This was not "business as usual" in Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu announced the firing of the director of the domestic security agency Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, who then issued a stinging description of Netanyahu endangering "national security" for his political ambitions -- including no true desire for a deal to free hostages held by Hamas. Meantime, Netanyahu re-started the war in Gaza, ignoring a ceasefire deal from January. The Houthis in Yemen responded by firing a missile at Israel, just as President Trump ordered massive airstrikes on the Houthis. The Middle East is always volatile, but -- especially in Israel, and concerns for the health of its democracy -- this was a remarkable, memorable week.

Please comment on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- about the Mossad and Israel's other security agencies is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).

AND ANOTHER BOOK: Dan Raviv is co-author of a new book -- with world-renowned social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can find what's important to you -- and figure out all the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance ... and then they typically will reflect some back at you. That's called a win-win. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

(You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.