Netanyahu’s R Word
Also, Gaza is going to be resettled, Israeli tech has a record-breaking quarter, and more.
It’s Tuesday, December 23, and in an episode of The West Wing, during an iconic Sorkin walk-and-talk, the deputy chief of staff is discussing the economy when one of the aides mentions the word “recession.” The deputy chief of staff wheels on the aide: “No, no, no! We don’t ever use that word around here.” Instead, they use a code word: “bagel.”
It seems Israel’s prime minister had a similar policy. His forbidden word: “responsibility.”
That’s according to an interview with the prime minister’s former spokesman—and current center of scandal—Eli Feldstein, on Kan 11 last night.
A quick reminder:
This is the latest part of the “QatarGate” scandal, which blew up earlier this year. Three associates of Benjamin Netanyahu—Yonatan Urich, a close and longtime aide; Israel Einhorn, a political adviser and consultant who had worked with Bibi; and Feldstein—are alleged to have received money from Qatar.
Yesterday’s newsletter reported on i24’s Avishai Grinzaig’s coverage of WhatsApp conversations between Eli Feldstein and Israel Einhorn, revealing that they had fabricated official statements from “senior officials,” both American and Israeli, to create pro-Qatar coverage.
Well, Feldstein’s interview expanded on these issues and more.
Before we get into this, a grain of salt: During the interview, Feldstein admitted he lied about his drug use on a polygraph test. According to Grinzaig’s report, he also misled most of the media on matters concerning Qatar and Egypt. This is to say, all of his insider revelations should not be taken as Torah from Sinai.
Now the gossip.
Feldstein claimed that Tzachi Braverman, chief of staff to the prime minister, had prior knowledge of the investigation into information leaks and Qatar connections, and told him, “I can shut this down.”
According to Feldstein, in a scene more House of Cards than West Wing, Braverman summoned him to a secret meeting in an underground parking garage beneath Israel’s Pentagon. Feldstein claimed Braverman suggested he could disrupt or derail the probe, named several individuals who would later become suspects, and asked whether they were connected to Feldstein—or to the Prime Minister’s Office.
But that’s not all. Feldstein also said he updated his alleged accomplice in the affair, Yonatan Urich, about the secret meeting—implying that the two were working for Qatar in tandem.
Outside the scandal, Feldstein mentioned some other interesting stories.
According to him, after the war began, “responsibility”—and avoiding it—became the obsession inside the Prime Minister’s Office. Spokespeople were ordered to fend off public blame aimed at Netanyahu, while the prime minister himself was fixated on scrubbing the word from the conversation.
“My first and biggest task,” he said, “was to erase the concept of responsibility from public discourse around him.” On his first day, October 11, 2023, Netanyahu asked, “Are they still talking about responsibility?” and instructed him to “remove the word from the lexicon.”
Less serious was Feldstein’s reveal relating to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. “Netanyahu despises them. Most of the time he thinks they’re talking nonsense.” According to Feldstein, there are duplicate discussions—one for real decision-making, the other to give Smotrich and Ben Gvir a “feeling that they’re part of something.”
But returning to the question of responsibility, here’s the question: Do we believe him?
In response to the interview, the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement:
“This is a long chain of recycled and false claims, all of them based on the testimony of a person with clear personal interests.”
But let’s be honest: It’s no secret that Netanyahu is afraid of a word. It starts with an R—and it isn’t recession.
Nahal Brigade marching with shovels in an Independence Day parade in 1952. (GPO)
Gaza settlements are returning. That’s according to Defense Minister Israel Katz, who announced in a speech today that the army will be establishing Nahal bases in the Israeli-controlled northern Gaza Strip.
To understand the weight of that statement, we need a bit of history.
The Nahal bases were a system that combined military service with agricultural settlement. Recruits in the Nahal Brigade didn’t just serve as soldiers; they built. Their units established fortified outposts in strategically important areas—first across the Negev and Galilee, and, after the Six-Day War, throughout the newly conquered territories of Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
These outposts were designed to be temporary. The army would set up the infrastructure, secure the area, and, after a few years, hand it over to civilian settlers. It was, in many ways, the IDF’s version of the old Zionist ethos: draw borders not with walls, but with cultivation.
Examples include Netzarim in the Gaza Strip, which later lent its name to the “Netzarim Corridor,” and Nahal Oz, one of the communities along the Gaza envelope devastated on October 7.
So is that the plan? Are the settlers going to be returning in a few years?
It appears so.
That presents a clear contradiction with Washington’s position. Donald Trump has said repeatedly that Gaza will not be resettled, and that Israel’s control over part of the Strip is temporary—only to persist until the currently non-existent International Stabilization Force arrives.
But if you ask me, this is happening. Just look at the “temporary” settlements in Judea and Samaria. They may not have known it at the time, but the moment the yellow line was drawn, the border moved.
In Israel, temporary has a habit of becoming forever.
Israel stock market graphic.
Israeli tech investment is surging. According to new preliminary data from IVC and LeumiTech in the fourth quarter of this year, more than $3 billion was raised for Israeli startups—45 percent more than the previous quarter and the strongest quarterly showing since 2022.
Where’s the money going?
Cybersecurity and AI together accounted for 70 percent of capital raised. This is part of a larger trend: cyber is increasingly important. Despite making up only 7 percent of the Israeli tech ecosystem, it commanded 36 percent of total tech investment in 2024.
But this isn’t just a fluke. Annual figures point to a broader rebound of Israel’s economy: Startup Nation Central reports $15.6 billion raised in private capital in 2025—up 24 percent from 2024 and 68 percent from 2023. International investors dominated, making up 60 percent of participants in these investments.
Israel’s broader stability is showing up in global rankings too. Last week, The Economist listed Israel as the third best-performing economy of 2025, citing its strong markets, low inflation and record foreign investment as proof of a solid postwar recovery.
Put it all together, and a picture emerges: Israel’s economy is finding its rhythm again.
The refugee camp in Khan Yunis. (Abu Ali Express)
A striking picture has emerged from Khan Yunis. In the very spot where the settlement of Neve Dekalim once stood, there are now half a million refugees.
What might strike you first is the scale and surprising order of the camp, but what struck me was the few familiar buildings that still stand—the Neve Dekalim regional school, the old council building and the Pais Community Center.
The Pais Community Center after the withdrawal. (Courtesy)
Neve Dekalim wasn’t just another settlement. It was the capital of the Gaza settlement bloc, home to a thriving agricultural industry and more than 500 families.
Like most of the settlements in Gush Katif, its residents didn’t want to leave. One account from the 2005 withdrawal captures the moment:
“In the first house the soldiers entered, settlers began yelling at them in tears: ‘Why are you kicking us out of our home? How can you do this? Tell us why.’”
During the withdrawal, the promise was the reason: where the settlements once stood would rise factories, hotels and bustling streets—and beside it all, a safer Israel.
After the disengagement, most of the homes and public buildings were ransacked and bulldozed. A few structures survived and were later repurposed by Al-Aqsa University in Gaza—the buildings that are visible in the photograph.
Eighteen years later, this picture captures the reality. If the soldiers could see what came next, could they still explain why?
In yesterday’s story on disproving the IPC’s claims of famine, I omitted the name of the mathematician Nurit Baytch. To see her original report click here.