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Yaakov Lappin

Yaakov Lappin

Yaakov Lappin is an Israel-based military affairs correspondent and analyst. He is the in-house analyst at the Miryam Institute; a research associate at the Alma Research and Education Center; and a research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He is a frequent guest commentator on international television news networks, including Sky News and i24 News. Lappin is the author of Virtual Caliphate: Exposing the Islamist State on the Internet. Follow him at: www.patreon.com/yaakovlappin.

Ahmad al-Shara, Hadja Lahbib
Analysis
Syria’s new regime watches the Iran-Israel war from the sidelines
An Israeli Syrian expert tells JNS that the new regime sees Iran as “a hated enemy.”
June 22, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
Israeli Air Force fighter jets prepare to depart for operations in Iran, as part of the effort to destroy the regime's nuclear weapons program and missile manufacturing industry, June 17, 2025. Credit: IDF.
Analysis
Before US strikes on Iran, Israeli attacks dealt a ‘severe blow’
IAF hits over 50% of Iranian missile launchers, has flown over 1,000 sorties, hitting nuclear sites, missile production and even Iranian fighter jets.
June 22, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, (left), Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, (second from left) and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharib Abadi (far right) in front of the gate of the Fordow nuclear enrichment plant near Qom, on Nov. 15, 2024. Photo by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran/AFP via Getty Images.
Analysis
Fordow ‘built especially to enrich to military grade’
Israeli strikes have already hit Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz and Isfahan and destroyed the core of the Arak plutonium reactor.
June 21, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
IDF Air Force jets
Analysis
Military source details extensive damage to Iran’s nuclear program
“The Iranian military leadership is on the run,” he says after the IDF killed Iran’s new wartime chief of staff, Ali Shadmani.
June 17, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
The flag of the Qatar Foundation is seen alongside the Qatar flag during the AFC Asian Cup in Al Rayyan, Qatar, on Feb. 4, 2024. Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images.
Analysis
How Qatar influences future American leaders
Qatari-funded events are part of a sophisticated strategy to shape “the foreign-policy establishment of tomorrow,” a top Israeli researcher tells JNS.
June 17, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
IDF Air Force jets
Analysis
IDF official: Iran’s goal is an 8,000-missile arsenal to annihilate Israel
The IDF has established an open aerial corridor to Tehran, striking at the heart of Iran’s nuclear program, missile production and military leadership
June 16, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
IDF Air Force Jets
Analysis
‘For the first time, 200 fighter jets took off in unison’
Israel’s initial attack on Iran eliminated its top three military commanders and the senior leadership of the IRGC Air Force, while severely damaging the underground Natanz nuclear facility.
June 13, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
Iran Natanz
Analysis
‘Iranian scientists were secretly developing nuclear weapon components’
Inside the intelligence that triggered Israel’s strike on Iran: Israeli defense officials say, “We are at the point of no return.”
June 13, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, addresses the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting at the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on June 9, 2025. Photo by Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images.
Analysis
US position on Iran’s uranium ‘not so clear’
As the IAEA head sounds the alarm ahead of new US-Iran talks in Oman, former Israeli defense officials examine the problematic diplomatic process.
June 11, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
Yasser Abu Shabab, head of the eastern Rafah city-based Popular Forces. Credit: Popular Forces/Facebook.
Analysis
Israel’s gambit: Empowering Gaza militia to help crush Hamas
As the IDF provides air support for the Abu Shabab clan against Hamas, former defense officials debate the strategy.
June 10, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
Israeli soldiers stand guard as Druze men demonstrate in solidarity with the Syrian Druze community near the border barrier in the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on April 30, 2025. Photo by Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images.
Analysis
Golan rocket fire tests reported Israel-Syria security talks
Experts weigh new Syrian regime’s intentions versus its capability to control territory after the first cross-border attacks since Assad’s fall.
June 5, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
Two Hamas terrorists surrendering to Israeli forces in Rafah during an operation in the Shaboura neighborhood in an image published on May 6, 2025. Credit: IDF.
Analysis
‘Hamas can no longer operate as an organized military framework’
Former Israeli defense officials tell JNS that the terror group is losing its grip on Gaza’s civilians.
June 4, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
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