Yaakov Katz

Yaakov Katz is the former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post. He previously served for close to a decade as the paper's military reporter and defense analyst. He is the author of "Shadow Strike: Inside Israel's Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power" and co-author of two books: "Weapon Wizards - How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower" (with Amir Bohbot) and "Israel vs. Iran - The Shadow War" (with Yoaz Hendel).

In 2012-2013 he was a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University and was a faculty member at Harvard's Extension School where he taught an advanced course in journalism.

 PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu visits the Soroka Medical Center complex, in Beersheba, after a missile attack from Iran last week. The success in Iran was real, but the Israel-Hamas War is not yet over, says the writer.

Netanyahu must use displayed courage vis-à-vis Iran in Gaza war - opinion

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement at the Weizmann Institute of Science, which was hit by an Iranian missile barrage, in the central city of Rehovot, Israel, June 20, 2025

Netanyahu bet big and brought the US-Israel alliance to a whole new level - analysis

 DEFENSE MINISTER Israel Katz speaks to the media at the scene of the Iranian missile attack in Holon yesterday. He says that he instructed the IDF to carry out attacks that would ‘undermine’ the Iranian regime.

A dramatic turning point: How to define victory in the war against Iran - opinion


Israel had a window of opportunity to attack Iran and it was right to use it - analysis

Three key factors made an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities a viable option today, but what happens after the strike?

 A missile is launched during a joint exercise called the 'Great Prophet 17', in the southwest of Iran, December 24, 2021. Picture taken December 24, 2021.

Israel's paralyzing politics squander historic opportunities across Middle East - opinion

Can Benjamin Netanyahu's government turn strategic failures across the Middle East into opportunities for the Jewish State?

  Israel Air Force, April 14, 2024.

A-G's judicial overreach is undermining Israel's democracy - opinion

Two recent legal decisions highlight the deep and systemic challenges Israel faces. We cannot ignore what they reflect about the current state of governance.

 Attorney-General Gali Baharav Miara attends the swearing-in ceremony of Justice Isaac Amit as president of the Supreme Court, at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem in February 2025.

Harmful political rhetoric is deepening Israel's cavernous divide – opinion

Yair Golan, Ehud Olmert, and other Israeli politicians' statements are deeply damaging and challenge Israel's fight for truth.

 Leader of the Democrats party Yair Golan leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on February 10, 2025.

Excluded from the new Middle East, Israel’s military edge faces danger - opinion

Israel helped shape this new Middle East. But now, it’s not even in the room.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump on the day of the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025.

Netanyahu's coalition should take notes from Israel's real leaders: IDF reservists - opinion

The government's continuation of the war without clarifying an end goal is a stain on the country and a slap in the face to reservists.

 IDF reservists joining the "David Brigades," the five new reservist brigades announced by IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, December 17, 2024.

Israel's war in Gaza drags on without a plan, or an exit strategy - opinion

Donald Trump, who, in the absence of our own leadership at home, will help decide Israel’s fate. That’s the price of failing to plan – and of governing by slogans instead of strategy.

 PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a ceremony on Tuesday, the eve of Remembrance Day, at Yad Labanim in Jerusalem. Israel entered the war in Gaza without a real plan, the writer maintains

Israel suffers from a leadership of deflection and evasion - opinion

A national reset will not happen while Yoav Kisch lectures hostage families, Bezalel Smotrich berates the IDF, and Benjamin Netanyahu clings to power through blame.

 PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in the Knesset plenum: Israel needs a national reset, but that will not happen while Smotrich berates the IDF and Netanyahu clings to power through blame, the writer argues.

The Shin Bet leaker is not a hero, the hostages are - opinion

A soldier or reservist who unilaterally decides to leak top-secret documents is not exposing corruption or safeguarding democracy.

 Hostage Rom Braslavski, in a propaganda video published by terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

Libya as a model: How to stop Iran - and Tehran's path to survival

Iran is vulnerable today like never before - time is running out for it to get its hands on a nuclear deal.

 Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatolla Ali Khamenei stands in front of explosions caused by Israel's retaliation strikes. (Illustrative)