FEBRUARY 26, 2026: After Geneva Talks, Iran Rejects US Demands But Claims Progress; Modi Concludes Very Successful Israel Visit; Profit Over Loyalty
Tel Aviv Diary
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Our Next ZOOM BRIEFING will take place on Sunday, March 1st
6PM Israel Time • 4PM GB • 11AM EST • 8AM PST
Invitations will go out on Sunday morning
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I’ve held off writing this part of tonight’s Tel Aviv Diary update for as long as I could, and truthfully, I’m still not sure what to write.
First, the facts: The American delegation, composed of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met with the Iranians via an intermediary; they were not in the same room. The talks lasted three hours this morning and, after a multi-hour break, continued for another hour and a half this evening. The Iranians claim that significant progress has been made and say the Americans are showing flexibility on demands that Iran dismantle its enrichment facilities and that sanctions be lifted. U.S. officials have been more restrained, saying only that the talks were positive.
Entering the talks, the American position called for the complete dismantlement of all Iranian enrichment facilities, the removal of all uranium currently in the country, and a binding commitment that Iran would never again pursue enrichment. Whether the two sides meaningfully narrowed their differences remains unclear. Tehran has an obvious incentive to portray the discussions as productive: such a narrative buys time, sustains diplomatic momentum, and eases immediate pressure for a potential U.S. strike. Washington, for its part, can tolerate that framing while still retaining the option of military action at any given moment.
The USS Ford has left Crete and is steaming toward a position off the Israeli coast. The Americans have evacuated bases that are very close to Iran and therefore vulnerable to Iranian counterattacks. I truly don’t know what to conclude, the central question is what President Trump intends to do. He boxed himself in when he posted on Truth Social last month that help was on the way and now faces the challenge of climbing down from that position.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that Iranian students are demonstrating despite fears of being gunned down. The American public opposes military action, however, President Trump is not running for reelection. Ultimately, the decision rests with him. If Trump he has no intention of striking, he can allow Tehran to offer a diplomatic formula that provides him with a face-saving exit. If however, he has already resolved to act, Iran’s refusal to abandon enrichment entirely and surrender its nuclear stockpiles would supply the justification, perhaps even as soon as tonight.
So, in short, as of tonight, it remains unclear whether an attack is imminent, may come soon, or will not occur at all.
PM MODI RETURNS TO INDIA AFTER A SUCCESSFUL VISIT
Prime Minister Modi’s visit concluded today with his return to India. By all accounts, it was extremely successful. Israel and India signed a series of agreements, primarily focused on defense cooperation, as well as on scientific collaboration, industrial partnerships, and a range of other areas of mutual interest. The relationship with India is widely regarded as strategically significant for Israel.
As noted in yesterday’s update, Israel’s defense industries are grappling with labor shortages and struggling to keep pace with surging demand. India, by contrast, has a vast workforce and growing industrial capacity. It is, in many respects, a perfect partnership, a natural fit. Israel provides advanced technologies that India needs, especially for its defense sector. India faces real adversaries in China and Pakistan and has fought limited wars in the past. The result is a relationship that is both practical and strategically consequential. At a time when regional tensions are rising, the deepening of these ties holds particular importance for Israel.
SILENCE FROM THE TOP AS TENSIONS ESCALATE OVER RELIGIOUS PLURALISM
The coalition continues to advance legislation that would prohibit non-Orthodox prayer services in any location, by requiring authorization from the Chief Rabbinate. In practical terms, the measure would extend to the entire Western Wall plaza, including the Robinson’s Arch area, which for decades has served as a designated space for egalitarian prayer and ceremonies. As I mentioned earlier, it is also the site where my younger daughter celebrated her bat mitzvah 20 years ago.
I listened to two interviews today with religious members of the cabinet. Most of the cabinet identifies as Orthodox, to be more precise rather than simply “religious.” Their views are so foreign to my own understanding that their remarks were difficult to hear.
Both ministers stated bluntly that they do not consider the concerns of non-Orthodox Jews to be a priority. One went further, asserting that Reform Jews in America all, or mostly, support the BDS movement, and therefore questioned why Israel should take the views of Reform Jews into account. Their argument rests on a simple premise: that the Orthodox constitute a majority in Israel and therefore should determine policy without regard to other streams of Judaism.
Once again, this controversy returns to the broader discussion over judicial reform and the meaning of democracy. A core principle of democratic governance is the protection of minority rights. In this case, the minority is the non-Orthodox communities of Jews. Whether they represent a numerical minority is open to debate, but in terms of official identification and recognition and institutional power in Israel today, they are certainly treated as such.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has largely avoided addressing the subject. He understands American Jewry far better than many members of his cabinet, some of whom appear to have only a very limited grasp of its diversity and concerns. Yet he has allowed the matter to play out, without intervening. Netanyahu is the same prime minister who, in order to secure one additional political ally, appointed Avi Maoz to a cabinet position. Maoz, a hardline ultra-conservative figure, who heads what is effectively a one-person faction, was also granted budgetary resources and influence over elements of Israel’s education system.
PROFIT OVER LOYALTY:
A disturbing case came to light today. A senior field operative in the security services, the Shin Bet (Shabak), was arrested on suspicion of smuggling large quantities of cigarettes and other goods to Hamas during the war or in its immediate aftermath. Authorities reported that he was found in possession of 10 million shekels at the time of his arrest.
The apparent motive, financial gain, reflects a troubling shift that has taken place in Israel over the past decades. In just the past two years, authorities have uncovered an unprecedented number of cases involving Israelis accused of spying for enemy states such as Iran. Likewise, instances of Israelis allegedly collaborating with Hamas in this manner were once virtually unheard of.
The frequency and scale of these cases suggest more than isolated lapses in judgment. They point instead to a deeper and more disquieting transformation within Israeli society—one in which personal profit appears, in some instances, to be overriding national loyalty and collective responsibility.
SECURITY CHIEF BREAKS SILENCE ON TREASON ALLEGATIONS
Today, the newly appointed head of the Shin Bet, David Zini, who is clearly identified with the right-wing of Israeli politics, issued a pointed and carefully worded statement. Zini acknowledged that many are waiting for him to declare that the events of October 7 were the result of treason.
The assertion is difficult to fathom. Still, as I have noted before, a substantial portion of the coalition’s supporters believe the attacks stemmed from treason, not from catastrophic lapses by the military, the intelligence establishment, or the Prime Minister himself—who, in their eyes, can do no wrong.
WEAPONIZING DIVISION IN AN ELECTION SEASON
Far-right-wing agitators continue to protest outside the home of Lucy Aharish in what appears to be a coordinated campaign. The target is not incidental: a successful Israeli-Arab Muslim journalist married to a Jewish war hero, Lucy embodies, by her very public life, the possibility of Jewish-Arab partnership.
With elections approaching, tensions surrounding Arab-Jewish relations have again moved to the political forefront. For the Prime Minister, framing the campaign around these divisions offers a familiar strategic advantage: casting cooperation with Arab parties as illegitimate and depicting opposition factions as dependent upon them. The approach draws on, and amplifies, a rising current of racism within segments of Israeli society.
The responsibility of any government is to combat racism, not to exploit it. Yet the record of the current coalition suggests the opposite. Netanyahu’s political durability has long depended on his ability to navigate Israel’s internal fractures—fault lines he has, at times, deepened rather than healed or bridged.
RESTAURANT REVIEW, By Tali Schulman
Thai 148
Thai 148, located on Dizengoff—yes, at number 148—is a delicious new Thai addition to the city. While Thai food isn’t hard to come by in Tel Aviv, there aren’t that many spots I’d truly recommend going out of your way for. This one, however, is absolutely worth it.
We started with a tofu dish served in a cabbage shell with a peanut sauce, which ended up being one of my favorite dishes of the meal—comforting, flavorful, and so well balanced. The papaya salad was another highlight, a classic done really well.
The most fun and unexpected dish, though, was the pad thai. It was a great version to begin with, but what made it memorable was how it arrived: instead of pieces of egg mixed throughout, the entire dish was wrapped in a thin layer of egg that you have to break and cut into as you eat. It was interactive, playful, and, of course, really delicious.
We also loved their special chicken dish, which was incredibly juicy and came with a fantastic sauce. All in all, Thai 148 is a spot I’d happily return to—and one I’d definitely recommend if you’re in the mood for Thai food done right.
BUSINESS
Glow
Israeli cybersecurity startup Glow, founded at the beginning of 2025, is operating in stealth mode and has yet to officially unveil a product. Nevertheless, the company is currently in advanced talks to raise an additional $100 million at a valuation estimated between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion. If completed, the round would mark Glow’s third financing within a year of its founding. The company has already raised approximately $80 million from prominent investors including Cyberstarts, Sequoia, Index Ventures, and GreenOaks, at a previously reported valuation of around $400 million. A jump to unicorn status before launching a product would be highly unusual, even by Israeli tech standards.
Glow’s ability to command such a valuation reflects both the pedigree of its backers and the track record of its founders. The company is led by Roy Tiger, co-founder of Onavo, which was acquired by Facebook and later formed the basis of Meta’s Israeli development center. Tiger subsequently served for eight years as a vice president at Meta before returning to Israel in 2022. He co-founded Glow alongside Ofir Arie, formerly of Medigate, who serves as head of R&D; Omer Zinger, a former Snowflake executive and the company’s CTO; and Pini Pinhasov, also a Medigate co-founder, who has since left the company. Emily Heath, formerly a partner at Cyberstarts, recently joined as chief strategy officer. The concentration of experienced cybersecurity operators and former big-tech executives has clearly reassured investors betting on Glow’s next act.
Glow is said to be developing next-generation endpoint protection, a crowded market dominated by players such as CrowdStrike, Microsoft, and SentinelOne. The sector, which relies on software agents installed on devices to detect malicious activity, is now being reshaped by artificial intelligence. Investors are wagering that autonomous AI agents can redefine endpoint security and create new multibillion-dollar platforms. Recent activity in the sector—including Palo Alto Networks’ $300 million acquisition of Israeli startup Coi Security—underscores the appetite for AI-driven cybersecurity innovation. Whether Glow can translate its formidable founding team and capital base into a breakthrough product remains to be seen, but the market is clearly willing to finance the bet.
Guidde
Israeli software company Monday.com has made a strategic investment in local startup Guidde, which is developing technology to transform manual organizational workflows into automated processes by training AI agents on human activity. The move comes at a sensitive moment for Monday, whose share price has fallen by nearly half since the beginning of the year amid investor concerns that the spread of artificial intelligence could enable customers to build competing systems internally.
On Tuesday, however, Monday’s stock rose more than 7% in Nasdaq trading. The company joined a $50 million funding round for Guidde led by U.S. growth fund PSG, alongside existing investors including Entrée Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, and Norwest, at an estimated valuation of $250–300 million.
Founded by Yoav Einav and Dan Sahar, former co-founders of Qwilr, Guidde began as a platform that recorded browser-based workflows to assist in employee training. It has since pivoted to the AI era, using those recorded processes to train AI agents capable of performing full tasks—ranging from writing code and completing financial reports to handling customer service inquiries. Guidde’s system captures how employees operate across enterprise platforms such as ServiceNow, ERP, CRM, and procurement systems, effectively creating a software “map” that AI agents can later use to replicate those actions autonomously.
The implications are significant. According to Einav, AI agents can already handle 50% to 80% of customer service queries, many of which are repetitive, potentially allowing companies to maintain output with a fraction of the workforce. He argues, however, that the technology does not necessarily replace employees but can instead increase productivity. The broader context is a software market unsettled by AI, with investors punishing SaaS companies over fears their per-seat pricing models will erode. Einav contends that AI will not “eat” software companies but rather be embedded within them—while shifting business models toward usage-based pricing. For organizations, he adds, IT spending is not declining; funds once allocated to hiring are increasingly being redirected toward AI infrastructure and tools.
Zafran Security
American Express has invested in Israeli cybersecurity startup Zafran Security, adding what is estimated to be several million dollars to the company’s recently completed $60 million funding round. The investment was made through Amex Ventures, the credit card giant’s venture capital arm. Zafran’s latest round was led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Cyberstarts, PSP Partners, Vintage Partners, and Knollwood. Founded in 2022 by CEO Sanz Yashar, CTO Ben Sary, and Chief Product Officer Snir Havdala, the company has developed a platform that enables organizations to neutralize security vulnerabilities across complex enterprise environments and system layers. Zafran currently employs around 120 people across Israel, the United States, and Europe, and plans to hire approximately 100 more in 2026.
The investment comes amid a sharp rise in AI-driven cyberattacks, which have dramatically accelerated both the speed and scale of malicious operations. Attackers now use artificial intelligence to scan for newly disclosed vulnerabilities, automatically generate exploit code, and execute sophisticated attacks within hours—processes that once took days or weeks. Zafran positions its platform as a defensive coordination layer, helping enterprises identify where real risk lies, synchronize existing security tools, and prevent exploitation without disrupting business operations. According to Yashar, critical infrastructure organizations—particularly in finance—face mounting pressure to innovate while maintaining regulatory compliance and operational resilience.
For American Express, the move reflects growing concern among financial institutions about visibility and risk management in increasingly interconnected digital systems. Kevin Weber, head of business development at Amex Ventures, said Zafran’s approach aligns with how leading financial institutions think about managing risk at scale while continuing to innovate. The investment signals that major global financial players are not only consumers of cybersecurity solutions but increasingly strategic backers of technologies designed to counter the next generation of AI-enabled threats.
Gambit Security
Israeli startup Gambit Security has raised $56 million in a funding round led by Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital, and Cyberstarts, just one year after completing a $5 million seed round. Founded in 2024 by CEO Alon Gromkov, Chief Product Officer Saar Elias, and CTO Mai Kogan, graduates of the IDF’s elite Unit 8200, the company focuses on business resilience and continuity in the face of cyberattacks. The three founders previously served in senior intelligence and cybersecurity roles and were among the early employees of data security startup Sentra. Gambit currently employs about 60 people, including 40 in Israel and 10 in the United States, and plans to use the new capital to accelerate product development, expand global partnerships, and hire across research, development, and sales.
Rather than attempting solely to prevent attacks, Gambit is building technology designed to ensure organizations can continue operating even after being compromised. Its platform integrates with enterprise infrastructure, security tools, and backup systems to autonomously map environments and identify gaps that could undermine recovery plans. The system continuously measures organizational resilience against evolving threats and enables early remediation and faster recovery—not only in the event of a cyberattack, but also during cloud outages or other critical technical failures. According to Gromkov, the premise is straightforward: in today’s environment, it is unrealistic to assume breaches will not occur; the priority must be maintaining operational continuity when they do.
Investors see Gambit’s approach as part of a broader shift in cybersecurity strategy, particularly as AI accelerates both offensive and defensive capabilities. Lior Simon, managing partner at Cyberstarts, said the company is addressing a challenge that is redefining the market, moving beyond static defenses toward dynamic resilience. As cyber threats grow more sophisticated and rapid, especially with the integration of AI tools, solutions that protect revenue and ensure uninterrupted operations are increasingly becoming a board-level priority.
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TODAY IN JEWISH HISTORY
President Levi Eshkol Dies in Office
Born in 1895 into a traditional Jewish family, he grew up in a household that balanced religious scholarship with business sense; his father was a grain merchant and his mother came from a family of prominent Chassidim. This upbringing gave him a rare “bilingual” cultural fluency—he was equally comfortable in the world of Yiddish folklore and the rigorous logic of the boardroom, a trait that later allowed him to mediate between Israel’s secular and religious factions.
As a teenager, Eshkol moved to Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania) to attend a Hebrew high school. It was here, in the “Jerusalem of the North,” that his Zionism shifted from a youthful dream to a concrete life path. He became deeply involved in the Zeirei Zion (Youth of Zion) movement, where he was exposed to the socialist-Zionist ideals that would define his political career. The poverty and periodic pogroms he witnessed in the Pale of Settlement didn’t make him a bitter radical, but rather a focused “doer.” At just 19 years old, he turned his back on the possibility of a comfortable life in Europe and set sail for the port of Jaffa, arriving with a shovel in hand and a vision for a Jewish labor state.
Eshkol was a pragmatic laborer; he worked in orchards and helped found Kibbutz Degania Bet. His early career was defined by his extraordinary ability to manage the logistics of a growing nation. He served as the Director-General of the Ministry of Defense and later as the Minister of Finance, where he was instrumental in establishing Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, and overseeing the complex absorption of hundreds of thousands of immigrants.
Eshkol’s premiership is perhaps best defined by the Six-Day War of 1967. While often overshadowed by the charismatic military figures of the era, such as Moshe Dayan and Yitzhak Rabin, it was Eshkol’s cautious and deliberate “waiting period” that allowed Israel to exhaust diplomatic channels and secure vital international legitimacy—particularly with the United States—before launching a preemptive strike. He was the first Israeli Prime Minister to be officially invited to the White House, a visit that solidified the U.S.-Israel strategic alliance.
Despite his “hesitant” reputation among some hawks at the time, his leadership ensured that the military was fully equipped and the nation was unified before entering one of its most consequential conflicts. Beyond his military leadership, Eshkol was a man of deep humility and dry wit, known for his ability to find compromise between the disparate factions of Israeli society. He succeeded in abolishing the Military Administration over Israel’s Arab citizens, a significant move toward civil equality, and worked tirelessly to merge various labor parties into the unified Alignment (Ma’arach). He passed away in office due to a heart attack on February 26, 1969.