Nir Topper

I have always loved the connection between text and terrain—the bridge between the sources and findings that teach us about the past and how we perceive the history and geopolitics of the Land of Israel, then and now. Often, there are perceptions, insights, and understandings that we rarely question—until someone presents a logical alternative that suddenly fits much better than the story we have been telling ourselves. A powerful and rare example of this is the school of thought led by...

History is full of influential figures who have been relegated to the footnotes, and King Omri is a classic example. In the Bible, his reign is summarized in just 12 verses, most of which focus on his spiritual failures and the assertion that he "did worse than all who were before him." However, when we place the biblical text alongside archaeological findings and records from neighboring empires, a completely different picture emerges: not a marginal king, but a political titan, a mighty...

Today, after two grueling years of a brutal war that exacted unimaginable costs from Israel in every area of life, the fighting has ceased. The war—whose end, in terms of how, when, or if it would ever come, was once unimaginable—has concluded: the final 20 living hostages have been returned to Israel, an agreement was secured for the return of the bodies of the murdered captives, and the hostilities have stopped. Today, two years after Israel launched this war following the most brutal...