Podcast Summary: “Accounting for the Failure of October 7”

Call Me Back with Dan Senor | Guest: Yaakov Katz

Date: September 4, 2025
Main Theme:
A deep dive into the root causes and national failures that led to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, drawing on the research from Yaakov Katz’s new book, While Israel Slept. The episode explores the policy decisions, intelligence breakdowns, and ongoing lack of accountability, as well as the current dilemmas and disunity threatening Israeli security today.

Episode Overview

Dan Senor sits down with veteran Israeli journalist and author Yaakov Katz, whose new book investigates how Israel came to believe a deadly “fairy tale” of security with Hamas, unpacking the catalytic failures across government and military decision-making. They dissect the background, policies, warning signs, immediate response to the incursion, and the current climate of blame and reckoning in Israel.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Policy of Containment and Delusion

[06:54–12:21]

• Israel’s Gaza strategy, over years, became one of "containment," believing periodic violence could be managed and that economic incentives—specifically the infamous “Qatari suitcases of cash”—could restrain Hamas.
• Yaakov Katz:

  “How did we believe in a fairy tale as a country that a genocidal terrorist group that lives alongside our borders... and we said to ourselves, no, you’re not. You just want money. You don’t mean what you say.” [00:09 & 09:25]

• Both left and right-wing governments endorsed this policy, prioritizing Iran and Hezbollah as bigger threats and putting faith in technological defenses (Iron Dome, underground wall) over human intelligence and deep understanding of Hamas’s intentions.

2. The Build-Up to Catastrophe: Ignored Warning Signs

[12:21–18:03]

• Multiple intelligence clues before October 7 were misinterpreted (Israeli SIM cards appearing in Gaza, unusual drills, rocket bunker prep, intercepted calls), but categorized as routine or dismissed as drills.
• Critical decision not to alert Hamas that Israel suspected an attack (to avoid burning sources) led to fatal inaction.
• Katz:

  “…Had we taken two tanks...moved them up into the front positions...good chance it never would have happened.” [16:51]

• Overreliance on signals and technological intelligence meant Israel lacked human sources inside Gaza; not a single informant sounded the alarm despite hundreds involved in planning.

3. The Role and Fate of Border Observers

[19:23–21:01]

• Female IDF observers ("tatspitaniyot") warned for weeks about unusual Hamas training for hostage-taking but were ignored by commanders.
• Many of these women were killed or abducted on October 7.
• Katz:

  “These soldiers who warned about what would happen are the ones who paid the ultimate price.” [20:56]

4. Hamas’ Ambition and Israeli Blind Spots

[21:01–21:58]

• Hamas’s supplies and operational plans showed they aimed for a long incursion—evidence missed by the Israeli defense establishment.

5. The Failures of Leadership and Initial Israeli Response

[22:13–26:10]

• Senior leaders (PM Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant, others) were not alerted until after the attack began. Many top brass were on holiday or off duty for the Simchat Torah holiday.
• Lack of communication, chaos, and personal unpreparedness pervaded the response.
• Katz:

  “There was a complete breakdown of everyone in every possible position. Every single person here was part of this failure and this mishap.” [25:24]

6. Guilt, Reckoning, and Absence of Accountability

[26:10–29:01]

• Profound personal guilt among military and intelligence brass; much less so among politicians.
• Katz contrasts deep soul-searching in the defense establishment with the government’s reluctance for “Cheshbon Nefesh”—personal reckoning or accountability.
• Katz:

  “In the government, you don’t see what we would call in Hebrew, in Jewish tradition, Cheshbon nefesh, right? An accountability, a personal reckoning. The contrary, what we’ve seen is them holding on to their seats...” [28:05]

7. Who Bears Responsibility: Military or Political Echelons?

[29:01–30:20]

• Politicization clouds public judgment; blame is split along predictable lines, but Katz argues that “everyone is responsible.”
• Only the military has seen significant purges; political leadership remains.

8. Ongoing Tensions: IDF vs. Government

[30:20–32:04]

• Eyal Zamir, new Chief of Staff, now clashes with Netanyahu over Gaza operations—mirroring pre-October 7 tensions between the IDF and the Prime Minister.
• Katz frames this as an extension of the trust deficit and policy discord that enabled the original catastrophe.

9. The Impact of Judicial Reform Protests: Did Disunity Make Israel Vulnerable?

[32:04–34:26]

• Judicial reform protests fractured national unity and distracted security—but Hamas’s planning preceded 2023.
• Disunity and distraction contributed to Israel lowering its guard; both government and military share blame for this vulnerability.
• Katz:

  “We did expose ourselves and make ourselves vulnerable and that Hamas saw this opportunity and said, this is the moment now to launch that offensive." [33:58]

10. Catastrophic Institutional Blindness

[34:26–36:46]

• No single warning or fresh intelligence was ever delivered to top command indicating disaster was imminent.
• Even the Knesset’s defense committee dismissed Gaza as a serious threat, focusing on other theaters.
• Journalists, too, failed to probe or challenge prevailing assumptions.
• Katz:

  “As a military reporter, as an editor of a newspaper, I was given that access...always at the end, maybe 15, 20 minutes was left to Gaza. And...the bottom line was: They don't want war. Sinwar knows it's not in his interest. We can move on.” [35:37]

11. The Outsider’s Warning: Avigdor Lieberman

[36:46–40:00]

• Katz and co-author note that Avigdor Lieberman, serving as Defense Minister in 2016, wrote an 11-page memo prophetically warning that only a pre-emptive strike could stave off disaster in Gaza.
• His warning was ignored—attributed to his outsider status and lack of groupthink.

12. The Overriding Lesson: The Need for Unity

[40:00–41:11]

• National unity, not just military reform, is identified as the existential requirement for Israel’s security going forward.
• Katz:

  “Unity is a super existential component of Israel’s national security...If we don’t listen and heed at least that lesson...this is really what it’s all about.” [40:13]

Notable Quotes

• On Delusion:

  "We thought cash could buy off a terrorist organization." — Yaakov Katz, [09:25]

• On Catastrophe:

  "There were signs... I wanted so many times writing it and rereading it and editing it to take my, just bang my head against the wall because there were signs." — Katz, [12:37]

• On Accountability:

  "How is it possible that the people who were in office and made the decisions that led to the greatest disaster in Israel's history... don't feel that they have an accountability?" — Katz, [29:01]

• On Disunity and Vulnerability:

  "Unity is a super existential component of Israel's national security. We cannot allow that to happen again." — Katz, [40:13]

Memorable Moments & Timestamps

• Cash to Hamas Policy Recap — [06:54–09:25]
• Failure to Mobilize in Response to Intel — [15:05–17:33]
• Tragedy of Border Observers — [19:23–21:01]
• Leaders’ Unpreparedness During Attack — [24:44–25:25]
• Government Accountability Lacking — [28:05–29:01]
• Clashes Between Netanyahu & Military — [30:32–32:04]
• Avigdor Lieberman’s Prophetic Memo — [36:46–40:00]
• Closing Reflection on National Unity — [40:13–41:11]

Final Takeaway

While Israel Slept uncovers the shared failure—political, military, and societal—that made October 7 possible, and insists that only renewed unity and honest accountability can lay the groundwork for genuine security in Israel’s future.

Further reading:

• While Israel Slept by Yaakov Katz and Amir Bobat (see show notes for purchase links).
• For listeners wanting longer-form Q&A, members can access an extended episode.