A new book, 'In the War Room' by journalists Eliot Kaufman (WSJ) and Yona Jeremy Bob (Jerusalem Post), based on extraordinary access to Israeli and US decision-makers during the war, reveals deep rifts between Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant, and IDF Chief Halevi. The authors offer differing conclusions: Kaufman argues Netanyahu's patience preserved military options, while Bob criticizes political and legal considerations affecting decisions.
Ariel Kahana (Israel Hayom) published a lengthy interview with journalists Eliot Kaufman and Yona Jeremy Bob, co-authors of the new book 'In the War Room' (Hebrew translation by Yedioth Books). The book is based on real-time access to the highest levels of Israeli and U.S. decision-making during the nearly three-year war, including interviews with Netanyahu, Gallant, Halevi, and U.S. officials.
The book's central finding is the deep personal and strategic friction within Israeli leadership. It describes Netanyahu initially filtering Gallant and delegating communications to Ron Dermer in the war's first days, and not speaking to Halevi until his confidant Tzachi Braverman arrived at 10:00 on October 7. Kaufman argues that the delays Netanyahu insisted upon — particularly regarding the northern front and the Gaza ground invasion — ultimately kept military options open and were vindicated by Operation Rising Lion. Bob counters that while some delays worked out, they were not planned, and that the 11-month displacement of 80,000 northern residents shows the risks.
The book also details the reversal in Netanyahu's approach: from hesitating to strike Hezbollah and enter Gaza in October 2023, to becoming increasingly militaristic by spring 2024, supporting the Rafah and Philadelphi corridor operations, the pager operation, the elimination of Nasrallah, and Operation Rising Lion. The authors disagree on whether prolonging the war was driven by political survival considerations, but agree the personal hostility in the leadership was unavoidable given the scale of the Oct 7 disaster.
As previously reported by The Zioneer, the broader context of U.S.-Israel tensions during the war includes Trump pressing Netanyahu to end operations, while Netanyahu pursued a strategy of slow escalation against Iran and its proxies. The book provides an insider account of how those pressures played out in real time.
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