What I Saw on Oct. 7: Leadership and Israel’s Greatest Generation ‘We are going to change the map of the Mideast,’ Netanyahu said two days after the Hamas massacre. ByOphir FalkOct. 6, 2026 12:02 pm ET Every Jew and Israeli remembers where he was on Oct. 7, 2023. My day started shortly after 6:30 a.m., when Tzachi Braverman, the prime minister’s chief of staff, called me and said, “Get up! Come to the Kirya immediately,” referring to our military headquarters. I got dressed within minutes and rushed downstairs to wake my 19- and 21-year-old sons. I told them, “We’re at war. Get to your units.” My eldest asked, “Hezbollah or Hamas?” “Hamas,” I said. “OK,” he replied in what sounded like a sigh of relief. As I walked out the door, I passed my younger son, who was sitting in the living room waiting to be called up. “Don’t worry, it’s going to be a long war. You’ll get your chance,” I told him. He did get his chance and much more.I got in my car at about 7 a.m. I drove past my neighbor, an Air Force squadron commander, who was getting into his car. “Avner, are all your pilots coming?” I asked.“They will all come,” he said.“This isn’t another round. This time we need to go all the way,” I warned.“Absolutely,” Avner shouted in agreement.I arrived at the Kirya shortly after 8 a.m. when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was receiving updates on the unfolding attack. Horrific photos and videos of wounded and dead Israelis overwhelmed WhatsApp. Some showed Israeli civilians being slaughtered in their kibbutz homes and on the streets of Sderot.Shortly after 9:30 a.m., Mr. Netanyahu entered the situation room to receive a briefing from the military chiefs. “It’s going to be a long war,” the prime minister told me on the way to the meeting. Mr. Netanyahu, the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, several other officials and I huddled around a small table. You could have heard a pin drop. In the room, the prime minister was briefed that “we were somewhat surprised” that “there are still a number of skirmishes and a large number of casualties.” He was told that “the situation should be under control before nightfall,” but that “we need to call up 100,000 reservists.” Mr. Netanyahu interjected: “Call up 300,000 troops immediately.” After intense questioning, he summarized, “Verify that, as I instructed this morning, a division was sent to the North and is holding a strong defense. Prevent the crossing of anyone back to Gaza. This is not another round of fighting. This is war.”At about 11:30 a.m., the prime minister addressed the public. “We are at war. Not an operation, not another round—at war.” He soon formalized the declaration of war and the war’s objectives in a meeting with the security cabinet.France’s President Emmanuel Macron was the first foreign leader to call. He urged diplomacy and offered to mediate. “Hamas is ISIS,” Mr. Netanyahu replied. “If it is not dismantled in Gaza, you will meet it in Paris.” The prime minister also emphasized that he didn’t want Mr. Macron to convey any message from him to anyone. “Hamas will soon get the message,” Mr. Netanyahu said.The next call came from then-President Joe Biden. “How can I help, Bibi?” he asked. Mr. Netanyahu said, “Hamas is worse than ISIS. They need to be dismantled.” He asked Mr. Biden to send two U.S. aircraft carriers toward Lebanon’s shores and to warn Iran and its Hezbollah proxy not to join the war. Mr. Biden promised he would. He gave the “Don’t” speech several days later, warning Iran and its proxies against escalation. As that fateful day ended, Israel’s enemies thought the Jewish state would collapse. Mr. Netanyahu’s rivals believed he was finished. Both were mistaken.On Oct. 9, the prime minister met with community leaders in southern Israel. “I ask that you stand steadfast because we are going to change the map of the Middle East,” he told the group.Three years later, Mr. Netanyahu has been proved right. Hamas has been decimated in Gaza, Palestinian terror infrastructure has been uprooted in Judea and Samaria, Hezbollah is on its knees, and Yemen’s Houthis have been hit like never before. Bashar al-Assad’s army in Syria is gone and, most important, the weakened Iranian regime will never assert the same power.After 1,096 days of fighting a war of redemption across seven fronts, Israel and its American ally are stronger than ever. Mr. Netanyahu has emerged as our greatest wartime leader, and the young soldiers of Oct. 7 are proving to be Israel’s Greatest Generation. Mr. Falk is foreign-policy adviser to Prime Minister Netanyahu.