Magazine

As the literary elite boycotts Israel, Erri De Luca insists on returning to the origins of the word “Zionist” and is set to appear at the International Writers Festival in Jerusalem. In a special interview to Israel Hayom, the Neapolitan writer makes clear that he refuses to serve as decoration for Israel-haters, explains why he sent a DNA sample for ancestry testing, and reveals the one word in the Bible that, in his view, cannot be translated.

In a rather modest building somewhere in Israel, a startup in IDF uniform is developing technologies for soldiers on the front lines, including a new type of drone that troops today do not fight without.

James (not his real name) was a member of a gang that has been terrorizing Tel Aviv. Today, he is the first released prisoner without Israeli citizenship to undergo rehabilitation. Now he talks about his life of crime ("I stole from a different store every day") and tries to persuade the IDF chief of staff: Let me enlist.

MKs Simcha Rotman and Yulia Malinovsky, from rival camps, describe how a two-and-a-half-year partnership built the law that puts October 7 terrorists on trial.

Although it may sound far-fetched, the prime minister is convinced that the possibility of the ultra-Orthodox parties joining a center-left government is on the table, and he is fighting to prevent it. In his “60 Minutes” interview, Netanyahu’s truly interesting and important answer was missed. 

Journalist Jonathan Sacerdoti came on a British television program to talk about Jews being stabbed. He left having spent most of the segment defending Israel from accusations of genocide. In an interview with Israel Hayom, he says British Jews have stopped asking whether to leave – and started planning how.

Had Trump allowed Israel one final operation in Iran, the IDF would have chosen to destroy the uranium. The Mossad, by contrast, would have chosen an all-out effort to stir Iranians into action and topple the regime. The question is whether the Israeli intelligence agency’s plan, which included an attempt to mobilize the Kurds, is realistic, or a fantasy with zero chance of success.

From Operation Pillar of Defense to Operation Roaring Lion, the pattern is always the same: ceasefires with terrorist organizations are temporary by design – and the terrorists know it.

After years of maneuvering and bombings, politics in its purest form is back in Israel: from the Bennett-Lapid alliance waiting for Eisenkot, to Liberman declaring that he will be prime minister, to Bennett’s former partner, who is polling at a seat and a half and remains politically homeless for now. And does Herzog sometimes, just sometimes, think it would not have been so terrible had Miriam Peretz won the presidential election?

Morgan Ortagus, former deputy envoy to the Middle East, opens up about her Jewish conversion, the Israeli-Lebanese talks she helped broker, and why October 7 changed everything.