Inside Israel’s War Room: What Really Happened After October 7

Elliot Kaufman’s new book, In the War Room, is an inside account of how Israel actually fought the war that followed October 7, 2023. A Wall Street Journal editorial writer, Kaufman spent the last two years reporting on the conflict and drew on documents recovered from Hamas, along with behind-the-scenes access to Israel’s top political, military, and intelligence leaders, to reconstruct decisions most of the public never saw. Kaufman explains why Hamas sincerely believed it could destroy Israel, why Hezbollah never launched the full-scale invasion Israel feared most, and why the bitter, often personal rivalry between Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, and Benny Gantz shaped nearly every major decision of the war. He also walks through what he considers Israel’s biggest unforced error—the two-month aid stoppage that fueled a global famine narrative—and how the war ultimately reshaped Hezbollah, Iran’s nuclear program, and the future of the Abraham Accords.

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