This book provides a cultural analysis of the Israeli defense and intelligence establishments before and after the Hamas surprise attack on October 7, 2023.

The Hamas attack was one of the most colossal intelligence and security failures in modern times, which brought Israel to one of its darkest points in its history. The book tracks the traits of Israeli strategic and intelligence cultures, such as hubris and lack of critical thinking, which account for this failure. It also examines the traits responsible for the Israeli security resilience in the regional war throughout 2024-25, which peaked in the campaigns against Hizballah and Iran, such as flexibility and practice preceding theory. Relying on academic and professional literature in English and in Hebrew, as well as on elite interviews with former Israeli practitioners, the book offers a novel cultural perspective of October 7th and its aftermath, a topic which will be of high interest for many years to come. By discussing the cultural roots of Israeli strategic surprise and resilience, the book contributes to the study of the interaction between culture and security performance and to our understanding of cultural change over time.

This book will be of much interest to students of intelligence studies, strategic studies, Israeli politics, Middle Eastern Studies and International Relations