Failing to grasp the severity of the threat

When Yaakov Katz and Amir Bohbot, two of Israel’s premier political journalists, set out to write a book a few months before October 7, they had no idea that both their world and their book were about to dramatically change. What emerged was While Israel Slept, part history of Hamas and part retelling of the decisions made by successive Israeli governments over decades that led to the catastrophe and slaughter of 1,200 people on October 7, as well as the kidnapping of 250 more.

Katz and Bohbot open the book with a meticulous retelling of the morning of October 7 from the vantage point of the tzatzpaniyot, the observers stationed at Nahal Oz military base. At 6:29am on 7 October 2023 their final moments are recorded before the base was overrun, where more than 50 soldiers were killed, and ten soldiers were kidnapped, including 7 tzatzpaniyot.

“Then, moments later, Roni Eshel uttered the dreaded code phrase, an IDF term for their worst nightmare: ‘Turkish horsemen,’ signalling a border infiltration. ‘One has crossed the fence and is armed,’ Eshel said more urgently. ‘Confirm receipt!’”

It is a harrowing reconstruction of one of the worst hit bases, meticulously pieced together so the reader feels the fear, uncertainty and dread that the soldiers on the base, just a few hundred meters from Gaza, felt that morning before their deaths at the hands of the people they were reporting on.

The book chronicles how decades of Israeli government policy fundamentally misunderstood Hamas’s intentions, believing that Qatari cash and increased work permits for Gazan workers would result in quiet being met with quiet from the Strip.