freedom of democratic societies.

The enormous political influence of her activity includes, among other things, legislation, public campaigns, and exhausting work with the American Congress. Honesty, courage, and willingness to stand against political currents and cultural fashions have become her hallmarks. In a world that prefers political correctness and caresses, she is the loud and clear voice of the uncomfortable truth. A voice that does not hesitate to declare that "Israel is the pillar of light of freedom in the Middle East."

When Gemayel wanted peace

As a daughter of a Christian family, she visited here for the first time even before her mother's injury. "It was in 1979 or 1980," she recalled. "We made contact with my father's uncles in Haifa and joined them at the 'Good Fence' (the border crossing between Israel and Lebanon during the civil war). We lived with them for a week in Haifa, on Hagefen Street, at the foot of Stella Maris, near the French consulate. My parents were full of admiration for Israel, for its progress and its beauty, and I also fell in love with Israel and with what I saw in it: the order, the cleanliness, the equality between women and men, the respect of the leaders for the citizens. All this was very, very different from war-torn Lebanon that I knew.

"I remember the emergency room at Ziv Hospital, which was full of wounded from Lebanon – Muslims, Christians, and Druze – alongside Israeli soldiers. The doctors treated everyone according to the severity of the injury. They didn't see political affiliation, religion, and not nationality. They saw human beings who needed help. I couldn't believe my eyes. For my mother, it was a life-saving experience. For me, it was a life-changing experience.

"The stay at the hospital changed the way I listen to information, the way I see people, and my understanding of the conflict. I saw up close the love, the compassion, and the desperate desire for peace among the Jews toward their neighbors. Israelis from all over the country came to help the Lebanese wounded."

She described all this in her book, a New York Times bestseller, "Because They Hate," which she describes as "a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the conflict and its human impact."

Q: As a daughter of a Christian family in Lebanon, did you understand the conflict in the country and its background?

"Yes. The Christians in Lebanon welcomed the Palestinians, gave them shelter and food, while no other Arab country wanted more refugees. Lebanon was the only country that absorbed a third wave of Palestinians. As a country with a Christian majority, we lived based on Judeo-Christian values of kindness, love, compassion, empathy, tolerance, and generosity - and what was the reward from the Palestinians? Massacre, hatred, killing, and intolerance.

"They wanted to use Lebanon as a base for attacks against Israel and to throw the Jews into the sea. And out of pure hatred, they were also willing to kill those who extended a loving hand to them. This is something we, Christians and Jews, don't understand. It's contrary to everything we believe in. Therefore, the Christians in Lebanon understood very well, and at a very early stage, what Israel is dealing with regarding the Palestinians. This is also the reason Lebanese Christians worked with Israel from 1975 until almost 2000, and why Bachir Gemayel, Lebanon's president-elect, was assassinated. He sought to bring peace between Lebanon and Israel."

Q: And what's happening there today, after Israel's war with Hezbollah? Does the possibility of an alliance with Lebanon's Christians still exist?

"Yes, but action must be taken quickly. My generation, the one that experienced the war before Hezbollah's brainwashing, which began in 2000, wants peace with Israel. Christians in Lebanon have much more in common with Israel than with other Arab countries. We share the same Judeo-Christian values.

"Many Christians aged 50 and above remember the friendship between Israel and Lebanon in the '70s and '80s. Many of them were also trained in Israel or by Israel. They remember how Israel stood by their side in the civil war, and their beloved president-elect, Bachir Gemayel, who wanted peace with Israel. Unfortunately, today Christians are led by fear of assassination, threats to their families' lives, and therefore they're afraid to speak.

"After Israel crushed Hezbollah and killed Nasrallah, I reached out to Lebanon's president-elect through a mutual friend, and proposed holding a private and secret meeting at my home in the US with an Israeli official, to begin drafting a peace agreement between Lebanon and Israel. I said that even if Lebanon isn't ready now, secret talks could begin and a framework could be prepared to be presented in two or three years. The answer was a big 'no.' They were afraid even to consider it. I hope that now, as they see what President Trump is doing with other Arab countries, they'll dare to move forward."

Q: As someone who fled civil war and persecution, do you also feel identification with the Palestinians?

"Palestinians, like Jews who were scattered across the world following persecution, live today in different countries with different passports. These people are not refugees – they are citizens of those countries. Children born and raised in those countries are not Palestinian refugees, and must not be viewed as such.

"Jews were expelled from Arab lands and dispersed throughout the world, including to Israel. There are more than one million Jewish refugees from Arab countries, and they live today in different countries and hold different citizenships. Their children are Americans, French, Canadians – not Yemenites, Egyptians or Iraqis. While they still celebrate their culture and cook their foods, they are proud citizens of the countries they live in. Palestinians, on the other hand, still call themselves refugees after four generations - even though they have lived in the West for decades, and their children and grandchildren are no longer connected to the land of Judea and Samaria or Gaza."

Convert or die

Since October 7, Gabriel has felt that Israel is losing the public relations battle, and offers explanations: "Jews try to speak for Israel using legal language and historical facts, and Palestinians use emotion to distort facts. Israel's spokespeople are usually middle-aged men with heavy Israeli accents, who go on air and start talking about this or that clause in UN Resolution 242. They present a logical argument.

"Palestinians, in contrast, talk about the suffering of children, and paint the conflict in graphic words. The moment people start to feel the child's pain, emotion takes over, and they stop listening to logic. This is why Israel loses the PR war. Israel needs more fluent women, speaking perfect English, who will tell stories about children in trauma."

Q: There are quite a few Jews today in international media, and yet Israel's side is barely heard. How do you explain this?

"They want to show both sides to prove they are decent people. Therefore, they invite their enemies on air and give them 50% of the time to present their claims. Palestinians, in contrast, play on one team –Q:  the Palestinian team. They will never give a platform to their enemies. Their time is dedicated 100% to Palestinian propaganda, and in addition, they receive another 50% of others' media time. I can't count how many times I was prevented from appearing on programs because of Jewish journalists who feared I was 'too tough' on Palestinians, and wanted someone 'less controversial.'"

Q: What, in your opinion, don't people in the West understand about Israel's struggle against terror?

"They simply don't perceive terrorists as terrorists. Western media calls them 'freedom fighters', 'an oppressed people fighting for freedom.' They don't understand the depth of hatred and the thirst for revenge in the Islamic world. The Muslim Middle East views Jews as 'najis', impurity according to the Quran, and requires them to convert to Islam or die. This is an idea so foreign to Western ears that they simply don't know how to deal with it. They don't understand why Israel 'kills and oppresses' people who supposedly 'just want freedom.'

"Israel is fighting extremist Islamist terrorists who hate Jews, Christians, and non-Muslims. Islam divided the world in two: 'Dar al-Islam' – the House of Islam (the Islamic nation and land), and 'Dar al-Harb' - the House of War (the land and peoples not yet conquered by Islam). ISIS, al-Qaida, al-Shabab, the Houthis, Boko Haram, Hamas, or any other name you choose for terror organizations - they all share the same ideology of hatred and intolerance toward everything non-Muslim. Israel holds the line in the Middle East, and helps us with intelligence and everything we need to defend ourselves and Western civilization from these jihadists."

Gabriel identifies the problem also among circles and figures from the conservative side in the US, like Tucker Carlson and his ilk. "People around the world tend to see reality through their own experience," she explains. "They're incapable of understanding that Palestinian mothers educate their children to die just to kill those they hate. That parents put an explosive belt on a child, send him to blow himself up at a checkpoint, and when he dies, they celebrate and name streets after him.

"Today even conservative voices in the US are turning their backs on Israel, because they pity 'innocent Palestinian women and children', and accuse Israel of 'genocide.' This is why our work in educating conservatives is so important. The good news is that American conservatives understand that Israel and the US share a common enemy – Islamic extremists."

Toxic algorithm

Q: You've been warning for years about the penetration of Islamist ideology into Western societies. Does it seem to you that the West has already awakened to the danger, or does denial still prevail?

"The West is beginning to wake up, especially after October 7. The pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas demonstrations, in which protesters in various Western countries tore their country's flag while waving PLO flags, shocked many. People in the West are now worried about Islamic penetration and the open expression of resentment toward the culture and host countries.

"Crime, lawlessness, property destruction, and demonstrations of resentment toward Western countries - all these are happening today in every major Western city, from Sydney to London, from New York to Paris. Muslim immigrants are not assimilating – they organize within their communities, create enclaves, and threaten the local way of life and the authorities."

Q: Do you identify a similarity between today's radical Islam and movements in Lebanon in the '70s and '80s?

"There is nothing new under the sun. In the '70s, Palestinians massacred Christians, slit throats, severed limbs, and stuffed them into mouths, tore children in half, and cut open the bellies of pregnant women. They did this in Turkey against the Armenians in the 19th century, in Lebanon, and two years ago in Israel. When I said this 25 years ago, people in the West didn't want to believe it and accused me of exaggeration. Now you in Israel understand it, because you lost family members and friends - and still, the world doesn't believe Palestinians are capable of such acts."

"One of the reasons for this is social media, which spreads propaganda. Most young Americans have no knowledge of the world. They don't know the history of their own country, much less the history of another country. People today get their news from Instagram, and not from reading newspapers or articles that explain the conflict. Everything is driven by emotion and fake images, which spread faster than truth, and the algorithm, of course, plays a central role in shaping consciousness, by feeding them only one point of view, and showing them more of what they want to hear - without exposing them to opposing opinion."

Q: You criticize the idea of multiculturalism when it becomes cultural relativism. What's the alternative you propose?

"The West must control immigration policy better. In the past, there were immigrants who chose to come to the West to be educated, build new lives, and assimilate into the new land. Today, they import people who didn't really want to immigrate to France or America because they were impressed by the culture, but also because of the benefits these countries offer.

"We have a new wave of immigrants arriving with a sense of entitlement. They don't just feel they have a right to enjoy our tax money – they demand that we adapt ourselves to their culture, to their way of life, to their way of thinking. They try to transform Western countries and the freedoms that enabled our prosperity into the same hellish countries they fled from. They demand that we limit our freedom of expression and our exchange of ideas so we don't offend them.

"So yes, we need fresh blood in our countries – it's good, it renews and brings ideas - but we must be selective about who enters and how we assimilate them, for everyone's benefit. Europeans ignored this problem for too long, and Europe has become Eurabia. They tried to silence everyone who warned. For years, people like me and othershave  warned against importing an ideology that completely clashes with Judeo-Christian values and with Western freedoms. The West's problem is that we project our Western values onto evil people who don't share them with us."

Q: Why, in your opinion, do many Western feminists remain silent about the oppression of women in Islamist societies?

"They're silent because if they speak, they'll have to criticize Islam as an oppressive religion. They'll have to discuss, for example, the marriage age, which is 9. In our culture, this is considered pedophilia. In Islam, the Prophet Muhammad married a 6-year-old girl and had sexual relations with her at age 9, and he is considered the perfect person whom every Muslim man tries to emulate. According to Islam, women are property of men, as stated in the Quran and hadith. If Western feminists want to talk about beating, rape, and oppression of women in Islamic countries, they need to look at the Quran and at the ideology driving such cultures, but they're incapable of doing this and connecting Islam to anything negative."

Q: Is there hope for reformist and moderate voices within Islam?

"Yes, there is hope, but many such voices are needed, and they need to speak about real reform – adapting the religion to the 21st century. The problem is that many of them don't truly understand the religion, and they're 'reformers' only in their imagination. Therefore, when radicals and moderates argue, the radicals win, because the law is on their side. While we view ISIS as something evil, they are actually implementing Islam as Muhammad himself did, including beheadings and throwing homosexuals off buildings."

Power brings respect

The October 7 massacre returned her to the horrors of childhood and triggered the post-traumatic stress disorder she has carried with her since then. She was in complete shock for five days. Only on October 12, while sitting in her hotel room, did she gather the strength to watch the news, and broke down.

"I knew I had to do something," Gabriel recalled. "I immediately posted my first video from the hotel. I wanted to come volunteer in Israel, but I understood I could help more through the media and my platforms. I reach 8 to 10 million people per day through them, and in the first two months of the war, my videos reached 50 million views. People copied and shared them. I did every possible interview. There were days when I did 14 interviews in a row, from 7 in the morning until 11 at night."

She was not surprised by the wave of pro-Hamas demonstrations after October 7. According to her, the massacre awakened the hidden antisemitism in the West, and Jews (in the diaspora) were more surprised by the demonstrations than other people. "Jews lived in denial. They thought that if they showed understanding to the enemy and neglected their own people, then the enemy, meaning Palestinians and Muslims, would love them and see how 'nice' they are. After October 7, they were forced to understand that they had very few friends outside the Jewish community – and people like me, whom the Jewish mainstream sought to distance, were the only ones trying to help."

Now, with Zohran Mamdani's victory in the New York City mayoral election (and following support from a Jewish governor and 30% of Jewish voters), Gabriel's thesis gains reinforcement. She predicts that Mamdani's win will be a disaster, and notes that the man is surrounded by Palestinian activists of the worst kind, like Linda Sarsour, who will serve in senior positions on his team.

Q: What message would you like to convey to Israelis who feel quite isolated in the world today?

"You will never be alone. There are good people in the world who will stand by your side, fight for you, and with you. There are those who see the truth clearly – and are willing to pay a personal price to defend you and your right to live in your Jewish state. Because of my uncompromising support for Israel, I lost my Lebanese community, I can't visit Lebanon, and I live with death threats against my family and me. I paid a heavy price, but I would do it again, because it's the right thing to do. This is how I was raised: to stand by good and fight evil."

The post The Lebanese woman helping Israel win appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

In short, an out-of-the-box framework is needed. Over the past week, the President's Residence has turned into a laboratory of ideas — what the high-tech world calls a "hackathon": everyone arrives with their own clever patent.

If I may also propose one, voluntarily: to craft a solution, one must first understand the problem.

In his pardon request, Netanyahu speaks of two key issues: the first is the rift in Israeli society, which the trial has deepened. The second is the diversion of the Israeli prime minister's precious time in the middle of a period of unprecedented security and diplomatic risks and opportunities.

One of his well-known opponents told me this week that the rift will not heal if Netanyahu receives a pardon. Rather, in the eyes of the opposition it would deepen, as it will forever seem that he received an unfair advantage from the President's Residence.

So, here is the proposal for how to have the cake and eat it too, more or less: Netanyahu was indicted in three cases. The gifts case — Case 1000 — considered by the prosecution to be the strongest and most muscular of them all. The conversations with Arnon Mozes — Case 2000 — for which the prosecution agreed to completely drop the charges as part of a plea deal. And the Bezeq-Walla affair — Case 4000. The court made its view clear when it recommended that the prosecution withdraw the bribery charge, but one of Herzog's great frustrations, which led him to consider a pardon, is the prosecution's proud refusal to even consider the recommendation, thereby prolonging the trial endlessly — and for no purpose.

The right step for the president to take is to pardon Netanyahu on the bribery charge in Case 4000 and the fraud and breach-of-trust charge in Case 2000. In doing so, he acts both beyond the strict letter of the law and within it. Herzog would essentially be giving presidential approval to what is nearly a legally established fact.

How does this serve the interests mentioned in Netanyahu's request? It's simple. Netanyahu has already finished testifying in Case 1000, and once he receives a pardon for the other two charges, his testimony would no longer be required, and he could devote himself fully to national duties. Even if a breach-of-trust charge remains in the Bezeq-Walla affair, his testimony could be spaced to once a week, avoiding the madness in which the IDF chief of staff meets with the prime minister until one in the morning on Sunday, because the next morning he starts three consecutive days of testimony.

This would not widen the national rift, because this is not a celebrity freebie. It would shorten the trial by more than a year, dramatically cut the time needed for closing arguments and the writing of the verdict, and lead to a faster judgment. Paradoxically, the pressure to reach a plea deal would only increase, because the moment of truth — with all the heavy risks it poses to both sides — would draw near. If the president cannot end this nightmarish film, he can at least press the fast-forward button.

"It's no longer yours"

Rain dripped through the burnt roof beams of Amit Soussana's house in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Already in November 2023, a month after the massacre and Amit's kidnapping, it was clear that not much would survive in the ruined homes without a comprehensive preservation plan.

More than two years have passed, and almost nothing has been done on the ground. Because even before the question of how to preserve, the question of whether to preserve arose. The residents of the three kibbutzim most devastated in the massacre — Be'eri, Kfar Aza, and Nirim — approached negotiations with the government with suspicion and mistrust. This is, after all, the government under whose watch they were slaughtered and kidnapped, and many in the kibbutzim did not want it or its representatives to determine how the massacre would be remembered.

This week, Kibbutz Be'eri voted on what and how to preserve. 102 members of the kibbutz were murdered by Hamas — a horrific number that put every option on the table, from preserving nothing to turning the entire kibbutz into a memorial site. By a vote of 196 to 146, they decided to preserve one house and demolish the rest. Another option discussed was moving the burned houses to the Nova festival site in Re'im with the same technique used to relocate the historic Sarona homes in Tel Aviv. Remembering and forgetting.

It is hard to characterize the identities of the "for" and "against" camps in a kibbutz where there is hardly a home without death. But residents noted that the main opposition to preserving more houses came from the Zeitim neighborhood, where many second-generation families with young children live. Their parents, who lived in the HaKerem neighborhood near the fence, were murdered in large numbers. The thought was that the grandchildren would not be able to run on the lawns with the smoking remains of their grandparents' homes behind them. Others voiced a similar sentiment: "We don't want to live in Yad Vashem."

How can one argue with someone whose experience is so horrific? Among government critics and members of the kibbutz, some nonetheless believe differently. A well-known left-wing public figure visited Be'eri recently. "It's no longer yours," he gently told them. "It belongs to the people of Israel." His words echoed what the American Secretary of War said at Abraham Lincoln's deathbed: "Now he belongs to the ages."

Is it possible to do both? One option proposed by the Heritage Ministry was called "the exception": only the houses near the fence would be preserved, creating a buffer from the rest of Be'eri; perhaps even the kibbutz fence would be moved. This way, visitors could come to the preserved homes in their original location without walking through the kibbutz itself.

Even after the vote, nothing is final. It turns out that under Israeli law, the final decision does not necessarily belong to the kibbutz residents. The Antiquities Law states that an "antiquity is a human-made asset from 1700 CE and earlier, of historical value, which the minister has declared an antiquity." The minister, the law says, may expropriate an antiquity site if expropriation is required for preservation or research. It is hard to think of late-20th-century kibbutz homes as "antiquities," but on the other hand, there is no doubt that even hundreds of years from now the events of that Simchat Torah morning will be remembered.

It is a tragic circle: Antiquities Authority staff worked in the homes, using archaeological methods to locate the remains of victims whose traces were almost gone. Now they may return as visitors to a historic site.

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu holds this authority. He faces several obstacles. The first: this clause has never been used. The second: Eliyahu is a rabbi from the Otzma Yehudit party, and such an action could be perceived as a forceful act of annexation and expropriation by a religious nationalist minister against secular kibbutzniks.

So Eliyahu is weighing the move. Perhaps others — those without a political stake or bias — should speak as well. For example, the President of Israel. This dilemma is not only that of Be'eri's residents or the minister; it is all of ours.

Beyond bad taste

I tried for two days not to comment on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and his Otzma Yehudit party's golden noose pin. I've finally cracked.

Everyone knows why a bride walks under her wedding canopy, and yet no one says so out loud. Everyone knows that to carry out an execution you need gallows, and yet a reasonable person would not wear a hangman's noose on his lapel. This is why the Israel Defense Forces—unlike certain German armies of years gone by—does not put skull emblems on its uniforms, even though the IDF is responsible for quite a few Hamas corpses.

The Minister of Environmental Protection wouldn't wear a golden toilet bowl even if she was responsible for public restrooms, just as the emergency response organization ZAKA's emblem is not body bags.

When Nazi Adolf Eichmann was executed in 1962, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion wanted the death penalty imposed—and yet, old-fashioned as he was, he didn't walk around with Ben Gvir's pin. A weak leftist, clearly.

Beyond the bad taste, beyond the enormous harm to Israel's image when a member of the coalition wears such an emblem, it reflects a misunderstanding. Someone here has gravely confused the means with the end. The death penalty is a means; protecting Jewish lives is the end. Or maybe, actually, for Ben Gvir, the end is increasing his Facebook likes?

A good faith deposit

One of Benjamin Netanyahu's skills is conveying something without ever saying it publicly, on camera, or on the record. For example, he never publicly spoke about a partnership with Ra'am, even though he courted Mansour Abbas and met him at his Balfour residence more than once. This allowed him to attack Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid for bringing Ra'am into their coalition.

And so, when he stood this week at the Knesset podium to defend the Haredi conscription law, it was a pivotal moment. For the ultra-Orthodox parties, the prime minister's statement was the closest thing yet to a public commitment to pass the law. Until now they suspected — after all, they know their client — that the goal was merely to buy time. Now they know he is with them.

In conversations in his office, Netanyahu is already asking what the political cost of the law might be at the ballot box. This week, for example, he wondered whether, if the legislation passes in a month and a half and elections are held six months later, that is enough time to move on to other topics. So yes, he wants a draft law, yes, he wants a budget, and yes — he prefers elections in September 2026.

Only one small question remains: how to get the law past the Supreme Court. After all, it became clear this week that Boaz Bismuth's bill will not be greenlit by the Knesset's legal adviser. In such a case, an interim order will likely strike down the law immediately after it is passed — so what's all the effort for?

Unless — contrary to all the angry denials — the Haredim have more wiggle room in negotiations than they admit, and there is a whole herd of goats hidden in it. In other words: what has been submitted is not even close to the limits of Shas and United Torah Judaism's concessions. After all, this week their demand to recognize civilian national service as part of the quota was taken away, and they still continued negotiating. The committee's legal adviser speaks about raising the quotas, and they are not flipping tables.

Even MK Meir Porush, who declared that this law "must be torn up," is not viewed within the coalition as someone who will vote against it. And anything torn, as we know, can be glued back together.

And even if it is struck down, Shas and UTJ have a paramount interest in passing a law so they can return to government ahead of an election cycle that could lead to another one, and another. Their need to pass a budget has also become sharper in light of the High Court's rulings. There are a thousand paths for money, and MK Moshe Gafni walks them with the skill of a Bedouin tracker. So they grit their teeth and keep going.

The post The magic formula for Netanyahu's pardon appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.