The Australian government has consistently claimed that alongside its criticism of Israel's policy in Gaza, it provides full protection to Jews in the country. That promise collapsed on Sunday with the attack at Bondi Beach, one of Sydney's most iconic locations. The Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony targeted in the attack was known in advance, and yet did not receive adequate protection. Beyond the failure to secure the event itself, Australian intelligence services also failed to identify the perpetrators and prevent the attack ahead of time.

These two failures demand attention not only for the purposes of investigation, but above all for drawing lessons, in Australia and beyond. World Jewry, including Israelis living abroad, is now facing an unprecedented level of danger, perhaps the most severe since the Holocaust. Growing criticism of Israel in many countries has unleashed widespread antisemitism, which, together with increasing Muslim influence, is manifesting in a sharp rise in both physical and verbal violence against Jews and Israelis.

At the local level, this requires heightened preparedness and vigilance by Jewish communities and, of course, by local police forces. Events known in advance, as well as permanent sites such as Jewish schools and synagogues, are at high risk. But physical security is not enough. It is the last line of defense, and one that can always be breached. It is preceded by intelligence that require close monitoring and supervision of risk factors. Democratic countries are generally reluctant to do this, out of concern for civil liberties, but it seems they now have no choice. Just as Western states were forced to adapt their intelligence monitoring and physical security during the peak of Islamic State terrorism in the previous decade, they are now required to act in order to protect their Jewish citizens.

Israel, too, has a role to play in this effort. As the nation state of the Jewish people, Israel has a deep and genuine obligation to Jews everywhere. It is duty bound to work to protect them, just as it protects Israelis at home. This is a more complex mission given geographic and physical constraints, but one Israel has bridged in the past in a variety of ways, most notably through intelligence cooperation between the Mossad and the Shin Bet and their counterparts, in order to track suspects and thwart attacks.

However, what worked for decades against a limited threat, primarily from states and organized terrorist groups, is less relevant given the scale of the current danger. It appears Israel must rethink how it responds to the significant challenge now before it. This task is several orders of magnitude larger than the remit of the Mossad's "Bitzur" unit, which is responsible for the issue. It cuts across government ministries and security agencies and requires engagement at a national level as a real operational front: the eighth front, alongside the seven active fronts of war Israel is currently managing in the Middle East.

Against this backdrop, it was striking that the Israeli government continued with its routine on Sunday as if nothing had happened. For all the importance of the meeting at which a framework agreement was signed in Dimona, it is doubtful that such a celebratory event would have gone ahead had 15 Israelis been murdered in a terrorist attack inside Israel. The fact that the prime minister, who devoted only a few words to the attack at the start of his speech, proceeded as planned to the inauguration of a neighborhood named after his brother Yoni further proves the disconnect from the magnitude of the event and from the scale of the danger it poses to Jews worldwide.

An emergency cabinet meeting would have been important at the declarative level, to signal to Jews everywhere that they have a state and a government that stands behind them and protects them. More importantly, it was needed at the practical level, to issue operational directives to the relevant ministries (Foreign Affairs, Defense, Diaspora Affairs, Aliyah) and to the security services. Israel has no shortage of tools to confront this unprecedented threat. The worst possible outcome would be for Jews in the diaspora to feel abandoned twice: by their own governments and by Israel.

A proposal that smells of evasion

Two final points. First, at the height of the unfolding horror, as reports from Sydney began to pour in, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and other ministers chose to focus on what they evidently regarded as a far more important issue: the High Court of Justice ruling blocking the dismissal of the attorney general. Levin's determination to dismantle the judicial system is well known, but on Sunday he outdid even his own previous lows.

Second, the decision to launch, of all days, the proposal to establish a civilian commission of inquiry into the failures of October 7 was outrageous on three counts. First, because of its timing, so close to the deadly attack in Sydney. Second, because Sunday marked day 800 of the war, the last moment when such a deeply divisive proposal should have been raised. And third, because the proposal itself reeks of an effort by the government to evade responsibility for the disaster that occurred on its watch.

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For years, Saad topped Israel's target list, evading numerous assassination attempts until Saturday's successful strike. Together with Izz al-Din Haddad, who now leads Hamas' military apparatus in Gaza, he stood as the sole survivor among the organization's pre-war senior leadership and among the handful who knew the intimate details of Hamas' assault blueprint, which Israel designated "Wall of Jericho" (Hamas's operational code for the October 7 attack).

Israel justified Saad's elimination by pointing to his ongoing efforts to reconstitute Hamas' capabilities and an explosive device that injured two reserve soldiers near the southern Strip on Friday. Yet these explanations appear tailored for Washington's consumption: The authentic motivation boils down to a score Israel had to settle with him – or stated plainly, vengeance.

By Saturday evening, Hamas had yet to acknowledge Saad's death. The silence might reflect internal disarray, though questions remain whether the organization retains meaningful retaliatory capacity. Hamas has hemorrhaged most of its military strength alongside its military and civilian leadership throughout the war, leaving it organizationally shattered. Currently it channels its remaining resources toward consolidating control over the Strip's western sector, which stays under its authority. Israel presumably factored this weakness into its assassination calculus, which earned unanimous backing from the diplomatic-security establishment's uppermost echelons.

The singular gamble Israel appears to have accepted concerns the Washington administration. Saad's elimination provides Israel an opportunity to gauge President Donald Trump's temperature, for whom the Gaza accord stands as his first presidential term's marquee diplomatic accomplishment. Trump recently pressed Israel to throttle back its Gaza operations, affording space for the agreement's advancement; if he refrains from erupting now, Israel can interpret his silence as tacit authorization to persist in eliminating Gaza's senior hierarchy, mirroring its Lebanon approach.

Hamas will naturally strive to derail this trajectory, mobilizing its Qatari and Turkish sponsors hoping they'll persuade Trump to muzzle Israel. This contest for the president's attention – and by extension his policy direction – will dictate Gaza's near-term landscape. Israel seeks maximum postponement of transitioning to Phase 2, apprehensive it will mandate further withdrawals absent fundamental shifts in Gaza's circumstances. It partially attributes delays to Hamas' failure to return fallen hostage Ran Gvili, with Hamas contending that Israeli intelligence leads proved fruitless in pinpointing his location.

Three unpalatable paths

Meanwhile, Americans wrestle with assembling a multinational contingent to shoulder Gaza's security burden and execute its demilitarization. Simultaneously, mobilizing the billions required for the Strip's reconstruction proceeds at glacial speed: precisely as before, a chasm yawns between verbal pledges and written commitments. Trump must deploy his full leverage extracting promised funding – including from prosperous nations, principally Saudi Arabia – lest he grow tempted to embrace Qatari financing once more.

This tangle poses difficulties for Israel by generating three unpalatable paths. First, the grandiose promises yield nothing and Hamas continues governing overtly. Second, Americans declare victory prematurely, accepting a phantom governing structure masking Hamas' continued dominance. Third, the accord disintegrates entirely, forcing Israel back into comprehensive Gaza combat – bearing its physical, economic and diplomatic toll.

Israel will likely endeavor provisionally, at least publicly, to afford the agreement implementation opportunities as Trump desires. The assassination will be rationalized, as noted, through immediate operational necessity, simultaneously insisting Hamas cease its ongoing violations. Meanwhile, deliberately avoiding excessive administration irritation and projecting restraint, Israel shelved plans Friday to strike Hezbollah installations in Lebanon.

Israel maintained the scheduled operation was aborted because the Lebanese Armed Forces requested (and obtained) the intended target and pledged to address it independently. This signals encouragingly that threats of escalating military pressure toward renewed warfare are producing results, propelling the Lebanese Armed Forces toward action. Prudence nevertheless counsels withholding definitive conclusions: presently the probability of another Hezbollah confrontation remains elevated, merely deferred temporarily.

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The Trump administration says it is close to completing preparations for the next phase of the Gaza plan. It is unclear what exactly those preparations include, or how they are meant to secure Israel's two core interests: removing Hamas from its centers of power and dismantling its military infrastructure. The Americans are establishing an impressive command center in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel under US Central Command, yet there appears to be a considerable gap between their sweeping ambitions and what can realistically be executed on the ground.

Meanwhile, Hamas is also dragging its feet on the return of Ran Goeili, the last fallen soldier abducted and still held in Gaza. Israeli officials acknowledge that information about his fate is lacking, but they are pressing Hamas, as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which apparently killed and kidnapped him on October 7, to intensify efforts to locate him. Israel may soon face a decision on whether to move ahead even before Goeili is brought home.

Lebanon

All signs indicate that Israel is fast approaching the limits of what it is willing to tolerate as Hezbollah renews its entrenchment in southern Lebanon. A glance at international media, which appears to be fed by deliberate leaks from Israel, suggests that preparations are underway for a broad operation that will likely include a ground maneuver alongside the ongoing air activity, parts of which are already taking place.

The American and French administrations have so far asked Israel to delay such an operation in hopes of pressuring the Lebanese government to enforce its own decision to disarm Hezbollah. Last week did see a symbolic move, with Israeli and Lebanese representatives meeting in Naqoura, but it is doubtful this will be enough to stop the planned operation, which may be postponed until after the upcoming meeting between Trump and Netanyahu.

Trump

Netanyahu no longer hides his efforts to influence the American president to increase pressure on Israeli President Isaac Herzog regarding a pardon. The English-language video he released on Thursday night, following a phone call between the two leaders, was another troubling indication of what now occupies the prime minister's mind, and of the dangerous, improper conflation of his personal interests with those of the state.

Israel has a long list of far more consequential issues to address with Trump, all of which take precedence over Netanyahu's legal troubles, which, judging by recent discussions, seem far from collapsing. From Gaza and Lebanon to Iran's renewed efforts to expand its missile arsenal, from Israel's diplomatic difficulties and rising antisemitism to the urgent need to finalize continued American defense assistance for the decade beginning after Trump's term ends, the agenda is overwhelmingly weighty. This matter carries enormous economic and especially strategic significance, given that the US is the Israel Defense Forces' primary weapons supplier.

The Mossad

Tensions among current and former Mossad personnel have not subsided following the appointment of Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, Netanyahu's military secretary, as the next Mossad director. Phrases such as "a slap in the face to the organization" and "irresponsible" were heard widely, reflecting concerns that an external appointee was favored over three highly qualified internal candidates, and especially that Gofman lacks any relevant experience for the Mossad's missions.

Criticism has also been directed at Netanyahu's motives. Following his appointment of David Zinai as Shin Bet chief, it appears the prime minister aims to reshape Israel's security agencies through their leaders into instruments fully beholden to him, much like in authoritarian regimes. Although Netanyahu vows to safeguard democracy, his actions, including the judicial overhaul initiative and attempts to weaken the media, suggest very different intentions.

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Well, not quite. A question mark now hovers over New York, larger and brighter than any lit Christmas tree. His name is Zohran Mamdani, and he brings with him troubling uncertainty to a city that needs certainty more than anything else. "We'll have to wait and see what happens," Hillary Clinton said when I asked her about Mamdani at the Israel Hayom conference held Tuesday in New York. Others were more direct. Sylvan Adams said Mamdani is a "Trojan horse" supported by Qatar.

The election of Mamdani reflects deep currents that may not have been fully understood. There is protest against the establishment, protest against the cost of living, and more than anything, there is a clear cry from the younger generation. Among voters under 30, Mamdani received a share of the vote reminiscent of Assad in his better days in Syria. True, this is Democratic New York, but it would be a mistake to treat his election as a local event: Mamdani represents something, and that something is very concerning for the US, for American Jews, and for the State of Israel.

Our tendency in Israel is to think that Trump will sort everything out. And if not, AIPAC will pull whatever levers are needed and sort everything out. In short, everything will be okay. The problem is that reality signals to us in every possible way that things are not okay. Not only because Trump will not remain president forever, and even within the Republican Party, there are today quite a few voices openly distancing themselves from Israel, but because Israel – always a protected flower in the American political discourse – has turned into a poisonous fruit.

This is especially evident among young people. Clinton said that half of Americans now consume news from social media (most of them young, of course), and on social media, the anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish discourse dominates. A prominent representative of this phenomenon is the popular and ultra-conservative host Tucker Carlson, whom Gilad Erdan aptly described this week as "Qatar Carlson," hinting at his harmful and dangerous influence.

This influence steadily seeps into the mainstream media as well. Last month, during a short visit to Chicago, a Jewish congressional candidate told me that in an interview he gave to the media, out of six questions asked, four were about Israel. And this is someone meant to represent his district with all its residents and their issues, of which Israel is probably the last of them.

It is unclear how far the phenomenon will expand geographically within the US and ideologically in its radicalism. But after Mamdani's election, it's clear that nothing can be ruled out. Not even that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. Clinton, who a decade ago led the party and ran as its presidential candidate, did not hide her dissatisfaction with what's happening in her former political home. Still, she said, Israel would be mistaken to think its problem in the US is partisan: it's generational.

And Israel is doing nothing about this problem. Erdan, who served as ambassador to the UN and Washington and knows a thing or two about the subject, said it's a "failure of the government." Clinton was sharper, saying that among all the bodies she has encountered in her life, "Israel has the worst public relations." One could interpret her remarks in two ways. One, that the world is so hypocritical and biased that it readily embraces any anti-Israel idea. The second, that Israel simply does public diplomacy poorly. If I may interpret Clinton, she meant both just in reverse order: Israel does poor public diplomacy, and does not make it difficult for the world (hypocritical and biased as it is) to embrace any anti-Israel idea.

There is no way to explain this failure, whose consequences are destructive across every time frame and every relevant group (Israelis, Jews, and foreigners alike). It's unclear why the government doesn't wake up and act to recruit the best forces – and there are excellent forces on both sides of the ocean – into a war plan that would be launched immediately, backed by technology, government, and private funding. Qatar is doing exactly this to blacken Israel's image, and there is no reason for Israel to leave the field empty. It's time to launch a counteroffensive before the situation truly gets out of control.

This message arose from many conversations held at and around the conference in New York. It stood out particularly against the backdrop of the strong connection between American Jewry and Israel, and the strong connection between the current American establishment and Israel. It was impossible not to be moved by the warm embrace, a product of a long war and deep concern. And if there is one message that should have traveled from New York to Jerusalem, it is this: wake up.

The news from Israel doesn't really relent, even in New York. Here, a Syria incident with reservists wounded in an encounter with members of an extremist jihad organization; there, an incident in Gaza with Golani reconnaissance fighters wounded in an encounter with Hamas operatives who emerged from a tunnel. Both fronts naturally occupied the conference attendees. Clinton said Israel must not allow Hezbollah to reestablish itself in Lebanon. The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, spoke of the freedom of action Israel has in Gaza.

Behind the scenes, the Americans sought to understand where Israel is heading. They are convinced that Netanyahu intends to heat up all fronts. First Lebanon. Then Gaza. And later Iran. It seems this sentiment also emerged from the quotes Barak Ravid brought on Channel 12 News from the phone call between Trump and Netanyahu, in which Trump reportedly asked Netanyahu to calm things down.

It's not certain that the Americans care about all fronts equally. For now, the White House's "baby" is the regime in Syria, and it wants to allow it to stabilize. One needs a heavy dose of optimism or naivety to believe anything good can come out of this Syria, headed by an arch-terrorist and backed by Erdogan's Turkey. Therefore, it is good that Israel is suspicious. However, it might want to poke fewer eyes: Netanyahu's visit to the Syrian Golan last week had no real security value, and was entirely for PR for political purposes (and to dodge another day of testimony in his trial).

In Gaza, too, Washington asks Israel not to touch it. Meaning: to touch only what directly threatens it, and even then only moderately. Don't go crazy, don't blow up the agreement. The Americans still believe it will be possible to move to the next stage of the agreement, in which Gaza will be demilitarized and rebuilt under foreign forces and a non-Hamas administration. Blessed is the believer, though in the meantime, the Americans are beefing up the headquarters they established in Kiryat Gat to oversee what's happening in Gaza (where Hamas is steadily fortifying its power).

In Lebanon, the situation is different. A year after the cease-fire agreement, the Lebanese army is not truly fulfilling its part in effectively taking control of southern Lebanon, which includes dismantling Hezbollah's military infrastructure. Israel is indeed operating and threatening to significantly expand the campaign, but it is not enough to stop Hezbollah's rebuilding activity. In recent weeks, it seemed almost every moment that the die had been cast, and yet Israel granted additional opportunities for a change of course. This waiting period will likely last at least until after the planned meeting between Netanyahu and Trump, expected to take place before Christmas.

Security issues are good for Netanyahu: they are his forte and help distance him from the political and legal swamp. Yet it is hard to escape the disturbing sense that these issues are intertwined. In his conversation with Trump, Netanyahu asked the president to press again on the pardon issue. The American president, as noted, asked to calm things down in Syria and Gaza. One could claim there is no connection between the matters, but the fact that they were raised in the same conversation is the crudest, most blatant, most improper mixing of international and personal matters, of security and criminal issues, of the State of Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu.

The topic of pardon also reached New York. The Americans (and Israelis) wanted to know how the president of Israel would act. No one had a good answer, because it seems President Isaac Herzog himself has yet to decide. Here, too, an uncomfortable feeling hangs in the air about how things are being handled: from Netanyahu's request, not submitted in the proper manner, to Herzog's poor response.

Herzog should have sent Netanyahu to the Attorney General. She is the authority authorized to conduct such negotiations. That would also have shown whether Netanyahu's intentions to focus on healing and unity were serious, or empty words like so many things he has said regarding his trial. For example, that he could be prime minister while conducting a criminal trial at the same time, or that he was determined to conduct his trial to the end to prove his innocence. These are not Netanyahu's first lies, nor his worst. To rely on an old Supreme Court ruling, such statements by Netanyahu were "truths of the moment."

This week, Herzog canceled a meeting with Yair Golan, who said it was clear to him how Herzog's father would have handled such a pardon request (throwing it out entirely). Herzog was offended, but Golan is right. There is no chance that Chaim Herzog would have cooperated with the current madness, which bears no resemblance to the Bus 300 affair in which the elder Herzog granted a pardon to senior Shin Bet officials. There, the involved parties acted (improperly) for the good of the state and gained nothing from it; here, Netanyahu acted for his personal and political benefit, and the State of Israel gained nothing. There, the involved parties accepted responsibility and guilt and resigned; here, Netanyahu refuses to accept responsibility or guilt and demands to continue as if nothing happened.

In a normal world, this request should indeed have been thrown out entirely, because all are equal before the law, first and foremost, the prime minister. But our world is not normal, and the defendant has done everything to blacken the justice system (and then claim the public has no trust in it), exactly as he did regarding the state inquiry commission and other matters. Therefore, if Netanyahu seeks correction, the correction should begin with what he gives and not with what he gets. First, the draft-dodging law should be repealed, and immediate conscription of the ultra-Orthodox should begin. And the laws against the justice system and the media should be repealed. And a state inquiry commission should be established. And overdue responsibility for October 7 should be taken. And he should give an interview: a real interview, with real questions and real answers.

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The Mossad is not a political posting. It is a profession. The same is true of the Shin Bet. Yet in both cases Netanyahu appears to have mistaken a senior army rank for professional suitability. Just as Zini lacked the qualifications to head the Shin Bet, Gofman lacks the qualifications to lead the Mossad. His IDF resume is impressive, but it has nothing to do with the work of the Mossad. He has never held an intelligence position, nor has he handled special or covert operations. Over the past year and a half he may have observed such missions as military secretary, but that is far from true expertise.

In the past, the Mossad has at times been led by commanders from outside the organization. Meir Amit, who previously headed the IDF Intelligence Directorate; Zvi Zamir, formerly head of the Southern Command; Yitzhak Hofi, former head of the Northern Command; Danny Yatom, a former head of the Central Command; and Meir Dagan, who had served as deputy head of Operations and as a corps commander. All arrived with far more relevant military experience than Gofman, whose current role is his first as a major general. Most of those external appointments were made in difficult periods when the Mossad lacked a natural internal successor.

That is not the case today. Since Meir Dagan stepped down, the Mossad has been led by three strong directors, Tamir Pardo, Yossi Cohen and David Barnea, each of whom strengthened the agency's standing and capabilities. Barnea cultivated three candidates to replace him, including two of his deputies. Netanyahu would have needed a very strong reason to overlook them. He had none, especially when several of them were involved in the very operations Netanyahu himself has touted over the past two years, from the pager operation in Lebanon to the elimination of senior operatives in terrorist organizations and various achievements in Iran.

Gofman's appointment is not only a slap in the face to the internal candidates. It is a vote of no confidence in the Mossad as a whole, despite Netanyahu's frequent praise for the agency. It is no surprise that tempers are boiling in the Mossad's headquarters, from the director general's office downward. Inside the agency, the feeling was that Netanyahu made this call brazenly, without even the pretense of a struggling organization that requires outside intervention, as he claimed with the Shin Bet. This was a purely personal appointment, rooted in the interests of one man rather than the interests of an entire country.

Anyone searching for a silver lining may find it in the IDF, where some breathed a sigh of relief. In recent weeks rumors circulated that Netanyahu was considering a reshuffle that would end with the dismissal of IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, and Gofman being appointed in his place. That will not happen for now, but Zamir surely knows that nothing is final. The power base Gofman built for himself in the Prime Minister's Office will be something his successor is likely to preserve, knowing it could ultimately pave the way to a coveted position. All that is required along the way is personal loyalty, and everything else be damned.

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Video: Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal / Credit: The Israel Hayom Summit / Credit: Flowmotion

The two men, best friends since infancy, described a "kinship of survival" that saw them through physical atrophy, sexual abuse, and the psychological torture of the tunnels, emerging with a bond that they say is unlike anything possible in normal life. 

Guy and Evyatar have known each other since they were one year old. Although Guy moved from Kfar Saba when he was seven, their friendship persisted through years of sleepovers and shared milestones. But following their abduction from the Supernova music festival on October 7, 2023, that friendship became a lifeline. 

"It just got upgraded to a new level in captivity," Guy said. 

Evyatar described a dynamic of total selflessness in the face of starvation. "It was a kinship of survival. Everything we got, we just split in two," he said, noting that he would often try to give more to Guy than he kept for himself. "Everything was shared." 

Host Yoav Limor noted the profound non-verbal communication between the two men, observing that they seemed to "talk with their eyes" and never trampled on one another's dignity.

"In captivity, it got an entirely different and deeper meaning," Evyatar responded. "It became something that it wasn't before, that you cannot forge in real life."

The horror of the tunnels

The pair offered harrowing details regarding their physical condition during their confinement. Guy described a period where they resembled "skeletons," their bodies shutting down from malnutrition and immobility.

"I had atrophied muscles in my shoulders. For a month, I would just sit hunched, and I couldn't move my shoulders," Guy recalled. "It was too painful to use my shoulders."

Video: Guy Gilboa-Dalal eats chocolate / Credit: Courtesy

The physical deterioration required them to rely on one another for the most basic human needs. Guy shared that he lost the ability to dress himself. "Evyatar had to lower my pants down when I went to the bathroom and then pull them up again," he said. The cold was so intense that they would forgo showers just to try to keep warm. "We would clean ourselves, including our crotch with wipes, he would do that for me because I could not move my shoulders." 

In one of the most difficult moments of the panel, Guy revealed the specific brutality he faced at the hands of his captors.

"I was sexually assaulted by the terrorist who guarded me twice," Guy said. despite the starvation and the physical pain, he identified this as his darkest hour. "Everything was difficult, but this was the most difficult time. I was stuck there in the same tunnel, I had nowhere to run."

Saved by music

When asked if they were able to listen to music – a shared passion for both men – Guy replied, "I wish I could have."

Instead, they survived on the memory of it. "We both share the love for music," Guy explained. "That is what saved us. We would talk on music and performance, and that is what kept us in good shape."

The pain of separation

After enduring the majority of their captivity side-by-side, the friends were separated during the final two months before their release.

Guy, turning to Evyatar on stage, asked him when he realized they had been truly separated.

"I waited three days, but there were no signs you were coming back," Evyatar answered. "Eventually, I managed to cope with this."

Now reunited and free, the two sat side-by-side in New York, their survival standing as a testament to a friendship that withstood the darkest conditions imaginable.

Evyatar recalled how they would get a flat portion of rice or lentils and pita . Asked if the captors feared they would die. "Yes we were very close to dying. Toward the end we couldn't even warm ourselves, it was very painful to just get up – you would get headaches when getting up, you would have to hold the walls just to go the bathroom and keep your balance." He added, "the captors were not that smart."

They recalled how they were at some point 4 hostages who were kept in a septic drain field. "It was unfathomable, it was a hole full of humane waste that we had to dig," Guy said. "We were in a tunnel and with four mattresses just next to each other; the width was my chair's width and the height was four feet - it was one big stench, without ventilation, and the maggots would grow into flies and climb our food; it was not human." He said that they all agreed to rotate on who would sleep just next to the human waste.

Evyatar said that they would get a small stash of wipes for hygiene that would have to suffice for a week "so you had to cut them into pieces to economize them."

Q: How did you keep you sanity? 

Evyatar said: "First you have to find some routine. To keep yourself busy. Of course our friendship also really helped. We could have banter on various things, to talk about the people we know., we also had some worn out cards that we played until Guy could not longer move his body."

Q:Did you know what was happening outside?  

Guy: When i got out, i had no idea what happened to my brother (who had been abducted like him from the Nova party). Not known was so difficult, because I saw what happened in the Nova rave, when I met Omer (Wenkert) I heard what happened in the other locations and shelters, and kibbutzim. I was devastated over just thinking what could have happened to him. For over a year I didn't have any information from the outside, even during the first 8 month we only had limited actions to Al-Jazeera, and then after 8 months when we were in the tunnels they kept brainwashing us that "the country is not fighting for you, the government doesnt' want you back, scaring us that the Arab countries around Israel were bombarding the country."

Q: Did you cry? 

Evyatar: "Yes, because it's liberating."

Q: Like when?

Evyatar: After the first two hostage deals, when were not released, i started to panic, I told guy that I won't see my family again.

Q: Guy, it takes a lot of courage to open up about what you experienced. Why did you do that? '

Guy: Several reasons, many women and men get sexually attacked. I want people to hear my story and if this empowers people this is a great honor for me.

The crowd erupted in applause, and he continued: "I want them to know that it is not a shame to talk about this, not just publicly on TV but also with a therapist. It is important that they know that they are not alone. This is mainly why."

Q: Did you realize just how big the efforts were to get you released? The presidents were trying to secure your release? 

Evyatar: No, because we not exposed to anything. It's crazy, when Trump was elected we heard about it and we were sure that it would help us, and of course it did help. We are immensely indebted to him so much; I don't know how we could have stayed longer were it not for Trump."

Q: What does it feel like to be wrapped with love and see so much food? 

"We are in heaven," Guy said. Evyatar concurred: "Every day waking up and realizing you are not in a tunnel is great." They kept talking to eachother during captivity on what they dreamed they ate during the night, they said.

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Addressing the audience, Clinton reflected on the current state of affairs following the return of hostages held by Hamas. While acknowledging the relief of their return, she urged the Jewish community and Israeli leadership to remain clear-eyed about the "real increase in antisemitism" that has surged over the past two years.

Video: Hillary Clinton at the Israel Hayom Summit

"The narrative was turned upside down"

Drawing on her recent experience teaching at Columbia University, Clinton described a disturbing disconnect among the younger generation. She noted that "smart people" were deriving their worldview entirely from TikTok, which she argued was flooded with propaganda immediately following the October 7 attacks.

"There was an organized effort on October 8 to provide misinformation," Clinton said. "The students didn't know history, had very little context; it was pure propaganda." She described this as a deliberate attempt to turn the events of October 7 "upside down" before the dust had even settled.

"Israel has the worst PR"

In one of her most blunt assessments, Clinton recounted advice she had given Israeli officials during her time as a senator. "I told them Israel had the worst PR," she said. "The story is not getting told as effectively as it should."

She stressed that this failure to communicate is affecting not just the broader American public, but specifically young Jewish Americans. When asked if Israel is "losing" the United States and the Democratic Party, Clinton argued that the divide is not partisan, but demographic.

"It's not Republican versus Democrat. This is generational," she said. She referenced a sentiment shared by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding protesters chanting "from the river to the sea" without knowing which river or which sea they were referencing.

Clinton urged the audience not to write off critics, but to engage in deeper education regarding history and security threats. "I don't think we should write anyone off until we have had a chance to have a dialogue," she added.

Broadening the scope, Clinton framed the consumption of information as a danger to democratic stability. With more than 50% of young Americans – spanning all political and religious backgrounds – getting their news from social media, she warned of the prevalence of "made-up videos."

"It cuts across Democrats, Republicans, Jewish young Americans, and non-Jewish young Americans," Clinton observed. "It is a threat to democracy and our way of life. It's a bigger issue; it's about how we know what we should know about important issues."

The Mamdani phenomenon

The discussion also touched on local New York politics, specifically the rise of Zohran Mamdani. Clinton described the 2025 mayoral contender as a "brilliant social media candidate" who managed to draw support from across the city's ethnic and religious lines.

When asked if she was worried about the rise of similar candidates, Clinton characterized his success as a specific "New York phenomenon" rooted in economic populism rather than foreign policy alone.

"It was effective because it talked about things young people talk about – affordable rent, the issues concerning them," she noted. "What was conveyed was free bus rides....for the first time if you were a New Yorker you felt someone was talking to you." 

Clinton concluded by advising observers to "study the campaign," noting that regardless of the governing outcome, the campaign's methodology was "extremely effective" in the current digital landscape.

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After years of serving as Israel's ambassador to the UN, Erdan said it was "wonderful to visit New York without entering the UN, the building of lies."

Video: Gilad Erdan at the Israel Hayom summit

He stressed that the situation in the US was particularly troubling because Israel's regional standing was strong. "Our position in the Middle East is very strong. Everyone knows Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood," he said, referring to the terrorist organization. He described Mamdani's election as "a major warning sign." "If this can happen in a city with the largest Jewish population in the world, it can happen in Washington, and even in the White House."

Erdan repeated that the problem in the US was unfolding precisely as Israel's regional power was rising. "Our position in the Middle East is very strong. Everyone knows Hamas is part of the Muslim Brotherhood." Mamdani's victory, he said, should be seen as "a major warning sign. If it can happen in the city with the biggest Jewish population anywhere, it can happen in Washington, even in the White House."

Public diplomacy is part of national security

Erdan argued that Israel could not afford to ignore the digital conversation. "Young people today get their information from TikTok," he said. Public diplomacy, he added, is an essential part of Israel's defensive posture. "We abandoned that battlefield. How is it possible that we have so many embassies in Europe, but in the US we barely have eight, in countries that are so different from each other?"

He accused Qatar of promoting a radical line around the world. "They are radical jihadists. Look at what they have done with their diplomacy. And we, the only democracy in the Middle East, are hated worldwide." Erdan called for a strategy that speaks directly to young people. "We need to talk to them, explain things, and constantly go on the offensive to expose the lies of our enemies."

"We cannot defeat billions of Muslims, but we can repair the damage. Young people are getting their information from those who hate us," he said, quoting the ancient sage Hillel the Elder: "It is not your duty to finish the work, but we are obligated to fight with all our strength."

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Video: The Israel Hayom Summit / Credit: Flowmotion

Asked bout the Israel Hayom initiative to bring a million Jews to Israel, he said "we need to save the countries again" just like the one million Soviet Jews saved Israel. He said that is why he was donating to help rebuild the Soroka hospital in the Negev. "What better place to settle than in the biggest part of the country, the natural corridor; investing in the south is important for that goal, but also because the Gaza area community are close there, to tell those people, to tell the whole world that we are here to stay."

"October 7 revealed the world's oldest hatred," he said. "We need strong leadership like what the Trump administration is showing; we Jews are the canary in the coal mine; these haters want to destroy our way of life; the Judeo-Christian tradition," he warned, saying the anti-Israel forces, including Al-Jazeera as a "propaganda network have a 20-year head start on us, they have operatives, they have spent a trillion dollars attacking Western civilization, on US campuses, infiltrating people."

He called Zohran Mamdani "a Trojan horse, he is one of them he supported financially by them," then added, "I would add George Soros a to the mix, we need leadership in the world like the Trump administration to combat this, we should always stand proud we have nothing to hide. Russia Qatar, they are all part of this."

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Those who expected the Hezbollah to capitulate do not understand the terrorist organization, its religious political ideology or its Iranian patrons. They are prepared to make compromises, even painful ones, including with their bitterest enemy, as part of a hudna aimed at giving them short-term quiet so they can be better prepared for a larger confrontation in the long term.

This is why Hezbollah consistently ignores every strike, large or small. That was the case when the IDF hit its infrastructure and lower level members, and that was the case this week when its chief of staff, Haytham 'Ali Tabataba'i, was eliminated. The will to retaliate certainly exists, but the need for quiet overrides it and dictates the organization's policy, which is managed simultaneously from Tehran and Beirut by Naim Qassem, who is seen as gray and unexpectedly capable.

Hezbollah has always acted with its head and not its gut. This served it for many years, but it also blinded it last year when it failed to detect the moves Israel was making, which ultimately led to the elimination of its entire political and military leadership, including Hassan Nasrallah, and caused severe damage to its missile and fortification systems. Hezbollah has been busy ever since trying to rebuild those systems, while Israel is working just as intensely to stop them from doing so.

This mutual race will continue for the foreseeable future, with two major caveats. The first is the American support Israel currently enjoys, including for aggressive operations such as this week's elimination. That backing could end, just as it did in Gaza, and would significantly limit the IDF.

The second is the possibility of the Lebanese Armed Forces going all out against Hezbollah as a last chance to save Lebanon from itself. The chances of that happening are slim, just as the chances are slim that Lebanon will agree to US President Donald Trump's request to openly join the Abraham Accords.

And although nothing has truly been settled in Lebanon, the campaign conducted so far has weakened the strongest enemy ever built along Israel's borders. Still, it would be a mistake to measure success only through a military lens. These gains have come at a very high civilian price along Israel's northern border, where residents were forced into prolonged evacuation, communities were abandoned, businesses collapsed and agriculture suffered.

If the Israeli government fails to genuinely rebuild the southern side of the border and strengthen it, its achievements on the battlefield will be overshadowed by a painful failure in the civilian sphere.

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