For decades, Israel ignored the Shiite community in Lebanon. That blind spot proved catastrophic. In this gripping account, drawing on 24 years of military intelligence experience, leaning on rare Arabic sources, a former senior Israeli intelligence officer takes you behind the scenes of decisions that shaped the Middle East for generations. From the early neglect of Lebanon’s Shiites to the fateful 1992 strike that killed Abbas Musawi and propelled Hassan Nasrallah to power and his elimination 32 years later by Israel on September 2024.

Part memoir, part strategic analysis, this book offers lessons for policymakers, scholars, and anyone seeking to understand the cost of ignoring history. This reconstruction of the final days of Hassan Nasrallah also reveals how strategic miscalculations turned opportunity into enduring conflict and illuminates the hidden dynamics of Lebanon’s transformation.

Dr. Colonel (ret.) Jacques Neriah is a Senior Analyst for Middle Eastern affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Israel. He previously served as Foreign Policy Adviser to Israel’s fifth Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, and as Deputy Head of Assessment in the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate.