Yaakov Katz

Latest from Yaakov Katz

Pardoning Netanyahu is wrong – and exactly what Israel needs right now

Ending the trial could help break Israel’s political deadlock and toxic polarisation, opening the way for a unity government finally able to confront the country’s real challenges

3 min read

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog (Image: Getty)

Palestinian men inspect a vehicle that was damaged following an attack by Israeli settlers in Jabaa village near Bethlehem, in the West Bank on November 18, 2025. (Image: Getty)

Israel must stop its own extremists to preserve the moral high ground

4 min read

Rescue and police forces search for Military Advocate General Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi at Hof HaTzuk Beach in Tel Aviv, November 2, 2025 (Flash90)

The IDF ‘abuse’ scandal will provide fuel to those waging lawfare against Israel

4 min read

Thousands gather at Hostage Square to celebrate the return of the hostages, October 13, 2025 (Image: Flash90)

Israel can finally start to heal – but what comes next for Hamas in Gaza?

4 min read

Let this week be the beginning of the end of our Hamas nightmare

Trump’s plan offers the prospect of lasting change in the Middle East, and a future in which Israel is more secure than it was two years ago

4 min read

October 1, 2025 10:19

US President Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the end of a joint news conference in the State Dining Room at the White House on September 29, 2025 (Image: Getty)

Israel needs a political strategy to free the hostages

The prime minister’s shifting Gaza deal strategy has deepened public mistrust. What Israel needs is a political solution to free the captives and stabilise Gaza the day after

4 min read

August 28, 2025 08:15

Protesters gather with signs and Israeli flags during a demonstration organised by the families of the Israeli hostages taken captive in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 calling for action to secure their release and a ceasefire in the war against Hamas in Tel Aviv on August 26, 2025. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu’s Gaza options are limited but the biggest constraints are self-inflicted

Attacked by left and right, the prime minister’s plans to seize the Strip’s capital risks deepening the Jewish state’s isolation. The failure to outline a coherent “day after” plan is a huge mistake

4 min read

August 10, 2025 13:41

Protesters gather in a demonstration organised by the families of the Israeli hostages taken captive in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 calling for action to secure their release outside the Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on August 9, 2025. (Image: Getty)

Untangling the hard truth about Gaza: the suffering is real — but so is the spin

The suffering of civilians is real – but so is the spin. Media distortions, Hamas propaganda, and UN failures have fuelled the crisis as much as any Israeli misstep.

5 min read

July 31, 2025 15:05

Weaponised images: The photo of Osama al-Rakab, who suffers from a genetic illness, was used as evidence of Israeli ‘starvation’ (Image: COGAT)

UNIFIL is a complete failure and needs to leave Lebanon

A force that turns a blind eye to Hezbollah while tying the hands of the IDF does not help prevent war; it is a recipe for it.

4 min read

July 15, 2025 13:55

UNIFIL soldiers in the Hezbollah stronghold of South Lebanon (Getty)

The settler activists who attack the soldiers sent to protect them

Settler violence stains Israel’s global reputation and also undermines the many law-abiding Israeli citizens who live in Jewish communities across the West Bank

4 min read

July 2, 2025 14:31