FUTURE OF JEWISH
Jewish history has entered an era that never existed before.
Nachum Kaplan
October 7, 2026
The Jewish nation is stronger now than at any point in its long and storied history, including the First and Second Temple eras. It is easy to lose sight of this with resurgent antisemitism sweeping the world, Israel perpetually in the diplomatic firing line, and the Middle East convulsed by war, but it remains one of history’s most remarkable achievements. For over three millennia, the Jewish People have endured exile, persecution, and near-annihilation, yet they have not only survived, but thrived. Today, Israel stands as a testament to Jewish resilience, ingenuity, and unbreakable will. Militarily, economically, technologically, demographically, and politically, the Jewish People have never possessed anything approaching their present strength. This is not just optimism. The ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah, though grand in their time, were ultimately fragile, falling to Assyrian and Babylonian conquest. The Second Temple period ended in Roman destruction and exile. Modern Israel, however, is a regional military power, a technological powerhouse, and the sovereign center of a Jewish population larger than anything the ancient Jewish commonwealths could have imagined. READ MORE
ITS NOON IN ISRAEL Ari Tatarka and Amit Segal: Three Years Later...This world is ostensibly new, but it is intimately familiar. On October 7, Israel was forcibly evicted from the new Middle East of normalization and globalization and sent back to the old one, where it was once again an isolated villa in the jungle. To fit its old role, Israel reflexively grew younger, from pragmatic, diplomatic middle age to impulsive, uncompromising draft age. Three years later, it is still 18. The other world dates its birth to October 8, omitting the day its ideology won its greatest victory and its goals were realized: October 7. This “October 8” world has even fewer shades of gray than the Nova world. Its black is Israel, the unholy nation, the spearhead of Western colonialism and the last obstacle to the world’s redemption. Its white is the Gazans, victims of oppression and genocide, who have replaced Jews as the archetypal persecuted other. It has adopted the jihadist’s categories: “settlers” and Israelis are one and the same, as are terrorists and civilians. But this world departs furthest from reality not in what it claims but in what it leaves out. In this world, Hamas does not exist.
MEDIA LINE 30,000 Gather in Tel Aviv to Honor Oct. 7 Victims, Former Hostages and Heroes About 30,000 people attended Israel’s national October 7 memorial ceremony at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv, honoring those killed in the Hamas attack, hostages murdered in captivity and Israelis who fought to protect others during the massacre three years ago. The ceremony, organized by Kumu (“Rise Up”), a movement founded by families of victims, hostages and survivors, began with a moment of silence at 9:15 p.m. Former hostage Eli Sharabi and Shani Cohen hosted the event, which included testimony and performances by Israeli artists including Yuval Rafael and Idan Amedi.
I24NEWS Noam Tibon’s daring October 7 rescue: Amir Tibon recounts survival story Amir Tibon and his family live in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. On October 7, they were trapped by fighting until Amir’s father, Noam, fought his way to their house and rescued them. On October 7, Tibon, his wife Miri, and their two daughters rushed to the safe room in their house after sirens blared at 6:29 a.m. As they hid silently in the dark safe room, they heard terrorists running from house to house firing guns and killing their neighbors. They attempted to break down the door and enter the room, but were unable to. Tibon and his family heard them firing AK-47s in the living room. It wasn’t until the afternoon that soldiers arrived to retake the kibbutz from Hamas terrorists. At 4 p.m., Noam entered the house and helped the family escape.
