The Observer Daily: Mossad’s comeback

The best of The Observer, from across our newsroom View in browser Mossad's comeback The best of The Observer, from across our newsroom Basia Cummings • Monday 23 June 2025 Dear friend, It feels like a very long time ago now: the October 7 surprise attack by Hamas that opened this latest, harrowing chapter in the story of Israel, Gaza and the whole Middle East. Cast your mind back to those terrible days, and you might remember the fierce criticism levelled at Israel's intelligence service: how did they not see this coming? Hamas killed 1,195 people and took more than 250 hostages. The commander of Israel's military surveillance agency resigned and public support for organisations such as Mossad fell to an all-time low. Now it is a very different story. As our head of investigations Alexi Mostrous reports, in last week's attack on Iran, "Israel's spies have taken the opportunity to rebuild their tattered reputation." The story of how Israel failed to deal with the threat from Hamas in 2023, while less than two years later pulling off an apparently extraordinary operation against Iran, is one of shifting military priorities, missed chances and political miscalculations. Read the full piece here → "The enemy of nonsense" – George Orwell Also in The Observer 'This isn't a leader. This is a man in hiding' "Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has never seemed so exposed." Rana Rahimpour sets the scene inside Tehran, as a regime that has ruled ruthlessly for decades suddenly looks fragile. After Israel's attacks, and the US bombing of nuclear sites over the weekend, the country's leader is still in power, but the regime he commanded has lost its spell. Of Khamenei, Rahimpour writes: "His most trusted commanders are dead. His enemies grow bolder. And even fear-wrought loyalty is eroding. He no longer governs a country. He commands a bunker."    Click here to read more → 'Questions of morality are very difficult' by John Ware Last month, former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams won damages in court for "monstrous libel" against the BBC. The claims relate to an allegation from a contributor in a documentary that Adams sanctioned the 2006 murder of Denis Donaldson. Adams has always denied this, and denied being a member of the IRA. In a gripping read, reporter John Ware reflects that in his libel victory, Adams has seized the opportunity – yet again – to rewrite history. In a statement sent to The Observer, Adams's lawyer said simply: "My client has consistently rejected over many years all claims that he was a member of the IRA."        Click here to read more → The debate on the assisted dying bill is far from over by Catherine Neilan       On Friday, the House of Commons narrowly passed the assisted dying bill, potentially marking the biggest social change in Britain since the legalisation of gay marriage. Our Whitehall editor Catherine Neilan speaks to Labour peer Charlie Falconer, who is tasked with shepherding the legislation through the House of Lords. He said: "I think we will be debating this in the summer, autumn and winter." Click here to read more → Scroll with it: the next generation of Oasis fans by Fergal Kinney Think the crowds at the Oasis reunion concerts will be full of middle-aged men and women reliving the heydays of Britpop and 90s optimism? Well, yes. But as Fergal Kinney writes, a new generation of Oasis fans will be joining the party. And thanks to podcasts, web forums and Anaïs Gallagher, there are lots of them.         Click here to read more → Listen Daily Sensemaker What could happen next after the US bombed Iran? Donald Trump ordered the strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran early Sunday morning. He said the US entered the war to stop the threat from "the world's number one state sponsor of terror"     Click here to listen → Thanks for reading. I'm away on holiday for the next few days, so you'll see a few different names writing to you in The Observer Daily. I'll be back soon, but in the meantime, I hope you continue to enjoy these emails, and our website – observer.co.uk – which has been changing and building as we settle into this new chapter for The Observer. Please do keep writing to us, and letting us know what you think of our work – we so appreciate your feedback.   Basia Cummings Editor, digital The Observer   My Account To manage your newsletters, track tickets and more, go to the 'My account' page on the Observer website: Manage my newsletters Follow Follow The Observer on social media on your preferred platform:   The Observer     The Observer Food Monthly The Observer Magazine The Observer New Review   Listen Listen for free in the Tortoise app or wherever you get your podcasts: Want to change how you receive these emails? Update email preferences Copyright © 2025 Tortoise Media. All rights reserved. Did this email get caught in your spam filter? Add editor@newsroom.tortoisemedia.com to your address book to never miss an email again. No longer want to receive this newsletter? Unsubscribe here.