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In the War Room
The Inside Story of Israel's Fight Against Hamas and the Iranian Axis
By Yonah Jeremy Bob and Elliot Kaufman
Published by Wicked Son
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
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Table of Contents
About the Book
The inside story of the leaders, debates, and decisions that shaped Israel’s longest war.
In the War Room is the inside story of the leaders, debates, and decisions that shaped Israel’s longest war—a multifront battle that eventually led Israeli and then US jets to the heart of Iran. This book also explains the current debates in Israeli society and the clashes or cooperation with US presidents that may shape the future of US–Israel relations, beyond the current government, for those who want to understand what will come next.
Led not merely by a team of rivals but by a war room of bitter enemies, Israel fought back from the October 7 massacre all the way to Tehran. To do so, the Jewish state had to defy the world and the expert predictions that claimed Israel’s strategy would lead it to calamity. Israel did fail at times, especially in Gaza, and it lost significant public support among Americans. But Israel succeeded enough to set back the Iranian proxy axis substantially.
Drawing from their unique access to top Israeli and US officials, including secret intelligence sources, Bob and Kaufman reveal how Israel came back from its lowest moment to outmaneuver Iran in late 2024 and 2025, leading to their greatest confrontation yet in 2026.
“Riveting...the book takes readers inside the conversations—both within Israel and between the US and Israel—that produced the war's greatest achievements and failures.”
—The Free Press
“The detailed portrayals of deliberations within Israel’s inner sanctum are deeply illuminating…A pathbreaking work by two of the world’s finest journalists.”
—Gen. David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), former commander of the Surge in Iraq and CIA director
“Few journalists had the access to the post-October 7 wartime decision-makers that Yonah Jeremy Bob and Elliot Kaufman have had in reporting out their riveting book, In the War Room.”
—Dan Senor, host of Call Me Back and author of Start-Up Nation and The Genius of Israel
In the War Room is the inside story of the leaders, debates, and decisions that shaped Israel’s longest war—a multifront battle that eventually led Israeli and then US jets to the heart of Iran. This book also explains the current debates in Israeli society and the clashes or cooperation with US presidents that may shape the future of US–Israel relations, beyond the current government, for those who want to understand what will come next.
Led not merely by a team of rivals but by a war room of bitter enemies, Israel fought back from the October 7 massacre all the way to Tehran. To do so, the Jewish state had to defy the world and the expert predictions that claimed Israel’s strategy would lead it to calamity. Israel did fail at times, especially in Gaza, and it lost significant public support among Americans. But Israel succeeded enough to set back the Iranian proxy axis substantially.
Drawing from their unique access to top Israeli and US officials, including secret intelligence sources, Bob and Kaufman reveal how Israel came back from its lowest moment to outmaneuver Iran in late 2024 and 2025, leading to their greatest confrontation yet in 2026.
“Riveting...the book takes readers inside the conversations—both within Israel and between the US and Israel—that produced the war's greatest achievements and failures.”
—The Free Press
“The detailed portrayals of deliberations within Israel’s inner sanctum are deeply illuminating…A pathbreaking work by two of the world’s finest journalists.”
—Gen. David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), former commander of the Surge in Iraq and CIA director
“Few journalists had the access to the post-October 7 wartime decision-makers that Yonah Jeremy Bob and Elliot Kaufman have had in reporting out their riveting book, In the War Room.”
—Dan Senor, host of Call Me Back and author of Start-Up Nation and The Genius of Israel
Product Details
- Publisher: Wicked Son (September 8, 2026)
- Length: 352 pages
- ISBN13: 9798895654804
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Raves and Reviews
“The closest look yet at a war whose repercussions continue to shake the world.”
– Walter Russell Mead, Wall Street Journal columnist
“Bob and Kaufman place the reader as a fly on the wall as the contentious trio makes fateful decisions, constantly switching allegiances, opinions, and strategies—with one eye on the war and the other eye on each other.”
– The Jerusalem Post
“Gripping and consequential...The book succeeds because it illuminates not only what happened, but how and why crucial decisions were made.”
– The Cipher Brief
“The most compelling long-form narrative of Israel's war to date.”
– Commentary
“In the War Room is the book to read to understand the beginning of a new era in the histories of Israel and the Middle East.”
– Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, US Army (Ret.), former US national security advisor
“The book does a strong job revealing the complex relations between the political and military echelons, the dilemmas, the dangers, and opportunities—and above all—the complex conditions in which the often opaque decision-making process takes place.”
– Gen. Aviv Kohavi, (Ret.), former chief of general staff of the Israel Defense Forces
“Much more than a 'first draft of history,' the book ought to become the definitive account of Israel's dilemmas of war and strategy following October 7.”
– Prof. Neil Rogachevsky, co-editor of Israel Affairs
“Wonderfully written and suspenseful...extraordinary access to the central figures directing Israel's war effort.”
– Washington Free Beacon
“With gripping detail, this is the story of how Israel’s leaders fought back from the catastrophe of October 7 to decimate Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran—and change the face of the Middle East.”
– Elliott Abrams, former US special envoy for Iran, National Security Council senior director, and deputy national security adviser
“…a glimpse into the decisions that drove Israel's multifront war.”
– The Dispatch
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Hardcover 9798895654804
