Yaakov Katz

Excited to share that @StMartinsPress will publish my next book, ״The Fortress and the Home: Israel's Next 80 Years״, timed for Israel's 80th anniversary.

After four books and years writing about Israel's wars, intelligence, and security, this book asks a different question: What kind of country will Israel become over the next few decades? It looks at the ideas Israel's founders had for the state, how those visions evolved, the challenges we face today, and the people working to shape a stronger future.

Israel’s relationship with the United States is at a historic inflection point. Few people understand the history and importance of that alliance, care as deeply about its future, or have a better grasp of the Democratic Party and where it is headed than former US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides.

We had an important conversation on the @JewishPolicy podcast about what lies ahead for the US-Israel relationship. Well worth a listen.

youtu.be/dykebEZwTZg?si…

Yesterday was the swearing-in of the new Knesset, a moment that should have been a celebration of Israeli democracy. Instead, @Netanyahu chose to poison the discourse by delegitimizing 20% of Israel’s citizens and promoting the claim that the election results were rigged. You don’t have to agree or sit in a government with Israel’s Arab parties but you cannot claim to believe in democracy while writing off an entire fifth of the country.

Today on @CNN with @Elex_Michaelson.

The images coming out of Gaza this week - flooded tents, displaced families and people suffering in the rain - were entirely predictable. Winter is not a surprise and hundreds of thousands of people are living in makeshift tents, while Gaza faces severe sewage and drainage problems.

None of this needed to happen like this. Smart policy is about anticipating problems before they become crises. Israel should have prepared months ago, allowing in temporary housing units, better tents and the infrastructure needed to get people through the winter.

Instead, the government did not and now, rather than being seen as a country that anticipated a humanitarian crisis and acted responsibly to prevent it, Israel looks like it is responding to international pressure.

Is Hamas to blame for the situation in Gaza? Yes. If it disarmed - as it is supposed to under the @BoardOfPeace plan - would the situation change? Of course. But we do not have the luxury to wait for that. With a little foresight, strategic planning and basic compassion, Israel could have prevented the diplomatic pressure that has inevitably arrived.

Israel's election tells us about the direction Israelis want to take their country and how they feel about Netanyahu. But we shouldn't be naive: replacing the PM won't magically solve Israel's problems. The challenges are enormous, the policy differences with the US run deep, and real change will require much more than a change of leadership.
Today on @CNN with @BenInLDN.