This is part four of a four-part newsletter. Our first newsletter focused on Hamas jihadi strategies and preparations prior to its October 7, 2023 murderous attack on Israel, as well as to what extent Israeli Intelligence knew about this. The second newsletter examined Israel’s lack of professional preparations, sobering examples of negligent conduct, and the actual timeline of events surrounding October 6-7. The third newsletter considered the context of internal Israeli divisions, and how Hamas exploited those divisions. This fourth newsletter looks into the discovery of a home-grown spy linked to Israeli domestic opposition movements, and then draws general conclusions.
“It’s getting near dawn”
It’s 6:29 am on the morning of October 7, 2023. Hamas jihadis unleash a barrage of over 4,300 Qassam rockets at kibbutzim, small farms and villages, town and cities. Simultaneously approximately 3,800 Hamas Nukhba terrorists breach IDF defenses in 119 locations, followed by over 2,200 Gazan jihadi supporters, who all go on a frenzied pogrom of raping, beheading, torturing, murdering and kidnapping of over 1,200 Israeli kibbutz members, as well as 378 Israelis at the nearby Nova music festival.
As these Israelis are being massacred, violated and tortured, a 31 year old Israeli has just finished getting dressed in an IDF regular service uniform – something puzzling since for the past six years he has no longer been in the IDF. Though he had once been in a classified hi-tech position in military intelligence, his regular service contract had not been extended. According to media reports on his IDF file, there were certain ethical lapses connected to his previous service. This individual then puts on IDF military rank insignia identifying the wearer as a captain (seren), though the highest rank he had previously held was only lieutenant (segen). Such behavior is considered a criminal offense in Israel. Then he steps out of the house, and heads out to a Military Intelligence base in the Negev region of Israel. The name of this man is Assaf Shmuelevitz.
On the cutting edge
Assaf Shmuelevitz grew up on the Sharon Plain, in Hod Hasharon, north of Tel Aviv. His father had been a lieutenant-colonel in the IDF, and saw action in the War of Attrition between Israel and Egypt between 1967 and 1970.
Shmuelevitz seems to have once served in IDF Unit 81, a secret elite technology unit which is part of the Special Operations Division of AMAN (the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate). That unit focuses on the development of cutting-edge hardware and technology for special forces operational use. According to a 2021 report by the Israeli business newspaper Calcalist, in the last decade alone 100 veterans of the unit have founded 50 technology companies, having raised $4 billion USD, with accumulated valuations surpassing $10 billion USD. Unit 81 has no direct public equivalent; it is often compared to corporate R&D labs focused on mission-critical solutions. Up to 2023, that unit was awarded the Israel Security Prize 39 times.
After Shmuelevitz’s IDF service, he trained as a lawyer at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, was admitted to the Bar on August 18, 2021, and then worked as an assistant in the Deputy Attorney General’s office. There he was daily in touch with sensitive legal matters, gaining valuable insight into Israel’s judicial system. Shmuelevitz had connections with Israeli elites, including former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and spoke before Knesset committees on various occasions.
Shmuelevitz describes himself in LinkedIn as a Digital Marketing manager. He became founder, investor, and CEO of Lev Kachol (Blue Heart), a company described as involved in private equity and venture capital (PEVC) and startups, with a specific emphasis on social challenges, humanitarian impact and aiding in humanitarian crises (e.g., coordinating relief efforts during the Ukrainian war). At one point the organization was accused of mishandling donations, with claims circulating that funds never reached their intended recipients. Questions were raised, and support for the company diminished somewhat as a result.
Through the Looking Glass
Shmuelevitz showed up at a Military Intelligence base in the Negev around 7:00 am on the morning of October 7, 2023, but was turned away at the gate by security, since he had no official clearance. IDF reserve soldiers coming into military bases carry a Tzav Shmoneh/Order #8 (an emergency call-up order) which allows them entrance. Just after 3 pm Shmuelevitz used a different method to achieve his goal: he hitched a ride with well-known retired Lieutenant-Colonel Oren Shvil to the main regional base IDF Southern Command (SOCOM; in Hebrew Pikud HaDarom or in military acronymic PADAM).
At the base gate, in the company of the Lieutenant-Colonel, he presented a driver’s license, falsely claiming to be an operations intelligence officer holding a higher military rank than he actually had. Shmuelevitz was given an entry pass from an officer he knew from previous times in the army, and entered the base at 3:45 pm. Shmuelevitz’s disguise was well planned and smoothly executed. He entered with two cell phones in his possession – one would be left out of secure rooms, while the second cell phone did not have a SIM card and thus was able to bypass security detection.
Inside the high-security base, Shmuelevitz moved with casual determination, accessing highly sensitive military meetings, photographing classified data, covertly taking photographs of classified military screens, and recording overheard conversations. He attended a critical high-level briefing where Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (as well as the heads of SHABAK and MOSSAD) was present. After the briefing, he manipulated a senior officer into giving him an authorized clearance to move freely about the base. Based on this document, Shmuelevitz later met with other staff officers who passed on to him other highly sensitive information, which he recorded on his second hidden cellphone. This included the following information: the nature and locations of military call-ups for different brigades; updates on top-secret military programs and weapons; intel on scientific abilities and computer problems which had arisen with command-and-control regarding a specific SIGINT network, etc. Shmuelevitz was able in a short time to gather intelligence information at the highest level of top secret.
On October 8, Shmuelevitz returned to SOCOM again. He approached an assistant to a former commander, requesting a document that would authorize him to carry out specific actions within the IDF Southern Command. The assistant, trusting Shmuelevitz, signed the document without verifying its contents.
On October 9, back at SOCOM, Shmuelevitz met a soldier who had once been under his command and was now a colonel (Aluf Mishneh). Shmuelevitz insisted that he had possession of “solutions to operational challenges” He persuaded the bureau chief to authorize/sign a “letter of appointment” that granted him official authority as kambatz (operations officer – special covert operations and assignments in the war room of Southern Command). This document defined Shmuelevitz as ‘a core actor.’ The Rosh Lishka/bureau chief) signed it without reading it. The officer later realized the mistake but did not act swiftly to retrieve the document. In the meantime, Shmuelevitz was able to attend another top-secret situational assessment session of the Operations Directorate that day. He also was party to a high-level presentation of an overview of the gaps that the Operations Department of AMAN was dealing with.
On October 11, Shmuelevitz was back at SOCOM. He requested expanded authorization from the colonel, granting him broader powers: to open a special cell and to be its commander; authority for that cell to function as a secret long arm; to initiate special operations outside the borders of Israel (i.e. Gaza); to have authority to recruit any soldier and reserves officer from any unit in the IDF; and to use any available methods/abilities to accomplish the task. He then went to the colonel and obtained authorization. The authorization was again signed without having been read. When the document made its way through the appropriate administrative channels, reaching the bureau chief, that officer’s suspicions were immediately aroused. He went to the colonel, who now realized that he had erred in signing a document which he had not read carefully. He ordered his bureau chief to take back the signed order, but the bureau chief didn’t get around to it; there was a full-blown war going on. Between Oct 11 and 15 (five days) Shmuelevitz was thus able to intensively collect intelligence throughout the base.
On October 12, Shmuelevitz returned to SOCOM. He contacted the Amuta (equivalent to an American [501[c][3]) of his original unit’s veterans, stressing that he needed immediate help – specifically, access to specialized personnel. As he was waiting for final clearance from that organization, he was put in contact with some hi-level tech people who were veterans of that unit. Two of these high-ranking reserve officers came to SOCOM – a reserve IAF F-16 pilot and a hi-tech-wiz entrepreneur. These both are members of ‘Achim LaNeshek’ (‘Brothers in Arms’), an anti-Netanyahu organization. All three men participated in top-secret meetings with senior officials on that base without authorization, with Shmuelevitz passing them off them as regular (and not reserve) soldiers.
But when the veteran hi-tech wiz began to discuss the project intensively with Shmuelevitz, he quickly realized that Shmuelevitz was not using proper military terminology which a bona fide officer of the required professional caliber would normally use. He passed his suspicions on to those responsible for war-room intelligence supervision at Southern Command. In the meantime Shmuelevitz was continuing to record many conversations with top commanders dealing with TOP SECRET intel.
On October 15, after 8 days of continuous spying, Shmuelevitz was busted at Southern Command, caught in the act of spying. Though he refused to give his interrogators the code to his cell phone, their cursory exam of accessible photos showed reams of top-secret documents, and his contacts included the names and cell numbers of some rather high-up left-of-center politicians and former politicians. Many recorded conversations were found on his no-SIM cell, dealing with top-secret info. Shmuelevitz’s notebooks were found (one of which later disappeared), also loaded with top-secret info, including the location of the Israeli hostages and of all Hamas’ top commanders. A charge sheet was opened at the Beer Sheva court (Israel 23694-10-23 State of Israel v. Shmuelewitz) on October 16, 2023. Sections 2 and 27 of the indictment against Shmuelevitz indicate that his actions were part of a broader, well-coordinated plan. However, critical details about the plan’s origin, purpose, and those who may have devised it remain undisclosed.
At first Shmuelevitz was suspected of spying for Hamas. His case therefore fell under security rules which allowed him to be subject to harsh ‘necessary interrogation’ by SHABAK. Questions were directed during three days of grilling – what intel had he collected; who was his handler; who got him onto the base; who was the receiver of the intel; what was Shmuelevitz’s incentive here.
After three days it became obvious to his inquisitors that Hamas was not the runner of this spying operation. However, many other parties existed who might want access to such valuable information. The intel that Shmuelevitz was collecting would have been considered a veritable gold mine by agencies like the CIA. The investigators considered two possible responsible parties: the CIA/US State Department; and anti-Netanyahu opposition activists.
But considering that the names and personal contacts of high-profile figures in Israel’s political, legal and intelligence spheres were burning a hole in the pages of Shmuelevitz’s notebook and cellphone, it comes as no surprise that both SHABAK and the IDF would consider it discreet to hush up the matter – especially if it concerned relations with Israel’s most important ally. Would it not be wiser to declare that Shmuelevitz was operating independently, or was subject to delusions of grandeur or narcissism, or was simply ambitious – perhaps even a casualty of a nervous breakdown? All of these declarations of possible motives have been publicly aired by SHABAK and IDF spokesmen. In the meantime, Assaf Shmuelevitz has been locked up in an isolation psychiatric word for close to two years. Yet the conspicuous trail of bread crumbs here calls for a more sober and a less partisan appraisal.
Brothers without arms
One of the flashing red lights of concern which has kept Israeli intelligence and security experts up at night, relates to the unusual involvement in the Shmuelevitz affair of individual members and higher-ups of the anti-Netanyahu political action group ‘Achim LaNeshek’ (‘Brothers in Arms’). This activist group is a movement of IDF reservists – including some pilots and intelligence officers – who have been attempting both to block judicial reforms and to bring down the coalition government of Israel led by PM Bibi Netanyahu. Following former PM Ehud Barak’s cue, they see themselves as the spearhead in these fights.
One of Israel’s top intelligence journalists and strategic affairs correspondents, Yossi Melman, speaks glowingly of Barak’s call to soldiers to refuse to serve in the IDF: “[This] is a military coup for the sake of democracy.” Prime Minister Netanyahu has attacked ‘Achim LaNeshek’ for inciting popular refusal to volunteer for reserve duty in the IDF: “What does endanger democracy is refusal to serve. Their refusal endangers the security of all Israeli citizens.
Scholars, politicians and political analysts have noted that the leaders of Hamas had been carefully studying Israeli politics and politicians, and had come to the conclusion that the civil unrest, quasi-violent demonstrations and calls for AWOL behavior throughout 2023 – all had served to weaken the IDF’s and the nation’s combat readiness. They also concluded that these events had downgraded Israel’s fighting spirit. These were some of the factors that influenced Hamas in choosing the date and the time of their jihadi terror attack.
One of the top leaders of ‘Achim LaNeshek’ (and a member of its executive committee) is 52-year old IDF Lieutenant-Colonel (reserves) Oren Shvil. According to the ‘Achim LaNeshek’ website, Oren had joined the organization “to spearhead the fight against the government’s judicial overhaul.” A former battalion commander in Moran (IDF Unit 427 – a classified unit in the IDF Artillery Corps specializing in operating long-range precision-guided missiles), Shvil is also a CEO. ‘Achim LaNeshek’ states that “Oren oversees Achim LaNeshek’s recruitment and training initiatives.” Oren and IDF former Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi are neighbors in Kfar Oranim,” a town near Modi’in.
Shvil has spoken numerous times publicly, both threatening and calling for a reserve soldiers’ walkout (see Knesset TV channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjWvof0V7M8). He has repeatedly called for blocking Ben Gurion Airport and public freeways, while declaring that such actions are totally legal protest measures. Shvil has publicly and vociferously called the government of Israel a dictatorship, lawless, corrupt, irresponsible, evil and crude – stating that it is therefore legal to disobey it.
Shvil was the high-ranking IDF officer who drove Shmuelevitz to Beersheva’s SOCOM on both October 7 and October 12, and his on-site presence seems to have facilitated Shmuelevitz’s entrance to the base.
Conservative political commentator Yisrael Medad noted approximately two months after the October 7 massacre (on December 19, 2023) that “the core factor of [‘Achim LaNeshek’s] protests was the weakening of the IDF through calls to refuse reserve duty in essential military units such as air-force pilots and intelligence drone operators.”
On October 12, 2023, Shmuelevitz brought into IDF Southern Command two people (in the reserves and not on active military duty – a former F-16 pilot and a former officer) both affiliated with ‘Achim LaNeshek.’ Shmuelevitz stated falsely that they were regular soldiers, and the two men thus entered a military base under false pretenses and without proper authorization. The names of these two are blackened out on the court charge sheet. Their participation in meetings with senior officials has fueled speculation about political motives and the protection of influential figures. Their presence at this juncture suggests a potential alignment between their direct involvement and the protest movement’s opposition to Netanyahu’s judicial reforms. The inevitable questions here highlight possible political motivations behind the espionage.
Of the approximately 70 people with whom Shmuelevitz came into contact with at SOCOM during those eight fateful days (of whom 20 are senior IDF officers) – it is estimated by Members of Knesset who have seen the unredacted documents held by the court. that a significant amount of them were soldiers who, before October 7, 2023, had publicly called for reserve soldiers to stop serving in the IDF – in other words, they are also supporters of ‘Achim LaNeshek’.
Other ‘brothers-in-arms’
Israeli Member of Knesset Almog Cohen has made the demand “that the Prosecutor’s office reveal the notebook of the defendant [Shmuelevitz]” in the Southern Command espionage case, claiming that it “contains Yair Golan’s name and number. For 15 months, it and this entire affair have been under a strict gag order. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
Yair Golan is a former MK, a former IDF Deputy Chief of Staff, and an IDF Major General (res.). He is far-left in his politics; has drawn parallels between Nazi actions and IDF behavior;” has accused the IDF of “killing babies as a pastime;” is opposed to the annexation of Judea and Samaria; and has called many times for “non-violent civil disobedience.”
Though Yair Golan is not a member of ‘Achim LaNeshek’ /Brothers in Arms, he is highly supportive of their actions and beliefs:
- “Brothers in Arms are my brothers and sisters in every sense of the word … They fought shoulder to shoulder to defend the independence of the judicial system and against Levin and Netanyahu’s corrupt reform … We will topple the government. We will unite the camp. We will restore liberal democratic Israel.” (March 5, 2024)
In an August 4, 2024 Instagram post, Yair Golan expressed unequivocal support for ‘Achim LaNeshek’: “If there is something Prime Minister Netanyahu should do regarding ‘Achim LaNeshek’, it is to award them the Israel Defense Prize for their work!”
In October 2024, Golan declared at Tel Aviv University:
- “When I look at the messianic threat, the religious and fundamentalist one, that threatens Israeli society, I say to you unequivocally and clearly: if this is the direction that will cause a strike in Israeli society, more and more Israeli youth will ask themselves ‘why get drafted? Those are not my values. That’s not a worldview that I believe in. That’s not the way to build a righteous society. I’m not prepared to serve such a state.’ Anyone who thinks that I am talking now about an imaginary threat – it’s a an extremely real threat. Manpower which is needed and is of quality – this is the foundational ingredient for a qualified army.”
On November 7, 2025, Israeli Member of Knesset Almog Cohen affirmed that Yair Golan’s name and cellphone number are listed in Shmuelevitz’ notebook, and that Shmuelevitz’s cell phone records show that he had talked with Yair Golan between October 8 and 15, as well as conversing with other higher-up politicians past and present during that time.
On June 10 2025, former SHABAK operative and lawyer Noam Viner was declared as being the legal representative of Assaf Shmuelevitz. Viner is one of the founders of ‘M’sarvim Lma’an Israel’ (also ‘Ometz Lesarev’ or ‘Courage to Refuse’; the Hebrew meaning is ‘Refusing to serve for the sake of Israel’) – an organization which encourages IDF reservists to refuse to serve in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Lt. Col. (res.) Ron Sharf, one of the leaders of the ‘Brothers in Arms’/‘Achim LaNeshek’ protest movement, is a highly decorated officer with over 34 years of service in the IDF’s elite Sayeret Matkal unit. On July 22, 2023 Sharf read aloud, to the sound of applause, the list of units in which approximately 300 signatures of service refusers were collected:
- “Paratroopers Reconnaissance, Navy Combatants, Communications Officers, Ordnance Corps, Military Intelligence, Air Force, Home Front Command, Submarines, Yahalom, 8200, ITN, State Comptroller’s IDF Auditor, Duvdevan, Artillery, Shayetet 13, 669, Medical Corps, LOTAR, Sayeret Matkal, Rider of the Skies, Talpiot, Golani – Golani! Maglan – they’re all here!”
On November 13, 2024 the IDF froze ‘Achim LaNeshek’ leader Ron Sharf’s reserve duty status for his advocating reserves refusal. The IDF Spokesman said: “Following quotes that appeared in publications about things Sharaf said regarding reserve service in the IDF, the issue of his reserve service will be examined by his commanders in the Military Intelligence Directorate.”
‘Achim LaNeshek’ members’ names showing up repeatedly in this affair adds a significant layer of complexity and intrigue here. Their opposition to Netanyahu’s government and adamant refusal to serve in the IDF due to the judicial reform efforts is well known to most Israelis. Israeli TV commentator Ayala Hasson points out that, despite the clear and illegal involvement in this affair of IDF higher-ups associated with ‘Achim LaNeshek,’ no charges have been filed against these individuals. This has fueled speculation that ‘Achim LaNeshek’s actions were part of a broader, well-coordinated plan potentially connected to influential political figures, and that these figures are being protected by some in authority. This potential cover-up would include protection of influential political and former political figures connected to the protest movement.
Lieutenant Colonel Marco Moreno (res.), a former top officer and investigator in AMAN’s clandestine Unit 504, has commented that Shmuelevitz’ behavior, planning and tradecraft all indicate that this was a classic intelligence operation – not run for Hamas, but by people in Israel. The fact that SHABAK is not willing to release any information at all about the case, indicates that the operation was real and has ramifications of a geopolitical nature.
Moreno believes that there was CIA involvement here: Shmuelevitz knew where and when to appear – this in itself indicates a prior knowledge and awareness of the Hamas attack. Shmuelevitz was trained to bring in two different types of cell phones, and he performed the task like a classic spy. And every spy has a runner.
The information obtained by Shmuelevitz could have been used to bring down a government, or to ingratiate potential aspirants (to the Israeli Prime Ministership) with the US State Department. The institutionalizing of Shmuelevitz in a psychiatric hospital indicates someone’s desire to ‘bury the corpse and protect the guilty.’ The unfortunate fact is, as MK Almog Cohen points out, that SHABAK and the Israel Police knowingly concealed all information concerning the Shmuelevitz Affair from Israel’s PM, Minister of National Security, and the Head of Israel’s National Security Council. All these snippets of raw intelligence indicate that this matter is not to be taken lightly.
Hold on, I’m not comin’
Over the past year, former Israeli Deputy Police Commissioner Avi Weiss has been speaking out (though in guarded tones, due to censorship considerations) about some of the blowback resulting from Shmuelevitz’ spying. MK Almog Cohen has revealed that the IDF top command was so thrown by Shmuelevitz’s vacuuming up of information, that they were forced to cancel a bold special operation utilizing the Navy’s Flotilla 13 (Shayetet 13) which was preparing for a high-risk special operation to free all the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas and to take out Hamas’ entire High Command (including Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar) – all of whom were located under Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital. That operation would have shortened the Israel-Gaza war from 15 months to perhaps 30 days; would have removed the hostage issue from metastasizing; and would have annihilated Hamas’ top commanders (who were thus able to prosecute a nearly two-year-long war against the IDF).
MK Cohen shared these matters on Israeli TV and podcasts on June 1, 2024 and September 10, 2024. MK Cohen revealed that the Gaza war was originally scheduled to begin on a specific date, but senior IDF officers called for its postponement due to concerns that operational plans had been compromised by Shmuelevitz’s infiltration. The discovery of Shmuelevitz’s spying activities (and the initial questions regarding the possibility that he was working for Hamas) occurred at a moment when decisions made in these meetings could have altered the course of the conflict, highlighting the urgent need to act on collected intelligence in the first few hours and days after the Hamas attack.
Former IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi later denied such a scenario on June 4, 2024. But that denial came hot on the heels of widely covered reports (published that same day) quoting a new book titled ‘Ba’al Habayit’ (literal translation: ‘The Boss’; published in English as ‘Invisible Rulers; the story of Israel’s deep state’) authored by Ido Norden, an officer who had served at the Kirya (Israel’s Pentagon) in ‘The Pit’ (Ha’Bor in Hebrew) – Israel’s equivalent of the Pentagon’s National Military Command Center. Norden was ‘there’ – on-site with insight – and had access to real-time information. In his book, Norden claimed that a major operation to rescue hostages was planned by the IDF in the first week of the war, but Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi decided not to execute it. Norden is an Israeli public-policy professional and former IDF combat officer, who served as a senior professional adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office director-general (2012–2013). Throughout the events, the Chief of Staff didn’t share the existence of the spy Shmuelevitz, the planned Shayetet 13 raid, or its cancellation of that raid with the Prime Minister, the Minister of National Security, or the Head of Israel’s National Security Council.
Even the best of friends have bad hair days
To understand the nature of the relationship between leaders in the USA and in Israel going back to October 2023 – the ups and the downs, a little digging into history is required. One good place to begin is to quickly survey U.S. State Department and CIA history vis-à-vis the Jewish state. Here are four recent newsletters which offer interesting and surprising background:
When friends undermine
In an investigative report by Adam Kredo in The Free Beacon dated July 12, 2016, reference was made to a U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee in Investigations disclosure “that the Obama administration provided U.S. taxpayer dollars to the OneVoice Movement, a liberal group that waged a clandestine campaign to smear and oust Netanyahu from office.” American State Department political underminings did not begin during POTUS Biden’s tenure; it has older and more weathered roots.
In a March 26, 2025 letter from the U.S. Congress’ Jim Jordan (Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary) and Brian Mast (Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs) addressed to Dr. Eliad Shraga (Chairman, Movement for Quality Government in Israel), the following was stated:
- “Dear Dr. Shraga, According to reports, the Biden-Harris Administration funneled U.S. taxpayer money to certain Israeli entities, including the Movement for Quality Government in Israel (MQG), with the effect of attempting to undermine Israel’s democratically elected government. The use of federal grants in this manner not only jeopardizes America’s relationship with one of its closest allies, but also undermines core civil liberties protected within the United States and Israel. Additionally, the misuse of federal grant funds may, in some cases, amount to a criminal offense . . . This was not the first time U.S. taxpayer-funded grants had been used to support protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the policies he supports.”
A press release of the US Judiciary dated July 17, 2025 is titled: “Memo Reveals Biden-Harris Admin Misused Taxpayer Dollars to Fund Anti-Netanyahu Organizations.” It uncovers a significant money-laundering scheme, where funds from both the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and from the U.S. State Department were used – both directly and indirectly – to support anti-Netanyahu organizations.
The Israeli NGO Blue White Future received finances which funded the coalition headquarters which oversaw the anti-Netanyahu judicial reform protest. The Biden-Harris Administration provided $42,000 to an Israeli NGO, Movement for Quality Government, to conduct ‘Civic Activism Training’ in Israeli high schools. U.S. nonprofit PEF Israel Endowment Funds provided over $884 million to groups involved in anti-democracy protests in Israel. The U.S. nonprofit Jewish Communal Fund (JCF) provided over $42.8 million to the anti-Netanyahu protest headquarters in Israel and to the protests’ two main funders.
An unprecedented sum of 120 million shekels ($33.8 million) directly funded the campaign and protest demonstrations against the judicial reform in 2023, with the entire amount channeled through a single nonprofit organization. ‘Blue White Future’ distributed funds to various organizations including ‘Achim LaNeshek’/’Brothers in Arms’ – and numerous other protest groups, including those in academia. Documents exposed on the Mida website additionally reveal the organization’s engagement of a Washington public relations firm for a three-month period at USD $75,000, specifically to advance its positions with the Biden administration.
Founded in 2009 as ‘Blue White Peace’ before quickly adopting its current name ‘Blue White Future,’ the organization’s stated mission focuses on advancing a two-state solution to preserve Israel’s Jewish and democratic character. Key figures include Orni Petruschka, Attorney Gilead Sher (former chief of staff to Ehud Barak and Oslo/Camp David negotiating team member) and Ami Ayalon, who previously headed the Shin Bet and served in the Labor Party. Corporate donors included Paragon, a spyware company associated with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
A circular view of history
In October 1973, Israel was bludgeoned by a surprise attack by Egypt and Syria, with several other nations joining in an all-out attempt to destroy the Jewish state: Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Cuba, Pakistan and North Korea. Though Israel received the entire war plan of the Egyptian army in enough time to prepare, the leader of Israel’s military intelligence directorate AMAN, Major General Eli Zeira (who just passed away on November 21, 2025) had an errant conception (‘konceptzia’ in Hebrew) that the Arab world did not have the military means or skill to defeat Israel; and that, even when it appeared clear to much of the IDF, the Mossad and the Israeli government that the Arabs had aggressive intentions, the head of AMAN insisted that the Arabs would not actually follow through with war.
When the head of the Mossad, Zvi Zamir, tried to talk to Prime Minister Golda Meir about the upcoming threat, she told him to talk to Minister of Defence Moshe Dayan, who was also stuck in Zeira’s ‘konceptzia.’ The Arab surprise attack on October 6, 1973 on the Day of Atonement (called ‘The Yom Kippur War’) resulted in close to 2,800 IDF soldiers killed; up to 8,800 IDF soldiers wounded, and close to 500 IDF prisoners of war taken.
Exactly fifty years and one day after the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War (October 7, 2023), Israel once again came face to face with a deadly surprise. This shocking event was also based on a false and mistaken perception – another ‘konceptzia’ – that Hamas and their Palestinians in Gaza had been deterred by the IDF; that the jihadi terrorists had come to the conclusion that it wasn’t worthwhile to try to destroy Israel; and that the economic benefits of Gazans working in Israel outweighed the meager work prospects in Gaza.
The primarily secular leadership of the IDF, SHABAK and AMAN – indeed, of Israel’s government – did not take the Islamist jihadi perspective seriously or as worthy of consideration. Israel’s generals and intelligence heads unilaterally decided that Hamas would be willing to lay down much of its Islamist jihadi ideology on the altar of accommodating itself to ‘a new reality of peace.’
- “It is not often that nations learn from the past, even rarer that they draw the correct conclusions from it.” (Henry Kissinger, former U.S. National Security Advisor)
How shall we then pray?
- Pray for the leaders and elders of Israel – in the domains of politics, in the military and intelligence, and in law – be given the wisdom to draw sound conclusions from past failures and to make wise preparations for the next round of challenges
- Pray for the entire people of Israel to seek and find salvation in Messiah Yeshua
- Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth!
Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.
In Messiah Yeshua,
Avner Boskey
Donations can be sent to:
FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES
BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA
To donate online visit: http://www.davidstent.org/give
