Socol Speaker Series: Yaakov Katz

Meet us at The Hub to learn about Yaakov Katz’s most recent book, While Israel Slept, a powerful indictment of the political and military decisions that lead to October 7. A reception and signing will follow the talk.

While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East by Yaakov Katz and Amir Bohbot tells the gripping inside story of how Hamas, Israel’s weakest enemy, succeeded in launching a surprise attack on one of the world’s most powerful militaries.

In While Israel Slept, Katz, former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, and Bohbot, military and defense correspondent for Walla, through a detailed examination of the events leading up to October 7, 2023, expose the intelligence and strategic failures that enabled this devastating invasion. While Israel Slept takes readers back in time, showing how years of complacency, mistaken intelligence analysis, and a misguided policy of containment enabled Hamas to prepare for an assault that Israel did not believe was possible and that would change the Middle East.

While Israel Slept unveils the dramatic events of the night before the attack, highlighting the cracks in Israel’s military and political leadership. Katz and Bohbot provide unprecedented details on how key warnings were missed, and how Israel ignored the growing threat from Hamas, believing that the group was weak and deterred. By exposing these failures, While Israel Slept offers a stark, sobering account of how overconfidence and complacency paved the way for disaster, while underscoring the critical lessons Israel must embrace to safeguard its future.