While Israel Slept: Yaakov Katz on Hamas, Intelligence Failures, and the Future of the Middle East

Change Agents with Andy Stumpf

IRONCLAD

Society & Culture

4.9 • 648 Ratings

🗓️ 27 August 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this episode, Andy sits down with Yaakov Katz, veteran journalist and former Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post, to unpack the hard lessons of October 7th and the evolving threats in the Middle East. Katz draws on three decades of reporting on Israeli defense and military affairs to explain how Hamas transformed from a fringe insurgency into a formidable force, the blind spots within Israel’s defense establishment, and the unintended consequences of overreliance on the Iron Dome. He also examines Iran’s deepening ties to Hamas, the intelligence gaps inside Gaza, and the ethical dilemmas of modern warfare in urban environments. Katz’s forthcoming book, While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East, will be released on September 2, 2025 Change Agents is an IRONCLAD Original Sponsors Firecracker Farm Use code IRONCLAD to get 15% off your first order at https://firecracker.farm/ AmmoSquared Visit https://ammosquared.com/ today for a special offer and keep yourself fully stocked. With over 100,000 members and thousands of 5-star ratings, Your readiness is their mission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:09.9	The big one that I hear often from people is that they did not appreciate the strategic threat that Hamas posed to Israel.
1:13.1	It very much was seen still as an annoyance, as a problem. Yes, they had some deadly capabilities, but we had it under control.
1:19.1	And clearly we didn't have it under control. And Israel is paying the price in this longest war
1:24.5	of its, of ever for the state that continues to drag up.
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