A pow­er­ful indict­ment of the polit­i­cal and mil­i­tary deci­sions that led to Octo­ber 7. 

While Israel Slept tells the grip­ping inside sto­ry of how Hamas, Israel’s weak­est ene­my, suc­ceed in launch­ing a sur­prise attack on one of the world’s most pow­er­ful mil­i­taries. 

Through a detailed exam­i­na­tion of the events lead­ing up to Octo­ber 7, 2023, the book expos­es the intel­li­gence and strate­gic fail­ures that enabled this dev­as­tat­ing inva­sion. It 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. 

The book unveils the dra­mat­ic events of the night before the attack, high­light­ing the cracks in Israel’s mil­i­tary and polit­i­cal lead­er­ship. It pro­vides 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.