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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.

An Israeli soldier examines anti-tank ordnance seized from Hezbollah's Radwan Force in Southern Lebanon, Dec. 28, 2024. Credit: IDF.
Analysis
Hezbollah’s Radwan Force and the risk of northern infiltration
Despite significant degradation, Israeli observers warn that Hezbollah retains the capability for localized cross-border raids.
Mar. 19, 2026
Yaakov Lappin
Ali Larijani
Analysis
Ali Larijani, Iran’s ‘de facto ruler,’ eliminated in IAF strike
Mar. 18, 2026
Yaakov Lappin
Israel Defense Forces troops from the 91st Division conduct ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in Southern Lebanon, March 15, 2026. Credit: IDF.
Analysis
‘Only IDF presence in Lebanon can defend northern Israel’
Mar. 17, 2026
Yaakov Lappin
Eyal Zamir
Analysis
New army chief ‘knows where the IDF needs to go’
Decisive victory the goal, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says.
Mar. 8, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
A Lebanese army officer shows Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam an Israeli military position on the horizon, in the southern village of Khiam near the border with Israel, on Feb. 28, 2025. Photo by Rabih Daher/AFP via Getty Images.
Analysis
‘Pre-Oct. 7 situation in Lebanon is no more’
The guiding principle behind Israel’s current actions in Lebanon is radically different from the past, IDF official tells JNS.
Mar. 4, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
Hamas fires a large number of rockets toward Israel in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.
Analysis
‘There was no focal point on Oct. 7'
After the IDF published its probe into Oct. 7, a former Unit 8200 commander tells JNS that the lack of a central alert mechanism is a critical factor.
Mar. 2, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
A replica of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant at an exhibition at the International Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology in Isfahan on May 6, 2024. Photo by Atta Kenare/AF via Getty Images.
Analysis
Iranian nuclear progress goes much further than uranium
Former national security adviser to Netanyahu tells JNS that Israel must succeed in clarifying to the U.S. the gravity of the situation.
Feb. 28, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
Golan Heights
Analysis
IDF’s expanded presence on Syrian side of buffer zone appears long-term
Israel is waiting for Syria to stabilize, Lt. Col. (res.) Marco Moreno, a former senior IDF intelligence officer, tells JNS.
Feb. 24, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
Al-Qassam Brigades terrorists
Analysis
Israeli security control of Gaza is an existential necessity
Amid the pain and mourning, the need to erase the Hamas terror army from the face of the Earth emerges as a central imperative.
Feb. 21, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
A Russian soldier stands next to submarines at the Russian naval base in the Syrian Mediterranean port of Tartus on Sept. 26, 2019. Photo by Maxime Popov/AFP via Getty Images.
Analysis
As Russia’s influence in Syria wanes, Turkey steps in
Israeli observers offer contrasting outlooks on whether Russia will—or should, from Israel’s perspective—retain its foothold in Syria.
Feb. 20, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
Israelis in Metula view damage from an IDF operation across the border in Lebanon, Dec. 9, 2024. Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.
Analysis
Why the IDF is remaining in five key posts in Southern Lebanon
As questions remain over the Lebanese Armed Forces’ ability to stop Hezbollah’s entrenchment, the IDF is completing the remainder of its withdrawal.
Feb. 18, 2025
Yaakov Lappin
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