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A year on, Israeli society is divided about the lessons of Oct 7

Hawks and doves, religious and secular, right and left – all the old cleavages are resurfacing.

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A protest in Jerusalem on Oct 5. Israelis remain divided not just over the way forward in Gaza, but also over the lessons of Oct 7, 2023.

Israelis remain divided not just over the way forward in Gaza, but also over the lessons of Oct 7, 2023.

PHOTO: AFP

The Economist

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“We have restored deterrence,” declares former head Amos Yadlin of Israel’s military-intelligence service, referring to the credibility Israel’s security services lost on Oct 7, 2023, when Palestinian radicals ran rampage across southern Israel, killing more than 1,100 people and kidnapping some 250.

This has been regained by

Israel’s devastating assault on Hezbollah,

a Lebanese militant group that has been bombarding northern Israel for the past year, displacing some 60,000 civilians. In just two weeks Israel has killed and injured many Hezbollah operatives using booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies, assassinated several of its leaders in bombing raids and sent troops into southern Lebanon to destroy the tunnels, bases and rocket-launchers Hezbollah has been using in its attacks.

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