Dear partners and friends,

With the start of the new year, I wish you a happy holiday – Shana Tova.

The past year, marking the third since the start of the Iron Swords War, has been exceptionally dramatic. Significant developments have emerged in both the Palestinian and Iranian arenas toward resolving long-standing conflicts – most notably the release of the hostages from Gaza, and a major military campaign against Iran that also reignited confrontation with Hezbollah. The year is concluding amid real instability in Judea and Samaria and a troubling rise in nationalist violence, with consequences both domestic and international.

The High Holidays offer a timely moment for personal and national reflection. While Israel’s security posture is stronger than it was last Rosh Hashanah, our diplomatic standing has come under strain and our social cohesion has been weakened by deepening polarization. The current economic situation appears stable, but the outlook carries real concerns; foreign debt, policies that reward non-productive sectors, and the challenge of adequately funding essential defense needs will weigh on the economy in the years ahead.

While this complexity is exhausting, it also offers a unique opportunity – a fluid reality is far easier to reshape than a static one. Seizing this opportunity depends on three conditions: strategic diplomatic initiative, leadership capable of making difficult (and sometimes unpopular) decisions in the national interest, and professional execution capability.

Over the past three years, significant security achievements have been attained, but they have not yet been fully translated into comprehensive diplomatic initiative. The heavy toll of this protracted war has also deepened existing social divides that will require patience, partnership, and good faith to bridge. These are the critical missions facing Israeli society and its leadership in the year ahead.

The special relationship between Israel and the United States continues to be a central focus for the Institute. It is vital for Israel to maintain broad, bipartisan consensus in the American political arena, rather than becoming a polarizing domestic issue – any erosion of that broad support could undermine Israel’s resilience against other security challenges. A significant number of INSS initiatives address this issue, some directly and some indirectly: from the India-Middle East-Europe trade corridor connecting India to Europe via Israel, to combating antisemitism and delegitimization, and, above all, advocating for a pragmatic path of separation from the Palestinians that avoids both a two-state framework (unworkable in the current climate) and a single-state reality that would compromise Israel’s national and ethical identity.

My friends,

This is the third year I am writing to you, and the first in which I feel genuinely optimistic. We are entering these Holy Days without the profound guilt that weighed on us last year, when our brothers and sisters were held captive in the tunnels of Gaza. We are closer to the end of the conflict than to its beginning, and the IDF has secured a strong position – one that can be leveraged into a diplomatic process in the year ahead. I believe such a process can take shape not because any single camp prevails, but because the deep longing for it – and the vision and hope it carries – now transcends Israel’s political spectrum.

Judaism sanctifies peace, and I hope Israel’s national security thinking will once again recognize its intrinsic worth – a value that, in the long run, matters more than any single military achievement. After three years of war, we must strive to return peace to the center of the security discourse. Without peace as the ultimate objective, war becomes a meaningless pursuit.