Yaakov Lappin, Author at J-Wire

‘Expelling an ambassador is nothing to the Iranians’

Yaakov Lappin — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 07:15:23 +0000

In a rare public announcement on Oct. 26, Israel’s Mossad intelligence organisation exposed the identity of a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander whom it said was responsible for a global terror network targeting Israelis and Jews, including failed plots in Australia, Greece and Germany. The announcement identified the commander as Sardar (Persian for […]

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Israel at a crossroads in Gaza: a deal or a new military phase?

Yaakov Lappin — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 07:50:02 +0000

With the direct military confrontation with Iran complete for now, Israel’s strategic focus has pivoted back to the unresolved war in Gaza, where Israel’s Security Cabinet is facing a historic crossroads. According to recent reports, the Israel Defence Forces presented the Security Cabinet with two primary options: Pursue a comprehensive hostage deal that would likely […]

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Hamas’s ‘all-or-nothing’ strategy: Why it rejected a partial deal

Yaakov Lappin — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 06:27:29 +0000

Hamas’s refusal to accept a recent Israeli partial deal offer for a ceasefire and the release of some 10 Israeli hostages is a calculated attempt to ensure its long-term survival by forcing Israel to end the war on the terror group’s terms, former Israeli defence officials told JNS in recent days. At the heart of […]

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A day with an IDF artillery battalion

Yaakov Lappin — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 22:20:54 +0000

Israel Defence Forces Artillery Corps units, which stand guard in the country’s north and south, ready at a moment’s notice to rain fire on the enemy, are the last thing Hezbollah and Hamas want to face across a battlefield. Although not often in the headlines, without the relentless work of these battalions, Israel’s ongoing ground […]

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Iran’s missile program set back, but nuclear threat remains

Yaakov Lappin — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 07:34:41 +0000

Israel’s airstrikes on military targets in Iran overnight Saturday damaged the Islamic Regime’s missile program and air defences while demonstrating the Israeli Air Force’s advanced long-range capabilities. However, Iran’s nuclear program was left unscathed, suggesting that Israel’s government factored in U.S. pressure to keep the attack limited in nature. The question going forward is whether the […]

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In seizing Rafah crossing, Israel turns tables on Hamas’s stalling tactics

Yaakov Lappin — Wed, 08 May 2024 08:39:28 +0000

The decision by Israel’s War Cabinet to order the Israel Defence Forces to seize Rafah Crossing is strategically significant, as it will negatively impact Hamas’s ability to smuggle weapons and people back and forth from neighbouring Sinai. The crossing is part of the wider Philadelphi Corridor running along the Gaza-Egypt border, which has for years […]

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IDF plans for Rafah op draw on extensive Israeli experience

Yaakov Lappin — Thu, 02 May 2024 07:34:28 +0000

As the War Cabinet waits for a reply from Hamas to the latest far-reaching, unprecedented Israeli proposal for a hostage release deal, the IDF has drawn up operational plans for large-scale urban warfare in Hamas’s last remaining bastion in Rafah, southern Gaza. These plans rely on the massive experience the IDF has gained over recent […]

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Gaza aid-worker tragedy risks overshadowing IDF efforts to protect humanitarian routes

Yaakov Lappin — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 05:55:43 +0000

Monday night’s unintentional Israeli drone strike on a World Central Kitchen aid convoy travelling along the Gaza coast, in which seven aid workers were killed, risks overshadowing a series of recent steps by the Israeli military to facilitate the flow of aid into the Strip. Following the tragic incident, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant held […]

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Hamas is weakening, but the campaign against it will be lengthy

Yaakov Lappin — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 06:20:14 +0000

While the Israel Defence Forces is gaining ground against Hamas by the day, destroying it as a military force will take time, according to former IDF officers. Professor Gabi Siboni, a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and who holds the rank of colonel (res.), told the Tazpit Press Service that […]

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Hezbollah’s attack on IAF base was a wake-up call

Yaakov Lappin — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 04:19:36 +0000

Hezbollah’s Jan. 6 attack on the Israeli Air Force’s Meron air traffic control base, likely using Iranian-supplied Kornet-EM missiles, marks a significant escalation by the Iran-backed terrorist group. The day before the attack, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah had threatened retaliation for the Jan. 2 assassination in Beirut of Saleh Al-Arouri, Hamas’s deputy politburo chief. This […]

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