What’s your analysis of Israel’s strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities?
Israel is bracing for what could be a serious escalation. Here in Israel, we’re basically frozen — schools are closed, gatherings are banned, and we’re under strict Home Front Command instructions. When the operation began, sirens sounded across the country and we all ran to our shelters.
It’s a tense, uncertain moment. But Israel did what it had to do. It saw an opening — Iran’s proxies are weakened after nearly two years of war, its air defenses had already been hit in earlier strikes, and for now, there’s clear US political backing.
This strike sent a message. Iran’s leadership has long bragged about its strength and defenses, but this exposed just how vulnerable they really are.
Now, like everyone else, we’re home waiting to see what comes next.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has recently officially declared Iran in violation of its nuclear commitments. In response, Tehran announced it will replace its IR-1 centrifuges with more advanced IR-6 models at the underground Fordow facility. The regime also revealed plans to open a new uranium enrichment site at what it described as a “secure location.”
Twenty months in, people are asking – what are the goals of the Gaza War and what’s the timeframe?
Twenty months into the war is many more months than we ever assumed that Israel would continue to be fighting. We’ve got US President Donald Trump putting pressure on [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu to wrap this up. And we’ve got the Israeli government and military pushing further to control areas of Gaza. They’re saying around 75 per cent [of territory] is already falling into our control and the plan is to stay much longer to ensure that Hamas will eventually be destroyed. So in terms of the time frame, it’s actually a big question mark.
Up until now, we’ve been, I hate to say it, largely ineffective. We’ve done a great job tactically, destroying infrastructure, working on some of the tunnels. But in terms of Hamas maintaining power in Gaza, they’re still certainly the strongest political force. The biggest change that’s happened on the ground is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is finally removing the civilian power from Hamas. Ultimately that’s what needs to happen — that the people need to not see Hamas as their ruler.
What’s a reasonable outlook for the future of Gaza?
I don’t think we have a plan for the day after. What we know right now, based on what’s happening on the ground, is that we’re saying there’s going to be a military occupation of Gaza for at least a few years. And in that time, hopefully there will be some kind of new government or leadership that comes into play. Is that viable? Is that truly what is right for Gaza? That’s a different question.
No one should be suffering and living under a terrorist regime. Hamas not only uses their people as human shields in war, but they’ve been stealing international aid, letting their people starve.
And for the West Bank?
There are many ideas on the table. Israel has been running these operations to try to weed out terrorists in various areas. While there has been a lot of activity from the IDF, what you aren’t seeing is the people in the West Bank rise up and try to create another October 7, which we believed would happen. But the [West Bank] economy is struggling tremendously and there is a fear that the longer that we don’t let Palestinians come into work in Israel and they remain unemployed, the longer that they’re unable to even maintain their lives, that this could change.
How can the release of the remaining hostages and the war’s goals be reconciled? Can the IDF still rescue the hostages?
Some people say that you have to put military pressure on Hamas because the reality is Hamas is not going to just sign a deal [to release the hostages] because that’s all the leverage that they have to maintain their power.
On the other hand, obviously, if we’re fighting in Gaza, and we’re using tremendous force, we’re at risk of killing even more of the hostages. And the longer the war continues, the more the hostages are suffering. Just last night, the hostage families forum put out another report on the likely health status of the hostages and the fear that these people are getting sick, the ones that have come back, they’re not healthy. You know, it looks good when they walk out of Gaza. They look like they’re okay, but they’re having surgeries, mental health problems. They can’t go back to their lives. Their families can’t go back to their lives.
It’s important to note that in recent weeks, as the IDF has intensified its operations in the Gaza Strip, it has successfully recovered the bodies of several hostages.
Twenty months in, what has been the war’s impact on Israelis – physically and as a society?
Three million out of 10 million Israelis are expected to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Many, many more are going to be experiencing some form of symptoms of trauma. This has been a much longer war than we’ve ever experienced. I don’t want to say people are divided. I don’t know if they’re more divided than during the judicial reform times. I think that we’ll have to watch that play out when elections happen in about 18 months.
Israelis are in some ways more unified than they’ve ever been because we recognise that we only have ourselves. As you know, there’s been tremendous international condemnation. We’re fighting together still to maintain our safety. We’re rebuilding in the north and the south.
How can we combat the sharp rise of antisemitism in the West since October 7?
This rise in antisemitism, which you’re seeing more than anywhere in Australia, is very scary. It’s a blurring of the lines between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and judging all Jewish people and all of the State of Israel, based on decisions being made by the Israeli government on a war we didn’t start.
You mentioned Australia as a particularly bad example of antisemitism. Can you elaborate?
As a reporter who’s been writing about this a lot, Australia has come up [for attention]. The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies produces a report on worldwide antisemitism every year for Holocaust Remembrance Day. This year Australia was named as the number-one country, that is, having the highest spike in antisemitism. Italy was a close second.
*How much blame do mainstream media bear in how they’re covering the war? As we’ve seen, Hamas are masters at manipulating death toll figures and stage-managing coverage of the war. But how can the Israeli government proactively communicate its message more effectively?
It’s such a good question, and I wish I had the answer. We’re very fact-driven. We want to research everything and tell you all the reasons. But today, unfortunately, people live on sound bites. Why don’t we have our media prepared in advance, so that we have the talking points out before we do it, rather than after? I don’t know why we haven’t managed in 20 months of war and in 77 years of the State of Israel to get our messaging across effectively and accurately.
What’s your take on Israeli activist Hillel Fuld’s visa cancellation?
Any democratic society has to decide who enters and doesn’t enter their country, but it should be consistent, and it should be based on facts. When you don’t have free speech, that is a huge problem. And free speech means that people with all kinds of views, right, left and centre, can express themselves.
Coming to Australia, a major part of your work will be speaking about the work of JNF in providing rehabilitation in Israel. What’s your message?
I’ve been covering JNF for a long time, and what they’re doing on the ground is very important. Twenty months into the war, part of what we have to do is to be able to rehabilitate, recover and come back stronger. JNF is playing a huge role in that, specifically in the north and south. It’s a big mission. It’s trauma counselling. It’s rebuilding homes, planting, work with farmers. And my message is that we in Israel can’t do this alone.
We [Israel and the Diaspora] need to help each other. From Israel’s side, we need to be thinking more creatively, effectively and proactively about how to combat antisemitism and work with [Diaspora] communities to make them stronger and more resilient. Simultaneously we really appreciate all the efforts of Jewish organisations around the world, and particularly in Australia. It’s important that you’re supporting Israel, to be able to help us to finish this war, get our hostages home and rebuild our lives.
Maayan Hoffman was scheduled to visit Australia for JNF this month but has been delayed in Israel due to the crisis with Iran.
For information on JNF’s campaign launch in Sydney on Tuesday, June 24, visit https://jnf.org.au/aclaunch25/. For information about a lunch event in Melbourne on June 26, email rsvpvic@jnf.org.au; visit jnf.org.au/goldpatrons Locations advised upon booking.
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