On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is in talks to buy the Israeli-led cybersecurity firm Wiz for approximately $23 billion. Should the deal go through, it would be Alphabet’s biggest-ever acquisition, and also set a record for Israeli startups. The company is officially based in New York, but, Sharon Wrobel writes,

the founders of Wiz are Israeli residents and some of its investors are based in Israel; the country’s coffers are also set to benefit from the windfall should a deal be sealed. The startup employs 900 people, out of which at least 150 currently work in Israel.

The deal, which is reportedly nearing completion but depends on the approval of the Federal Trade Commission, belies the picture of Israel’s global isolation. Wrobel places it in its broader context:

Israel’s tech standing in the global arena has been battered over the past one-and-a-half years, starting with the political upheaval around the contentious judicial overhaul at the start of 2023 and continuing with the outbreak of the war. These events are having an impact on foreign investors who are reluctant to park their funds in Israel, especially as their appetite for global risk declines.

Google has had R&D activity in Israel since 2005, and employs some 2,000 workers in Haifa and Tel Aviv, with teams tackling machine-learning, . . . natural language processing, cloud networking, and machine perception challenges, as well as sales and marketing. Over the years, the tech giant has bought and invested in several Israeli companies and startups, including the $1 billion purchase of the navigation app Waze, the threat-detection firm Siemplify, the cloud storage firm Elastifile, the cybersecurity company Cybereason, and the data-migration company Alooma.

Hamas declared yesterday that it won’t release more hostages “until further notice.” Given the timing and wording of the announcement—several days before the release was supposed to take place, and speaking of a delay rather than a halt—Ron Ben-Yishai concludes that it is a negotiating tactic, aimed at “creating a temporary crisis to gain leverage.” Therefore, writes Ben-Yishai, “Hamas may reverse its decision by Saturday.” He adds:

Israel cannot afford to concede to Hamas’s demands beyond what is already outlined in the agreement, as doing so would invite continuous extortion throughout the negotiation process, further delaying hostage releases.

The group sees the public outrage and growing calls for action following the release of hostages in severe medical condition as an opportunity to extract more concessions. These demands include not only a rapid start to negotiations on the next phase of the deal and an end to the war but also smaller, immediate benefits, particularly improved conditions for displaced Gazans.

Beyond these tactical objectives, Hamas has another goal—one that Israelis do not always recognize: inflicting psychological pain on the Israeli public. The group benefits from, and perhaps even draws strength from, the anguish and emotional distress in Israel, as well as the testimonies of freed hostages detailing the abuse they endured. Hamas wants these stories to be heard—not only to pressure the Israeli government but also because, in the eyes of its supporters, Israel’s suffering is its ultimate victory.