In the second half of the month of Tishri on the Jewish calendar, the annual cycle of reading the Five Books of Moses traditionally concludes. In synagogues around the world, the scrolls are danced merrily on shoulders and a new cycle begins. On the eve of this year's Simchat Torah holiday, instead of joy, Israel is plunged into emotions of shock, fear and sadness. After fifty years, martial law has been declared in circumstances that feel like déjà vu in 1973, combined with a sense of the greatest failure in Israeli history. On Saturday 7 October, Israel was attacked by the armed wing of the Palestinian radical movement Hamas. The terrorist attack, dubbed the 'Storm of al-Aqsa', was hugely surprising in its execution, especially in its bestial brutality against Israeli civilians. The war between Hamas and Israel is becoming a global issue. An invitation to discuss the current context of the war has been accepted by the historian Eva Taterová (Institute for Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies of Mendel University in Brno) together with Libor Kutej, Director of the Institute of Intelligence Studies at the University of Defence in Brno and Vice-Rector of the University. Admission fee voluntary