Episodes
Israel has to make changes to get to a Palestinian state, but so do the Palestinians. Violent rejectionism, delegitimization of Israel, and the right of return all perpetuate the conflict. To achieve their own state, Palestinians have to give up trying to eliminate Israel.
Published 03/31/24
Published 03/31/24
If a Palestinian state is the ultimate goal, then Israel, the Palestinians, and the international community are all going to have to do things they really don’t want to do. Today we’re looking at this from Israel’s angle, with the focus on security.
Published 03/24/24
Israel has fought two wars in Lebanon — is a third one coming? Today we’re taking a brief look at the history of Israel’s involvement in Lebanon.
Published 03/03/24
Should Israel reoccupy Gaza eighteen years after leaving it? And if not, does the government have a better vision?
Published 02/18/24
There are hopes for a huge deal in one fell swoop: end the war, return the hostages, make peace with Saudi Arabia, and get a Palestinian state. But is this realistic? What are the dilemmas involved?
Published 02/11/24
The International Court of Justice issued a ruling in Israel’s trial on charges of genocide. Was it a defeat or victory for Israel — or a little bit of both? A sign of the sober application of international law, or the hypocrisy of politicized demonization of the Jewish State?
Published 02/04/24
A survey of Palestinian attitudes from December makes for bleak reading: increased popularity for Hamas, more support for armed violence, widespread belief that Hamas will still be in charge in Gaza after the war, and more. Is there any way forward?
Published 01/21/24
South Africa has brought charges of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. What is this case about, and what does it all mean?
Published 01/15/24
Diving into the start of 2024: the ground war in Gaza, escalating conflict with Hezbollah, the Houthis attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea, and a return to Israeli domestic politics with a major ruling from the Supreme Court.
Published 01/07/24
The tragic killing of three Israeli hostages by the IDF raises questions about the military’s conduct during this war. Is Israel adhering to the laws of war?
Published 12/24/23
There are conversations no longer worth having because their answers have no meaningful impact. Is anti-Zionism antisemitism? Who actually hates Jews? Are Jews indigenous to Israel? Let’s stop debating these distractions.
Published 12/17/23
Why is the relationship between Israel and the United Nations so bad? Historical events, the makeup of the UN, and its relentless condemnations of Israel explain why Israel no longer considers the global body a neutral actor.
Published 12/11/23
The West Bank — what many Jews call Judea and Samaria — is another sector of this war that is boiling over with tension and violence. While Israeli forces arrest thousands of Hamas terrorists, fanatical Jewish settlers attack Palestinian civilians. What is going on and how did we get here?
Published 12/04/23
After seven weeks of fighting, Hamas and Israel agreed to a deal to release some of the Israeli hostages, who have started returning home to great joy and relief. How can we understand this deal in context? What should we make of the role of Qatar as mediator? What does it tell us about Hamas? What are the dilemmas facing Israel going forward?
Published 11/28/23
“Never Again” evokes the promise of no more genocide, as the world has learned the lessons of history and the Holocaust. But “Never Again” has a different connotation for the Jewish People — and helps us understand the decisions Israel is making in fighting this war against Hamas.
Published 11/17/23
Hamas’ massacre unleashed a worldwide wave of hatred and vilification against Israel and the Jewish People, summed up in the noxious idea of “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea” — a call for the destruction of Israel. Leftist ideology, classic antisemitism, and Israel demonization all play a role in this stunning display of moral blindness.
Published 11/11/23
Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza is underway. It is difficult, dangerous, and deadly fighting that has already claimed dozens of Israeli soldiers. The goal is to eliminate Hamas. But what about afterwards? Today we’ll look at five options for post-war Gaza.
Published 11/05/23
In the constant struggle to keep up with what’s happening, how can we understand what we’re seeing on the news? The media ecosystem often accepts Hamas’ claims uncritically, while Israel’s are subjected to days of scrutiny and doubt. Skepticism and patience are our best tools to navigate the complexities here.
Published 11/01/23
What does Iran have to do with Israel’s war against Hamas? A lot! We’re zooming out to look at Iran and it’s proxy army, Hezbollah, the terrorist group threatening to start a war along Israel’s northern border.
Published 10/24/23
Day Eleven of the war between Hamas and Israel. For years Israel has brought sick Palestinian children into Israel for lifesaving medical care. Hamas responded by sadistically massacring Israeli children. Today we’re talking about Hamas and its intersection with Gaza’s history, crucial context for understanding how we got to this moment.
Published 10/19/23
Unimaginable savagery in the worst attack on the Jewish People since the Holocaust. It's a declaration of war by Hamas, the genocidal group dedicated to the complete destruction of Israel. What's going on? How did we get here? What's next?
Published 10/15/23
Black September cruelly murders 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The local police are helpless to resist, the rescue operation goes wrong, the world watches on live TV, and Golda Meir sees that, once again, Jews are being killed on European soil.
Published 08/13/23
A civil war in Jordan between King Hussein and the PLO threatens to bring in Israel and its neighbors. Though a victory for Jordan, it created one of the most deadly terrorist groups that Israel would face: Black September. A daring commando operation thwarts an airplane hijacking, but that would prove to be just the beginning of the group’s ambitions.
Published 08/06/23
The early 1970s saw the rise of the Israeli Black Panthers — a movement of young Mizrahi Jews fed up with systematic inequality and social discrimination that left Jews from the Middle East and North Africa lagging behind the Ashkenazi Jews of Europe. The met their match in Prime Minister Golda Meir, whose disapproval only fueled their efforts to wake Israeli society up to their plight.
Published 07/17/23