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Amir Bar Shalom

Amir Bar Shalom

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir at an IDF officers’ course graduation, October 30, 2025. (Noam Revkin Fenton/FLASH90)
August 27, 2026, 2:49 pm
Netanyahu ambushes IDF chief in effort to drag the military into his election campaign
A surprise summons by the PM of the IDF’s top brass for a situation assessment was designed to generate negative headlines against the military, after it warned him that the West Bank is boiling
By Amir Bar Shalom
Centrifuges line a hall at the Uranium Enrichment Facility in Natanz, Iran, in a still image from a video aired by the Islamic Republic Iran Broadcasting company on April 17, 2021, six days after the hall had been damaged in a mysterious attack. (IRIB via AP)
March 22, 2026, 1:12 pm
In the war’s fourth week, the hunt for Iran’s enriched uranium takes center stage
With the Revolutionary Guards now calling the shots in Tehran, the US and Israel know ending the conflict without removing Iran’s near-weapons-grade stockpile invites disaster
By Amir Bar Shalom
Left to right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the scene where an Iranian ballistic missile impacted, causing damage at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, June 20, 2025. (Itai Ron/Pool via Flash90); US President Donald Trump after stepping off Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on June 21, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/AFP); Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a televised speech, June 13, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
February 24, 2026, 1:07 pm
Decisive hours: Progress on a new nuclear deal, or countdown to a US strike?
As a condition for continuing talks, the US has demanded that Tehran set out the concessions it is willing to offer, but it’s unlikely that the emerging Iranian proposal will meet Trump’s threshold requirements. Will he then order a strike, and of what intensity?
By Amir Bar Shalom
An Israeli protester holds a sign with bloody hands and Hebrew writing that reads, 'prison release form,' during a demonstration against a proposed release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem, July 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
January 22, 2025, 4:13 pm
As terrorists go free, Israel debates keeping enemies close or sending them far away
History shows dangers and possible benefits of setting killers loose in West Bank or Gaza, but also points to risks that come with exiling terror leaders beyond Israel’s reach
By Amir Bar Shalom
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox -- photographed here through a metal fence -- attend a rally against the conscription of Haredi yeshiva students to the military, in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood on June 30, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
November 17, 2024, 3:53 pm
Haredi draft is no longer a mere political issue: The IDF’s readiness depends on it
Over the past year, the outgoing head of the Personnel Directorate devoted most of his time to quiet diplomacy with rabbis in the ultra-Orthodox community. It didn’t work
By Amir Bar Shalom
Commuters drive along a street in Tehran, Iran, October 26, 2024. (Atta Kenare / AFP)
October 27, 2024, 4:22 pm
Israel’s strikes in Iran set the stage for future attacks and a change in US policy
Tehran is assessing the damage from Israeli strikes, possibly hiding that nuclear sites were targeted; the ‘limited’ strikes allow for de-escalation and leave Iran vulnerable
By Amir Bar Shalom and ToI Staff
A Hezbollah supporter holds up portraits of Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, right, and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, during activities to mark the ninth of Ashura, a 10-day ritual commemorating the death of Imam Hussein, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on September 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
September 28, 2024, 5:10 pm
Nasrallah’s elimination is a direct blow to Iran, and a revival of Israeli deterrence
Deadly strike culminates a relentless IDF assault on Iran’s strategic asset Hezbollah. Israel believes it will hit back, but Khamenei faces a critical dilemma
By Amir Bar Shalom
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gives a televised address following an attack, largely thwarted by Israel, in retaliation for the killing of Fuad Shukr, August 25, 2024. (Screenshot)
August 27, 2024, 10:13 pm
Why Nasrallah scaled down his Sunday attack, and why Israel had limited its pre-emption
Hezbollah retaliated for Shukr’s assassination while striving to avoid all-out war; Israel, still focused primarily in Gaza, has the same goal, at least for now
By Amir Bar Shalom
Then IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi meeting soldiers in Gaza, August 1, 2024 (IDF Spokesman)
August 6, 2024, 5:06 pm
IDF chief’s multifront battle — to maintain army values, free hostages, tackle Iran
Herzi Halevi is operating beyond full stretch: He couldn’t even get to a meeting to okay the strike on Hezbollah’s top commander, diverting instead to a base under attack at home
By Amir Bar Shalom
Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian attends a mourning ceremony commemorating the 7th-century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein, in Tehran, July 12, 2024. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
July 16, 2024, 6:06 pm
Pezeshkian courts EU, rules out nukes, but flirts with leaving non-proliferation pact
Iran’s president, the regime’s new ‘reformist’ face, accuses ‘US and its Western allies’ of undermining NPT through sanctions, cites ‘harmful consequences’ of killing Soleimani
By Amir Bar Shalom
Newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a visit to the shrine of the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran, Iran, on July 6, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
July 7, 2024, 7:37 pm
Election of Iran’s Pezeshkian raises prospects of new nuclear talks with the West
For Israel, win for conservative candidate would have led West to up its pressure on Tehran, but newly elected reformist’s offer of negotiations will likely be embraced
By Amir Bar Shalom
Israeli security forces operate in the West Bank city of Jenin, June 6, 2024. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)
July 5, 2024, 2:07 am
The IED threat: Terrorism in the West Bank is fast becoming more sophisticated, deadly
2 soldiers have been killed recently by explosive devices buried under roads. Data on IED manufacture shows a fast-growing threat. The fear is that civilians will be targeted next
By Amir Bar Shalom
View of a large fire after missiles launched from Lebanon hit open areas near Kadita, in the Galilee area, northern Israel, on June 12, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
June 13, 2024, 3:01 pm
In the north and south, diplomacy has become more decisive than military might
The war against Hamas is petering out, pressuring Israel to find a way to end fighting on its own terms — a maneuver made tricky by narrow constraints within the cabinet
By Amir Bar Shalom
Family and friends of the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip launch a blimp calling for their release in Tel Aviv, June 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
June 10, 2024, 1:28 am
Jubilant over the hostage rescue, Netanyahu knows more difficult times lie ahead
Daring Gaza op provided a welcome boost to national morale but is unlikely to mark a turning point, with the fate of the remaining captives in the balance and Hamas obdurate
By Amir Bar Shalom
The Combined Air Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, in 2018. (US Air Force/Alexander W. Riedel)
April 16, 2024, 6:32 pm
With attack, Iran breathes life into nascent US-led alliance from Qatar to Israel
Israeli official calls joint air defense operation run out of war room near Doha a real breakthrough, marking first time coalition has actively banded together against Tehran
By Amir Bar Shalom
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