I read an article by Andrew Fox on Tuesday, and understood immediately how important it was. Not his piece (although it’s excellent, as always) as much as what he reports. The highly regarded Pew Foundation conducted a poll in recent months in 36 countries and surveyed a large and diverse demographic. The results are deeply concerning. Even in the United States - where Israel has long been a unifying, bipartisan “issue (although I am well aware that has been eroding for some time now) - the numbers are worse than one would expect. I’m not sure how anyone assesses “victory”, but looking around today I would suggest that the reality on the ground in the region is bleak. Hamas is still standing. Hezbollah is still standing. Iran remains a force to be reckoned with. Is that what “total victory” looks like? There were many people who celebrated October 7 but there were, I believe, still more who understood the barbarism of Hamas for what it was and is. But in the interim, something has changed. The ongoing wars and extreme allegations made against Israel have clearly influenced how people view Israel. Israel has absolutely botched the war for the hearts and minds of the world. And that is reflected in the Pew Poll results, which Andrew Fox and I discuss. It’s a short, pithy exchange about a very grave challenge facing Israel, to which no one seems to be paying careful attention. I know - I keep on delivering such uplifting content… there is a silver lining… but you have to listen to the end.

Below are links to the Pew Poll and summary, Andrew Fox’s article and a third article referred to in our chat by Mr. Fox.

Andrew Fox

Israel’s greatest threat isn’t Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran

With tedious regularity, I am accused of being a paid Israeli shill. It is what people reach for when they do not want to engage with what I have actually said. It is easier to imagine a transaction than an argument, easier to believe there must be a cheque somewhere than to accept that a person might look seriously at Israel, Gaza, Hamas, the West Bank…

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4 days ago · 272 likes · 48 comments · Andrew Fox

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Andrew Fox is a former British Army Major and frontline conflict researcher specialising in modern warfare. A former senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he is now a senior associate fellow at several international think tanks and a regular media commentator on global conflicts.

He writes the Fox on War Substack and co-hosts The Brink podcast, bringing field reporting and strategic analysis from conflicts including Gaza and Ukraine.

Sunday, at about 9:45 pm, local time, all our phones lit up. We were four Jews dining on a perfect late spring evening in Berlin, on the patio at Feinberg’s Restaurant, in an upscale neighborhood with a large gay demographic. Feinberg’s specializes in Israeli food. Kosher style. It’s a charming little bistro with tastefully upholstered cushions on the seats. Proper napkins and cutlery. Upscale Israeli.

In the midst of our meal Iran attacked Israel.

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We each went off into our separate digital zones, communicating with friends and family. My daughter’s partner had already been called up to reserve duty. Again.

The four of us had been in the throes of a robust but (for me) somewhat tedious discussion about the ultra-orthodox in Israel and their chronic shirking of military service. Two of my dinner companions were born in the FSU; one in Kharkiv, Ukraine, the other in Riga, Latvia. They arrived in Germany along with many Jews who escaped while they could and are among the 100,000 plus who remained and made their homes in this country.

Artur, from Kharkiv, romanticizes the shtetel mentality and life, seeing it as a sign of survival and determination. He does not even want to hear about the haredi abuse of state largesse. Marina, from Riga, is less doctrinaire. She is also realistic. Then again, she has a sister living in Israel with children who are serving presently. The reality of living in a state of constant war is something she understands as an immediate threat. She also sees the perversion of piety in modern Israel as the power grab it is and not some dewy-eyed rendition of Tevye (the protagonist in the classic Yiddish story - Fiddler on the Roof – (written by famed Yiddishist Shalom Aleichem, who titled the story Tevye and his Daughters). A classic among modern Jews, Fiddler on the Roof chronicles the physical travails and spiritual rewards of an orthodox man – Tevye – in an old Russian shtetl (ghetto). It makes a great musical show but it ain’t real life.

The third dinner companion is an Israeli-German lad who has just completed his military service and decamped to experience life elsewhere. He has extended family here and feels an attachment to the place. He also needs to get out of Israel and breathe, as do all newly released soldiers. He uses a different name in Germany. To blend in. One cannot be openly Jewish in Berlin.

Just this simple act, sitting on the patio of a Jewish restaurant, is daring.

I arrived earlier than my friends and spoke with Yorai Feinberg, the man behind this eponymous eatery. He recommended the porn star martini. I obliged. And we had a short chat.

Originally from Jerusalem, Feinberg left Israel as a teen to pursue his love of ballet and dance. He spent years in London and other European cities before quite randomly settling in Berlin in 2012. He opened the restaurant one year later. It quickly became a target for Muslim hostility. Long before October 7.

Quite unplanned, I recorded a short interview with Feinberg as we waited for the others to arrive. I had thought I’d cut a few clips but it’s a super interesting ten-minute conversation. The link is just below. We cover a lot of ground, focusing on his experience since opening the restaurant. Since 2013, Yorai, his employees, his patrons, have been harassed unceasingly by Arabs and Muslims. Customers sitting outside are bothered. Seat cushions were torn up just the night before I was there. Uber drivers refuse to service customers or deliver food. You get the idea.

I spoke with one of his wait staff when I arrived. He acknowledged the challenges but said, “we are brothers.” He is of Armenian descent. They get it, the Armenians.

As Yorai and I spoke, a marked police car pulled up and idled in front for quite some time. Until very recently, Feinberg told me, Berlin police surveilled the restaurant and his personal residence 24/7. He tells me about a known plot involving Iranian agents in which he and other Jewish individuals in Berlin were targeted.

I’ll say this for Berlin police: I have now visited the city several times since October 7. They do not mess around and have zero tolerance for Islamist hatred. Like, zero.

Here’s my conversation with Yorai Feinberg. It was spontaneous and low tech. So you will hear ambient street noise. Audio only:

The dinner that followed was sublime. I’m not much of a meat eater but I devoured the shared platters that were served. I also felt very vulnerable, to be honest. You sit there, out in the open, and you are a sitting duck. Dining al fresco becomes an inadvertent declaration of resistance.

Yorai is leaving the next morning for a short trip to the south of France, so we continue on without him: me, Marina, Artur and our nameless German-Israeli IDF reservist. We speak about the Islamization of Europe. Berlin. Each person at the table is a strong supporter of Israel, albeit with very divergent political views. Artur is hard right. He reveres Netanyahu as a sort of demi-god, beyond rebuke. Whatever Bibi does is brilliant, even when it’s not. And there is no room for discussion.

The common ground is the shared view of the Islamization of Europe. We talk about that. A lot. About how Germany is afraid of itself. Its past. And is just allowing this to happen.

Like Marina, who has a more nuanced understanding of, well, everything, Artur sees the Islamization of Germany as an inevitability. But none of them have plans to relocate. With Jews everywhere, it seems, there is this reluctant acknowledgement that society is moving in the wrong direction, but each person seems to believe that they will somehow manage to sidestep calamity.

Marina recently posted a long statement on social media in German. It went viral in Germany and gives you a peek into her daily reality.

Here is the English translation:

Nowadays, at every public appearance, I am asked whether I wouldn’t prefer to remain anonymous.

Not because I am a particularly prominent figure.

Nor because I bear a proud Jewish surname.

(Although—by now, that alone would be enough.)

Rather, it is because people now research us in order to track down our addresses.

To do us harm.

You see, I am a mother of two children.

My eldest now attends a Jewish school.

Not because we wish to segregate ourselves.

Not because we seek to create a parallel society.

But because antisemitic incidents occur time and again in public schools.

My younger child also bears a proud Jewish name.

That is why, at the playground, I only call him by his nickname.

Nanyu.

Because now, right here in our park, people are scrawling their hateful slogans onto the little wooden climbing tower.

There’s plenty of space there, you see.

Plenty of room to vent.

“Fuck Israhell.”

“Death to the IDF.”

“From the river to the sea.”

“Globalize Intifada.”

“What does this say, Mama? Why do you look so sad?”

Oh, sweetie—they are wishing death upon your cultural homeland, upon your aunt and your cousins ​​in Israel. They want there to be no Jews left in Israel. They are calling upon the world to unite against us Jews.

Of course, I didn’t say that out loud.

We don’t really speak out loud anymore, anyway.

Once—sometime after October 7th—when we were discussing the conflict in the Middle East out on our balcony, the neighbors next door hung up a banner:

“Free Gaza!!!”

I asked my husband:

“Do they mean us, dear?”

He is Serbian, you see.

He replied:

“No, baby. They mean you. I can’t free Gaza.” When we moved into this apartment, my husband said:

“Of course we’ll hang up the mezuzah. No one should have to hide their identity. We’re in Berlin, babe. The city of diversity.”

Today, he says:

“We don’t want to provoke anyone, do we?”

Provoke.

A mezuzah.

A small Jewish symbol on the door.

On our street in Schöneberg alone, we counted nine Palestinian flags after October 7th.

Naturally, our mezuzah shouldn’t provoke anyone here.

After all—as you know—a man in our neighborhood did provoke a knife attack just by wearing a Star of David pendant.

A small Star of David on one’s chest, it turns out, provokes a knife attack.

Just imagine what a mezuzah on the front door might provoke.

These days, we provoke very little at all.

We no longer speak Hebrew with our children in public.

When talking on the phone, we no longer say words like: Jewish, Israel, antisemitism, synagogue, Chag Sameach, Mazal Tov, Shabbat Shalom.

Funnily enough, words like Gaza, Hamas, Hezbollah, and October 7th seem to provoke people, too.

So, we don’t say those either.

We no longer unlock our phones while riding the train.

Group chat icons, friends’ avatars, Hebrew letters, yellow ribbons—any of it could be seen as a provocation.

Standing here today is a man whose yellow ribbon—pinned to his jacket just a few days ago—provoked a knife attack on the train.

A yellow ribbon.

Worn in solidarity with hostages.

Our building is old. Things break often.

Every time a repairman comes over, I rush through the apartment, hiding the Chanukkiah, the Birkat HaBayit, and any stickers lying around that read: “Berlin Against All Antisemitism.” During Hanukkah and Passover, putting everything away becomes a particularly cumbersome task.

All so as not to provoke anyone, of course. Not to mention delivery drivers or Uber drivers.

All people who know our addresses.

The latter, suddenly, all seem to come from Palestine now.

From Haifa.

The Jewish community has long since started sending out its magazine in a plain, unmarked envelope.

So as not to provoke, of course.

A great many of us no longer attend Jewish events.

Not the synagogue.

Not concerts by Jewish musicians.

Because it is dangerous.

In schools, teachers are afraid to take a stand against antisemitism.

They do not want to provoke the parents.

For a Jewish event involving young people, organizers preferred to buy a laminator and make the badges themselves, rather than sending a list of Jewish names to an outside company.

In the Germany of 2026, a laminator counts as a security strategy.

On Friday, Jewish art spaces were opened in Kreuzberg.

No sign on the door.

After all, one wouldn’t want to provoke anyone.

In Neukölln, a non-Jewish bar went a step too far in its efforts to combat antisemitism through its educational program—you see.

Now, it is guarded around the clock by three police cars.

Posters bearing the faces of the bar’s owners were plastered all over the streets, and the provoked populace was called upon to silence them—forever.

An entire district of the capital of that very country—the one that has tattooed the words “Never Again” onto its forehead; an entire district where every single wall screams at us that we are not welcome here.

Today we stand here because, in the oh-so-cosmopolitan Prenzlauer Berg, it was made unequivocally clear to us that we Jews apparently provoke merely by the fact that we exist.

“The only good Jew is a dead Jew.”

The silent Jew.

The museum-piece Jew.

The Jew from the memorial site.

But woe betide the Jew who lives.

Woe betide the Jew who wears a Star of David.

Woe betide the Jew who hangs a mezuzah on their door.

Woe betide the Jew who defends themselves.

Then—they are provoking.

I would like to ask you today:

Which other people—which other ethnic group, which other religious community—in this country experiences such a daily reality?

I am not speaking of exceptions.

I am speaking of the daily reality of every Jewish woman and every Jewish man in the Germany of 2026.

Please spare us your empty “Never Again” platitudes, dear government.

Spare us, too, your position papers and action plans.

Start taking action. Start calling things by their proper names:

Do not speak merely of “anti-Muslim racism” or “Islamophobia.” And do not speak of “integration failures” when what you mean is Islamism.

Do not speak merely of antisemitism when what you mean is unadulterated Jew-hatred.

Not only from the Right.

But also from the Left.

And do not speak of harmless anti-Zionism when what is meant is this:

The only good Jew is the dead Jew.

The one who cannot fight back.

But we are living Jews, and we will no longer keep our heads down. That is why we stand here today, appearing under our full names. Because we will no longer live in fear.

Get used to it.

Here is the original post in German on Instagram:

We lingered and were the last to leave Feinberg’s. I walked back to my hotel with the young, newly released IDF soldier. He has family in Germany and is keen to be immersed in a different environment. At the restaurant, we all spoke a jumble of English and Hebrew and Russian. On the walk through Berlin, we dared not utter a word of Hebrew.

Neither one of us could order an uber. We are both traveling with cell phones with the Israeli country code. 972. No uber driver in Berlin will pick us up. In fact, even when I am in Toronto, I do not use uber. Same reason.

Everywhere, everyone feels deeply unsettled but also, oddly, stuck.

Where can we go?

Where is it safe?

We can’t afford it.

Maybe things will improve.

When the Soviet regime fell and the exit gates opened close to two million Jews who had been trapped for decades jumped at the opporunity to leave. More than one million made their homes in Israel. Many relocated to America and Canada. And a surprisingly large number made their new home in Germany.

Germany. Of all places.

I recall vividly the horrified reaction of North American Jews.

How could they?

The North American Jewish community is diverse, of course, but in its marrow is reactionary and judgmental.

What they could not understand was how difficult it is to transplant oneself in middle age. Learn a new language. Establish oneself professionally. Germany made all of that easy. Resettlement was carefully thought through and supported. That is not the case in North America.

I learned last night that the FSU emigres to Germany were dispersed to towns and cities all over the huge, newly reunified country that had been split into two since WWII. I was surprised to learn that in a huge city like Berlin, there are only 10,000 Jews, at most. In Dortmund, with a population of 600,000, there are 6,000 Jews. Many Jewish families were directed by the German authorities to live in towns and cities in the former East Germany, with a depressed economy and need for revitalization in every way. And so, unlike in virtually every country in the world with a sizeable Jewish population, in Germany the community is dispersed. North American Jews would never submit to such control. But these weren’t North American Jews. They had been repressed indescribably. They accepted direction and support from the German government with gratitude.

In the immediate aftermath of the collapse of communism, more than 200,000 Jews from the FSU made their homes in Germany. Many subsequently moved elsewhere.

Today, there are approximately 130,000 German Jews, 90% of them with origins in the FSU. They have integrated well, revitalized Jewish life and they appreciate the opportunities this country gave them. They are not in a rush to leave. And, as Marina so forcefully says, they should not have to.

I recently had an online exchange with another friend, well-established in Toronto but clear-eyed about the future. He came with his family from Ukraine as a young boy and has been extremely successful – as has his wife (also from the FSU).

As seems to happen regularly these days, we ended up discussing where it is safe for Jews to live. We agreed on the limited options. I commented, “and even those are temporary.”

“Everything is temporary,” he replied. “We are a transient people.”

Everything, it seems, has changed, whereas in fact, so much remains the same.

(I’m pretty sure that Yorai does not decorate desserts for all with an Israeli flag, but we appreciated the gesture.)

I am scheduled to fly back to Israel tomorrow, Tuesday, with El Al, of course. And fortunately, it seems that I will make it home in spite of Iran’s best efforts to spark further conflict.

Cheers. L’chaim. And - as my father said every Friday night: “Chaim who?”

Dad joke.

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I’m pleased to bring you this long and spicy discussion with a great friend of State of Tel Aviv and Beyond, Ya’akov Katz. He and I have both been running around Europe and elsewhere…..but we caught up and recorded this episode on Sunday May 31. And we covered a lot of ground. We get into the endless war that Israel has been fighting for almost three years now with no apparent strategy - with Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran. We speak candidly about Jewish terrorism in the West Bank and the government’s very deliberate policy and choice - to look away. And do nothing. Ya’akov always brings such crisp insights and deep knowledge to military matters, and he shares his thoughts on the lack of a clear strategy from the Prime Minister’s Office. Israelis are exhausted and this is a critical historical moment for the country. The ultra-orthodox refuse to serve in the IDF, extremists like Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir have amassed significant power, and it is beginning to look as if there is no plan. Other than the signature Netanyahu approach - survive another day. That won’t work any longer. Israel is up against too many walls and involved in too many conflicts. As Ya’akov astutely notes - “Bibi has created the Sparta that he was talking about one year ago.” You may recall Netanyahu’s comment in the recent past that Israel must become a great military power like ancient Sparta; totally self-reliant when it comes to manufacturing weapons of war.

And then there is the apparent divergence of interests between Netanyahu and Trump, Israel and America, when it comes to Iran. The honeymoon is over.

Oh - and of course we dip into the domestic mayhem taking root as we approach the election - which must take place before October 27 of this year.

It’s a lively and informative chat - you’ll learn a lot. I did.

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Yaakov Katz is an Israeli-American author and journalist. Between 2016 and 2023, Yaakov was editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post where he continues to write a popular weekly column.

He is the author of three books: “Shadow Strike – Inside Israel’s Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power”, “Weapon Wizards—How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower” and “Israel vs. Iran: The Shadow War.”

Prior to taking up the role of editor-in-chief, Yaakov served for two years as a senior policy adviser to Naftali Bennett during his tenure as Israel’s Minister of Economy and Minister of Diaspora Affairs.

In 2013, Yaakov was one of 12 international fellows to spend a year at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Originally from Chicago, Yaakov has a law degree from Bar Ilan University. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife Chaya and their four children.

Find Yaakov Katz on X.

More info here about the book

“Crisply written... draws on excellent sources within Israel’s military and intelligence services.” —The Wall Street Journal

A powerful indictment of the political and military decisions that led to October 7

While Israel Slept tells the gripping inside story of how Hamas, Israel’s weakest enemy, succeeded in launching a surprise attack on one of the world’s most powerful militaries. Through a detailed examination of the events leading up to October 7, 2023, the book exposes the intelligence and strategic failures that enabled this devastating invasion. It takes readers back in time, showing how years of complacency, mistaken intelligence analysis, and a misguided policy of containment enabled Hamas to prepare for an assault that Israel did not believe was possible and that would change the Middle East.

The book unveils the dramatic events of the night before the attack, highlighting the cracks in Israel’s military and political leadership. It provides unprecedented details on how key warnings were missed, and how Israel ignored the growing threat from Hamas, believing that the group was weak and deterred. By exposing these failures, While Israel Slept offers a stark, sobering account of how overconfidence and complacency paved the way for disaster, while underscoring the critical lessons Israel must embrace to safeguard its future.

The sniping among right of center media personalities in the United States in recent months has been a non-stop exchange of barbs and insults. And it has become very, very ugly of late. A central figure in this weird ecosystem is Tucker Carlson, former Fox News host, now a successful independent podcaster with millions of followers and extensive reach. Carlson has sparked controversy and outrage for many reasons, but we focus in this podcast on his comments on Israel, wealthy American Jews, AIPAC, the Republican Jewish Coalition and his very strong suggestion that Israel and Jews control the White House and, therefore, America. Carlson is outraged that President Trump chose to go to war against Iran and asserts boldly and often that he was bullied into doing so by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Even worse, in acting in this way, Carlson maintains that Trump put the national interest of Israel ahead of America’s.

On Tuesday, May 16, one of Israel’s top television anchors, Udi Segal, interviewed Carlson to challenge many of his claims. It was a feisty exchange, to put it mildly. I spoke with Udi Segal the following morning about why he felt it was important to give Tucker oxygen (as I like to say)? Why amplify his voice?

It’s not an everyday thing - to interview a top journalist about his interview with another journalist. Talk about inside baseball! But this was important. Udi challenged Carlson for defending Putin’s attack on Ukraine as being defensive and eminently justifiable, while insisting that Israel is a terrorist state. Genocidal. We all need to know what Tucker Carlson and those of his ilk are saying and doing because their simplistic demagoguery is mesmerizing a large segment of the population. And that is dangerous. His ideas and views are also dangerous - and based in a malevolent agenda. Carlson loves to bellow that he asserts facts, when he does nothing of the sort. He peddles gutter prejudice and bitterness but manages to present himself as a thoughtful, analytical, compassionate man with laudable values. He is anything but.

I spent more time than I care to admit in the last week studying Carlson’s interviews and monologues, especially those pertaining to Israel and the war. Some say he’s an apologist for Islamists. Have a listen (or watch). You decide.

The emergence of a robust independent media sector that is openly hostile to Israel Jews and promotes deeply concerning ideas (facts, as Carlson calls them) is a harsh reality. This increasingly influential cohort asserts that Jews are disloyal, evil, violent. Immoral, and subversively controlling and manipulating America and other nations with their money and wily ways. We have a serious problem.

And we should really pay careful attention to this. It’s not just a Jewish issue. It’s a threat to democracy and liberal societies.

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Podcast Notes

1. 15-minute edited interview with Tucker Carlson that aired on Israel’s channel 13 on Tuesday May 16

2. Full unedited 45-minute interview with Tucker Carlson and Udi Segal

3. Unedited clip of Tucker Carlson appearing at the Doha Conference, December 6, 2025.

4. “Brothers in Arms”, article by Udi Segal published in the launch edition of State of Tel Aviv, May 17, 2022.

5. Website of Israeli artist Yoram Gal, who painted the original artwork for the launch edition of STLV.

6. Links to State of Tel Aviv and Beyond podcasts looking at how pro-Israel guests were treated on Piers Morgan’s show “Uncensored”
   
   

7. Article in State of Tel Aviv published June 5, 2025, titled, “Joe Rogan, Dave Smith, Douglas Murray, Piers Morgan and Natasha Hausdorff: So much fuss over talk shows. Why?

About Udi Segal

Udi Segal is the senior anchor and analyst of the evening news of Israel’s TV channel 13.

Previously, he was the diplomatic correspondent for another major TV station. He has worked as the New York bureau chief for the newspaper, Ma’ariv, and began his journalism career as a correspondent at IDF radio, “Galei Tzahal.”

He teaches journalism and television reporting in the Riechman University.

Segal is married and has 4 children. He lives in a moshav near Netanya, not far from the sea where he practices his favorite sport of rowing a SUP (stand up paddleboarding).

An acquaintance from Toronto arrived recently for a visit to Israel. She marvels at how busy and buzzy things are in Tel Aviv. She cannot come up for air. The days whiz by.

All true. And a not small reason for my escape from Tel Aviv to kibbutz life in the south. Two years on I can say with clarity and certainty that the move saved me. Particularly since the current government coalition assumed power in Israel – officially in January 2023 (it always takes a few months to negotiate the terms of a governing coalition after an election) – life in Tel Aviv has been beyond frenetic.

Judicial reform. Constant demonstrations.

A pace of construction that continues to accelerate, making every outing a logistical challenge. What should take ten minutes can take 60. It is maddening and exhausting.

Constant tension – which is exacerbated by the population density and so much busy activity.

October 7. Hostage Square. Gloom. Everywhere. But it always feels more intense in Tel Aviv. Because. Tel Aviv.

April 13-14, 2024. First Iran attack on Tel Aviv. “Alert. Find safe shelter immediately. Israel is going to be under attack by waves of swarms of drones and missiles from Iran.”

Those may not be the exact words but they are close enough to the message sent on Saturday April 13, 2024 at around 8:45pm. All Israeli cell phones were overridden by the Home Front Command.

It was very, very scary.

Where I live now, I hear birds. Constantly. I work on my deck and watch the planting and growing and harvest seasons pass. I have grown to detest pigeons. The air is fresher, dryer and there is always a breeze. I have learned that dust comes in clumps. Huge clumps. Endless clumps. Vacuuming is futile. I now read articles about the physics of dust formation.

Seriously.

I have acquired a collection of dusting gadgets. Old fashioned feather dusters. Newfangled dusters with removable, washable parts. I have a collection of vacuum cleaners and related accessories. Two floors. Rugs. Tile. Bendable vacuums to reach under beds and furniture. Little vacuums that get into corners. I’m considering, seriously, the roving robot duster. Like – why not? I am a dust fiend. I live in a dustbowl and dust is my new obsession. I hate dust. Almost as much as mosquitoes.

The mosquitoes are so small that you cannot see them. But they find me. And devour sections of limbs in one sitting. Little teeny bites. Not like Canadian mosquitoes. As with everything in Israel, even the pests are tiny.

With the exception, of course, of cockroaches. They are the size of a small puppy.

So, yes, life on a kibbutz in the south is good. I am calmer. Day to day life is easier. Traffic is a joke. Grocery shopping is way cheaper and quicker. My pool is a dream. And now that Hamas has been suppressed, well, we don’t have rockets in these parts like we used to. And - I’m in Tel Aviv for my dose of urban-ness every week. Gotta maintain that edge.

But the idyll where I hide out these days has its sharp edges. too.

October 7 is our inescapable reality. Displaced members of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the most ravaged on that horrible day, live in new neighborhoods built for them in my community. We all drive constantly on Road 232 – the main artery for Hamas slaughter that day. Memorials are scattered on roadsides everywhere you look. Bus stops which double as bomb shelters – each one has its singular, gruesome story.

And as we navigate this new reality – living in the midst of it all – we try to find a common language; a way to inhabit this physical place where it all went down, with the constant reminders. My friend who lives on a kibbutz that was miraculously passed over by Hamas on October 7, she sees herself as a positive type. She chooses to tune out politics and related matters. I think she finds it all kind of not positive. She sent me a message last week from the train, as she passed bales of hay. She saw this as something positive, a tangible reminder of the miracle of the amazing country we have built here and the hope for the next moment.

Me? I see the bales of hay, the same miracle, and allow myself to consider the very real possibility that this deeply divided and dysfunctional society may self-immolate. It’s not about being negative or lacking hope. I see it as being realistic and understanding the perilous moment in which we find ourselves. We must see the positive and reckon with the not so positive.

And this moment in Israeli there is a bewildering mix of each.

For decades, Israelis have chosen to tell themselves that “it’ll be ok.” But it may not, this time. And it behooves us all to face that prospect and marshal everything we can to prevent that outcome.

Which brings us to the upcoming election, and politics.

Elections in Israel must be held by the end of October, latest. I believe that the future of Israel – and the physical safety of Jews everywhere – turns on the outcome of this vote.

Especially since October 7, the government has been telling us, without pause, that we are one people, united. But that is not true. Israel today is comprised of at least three very autonomous societies. If they were to be mapped onto a Venn diagram there would be virtually no overlap.

A very powerful autonomous entity is the 15% of the population, which is ultra-orthodox, or haredi. The singular issue on which this population will vote is the military draft. Haredim are virulently opposed to serving the state in any capacity, including security. They supported the coalition government led by PM Netanyahu because of his promise to pass a law excluding their community members from any national service. Men and women. They oppose the modern iteration of the State of Israel as blasphemous. Only the Messiah can create the Jewish state. None of this is new. Or secret.

They do, however, manage to overcome their aversion to the heretical state and participate in its government; to demand and receive exceedingly generous life entitlements to enable them to maintain their lives of religious devotion, large families and little or no work.

I wrote about this phenomenon in a past issue of State of Tel Aviv. It is beyond ironic that in the 2000s, as Minister of Finance, Benjamin Netanyahu slashed haredi entitlements harshly. He said that the haredi expectations were simply not sustainable. In fact, in his memoir published when he was in the penalty box (opposition) from June 2021 to December 2022, he boasted about his achievements in managing haredi demands in a chapter entitled “Fat Man, Thin Man.” As is clear from the drawing, below, he likened the thin man to the majority of Israelis carrying financial and civic burdens. On their shoulders were the fat men - haredi men - who took and gave little.

In fact, I spoke earlier this week with former MK and founder of the new Oz party, Dr. Einat Wilf, about this extreme social imbalance. You will hear the podcast discussion with Einat soon, but when I asked about hard data, she had it. Haredim, she advised, receive a net benefit of NIS 15,000 per person. Everyone else? They give more - and have a net deficit in their financial relationship with the state, of NIS 10,000 per person. Facts. It is difficult - perhaps downright impossible - to justify and maintain this equation.

You can read State of Tel Aviv’s rendering of that issue here: stateoftelaviv.com/p/fat-man-thin-man-will-netanyahu-upend-his-economic-legacy

Back to election drama.

Early last week, Bibi’s ultra-orthodox coalition allies in the United Torah Judaism party had a chat with their leader in all matters spiritual and political, Rabbi Dov Lando. Upon learning that Netanyahu had told UTJ that there was no way that legislation legalizing the haredi shirking of military service, Rabbi Lando was furious. “Bibi lied. He cannot be trusted.” Such was the nature of the Rabbi’s epiphany. Rabbi Lando directed the UTJ MKs that the time had come to bolt the coalition and bring the House down. As in, the government coalition would collapse and new elections would be held, soonest.

It truly is all the haredim care about; ensuring that they shirk all forms of military and national service and that they continue to maximize all manner of financial support from the state.

They do not give a damn about the rest. The bales of hay? They don’t even see them, never mind ponder their signficance.

Below - a photo of Rabbi Lando from a year or two ago. I urge you to read the JPost article in the link underneath the picture. This is how serious things are in Israel today.

(For fun have a read of this article from 2015, in which Rabbi Lando is quoted for making very clear his contempt for Israel and Zionism: jpost.com/breaking-news/article-841327)

So, as if we have nothing more important going on here, this is what preoccupies our “leaders” these days.

The haredim want an election on September 1. That works out beautifully for them….at the end of their annual August vacation and before the extended period of high holiday observance begins. It’s early this year – Erev Rosh Hashanah begins on September 11.

For the rest of us, September 1 is not ideal. There’s the minor matter of the kickoff of the school year being on September 1. (Haredim have their own autonomous school system (funded by the state) in which they teach no “secular” subjects - like math, science or English - just religious studies all day long. This, of course, ensures that the graduates of their schools are ill, if at all prepared, to work, even in the. most menial jobs.) School buildings double as voting stations throughout the country, so mayhem upon chaos is not ideal planning. Haredim are dead set against any date between Rosh Hashanah and the last holiday, which falls on Sunday October 4. That’s eerily close to the third “anniversary” of October 7. So, Bibi is saying: “Gee. Let’s just make the election on the last day possible, by law, October 27, and call it a done deal.”

It is unclear whether an earlier or later date favors either constituency, but Netanyahu always errs on the side of buying time. Delay. Rag the puck. Run the clock.

Meanwhile, “Israel Our Home” party leader and former Netanyahu ally, now nemesis, Avigdor Liberman, showed up at Kibbutz Be’eri on Thursday May 14, using the border kibbutz that was viciously attacked on October 7 as his theatrical backdrop for a tete a tete with reporters.. His take? Bibi will look to spark a war in the very near future – maybe even re-start the Gaza conflict with Hamas – and use that emergency to legally delay the national vote and boost his standing among Israeli voters.

I’ve been anticipating a slippery move like that for months. It’s so consistent with Bibi’s style. And Lieberman understands how Bibi’s mind works. He was, after all, his closest aide in the late 90s. Lieberman has a good feel for what’s cooking.

The Kristof Thing

I will be brief. Some of you may not be aware of the Kristof fiasco. Others will have heard and read about it non-stop in recent days. I get into some graphic sexual comments in the next paragraph - be forewarned.

Here’s the lowdown: Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist and former foreign correspondent, Nicholas Kristof, wrote an op-ed for the paper last week in which he reported, with supreme confidence, on systemic violent sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Among his fabulist claims was the beyond sick and twisted assertion that the IDF trains dogs to rape – as in penetrate male prisoners - anally. In making this claim, Kristof relies upon an Israeli-American man who I will not name because he merits no further attention. He has less than no credibility and even admitted publicly that this dog claim he makes is unverified. Nevertheless, Kristof and the NYT not only relied upon this man’s information as evidence but they are digging in.

Since this debacle began, people have been sniffing around Kristof’s pedigree and past. Among other gems, someone turned up a long-ago published piece by Kristof memorializing his father. Turns out, his old man fought alongside the Nazis – like the real ones – during WWII. In Romania.

I sent him this inquiry. He has yet to reply:

Aside from the NYT, the only media to carry this sewage - the Kristof dog rape exclusive (that I’ve come across) - is a Turkish-owned outlet, TRT. I’m sure there are more but I don’t waste my time ferreting them out.

Well done, NYT. Quite the scoop.

Meanwhile, scores of canine experts the world over are stepping up to assert that the claim made in the NYT is absolute bunk. Kristof stands tall. He tells the world that he wrote it as an “opinion” piece. As if that somehow mitigates his toxicity and utter lack of professional ethics. Or any ethics. For that matter.

OK. Promise made, promise kept.

Close out each weekly wrap with light stuff.

My daughter who lives in the Tel Aviv area spontaneously hopped on a train on Friday afternoon. We drove to Be’er Sheva, a desert city with close to 250,000 residents now. We had a lovely dinner at a decent Asian restaurant (this is not Tel Aviv – almost nothing is open on shabbat in these parts). And then, The Devil Wears Prada!

The cinema was huge. Capacity of several hundred. No exaggeration – there were, at most, ten people in the theater. It was mindless, delightful fun.

The End.

Oh. Well, almost. As we were leaving I spotted one of those old photo booths. Remember - fellow boomers? They were in Kresge stores in the olden days – like WalMart today (for all you non-boomer readers).

Yes. It was silly and fun.

Happy Sunday – and have a great week.

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Jonathan Conricus has returned from a short North American speaking tour and joined me on Sunday evening to take a close look at where things stand with America and Iran. It is challenging to keep up and even more difficult to decode the often-conflicting messages issued by the main protagonists: the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. We get into the possible responses that may come from the parties and the implications for the region and the world. Who is running Iran these days and making decisions? Unclear but we have a pretty good idea. Will Iran act on its threats to impose taxes on all maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz? How about their latest initiative - to tax all data passing through internet cables that are laid at the bottom of the Persian Gulf? Or - maybe they will sever the cables and disrupt global commerce? So many possibilities and we get into them all.

Why is Iran attacking the UAE so consistently and hard? And why is the UAE not responding? Oh - and we also spend a bit of time marveling at the tendency of western media to accept the “spin” coming out of Iran, pretty. much unquestioningly.

This pod was recorded on Sunday night, but it is current as of 10 am EST on Tuesday. At the end of the episode I include a short clip of Conricus speaking on Monday to media. He addresses America’s rejection of the Iranian response to the most recent U.S. proposal to…..formalize the ceasefire? End the war? This became public after we recorded on Sunday night.

It never stops……

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Jonathan Conricus is a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington D.C.-based think tank. He served in the IDF for 24 years, four of them as spokesman during the intense 11 days of the Guardian of the Walls Operation between Israel and Hamas. Now a reserve officer with the rank of Lt. Col., he is a sought-after speaker internationally and is frequently seen on major television news shows. Jonathan was born in Jerusalem to a Swedish father and an Israeli mother and spent his formative years in Sweden.

Idsinga’s recently published book: “The High Road: Confessions of a Homicide Cop”, was released in early May and is prompting discussion about the conduct of the Toronto Police Force, particularly since October 7. Toronto has become a dangerous city for Jews to live in. Hostility toward Jewish people is overt, everywhere and inescapable. It was clear from October 7 that something was very wrong with how Toronto police were dealing with the outburst of Jew-hatred. The antisemites were given free rein. Police spoke about constitutional rights and other high-minded issues, which actually had nothing to do with the illegal conduct proliferating on Toronto streets. In fact, the cops protected the “protesters”, insisting they were not breaking laws and that their conduct was “peaceful.” Well, they were breaking many laws, and their conduct was anything but peaceful. Almost three years later, Toronto is unrecognizable and considered to be one of the most dangerous cities in the world in which to live today, as a Jew. This podcast episode is a touch longer than our usual, because there is so much important information to be shared.

We focus on Hank Idsinga, his personal story and how that influenced his career, particularly in the later years. And we get into the way in which Toronto Police have handled overt and often violent antisemitism since October 7. Their conduct is indefensible. Inexplicable. And I have been writing and podcasting about this tirelessly. Only now, as attacks on Jews have become more frequent and violent - attracting international attention - has the Toronto Police Service even acknowledged that there may be, you know, a problem.

I have provided time stamps for three sections of the podcast, so you can jump around or skip. But I urge you to listen to them all. They build on and reinforce one another. And the story of what is going down in Toronto is just one extreme example of what we are seeing in many cities around the world. This will not just “go away”.

Thanks to Andrea Marcus, a friend, proud lifelong Torontonian, brilliant artist, and sponsor of this episode of State of Tel Aviv and Beyond. Like so many Canadians, Andrea is devastated by what has happened to Canada and Toronto, particularly in recent years. They are unrecognizable.

If you would like to be like Andrea and support our work by sponsoring an episode or two, please contact me directly. vivian@stateoftelaviv.com

Time Stamps:

Part I - Introduction to Hank Idsinga and the Toronto Police Force 00-34:54

Part II - Toronto Police and Jews: Open Contempt at a Recent Press Conference 34:55-37:41

Part III - Deep Dive into Post October 7 Toronto Police Conduct 37:42-end

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Hank Idsinga was a member of the Toronto Police Services for thirty years, leading the country’s top homicide unit for five years. Having served as Detective Sergeant and, later, Inspector in charge of Toronto’s Homicide Squad, he has policed just about every kind of case you can imagine, and has stared down some of the hardest criminals the city has ever seen. Idsinga has received numerous awards from the Ontario Homicide Investigator’s Association, and has twice been recognized by Toronto Life magazine as one of Toronto’s 50 Most Influential People. Additionally, he is a regular presenter at policing conferences, including the FBI National Academy Associates Conference and the Ontario Homicide Investigators Conference, among others. Recently retired and now a crime commentary fixture on the Corus radio network (nationally) and Global Television, as well as American crime series in production, Idsinga speaks widely about policing in the wake of a highly decorated career.

From decorated homicide detective Hank Idsinga comes The High Road—a raw, riveting true crime memoir from the man who helped take down one of Canada’s most notorious serial killers.

Hank Idsinga knew from the age of ten that he wanted to solve murders—especially after learning his grandfather had been executed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Over a thirty-year career with Toronto Police Services, Idsinga rose through the ranks to lead the country’s top homicide unit. From street crime to serial killers, he saw it all—and now, for the first time, he tells the story in his own voice.

Written in a hard-boiled but deeply human tone, The High Road chronicles the highs and horrors of life on the homicide beat. Idsinga recounts some of Toronto’s most gripping cases that caught the attention of the nation, including the Boxing Day shooting of Jane Creba, the Yonge Street shootouts, and—most infamously—the Bruce McArthur serial killer investigation. With equal parts warmth, candor, and gravity, he offers rare insight into how detectives do their work, how justice is served, and how the toll of the job is carried quietly and constantly.

Far from glorifying violence, Idsinga focuses on the people at the heart of each case: the victims, the families, and the fellow officers who became like family over decades of service. Many of those families remain in touch with him today, a testament to his character and compassion.

With the rise of true crime podcasts and docuseries, audiences are hungry for authentic, unfiltered voices—and The High Road delivers. This isn’t just a book about catching killers. It’s about the moral weight of justice, the value of empathy, and the complicated humanity on both sides of the badge.

Podcast Notes

In the podcast I refer often to how entrenched antisemitism is in Canada and how obvious that has become since October 7. Below are links to two articles published in Toronto media regarding Idsinga’s allegations regarding antisemitism on the police force.

Following are links to podcasts and written articles by me, on the State of Tel Aviv website and in other publications. This is just a sampling of the work I have done on antisemitism in Canada, focusing on Toronto, since October 7.

And there’s much more.

Special Note: We had planned to drop the second podcast today focusing on the violent antisemitism in Toronto, that has been receiving so much international attention recently. And it was all ready to go when - something happened. I thought it was significant enough to merit holding the pod for one day so that it could be included.. Apologies - but tomorrow - Monday - is a sure thing. The podcast shall be sent out.

Election season is upon us.

By law, Israelis must go to the polls before the end of October 2026. The last election was held on October 30, 2022; the fifth one in less than four years. The result was the extremist coalition government headed by Prime Minister Netanyahu that has been in power since.

Through the judicial reform protests.

October 7.

War. After War. After War.

Almost three years after October 7, one might expect that the way forward is clear.

It is anything but.

Israel is more divided than ever, and political strategists are unable to explain why.

So – allow me to give it a go…..

To many Israelis - myself included – the possibility of a government comprised of those currently in the coalition is a dark prospect.

In last week’s wrap, we included a discussion of Jewish Power leader Itamar Ben Gvir - who is also the coalition’s Minister of National Security.

He celebrated his 50^th birthday with a collection of cakes featuring nooses, guns and his portrait.

To refresh your memory, or in case you missed it, this is on topic from last week’s wrap:

In another classy move, Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir hosted a 50th birthday party for himself last night. In addition to the Chief of Israel’s police force, many senior cops were also invited and attended, which has caused something of a flap. Traditionally, there is a polite and professional distance maintained between political leadership and senior public servants. Ben Gvir and the police leadership that attended this soiree erased that line.

There were several cakes served at the party last night. The tiered beauty below was topped with Ben Gvir’s trinket of choice these days - a gold noose. Note his portrait in the middle. On the base - there is a map of Israel (including the West Bank) flanked by black guns – on either side.

Yummy!

The reaction to Ben Gvir’s grotesque celebration of violence was pretty much widespread disgust. Even for a professional provocateur this display of tasteless extremism was just too much.

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Ben Gvir also received a birthday surprise from Yonatan Shamriz, the brother of Alon, who was 26 when killed on December 15, 2023, in the Gaza Strip. Alon had been taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 from his home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Along with two other male hostages, Alon somehow managed to break free from his captors. But when spotted by IDF troops they were all shot dead, in the mistaken belief that they were Hamas foils trying to entrap the soldiers. That was a tried-and-true Hamas tactic – to lure IDF soldiers into ambushes by using civilians as bait. Tragically, on that day, they were hostages.

The triple death gutted Israelis. It was incomprehensible.

Since October 7, Yonatan Shamriz became a social and political activist, in addition to his side gigs as a successful businessman, husband, father, son, brother.

He founded a movement called Kumu – meaning – “Awaken” in Hebrew and his advocacy has focused on restoring ethical conduct to key institutions in Israel. Most Israelis see October 7 as a direct result of massive institutional failures; years of arrogance, corruption and negligent leadership.

Here is Yonatan Shamriz’s birthday video to Itamar Ben Gvir, with English subtitles.

Translated by Maya Naftolin

Shamriz is not some kooky radical. His views are pretty mainstream. Israelis have been duped and worse by military and political leadership and they have had so much more than enough. The rage is palpable. I thought it would be interesting for you to see and experience the mood here. I’m not sure that people outside the country appreciate how intense the rage remains. Perhaps even moreso than on October 8. Because after almost three years, we still have the same government in power that created the conditions for the disaster. And that government has still not taken responsibility for that day. The Prime Minister refuses to accept any responsibility for October 7.

I was speaking recently with an American friend, who asked me a question I hear all the time: “Who else is there?”

Meaning - who, other than Bibi, can lead Israel?

Seriously?

Another question that has been popping up frequently - is about the recent merger of the parties led by right-ish former PM Naftali Bennett and centrist Yair Lapid.

What does it mean?

Honestly? Not much. It means that they are trying to form a large bloc to give them an edge when it comes to being tasked by the President with forming a coalition after the next vote. Typically (but not always) it is the party with the most mandates that is given the opportunity to form a coalition of at least 61 seats.

Aside from that. It’s a little early for this sort of jockeying. The Bennett-Lapid merger kind of surprised many astute observers of Israeli politics. But – it does give them time to entice more parties to join them. Like former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, whose party is polling very strongly. For many reasons it seems unlikely that Eisenkot will join the two musketeers. In fact, he recruited a star candidate recently, who appeared in an interview last night with one of Israel’s top journalists. His comments were such fire and brimstone that I may have it translated to share with you next week.

Israeli politics is all about coalition building. Netanyahu has spent four years pandering to the most destructive, dangerous, extremist forces in Israeli public life; the largely anti-Zionist ultra-orthodox bloc, and the extremist messianist demographic.

Likud, as well, is not what it once was. The brains and talent have peeled off over the years, leaving a husk of what the party once was.

A big problem is that most of the more reasonable Israeli voters tend not to exercise their democratic franchise. E-Day is a holiday in Israel. People prefer going to the beach or shopping. But so much turns on the outcome of this election. Voters must see that and show up.

Because the extremists? They are very motivated. They turn out to vote. The ultra-orthodox? Historically, they have done whatever their rabbis direct. Voter turnout in heavily haredi cities often exceeds 100%. For real.

Only an invigorated electorate will usher in the change that this country so desperately needs. Should the extremists prevail, I fear the worst for Israel. But more on that in the coming months. Election season is just gearing up.

What do the majority of Israelis care about today?

They care about the ultra-orthodox shirking any and all military service.

They care about equality. A properly functioning and accountable democracy. They care about Jewish terrorism, which is not a “fringe” issue or concern.

They care about competence - in the army, government and security services.

If another extremist coalition prevails, I believe it will herald the demise of a modern, technologically advanced Israel. The talent will leave. It will hemorrhage.

It is amazing that at age 76, having held the top job in Israel for most of the past 30 years, Benjamin Netanyahu – a brilliant man – either does not see the extreme damage he is causing to Israel, or he does not care.

To Israelis, his motive is not important. We’ve lost interest. The survival of a liberal, democratic Israel, however, is. It is all that matters.

I’m trying to think of something light and nice to end with……my weekly pledge.

Happy Mother’s Day. If you aren’t one then you have one. And you know one.

As a matter of interest, Mother’s Day isn’t a thing in Israel. I only remembered because of messages from many of my friends in Canada and the U.S.

Until next week……

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In March, shortly after three synagogues were shot up in Toronto in one week, the world took note. Within days of the shootings, I interviewed Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Amichai Chikli. He said - and it is in this podcast - that Canada is at the top of a list that no one should want to be on: he regards Canada as being perhaps the most dangerous place in the world to be Jewish these days. His strong concerns are shared by Sharren Haskel, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Both Chikli and Haskel have been paying attention to the grim reality on the ground for Canadian Jews - especially since October 7. They do not hold back. And they also bring to the discussion a global perspective. Their job is to be on top of the status of Jewish communities all over the world - and they are watching like hawks. This is about Canada, yes, but it is about so much more.

Their comments and observations are from March and I have provided updated context in the podcast narrative. Almost immediately after the drama in Toronto things got pretty crazy in the UK, especially London. And the war in Iran exploded. Sometimes, events overtake the material I have prepared……and I had to hold these interviews until those crises subsided, temporarily. So - here we are. And in the meantime……the mess, if I can call it that, remains a mess.

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Amichai Chikli is an Israeli politician who serves as the Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism. In the past he worked as an educator and social entrepreneur.

Chikli was born in 1981 in Jerusalem. He served as an officer in the Golani brigade, an elite IDF unit.

Following his military service, Chikli earned a bachelor’s degree in security and Middle Eastern studies from Haifa University and a master’s degree in security studies and diplomacy from Tel Aviv University. Minister Chikli is married and has three children.

Sharren Haskel is 41 years old, married and the mother of three young children.

At 18, she served in the Israel Defense Force, as a combat soldier in the Border Guards during the Second Intifada. Following her military service, Deputy Minister Haskel pursued a career in veterinary medicine.

Haskel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and International Relations from The Open University in Israel, where she also was the Israeli national debating champion. She entered the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in 2015.

In November 2024, she was sworn in as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

By law, an election must be held in Israel by the end of October this year.

It can’t come soon enough.

It’s already May, incredibly… meaning that a June election is highly unlikely, if not impossible. Same for July-August. That is the big summer holiday season (it is actually called “big holiday” in Hebrew) and disrupting travel plans for war-weary Israelis will not be a winning strategy.

September is High Holiday time – they fall and finish early this year. Meaning that the election will likely push the time limit and occur at some point in mid to late October.

Until now, there was a general consensus that PM Netanyahu would avoid an October election because – “October” – is not a good month for Israel. October 7.

But we are definitely seeing the whole election machinery thing rev up. Last week former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid held a press conference to announce the formation of their new party – “B’yachad” - which means “together.” They are uniting to form a party that they hope will bring a plurality of seats, making them the first to be tapped by the President to form a governing coalition. That’s how it works here.

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Polling shows that B’yachad and Likud are neck in neck – so the contest is now focused on signing up other small parties - or wooing them if tasked to form a coalition. To control the Knesset a coalition requires a minimum of 61 seats.

In response to the Bennett-Lapid move, Netanyahu put out an Instagram post – showing him cheerfully working out and looking trim and fit. He’s 76. Wears a pacemaker. And the Israeli public just learned recently that he has been treated for cancer. But nothing to fret about. His social media team clearly things that showing him working out in a gym dispels any concerns regarding his health. Cuz. He’s fine. See? Here’s a video to prove it!

For most Israelis, this election is about one thing: ending the illegal draft dodging of the ultra-orthodox community, which has imposed an inhuman burden on those who do serve.

Depending on who you speak to, there is a subset of issues: Jewish terrorism; eliminating financial subsidies for the ultra-orthodox; restoring civic confidence in key state institutions – like the army, police and government; and establishing, finally a State Commission of Inquiry into October 7. What happened. Why. How.

The ultra-orthodox form a distinct society in Israel and care pretty much exclusively about two issues: that the state allows them to continue to shirk military service and that they be compensated handsomely by the state for doing so.

Here’s another rebuttal from Netanyahu’s to the merger of Lapid and Bennett’s parties:

The clip, of course, features Bennett on the left and Lapid on the right, looking sharp, fit and pleased with themselves. But when they peel off their masks, they are revealed to really be Ahmed Tibi, Mansour Abbas and Yair Golan. Tibi and Abbas are two Arab MKs. Golan leads the left-wing Democrats party. In other words, Bibi is saying - a vote for Bennett and Lapid is really a vote for the Arabs and the left to lead Israel.

In another classy move, Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir hosted a 50th birthday party for himself last night. In addition to the Chief of Israel’s police force, many senior cops were also invited and attended, which has caused something of a flap. Traditionally, there is a polite and professional distance maintained between political leadership and senior public servants. Ben Gvir and the police leadership that attended this soiree erased that line.

There were several cakes served at the party last night. The tiered beauty below was topped with Ben Gvir’s trinket of choice these days - a gold noose. Note his portrait in the middle. On the base - there is a map of Israel (including the West Bank) flanked by black guns – on either side.

Yummy!

Here is a short video clip of Ben Gvir that night with his wife, Ayala.

She is presenting him with a smaller cake also decorated with a gold noose. The writing on the cake: “Congratulations Minister Ben Gvir. Dreams do come true.”

Since he led the passage of legislation allowing the capital punishment of convicted terrorists, Ben Gvir and the golden noose have been ubiquitous. (It’s not actually a new law but it is an opportunity to pretend as much and for Ben Gvir to promote himself as the tough guy.) I wrote about this noose obsession in a recent weekly wrap:

The bit about Ben Gvir is about halfway down the piece – you’ll see the photo of a noose sticker.

Before you go…..

I’m not really delivering this week on my aspiration to close out with a lighter bit of news. I just keep coming up blank. So this will have to do. An interview of then Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Abba Eban, with legendary 60 Minutes journalist, Mike Wallace. The occasion for the chat was the 10th anniversary of the existence of the state of Israel.

Aside from making me achingly nostalgic for Eban’s oratorical skill and magic, it’s a fascinating interview.

Sadly, the issues of today are strikingly similar to what was being discussed in 1958. When it came to Israel.

I absolutely love how Eban totally flips Wallace’s negative introduction, which focuses on violence and war:

Wallace: What do you foresee for the next ten years? Do you foresee continuing violence?

Eban: Well, Mr. Wallace, the last ten years have not only been years of violence, they have been incomparable years of joyous creation, of sovereignty restored, of a people gathered in, of a land revived, of a democracy established, but there has also been violence imposed by the hostility of our neighbors. For our second decade we devoutly hope for a period of peaceful consolidation

I commend to you the entire interview, 22 minutes which will be well spent. Eban was always a towering intellect with a great mastery of language, and this reminds me of how elevated and elevating public officials can be.

Thanks for being here, as always. Have a good week.

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One day ago, at approximately 11:30, two Jewish men were stabbed by a stranger on a street in a Jewish neighborhood in London. Had private community guards not been on the scene then the outcome would certainly have been much worse. It took police four minutes to arrive on the scene. And when they did one of them realized that he had forgotten his taser gun in the car. UK police officers are not armed.

Seriously.

Just hours before dropping this podcast, the UK Daily Telegraph published an exclusive story that the suspect, Essa Suleiman, is a 45-year-old Somali immigrant to the UK with previous convictions for violent crime, including the stabbing of at least one police officer and his canine partner. Mr. Suleiman served prison time and was referred in 2020 to a government run “counter-extremism” prevention program but as the Telegraph reports, “his case was closed later that year.” Exactly what that means is unclear. What is clear is that Mr. Suleiman was known to law enforcement and they clearly had formed a view that he may be a political or other extremist. He is believed to be associated with a terror organization supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

London. Melbourne. Sydney. Toronto. Manchester. Montreal. Something is very wrong in the United Kingdom and its former colonies. Very wrong. In today’s podcast we have a detailed discussion with Mark Sandler, a criminal lawyer based in Toronto who has acted as counsel in countless cases as well as more than 20 public inquiries. The depth and breadth of his experience is seriously impressive. These days, Sandler acts as chair of the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism, a group of more than 70 organizations that have come together to voice their profound concern with the state of civil society in the country. Sandler seems to be everywhere - especially since October 7. He is a force of nature.

I learned so much from speaking with Sandler and he confirmed many of my deepest concerns regarding the reasons that Jew hatred is so prevalent in Canada. It didn’t just “happen.” It’s a direct result of weak leadership, at best. At worst, it is due to institutional antisemitism. In another episode some time I hope to sink my teeth into why these issues seem to be manifesting in such an extreme way in the UK, Canada, and Australia.

Update: As we finalize this podcast news came in that the UK just raised the threat level to severe, one notch below critical - the highest. Government is saying that it is related in part to the Golders Green attack. But there is more in the mix.

In the podcast notes I have included links to previous State of Tel Aviv and Beyond podcasts and episodes that are directly relevant and may be of interest to you.

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Mark Sandler, LL.B., LL.D. (honoris causa), ALCCA’s Chair, is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading criminal lawyers and pro bono advocates. He has been involved in combatting antisemitism for over 40 years. He has lectured extensively on legal remedies to combat hate and has promoted respectful Muslim-Jewish, Sikh-Jewish and Black-Jewish dialogues. He has appeared before Parliamentary committees and in the Supreme Court of Canada on multiple occasions on issues relating to antisemitism and hate activities. He is a former member of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, a three-time elected Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario, and recipient of the criminal profession’s highest honor, the G. Arthur Martin Medal, for his contributions to the administration of criminal justice.

Podcast Notes:

1. Home page for Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism

This site is a trove of superb material documenting the ongoing efforts of this coalition to combat antisemitism in Canada: alcca.ca

2. Previous State of Tel Aviv and Beyond episodes directly relevant to the issues discussed in this podcast

Every year it feels the same. As soon as we have finished with the Passover holiday marathon, there is a secondary wave of commemorative events and days.

Last week we marked Memorial Day, followed immediately by Independence Day. Every year it is a jarring experience, by design. Back in 1951, it seemed like a good idea to someone that we immerse ourselves in mourning and honoring those who fell in creation and defense of the fledgling state and then jolt immediately into celebrating independence. (The back-to-back thing began in 1951.)

This year, the Eve of Memorial Day began on Monday at sundown. On Tuesday at sundown we shifted gears, uncomfortably, to celebrate our independence. Well, some of us did.

Independence Day in Israel this year was a muted affair.

I thought it might be interesting to look back on a different time, and not so long ago. In 2018, I joined the community of Kibbutz Nahal Oz (on the border with Gaza) for their big, boisterous annual Independence Day BBQ, celebrated as only Israelis do; with all the energy in their being in the moment. Below is a link to a column I wrote in the National Post about Independence Day, 2018. Had anyone predicted then what would befall that kibbutz five years later, well……

Continue Reading

I first found my way to Kibbutz Nahal Oz in 2015, I believe. I was serving as the Canadian Ambassador to Israel and had met with a then up-and-coming (now superstar) journalist, Amir Tibon. He was in his late 20s. Down-to-earth. Sharp as a tack. Personable. And very open to discussing any topic. I mean – really thrashing it out. Old school.

Amir and his wife, Miri, invited me to see the kibbutz and I jumped at the chance. They were so proud of their new home on the border with the Gaza Strip. I was seduced by the beauty and tranquility of the place. And the purpose. People don’t just live in a place like Nahal Oz. They are there for a reason.

In the ensuing years, I visited Amir and Miri now and then. Kids came along.

Amir also introduced me to other kibbutz members, among them Yael Raz. Her parents had been among the founders of the kibbutz and she was managing external communications for the community. I sat with Yael when I joined the Independence Day dinner hosted by Nahal Oz in 2018.

Kibbutz Nahal Oz was hit very, very hard on October 7. Within weeks of the tragedy, I hosted a live-stream event at which Amir provided testimony of that day. You can watch it here:

On the first anniversary of the October 7 attack, Amir’s superb book/memoir – The Gates of Gaza – was published. A documentary film based on the book has also been made. In fact, it was premiered in September, 2025, at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) . And, boy oh boy, was there ever a flap about that.

At the 11^th hour, TIFF management announced that the film - The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue - would not be screened due to “copyright and licensing” issues.

True story.

TIFF basically took the position that by showing footage of the October 7 barbarism – filmed live by Hamas terrorists and uploaded (again, much of it live) to social media – there might be a breach of copyright.

OK – let me rephrase that. TIFF management took the position that by using Hamas footage from the October 7 savagery – they may be liable to Hamas for a breach of copyright. Seriously. Apparently, the film’s producers did not have signed licenses from Hamas to use the footage, long in the public domain.

Can’t make this stuff up. And TIFF’s CEO and board issued a press statement saying as much.

The real story – which seeped out after the ensuing brouhaha – is that TIFF staff fancied themselves righteous warriors for the oppressed of Palestine – and decided that it was wrong to air the film. The public backlash (and fury of some major TIFF donors who withdrew their pledges) seemed to assist TIFF management in re-orienting and allowing the screening to go ahead. Only one showing. Shameful but typical for Canada these days.

I wrote about the TIFF issue in State of Tel Aviv and Beyond at the time. See the link below. The stuff about TIFF is about two thirds of the way down, under the heading “September 10.”

Eve of Memorial Day, 2026

On Monday evening, I attended an intimate ceremony on the central lawn of the kibbutz where I reside. It is not too far from Nahal Oz.

Tragically, Israelis are too experienced in organizing such events. Such ceremonies are almost always well run and those in attendance are quiet and respectful. These qualities - quiet and well-run - are anomalous in this country.

All over Israel, at 8 pm on Memorial Day Eve, a siren blares. Everything stops and everyone stands. What follows is a somewhat formulaic half hour but it is never static or dull. Each kibbutz member who has fallen in battle is eulogized anew. On my kibbutz, too many men gave their lives in the earliest years of independence. All were too young. Many had survived the Holocaust. Each story is a fresh heartbreak.

The kibbutz kids sit on the ground in the front. Mesmerized. They see the photos of these men who are no longer with us and in them they surely see their teachers and uncles and brothers and fathers and family friends. Because every person in this country has been touched. Profoundly.

In the area where I live – not far from the Gaza Envelope where Hamas attacked - devastation was everywhere. These children go to school with peers from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Be’eri, Netiv Ha’asara, Mefalsim. Sderot. Many families from Kfar Aza have been living in temporary housing on my kibbutz now for almost two years. A new school was built to accommodate the much larger cohort of children. Even the kids who were not directly exposed to the horror of that day, they hear about it all the time. Their classmates saw unimaginable things. Some of the children were hostages. They live among us, we live among them. They talk. There are no boundaries. This is life. Our lives. I attend a sewing workshop weekly with many women from Kfar Aza. We keep things light. “Normal.” And then, suddenly, you realize that this intense discussion is ongoing, about who is going to return and when and who is not and why. What should be done with the homes that were incinerated? Should they be left as memorials or razed? Or moved to a place adjacent to the kibbutz? Do we want our children and grandchildren growing up in the midst of these physical reminders?

I just sew. And listen.

But these children at the Memorial Eve ceremony, no one forces them to sit in rapt attention. They are innocent and silly one moment, and the next they are re-living the unbreakable historical experience of Jewish people everywhere. As much as we wish we could shelter them, for just a few more years, we cannot. This is our reality.

The unbroken thread of our identity, nationhood, lifeblood.

It is always a modest, simple and meaningful affair. Everyone shows up.

We end, always, singing the national anthem. HaTikvah. “The Hope.”

For those who may not be familiar with HaTikvah, I include here a recording with the words translated into English in subtitles. The tune, incidentally, was lifted from a 19th century Romanian folk song. The video below is a formal version of the anthem, complete with subtitles in Hebrew, transliterated Hebrew and English.

Ok – so now I’m having too much fun. As I wrote this I vaguely remembered that Barbra Streisand also recorded the anthem……and here it is. Magnificent…..with a few minutes at first of Babs having a live – equivalent of a modern-day real time video chat – with Golda Meir, former Prime Minister of Israel. Enjoy.

The following morning, at 11 am, a two-minute siren sounded throughout Israel. Formal ceremonies are held at military cemeteries, monuments, so many places. Every municipal cemetery has a separate military section, where those who fell in defense of Israel are laid to rest. The names, years of death, country of origin, are typically carved into the headstones. And they tell the story of the Jewish people for the last century. If you find yourself visiting Israel, at some point, in a smaller town or city, I suggest you visit one of these military cemeteries. It is always a moving experience and you will learn a great deal. No matter how much you already know.

Independence Day, Wednesday April 22, 2026

At sundown on Memorial Day (Tuesday night this year) we move abruptly to what is meant to be a joyous celebration. Independence Day. This year the vibe just wasn’t there. It feels as if the entire country is mildly depressed. There is low energy and high anxiety.

Typically, Independence Day is spent in parks and nature, enjoying outdoor parties and bar-b-q’s. Israelis are crazy about meat and charcoal grilling.

Each year, on the eve of Independence Day, an official state ceremony is held in Jerusalem, attended by dignitaries, diplomats and members of the public. The latter are seated behind the huge VIP section. They should be up front.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of course, sat in the front row, with his wife and other key officials as dictated by established protocol. Granted, he has a lot on his mind, but he looked dreadful. Drained, tired, and very preoccupied. When his pal, Argentinian President Javier Milei (who happened to be in town) got up on stage to sing with some performers, Bibi lit up, briefly. It’s a pretty great clip (below) showing Milei walking on stage at the event and at about the 40 second mark taking a microphone offered to him and getting down.

A pre-recorded address by PM Netanyahu was also played at the event. Bibi spoke of the challenges Israel faces but also the much-lauded national strength in difficult times. Whoever drafted the remarks was tone deaf. And the tone was clearly dictated from the Prime Minister’s Office. The Israeli media used one word repeatedly to describe the canned remarks made that night by all elected officials in various locations in Israel. Bellicose. True. They were also stupid.

In his statement, Netanyahu presented a picture of a unified Israel. He enumerated areas of life where we all link arms and sway in bliss and harmony. Culture. Schools. Hospitals. Workplaces. But he did not mention one critical sphere: security. Because what is tearing this country apart is how this government that he leads continues to throw money and grotesque entitlements at the ultra-orthodox, even as they refuse to serve in the IDF. Even as so many have sacrificed so much. As we are experiencing a dire shortage of troops. A true existential crisis.

The ultra-orthodox are anti-Zionist. They should neither be in the coalition nor the beneficiaries of the state’s over-the-top largesse.

But this, Prime Minister Netanyahu does not mention.

“We are one people,” he intoned, repeatedly.

But we are not. We are a very divided people.

Also on Independence Day, this happened:

I was interviewed six-ish months ago by a reporter from N12 - the largest media platform in Israel. Truthfully, I had forgotten about it. And then, the day before Memorial Day I received a message from the reporter. An article featuring me was going to run in the special online Independence Day edition of N12.

Wow. “I thought you had forgotten about me,” I wrote to him.

“Never,” he responded. “As a patriotic Israeli what can be better than publish your interview on Independence Day?”

Feel free to put the piece into Google Translate - I’m sure it’ll be comical in spots (limitations of AI) but I am told that it is a very well-written piece that people found interesting. I never read stuff about me in print, nor do I watch myself on TV. Or read my own stuff once published. It’s a thing. Many writers are like that.

Thanks so much to Yoghev Karmel, who first approached me a few years ago. We met for coffee. We spoke on the phone now and then. But I was really tickled that he put so much work into profiling me. I also think that because Canada is such a flaming disaster these days - and the world is finally noticing - there is more interest in that cold country. People are curious. Like - what the heck happened to Canada?

Random Media Updates

Below - my column in the National Post last week. As always, we put the first few paragraphs in here……click on the link to read the rest on the NP website.

SDEROT, ISRAEL — On Wednesday, the two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran ended. Late Tuesday night in Washington D.C., President Donald Trump announced that the truce would be extended indefinitely.

Shortly after the ceasefire was announced, Vice-President JD Vance met with senior Iranian officials in Islamabad in a 21-hour marathon negotiation. The U.S. red lines were clear: access to the Strait of Hormuz must be opened to all maritime traffic and Iran must abandon its ambition to develop nuclear weapons.

Both demands were rejected outright by Iran, which has illegally claimed (but not always asserted) sovereignty over Hormuz for decades.

This impasse over a 165-km-long narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the open sea is choking maritime commerce and the global supply of oil and natural gas, 20 per cent of which is carried through the Strait.

Bordered on its northern shore by Iran, the southern edge of the Strait abuts numerous Gulf and Middle Eastern states: Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE and Iraq. For all but Oman and Saudi Arabia, the Strait of Hormuz provides the only access they have to the open sea. It is a critical lifeline for global maritime commerce.

Continue Reading

And on Thursday, at the end of a lovely day in Tel Aviv, I popped into the i24 studio at the Jaffa Port to talk about - well - we covered a lot of ground. Iran. Lebanon. Hezballah. Pakistan. And then some. Clip is below.

I was feeling bold. Hence the VERY RED shirt.

A Special Art Opening

In keeping with our weekly habit, I am closing this dispatch with something nice and light(er).

On Independence Day, my daughter who lives in central Israel was visiting me, and we skipped the bar-b-q’s and nature outings to show up for her friend and work colleague, Gali Lutski, who was opening an exhibition of her work at a lovely space in Old Be’er Sheva.

The Trumpeldor Gallery is supported by Ben Gurion University, and is a gem.

Gali’s work is amazing. Here, she is pictured (eight months pregnant with her second child) with the curator of the show, Ariela Shimshon.

Gali moved to Israel with her parents from the Former Soviet Union at age 11. She holds a BSc. in Biology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and did post-graduate work in art.

Her day job is at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and as with all motivated creators, she finds time to paint. Gali’s five-year-old daughter was dressed like a fairy princess in a tulle skirt and all the appropriate sparkly accessories, and she was very proud of her mom.

I thought I’d share with you a few of Gali’s works that I was particularly drawn to.

Under the Bridge is the exhibition title, taken from the painting, below. Gali explained to me that it was meant to capture many aspects of our complicated lives in Israel…..one being that we often find ourselves seeking shelter from incoming missiles and rockets……under bridges. But they are actually not safe places when we are under attack. Many searching messages are written on the grimy walls of the bridge, contrasting with the bright color just outside and seeping into the tunnel as well.

“Veteran Guardian”

The painting below was done from memory. Growing up in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam, where many Soviet immigrants lived, Gali walked by this older man with his canine companion. Every day, for years, they sat on the bench, watching the world go by. There is a copy of the Russian newspaper Izvestiya on his chest, his head falling into it. Gali said that he seemed to be snoozing much of the time. He also had the look of a WWII veteran, she said. Hence, the name. She could not forget this image and years later put it to canvas.

“Gandir”

This fanciful painting drew me in and did not let me go. I love everything about it…..and if I had a wall that was big enough I’d buy it. It was based on a scene she had visited in Norway. I can’t find “Gandir” on Google…..so I’m going to assume it’s a fanciful name to suit the image.

You can see more of Gali’s work on her website and Instagram.

And that, dear readers, is a wrap.

Have a safe and fun week.

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The war between America and Iran was intended to be swift and decisive, or so we were told. Almost two months since America and Israel first attacked the Islamic Republic of Iran, a peaceful resolution - either through negotiation or defeat - remains elusive. Compounding the tension is the weaponization of the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks; a small channel of water connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and open seas. Unfettered access through the Strait of Hormuz for all merchant ships and vessels is and should be the norm, but Iran has decided that it alone can and must control this international waterway. By doing so, they choke the movement of oil and natural gas supplies, threatening and constraining economic activity everywhere.

And America says: “No.” You cannot do this. Not on our watch.

As with all things geopolitical - especially in the Middle East - it’s complicated. To help us understand the issues I speak at length in this podcast with (Retired) U.S. Admiral Mark Montgomery, a man who has served extensively at the highest level in the Middle East and around the world. It’s a fascinating discussion.

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Podcast Notes

Rear Admiral (Ret.) Mark Montgomery serves as senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI) and as an FDD senior fellow. Mark served for more than three decades in the U.S. Navy, held senior leadership roles in Congress, and is a recognized expert on cyber and technology policy.

At CCTI, Mark leads efforts to advance U.S. national and economic security through technology innovation, counter cyber threats against the United States and its allies, and combat adversary cyber-enabled economic warfare (CEEW) campaigns. He also directs CSC 2.0, an initiative focused on implementing the recommendations of the congressionally mandated Cyberspace Solarium Commission, where he previously served as executive director. Additionally, Mark co-leads FDD’s Air and Missile Defense Program.

Prior to joining FDD, Mark was policy director for the Senate Armed Services Committee under Sen. John S. McCain, where he coordinated efforts on national security strategy, force posture, capabilities, and cyber policy.

Important Subscription News:

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Of course, we will continue to make some content available to everyone, but as an independent media outlet, we rely on our readers and listeners to help keep the lights on. Thanks to all for being here. Now…..to the main event….

The Weekly Wrap:

Lebanon

One of the most overlooked minor miracles went down this week, with the Lebanese PM and President digging in on getting Hezballah out of their country. For good.

They have stated repeatedly and in very direct terms – “no more”. We want to take Lebanon back. We are beyond fed up with being used as a stomping ground for Iran’s proxy fanatics.

In the mid 20^th century, Lebanon was truly the jewel of the middle east. Beirut? It was nicknamed “Paris of the middle east”. The country’s population was majority Christian with a mix of Sunni Muslims and others. The small Jewish community was concentrated in Beirut and numbered somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 in 1975. Almost all remaining Jews left Lebanon at the outset of the civil war. At its peak - in 1948, approximately 20,000 Jews lived in Lebanon, always concentrated in Beirut.

To overly simplify, the Lebanese Civil War – which officially began in 1975 – marked the beginning of what has been 51 years of pretty much unbroken conflict. After Yasir Arafat and his PLO terrorist force were expelled from the country in 1982, Iran began eyeing the vacuum. Hezballah – the Shi’ite militia beholden to Iran for financial and all manner of support – was founded by Hassan Nasrallah and two other clerics in 1982. The movement was powerful and controlled large areas of Beirut – particularly in the south – as well as much of southern Lebanon. Eventually – Nasrallah came to be the leader of Hezballah. He was killed on September 27, 2024, in a targeted assassination by the Israeli Air Force while meeting his top advisers in Beirut.

Over more than forty years, Hezbollah developed into a fearsome military force believed to have an arsenal of hundreds of thousands of missiles and other weapons, intended to destroy Israel. The group was well-financed, disciplined and trained. They adhered to a Shia fundamentalist ideology: Muslim supremacy; anti-western; anti-Zionist.

A variation on the October 7 attack had long been planned by Hezballah’s elite Radwan fighting force. For many years, Hezballah has been boring tunnels through the hard rocky mountains in southern Lebanon with the intention to launch a surprise attack on Israeli civilians. This short video (produced by the IDF and edited by Reuters) gives you an idea as to what Hezballah has accomplished and planned over decades:

When Hezballah did not attack Israel’s northern front on October 7, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was deeply disappointed. Had Hezballah done so, history may have unfolded much more catastrophically for Israel.

Two and a half years on, President Trump has been working tirelessly to get Israel and Lebanon to expand upon the wobbly peace treaty that was negotiated between them by President Biden’s special envoy for the issue, Amos Hochstein. Most importantly, the Lebanese people have had enough of Hezballah and Iranian destruction of their country. Lebanese PM Nawaf Salam has stated repeatedly and unequivocally that Hezballah must be disarmed and expelled from the country.

PM Netanyahu and Lebanese PM Salam have been invited to meet next week with President Trump at the White House. Hopefully, that will go ahead.

Bottom line? Lebanon is fed up. And Israel cannot continue without neutralizing the Hezballah military threat that has made life in the northern part of the country impossible.

Jonathan Conricus and the Strait of Hormuz

It was great to catch up with State of Tel Aviv and Beyond friend and regular guest, Lt. Col. (Res.) Jonathan Conricus, to hear his take on the ceasefire/not ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. As he makes clear in our podcast discussion from last week, the Iranian regime seems not to have fully understood that negotiating with Trump is unlike any of his predecessors. Iran has become accustomed to western leadership that tends to pander and appease. Not Trump.

Here’s the podcast episode in case you missed it.

A source of mine who has excellent access to information regarding the Iranian regime said that when the Iranian negotiating team returned empty-handed from Islamabad, President Pezeshkian flipped out. He reminded his negotiators that within days the regime would run out of cash – already in frighteningly short supply – and IRGC and Basij officials would no longer be paid. That would be the death knell for the regime.

Speaking to this cash squeeze in Iran during a conversation we had last Thursday, retired US Admiral Michael Montgomery said: “One thing about thug autocracies, they need money. People don't sign up for that quality of life unless you're paying them.” In other words - if the cash flow dries up - the IRGC and Basij enforcers may lose their zest for doing the dirty work of a brutal dictatorship.

The full podcast interview with Admiral Montgomery is coming in the next day or two.

More Hormuz

Saturday morning in Israel and it is difficult to ascertain what is actually happening in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says that they have opened up the Strait to maritime traffic, unrestricted. The United States says it is maintaining its blockade.

On Friday, the US military released this video clip on social media, showing a US naval officer interacting with an Iranian vessel requesting passage through the Strait of Hormuz into open water. As you will hear, the American officer denies passage and directs the Iranian vessel to return to the port from which it departed. The Iranian captain confirms that he understood the message and is returning.

As I was catching up on events this. morning, I saw that President Trump stated that the negotiations are going well. Iran denies this.

I mean, it’s a certifiable gong show at this point. President Trump has insisted in recent days that Iran has agreed to hand over all enriched nuclear material to America. Iran denies this. If I had to bet I’d say that the chances of Iran surrendering its nuclear advantage to be zero. Everyone has a price, yes, but for Iran it is the survival of the regime. And for that to happen, the salaries of the IRGC and Basij must be paid. And for that to happen, it seems, Iran needs an immediate and significant infusion of currency so that it is able to pay its enforcers.

There has clearly been a lot of heated discussion in recent days.

On Friday, President Trump explained his hoarse voice as being the result of an hours-long yelling match with the Iranians the day before.

In the few hours since I wrote the paragraphs above, I have been to my local pool for a fabulous workout. Upon leaving, I had received a flurry of notices from various news sites:

“20 Omani tankers refused passage through Strait of Hormuz.”

“Strait of Hormuz now closed in response to ongoing US naval blockade.”

“IRGC fires on passing ships.”

Over the course of the day things became very heated.

After having been given permission by Iran to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, an Indian captain spoke with an Iranian official, panicked because his ship was being shot at by - Iran. “Sepah navy” is a reference to the Iranian navy. Have a listen:

By attacking a merchant vessel the IRGC has very directly challenged the United States.

A theocratic, absolutist regime like Iran is constitutionally (in the biological sense) incapable of compromise or negotiation. Pretending otherwise will just prolong the agony and conflict.

President Trump was reported to have been in the Situation Room a few hours ago. Iran’s actions are leaving the Commander-in-Chief with little choice. If he does not respond powerfully then Iran will continue with its illegal conduct - both firing on merchant ships and managing an extortion racket allowing certain ships to pass through.

Ok - it’s midnight in Israel, meaning 5 p.m. EST. I just saw this notice online:

Reuters is reporting:

Iran’s IRGC Navy broadcast over maritime radio frequencies today:

“Iran declares the Strait of Hormuz completely closed again. No vessel of any type or nationality is allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.”

The message cited “the failure of the U.S. government to fulfil its commitment in the negotiation.”

I’d peg the chances of a resumption of war in the very near future to be very high. There seems to be a power struggle ongoing in Iran. But that aside - no faction in Iran will negotiate in a pragmatic, western way. This regime is and always has been absolutist - even the so-called “moderates.”

We’ll see…..

PM Carney, Canada and the Jews

On Wednesday my latest piece was published in the U.K. Jewish Chronicle, looking at how deeply antisemitic Canada has become under Prime Minister Mark Carney,

You can read the piece here.

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New Car Time

Ok – as always, we finish off with something fun and light.

This week we’re doing cars.

First off – I’m a girl. One of the most important things for me is color. Style. Of course, I care about functionality, but the details bore me.

I’ve had my car for 12 years. Huge point of pride. Canadian girl here. We drive through ice and snow and slush and blizzards. Salt corrodes everything. We go through cars quickly.

Not so in Israel. The climate is easier, overall, on cars…..but tougher on tires. The heat from the asphalt takes a toll and the require more frequent replacement. Then again, no need to switch tires with the season (I don’t know about you but the whole “radial” all season thing never cut it in a Canadian winter.)

I bought a great car – it’s considered small in Canada and large in Israel – and it has served me well; 12 years and could go another 12. German car. But I’ve decided to go electric, and the market has exploded in recent years. In Israel, 20% of new vehicles sold are electric (as of Q4 2025 - which are the most recent statistics available). Of new EV sales in Israel 80-85% of those sold in Q1 2026 are made in China.

As in many countries, there is concern in Israel regarding the cyber safety of vehicles made in that market. The Israeli security establishment has prohibited senior ranking officers and officials from driving Chinese-manufactured vehicles out of concern that the cars may be a back-door way to facilitate intelligence gathering and operations. Just last week, in one of the car showrooms clustered in Herzliya – a city in central Israel – a salesman told me that the class of people being limited by the Israeli government and security and military establishments from purchasing Chinese-made vehicles is growing. Rapidly.

A few months ago I was certain that I’d go hybrid. I was skittish about putting all my eggs in the EV basket. I wanted certainty regarding reliability and energy supply. If we have no oil then I can go electric. If the cost of electricity spikes then I can rely on oil.

For various reasons I’ve surrendered to the EV trend here. If there is one country where it makes eminent good sense to drive an EV it’s Israel. Battery ranges fully charged are around 450 km, give or take. There is no extreme cold in this climate – which drains batteries rapidly. Charging infrastructure is well-developed. So accessibility really is not a concern. And I have a charger installed in my driveway. So – I can be fully charged every morning and drive all day long and still have power to spare. And I do like the idea of not having to fill up on gas all the time and saving a few shekels. And reducing my carbon footprint (which is minuscule, anyways). Having said that – I am well aware that the procurement of cobalt – a critical component of EV batteries – introduces a whole whack of other environmental and ethical issues.

I’m still open to being swayed – so if you have good knowledge or strong views – chime in.

I am leaning towards an EV – produced by a joint German-Chinese venture. Very smart. Maximize the branding advantage of German design and engineering and then bring in Chinese efficiency and cost of production. I sure fell for it.

It’s a big car – biggest I’ve ever driven. Family size SUV. Why? Why not. I like it. It’s spacious. I feel safe and it does have top ratings in that category. I can throw my sports equipment and dry cleaning in the trunk, and it won’t mess up the back seat. It can hold piles of luggage (I am not known for traveling lightly – even on domestic road trips).

Perhaps most importantly - this car can handle roads in the south – which can be a little rougher than in Tel Aviv. In two years living in these parts I’ve blown out three tires. In my previous decades of driving I had one flat. One. Here? Every time has been when I am in a remote area and the events have all been dramatic. Not a puncture. Not something repairable. Full on tire devastation. I even wrote about one such episode last year.

I’m told that flats are a way of life here. So, I surrender. `I want and have decided I can justify a bigger, more rugged vehicle.

Here are some photos of one of my worst tire moments.

It literally just exploded. Everything was fine one moment - and then - kapow! At the side of the highway between Be’er Sheva and my kibbutz. Of course, it was a brutally hot day. No shade. And a fine young man pulled over to change the tire for me. This should be exceptional but is not. It’s an Israeli thing. People always stop to assist with roadside issues. My savior happened to be a young Arab man. Just a nice guy doing a good deed.

Back to the present.

The coup de grace?

The kids – my daughter and her partner – receive a fabulous vehicle as a gift. It has another eight years of life in it - and it is safe and far more roadworthy than the cute little jalopy they scrimped and saved to afford. I love the independence. They did not ask for help. It’s a cute little purple thing which I christened “the grape.”

Kids win. I win. China and Germany split the win. Environment? You tell me.

Have a great week.

I was fortunate to catch up with State of Tel Aviv and Beyond regular guest, Lt. Col. (Res.) Jonathan Conricus, former IDF spokesperson and senior fellow at FDD, to discuss these developments on Sunday night, Israel time. As you will hear, Conricus believes that the Iranian regime has egregiously miscalculated the resolve of President Trump to end their unilateral bullying and control of the vital shipping route. Iranian leadership has become too accustomed to western governments that are inclined to appease and pander rather than stick to principle. Conricus likens Iran’s conduct to an organized crime syndicate - brazenly resorting to extortion and bullying.

We also discuss the peculiar coverage of this ongoing war by much of the western media. And we touch on the situation in Lebanon, which is very much linked to Iran’s power. So much is in flux and uncertain and the stakes are, as always, very high.

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Podcast Notes

Jonathan Conricus is a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington D.C.-based think tank. He served in the IDF for 24 years, four of them as spokesman during the intense 11 days of the Guardian of the Walls Operation between Israel and Hamas. Now a reserve officer with the rank of Lt. Col., he is a sought-after speaker internationally and is frequently seen on major television news shows. Jonathan was born in Jerusalem to a Swedish father and an Israeli mother and spent his formative years in Sweden.

Before we get to Crazy Canada…….some late breaking drama as we finalize this weekly wrap.

President Trump is off to a roaring and early start to his Sunday. After 21 hours at the table in Islamabad, his negotiating team - led by VP J.D. Vance - called it quits. Iran reportedly refuses to agree to abandon its nuclear ambitions and it also seems to be unbending on its chokehold on the global oil supply that requires safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Among other cute stalling tactics, Iran pretended to have lost track of if and where they had laid mines in the Strait and Persian Gulf.

The day began with this social media post from President Trump. It’s long, so instead of reproducing it in full I’m including the link below…..it takes the Fox News anchor just under five minutes to read it aloud plus she provides quick context to the quickly developing events:

I’m going to be dropping a podcast with State of Tel Aviv and Beyond regular guest and familar pundit on international media, Lt. Col. (Res.) Jonathan Conricus…..focusing on this turn of events tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Now, from the middle east to……

Crazy Canada.

That is Leah Gazan in the video. She is a Member of Parliament in the New Democratic Party – or NDP. Historically, they’ve been soft socialists and drove many policies that have become sacred cows in Canada – like universal medical care.

(The problem is that the health care system in the country has been managed disastrously and accessing basic primary care is now a huge challenge. Depending on which data one chooses to accept, the best scenario is that 20% of Canadians have no direct access to either a primary care physician or nurse. The most recent studies peg that number closer to 50%.)

Leah Gazan has been spoofed the world over in the last week, but I thought this clip was one of the cleverest. As with any good satire, the really sad part is that it’s mostly true. Canada has become a really wacky place.

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It would be disrespectful if I overlooked the Godfather of Canadian identity politics, former PM Justin Trudeau. Here he is at his smug finest:

This joke is serious business in Canada. And it is an apt metaphor for the state of the nation in every way these days. It’s a certifiable mess, by any metric.

The NDP was, once upon a time, a serious political party with an important voice and message in Canadian politics and society. What remains is a crazy rump of extremist “progressives”, but there is also significant policy overlap with the ruling Liberals.

Here’s a fabulous clip where Canadian journalist, Adam Zivo, does his best to explain to these British journos what all the letters in Leah Gazan’s alphabet soup mean and why she feels compelled to recite them. Zivo knows his stuff….he’s made a name for himself on intelligently explaining this madness that has seized the minds of so many in Canada…..and he does it with a sense of fun as well. At the end of the clip Zivo says that this kind of extreme word salad tendency is promoted by a fringe element of the NDP party. I respectfully disagree. This kind of nonsense is prevalent among NDPers and Liberals - the party helmed by current Prime Minister Mark Carney.

These identity acknowledgements have become pretty de rigeur since Trudeau took the helm in 2015 and are complemented by ubiquitous “land acknowledgements,” which recognize the ancestral title and right of indigenous people.

Canada has also grabbed significant attention globally in recent weeks due to a spate of shootings of synagogues and a popular Jewish-owned restaurant, as well as the US Consulate. All in Toronto.

I’ve been doing a lot of work on that issue and will be dropping two in-depth podcasts in the coming days – looking at the failures of law enforcement in Toronto – and Canada – to, well, enforce the law; particularly when Jews or Israel are involved. And we have some strong interviews with Israeli cabinet ministers expressing their deep concern with the transformation of Canada from a quiet, stable place to a hub of Jew-hatred and Islamist violence.

Now – back to Israel.

I am back from a much needed “time-out.”

And after a day or two of unplugging, somewhat, I realized just how badly I needed it. It has been a very long two and a half years, with no let-up on the horizon. Compared to so many, I am very fortunate. And when you live in a place where the tensions are so heightened, you are constantly mindful of those around you. Your family, community, country, region, the world. The hostility is unrelenting. Trauma so pronounced and life altering.

Sitting, peacefully, as I am doing now, with a morning coffee in a comfortable home reminds me of all those whose lives have been shattered. It’s not a masochistic guilt-addictive trait. It shows, I believe, that I am a sentient being aware of my surroundings. And this reality takes a toll on all of us. Nothing about this war is abstract for Israelis. Nor are the consequences.

Passover in Israel was muted. In the afternoon hours leading up to the eve of Passover – when the seder is celebrated – Iran sent a barrage of missiles our way. It was jarring, as intended. Many people decided at the last minute to stay home and skip the large, festive gatherings they had planned to attend. My daughter and I drove one hour to be with close friends and their extended family. Half the invitees did not show up. They all had young children.

We have been living in a state of war for close to three years now. People are worn out.

On the day before Passover began, four young men serving in the IDF fell in action in Lebanon. At least one was hit by “friendly fire.” He was 21.

Also in the days before Passover, Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, celebrated the passage of a Knesset law permitting capital punishment for convicted terrorists. The whole event was a charade, engineered to give Ben Gvir an opportunity to create a public moment. He revels in controversy and attention. A week before the law was passed he made a whistle-stop in Netivot – a city of 50,000 in southern Israel that overwhelmingly votes hard right in elections. Ben Gvir came to excite the locals. His pockets were stuffed with gold colored nooses – which he handed out like candy - pandering to a violent and extremist tendency among some.

He even came with stickers. Here’s a photo of one affixed to a street lamp post.

The visuals are self-explanatory. The text reads: “Support the law. Capital punishment for terrorists.” Between the noose and the photo of Ben Gvir is the name of his party: Jewish Power.

What Ben Gvir forgot to mention on his roadshow is that there is already a capital punishment law on the books but it has only been used once since the state was founded – to end the life of convicted Nazi and architect of The Final Solution – Adolf Eichmann.

Ben Gvir, clearly, fantasizes about hanging any terrorist he can snare. This law reportedly also requires that the convicted terrorist be put to death within three months of a conviction. That leaves no time for appeals, due process and all that stuff for which Ben Gvir has no time.

What he does not seem to have processed is that the law will also apply to Jewish terrorists. And there are more than a few of those who have been marauding quite freely in the West Bank – especially since October 7. In his former life, Ben Gvir acted as legal counsel for many Jews who were charged with violent crimes that were often terrorist in nature. Not surprisingly, he has been less than diligent – as Minister of National Security – in prioritizing the legal prosecution of such persons.

But just before Passover, he created an ugly spectacle in the halls of the Knesset; popping a bottle of champagne to celebrate this “new” law. Below is a portion of a video that went viral internationally. Asked what he’s celebrating, Ben Gvir responds (as he pours champagne in the halls outside the Knesset plenum) that he is happy that terrorists will now be subject to the death penalty. He refers to this law repeatedly as being “historic” and invokes G-d to support his intention that one by one the terrorists shall be dead.

(Moments earlier, Ben Gvir had been removed physically from the Knesset by security officers as he tried to perform his champagne stunt inside the plenum.)

Ben Gvir does not contemplate the hanging of Jewish terrorists in his glee.

Even PM Netanyahu, who wooed Ben Gvir to join his government in the lead-up to the last election, made a disingenuous attempt to distance himself from the Minister, saying, incredulously, that in his government (meaning in the future, one presumes) that Ben Gvir would not be appointed to a Ministerial portfolio.

Come again? I mean – Ben Gvir not only sits as a Minister in Netanyahu’s government today; but he has held a portfolio that was created specifically to meet his demands. Without Ben Gvir, Netanyahu would have no coalition.

The piece below- published in State of Tel Aviv at the time – may be of interest. They expose Netanyahu’s very aggressive courting of Ben Gvir and his right-wing colleague and current Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich.

(There is a lot of material in the STLV archives that is helpful in understanding the environment prevailing today. Access to archival material is available to premium subscribers only.)

Shortly after the latest episode of the Ben Gvir Show, PM Netanyahu’s government approved a budget bill, which allocated 800-million shekels to the ultra-orthodox educational system.

Below are excerpts from the excellent op-ed written by our regular podcast guest, Ya’akov Katz and published in The Jerusalem Post on April 3. (If you wish to read the piece it is at this link.)

Imagine, for a moment, that you are one of the thousands of IDF soldiers currently deployed deep inside Lebanon. You have left your family, your job, and your life and crossed the border into enemy territory, sleeping in abandoned buildings, some without running water, without the ability to shower, and without fresh food. Nights are cold. The ground is wet. Everything smells like mud and exhaustion….

So, you pick up your rifle, and you fight. But then, somewhere between operations, you get an update on the news back home. In Jerusalem, you read, the government has passed the annual budget, which is usually good news. But then, between the lines, you see that at the last minute, an additional NIS 800 million was allocated to ultra-Orthodox educational institutions.

You look around at your friends huddled in the Lebanese cold without understanding. How does this make sense? How can money go to a sector that is not there with you? To people who are not in the mud, not in the cold, and not under enemy fire? To people who did not have to leave their families, put their lives on hold, or cross into enemy territory.

Hours before the country shut down for the Passover holiday, the government slipped another 800-million NIS to the ultra-orthodox communities to fund their religious institutions. They dodge and shirk the draft. (Well, 97% do.) Most do not support their families financially, preferring to rely on state support. But they demand – and receive – massive amounts of money.

On Friday, April 3. Israel’s most watched television channel – 12- aired a special feature; a road trip with two regular commentators. Retired generals Israel Ziv and Dedi Simhi drove from central Israel to the north, which has been pounded by Hezballah rockets for the last month. These people – who live in small agricultural villages abutting the Lebanese border – were forced by the government to abandon their homes and livelihoods for 14 months after October 7. They were scattered all over Israel. Everything about their lives was disrupted. In recent months the government decided that the area was again safe to inhabit, declaring that the IDF had effectively destroyed Hezballah’s missile arsenal and fighting ability.

Turns out that they were wrong. Tens of thousands of northern residents returned home and are living through sheer hell.

Of the 24,000 residents of Kiryat Shemona, 16,000 returned. But many are leaving again and they are unlikely to ever return. Kiryat Shemona is a hardscrabble town which is dominated by Jews of north African and middle eastern descent. Life there is hard. Most people are religious, but the kind of pious that work and serve in the army.

One woman who was interviewed lives in an apartment that has become a shrine to her son who fell in battle since October 7. She has no safe room and the government allocated to her a an amount that covers two thirds of the cost of building one. “Where am I supposed to get that kind of money”, she asks, rhetorically.

She feels she has been abandoned by the state. In the meantime, she runs up and down flights of stairs every time a siren sounds, which is frequently.

There is money for ultra-orthodox education of draft dodgers but not for this woman’s physical safety?

At a nearby café, the Generals speak with locals. “Why did the government tell us it was safe to return?”

Four women living on Kibbutz Kfar Giladi, all with young children, also returned recently. They are dismayed at the complete disconnect between the government, IDF and the local population.

“What is it you want”, the Generals ask.

“They don’t even see us,” says one. “They don’t even come to visit us. Speak to us.”

The others chime in with similar comments. They feel used, forgotten, invisible, dispensable.

And in this environment, where there is no money for safe rooms, where wounded veterans are denied treatment due to budgetary shortfalls, where families are falling apart from close to three years of unending stress, where financial allowances and support for reservists whose businesses are failing because they are never there to run them, who have lost jobs because they are serving in the IDF – into this crazy scenario, PM Benjamin Netanyahu pours oil on an already raging fire and gifts close to $6-billion in Israeli shekels to the ultra-orthodox community that is anti-Zionist and refuses to serve in the IDF. (6-billion NIS is the equivalent of $2-billion USD or $2.7-billion CDN.)

If you missed the podcast discussion I had last week with Ya’akov Katz, I suggest you listen. We spare no one and nothing as we discuss this very dire circumstance. PM Netanyahu prefers to gloat about what he sees as victory. While we acknowledge achievements we cannot look away from reality. We are courting disaster, eyes wide open.

Ok, now to the south.

I live a stone’s throw from Sderot – a sort of companion town to Kiryat Shemona. From 2007, when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, until the recent war, Sderot was a punching bag for the terrorists in the Gaza Strip. A city of 30,000, it is also a “development” town, a place where new immigrants are encouraged to live and economic prospects tend to be grim. The population is overwhelmingly Moroccan, North African, middle eastern, Russian, Ethiopian. An astonishing 90% of the people are estimated to have experienced PTSD symptoms.

Everything in Sderot has a big donation plaque thanking a North American community for its generosity, including my fabulous pool where I swim regularly. Most importantly, this fitness center also has a warm water pool that is equipped with state of the art rehab equipment to assist veterans and others with recovery from serious injury.

So – thank you. Profoundly. Without such support these communities would be quite desolate.

These days, however - unlike Kiryat Shemona - Sderot is a boom town. Many younger families are moving south, seeking refuge from soaring real estate prices and an insufferable population density, not to mention the fact that many Israelis living in the center do not have safe rooms.

Sderot is quite a lovely town; cheap, clean, fully serviced. I mean – fully serviced in a limited way. If you are looking for something other than a shawarama or schnitzel joint with blinding fluorescent lighting, you’re not gonna find it. Lifestyle choices are limited. There are trade-offs.

Before October 7, Sderot was pummeled constantly by rockets from Hamas. People had 15 seconds to run to a shelter. No one wanted to be there. Today, it is revitalized.

A little further south from Sderot is Netivot; the really big city with a population of 50,000 – give or take. That’s where I head to do serious business. Everything is better and bigger, including the branch of my favorite appliance shop. Recently, I had errands to do that I’d been putting off for months. So I headed south.

In addition to being closer to my home, Netivot is targeted far less frequently than the next closest city, Be’er Sheva, by Iranian missiles. So my chance of doing a clean run with no sirens were much better.

Netivot’s population is overwhelmingly Sephardic and middle eastern and votes 50% (50%!!!!) for Shas, unfailingly. Led by Aryeh Deri – a twice convicted felon who served several years of hard time from 1999-2003 – Shas’s fundamental platform is remedying historical grievances. Identity politics.

When he burst onto the political scene in the late 80s, Deri was seen as a wunderkind. Born in Morocco, his family moved to Israel when he was a toddler. He attended a Lithuanian orthodox yeshiva (beyond anomalous for a Moroccan Jew) choosing to learn in the most ascetic religious environment in Israel. It is also the snootiest. Litvackers are the self-anointed intellectual giants of the Jewish world. Their pre-war yeshivas in Vilna (Vilnius today), were renowned for educating thought leaders in Jewish law and life, among them the Vina Ga’on – the genius of Vilna.

It is bizarre that Deri – the proud Moroccan – who rails constantly against Ashkenaz (European Jewish) racism, should have chosen to immerse himself in the educational and living environment of thus particular tribe. But he did. And here I will indulge my inner armchair psychologist and proclaim the obvious; that Deri was desperate for acceptance by those he purported to reject.

Then again, perhaps he was just calculating. Prescient and pragmatic. No one can look down at Rabbi Aryeh Deri from Morocco and say he has an inferior understanding of Jewish law or practice. Not even the great Ashkenaz rabbis.

And it is on this foundation that Deri built his political persona. The Sephardic underdog with impeccable Ashkenaz credentials.

I wrote about Deri and others in this piece a few years ago.

The irony of resentment politics that permeates certain demographics in Israel has always taken me aback.

Jews of European origin (Ashkenaz) are at once loathed and revered.

Moroccan-born Deri – who has built a political persona based in racism directed at Sephardic Jews – chooses to be educated at a Litvack yeshiva.

Menachem Begin – long a hero of the dispossessed and oppressed – was a real-life caricature of an Ashkenaz Jew from Poland; short in stature, pale complexion, bespectacled.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the man who currently dominates political culture among Sephardic and Mizrachi voters – is also a poster boy for Ashkenaz Jews: a combat veteran of an elite IDF unit, well-educated, brilliant. An MIT graduate.

I mean….

The hard-core of the “Bibistim” – the tribe of Bibi devotees – are of North African and middle eastern of descent. “Only Bibi”, they chant. After October 7? “Only Bibi.”

Today? “Only Bibi.”

And therein lies the mystery.

Why?

And if not Bibi then they are likely to vote for Aryeh Deri’s Shas party. Or, these days, many are shifting to Jewish Power leader, Itamar Ben Gvir.

A proud disciple of Rabbi Meir Kahane, Ben Gvir contrives a bellicose, clownish image. His family is originally from Iraq, and he grew up in a Jerusalem suburb. Radicalized at a young age, Ben Gvir was rejected for IDF service because he was viewed as being too politically extreme.

Today, he leads a party that openly advocates for full annexation of the West Bank and Jewish settlement of the Gaza Strip. His supporters tend to be thuggish. When they attack Palestinian villages, burning, looting, sometimes killing, Ben Gvir showers them with praise.

He likes to be under-estimated.

Itamar Ben Gvir has cultivated a disheveled look. His shirt is always untucked, his extra-large yarmulke constantly askew. And he has a thing for gesticulating dramatically. And yelling. He loves staging provocative, theatrical public appearances, and is quite masterful at it.

Here’s another piece I did in the lead-up to the last election. Ben Gvir made a campaign stop in a south Tel Aviv neighborhood that was poor and crime-ridden. He turned it into an opportunity to foment racism and his brand of extremism. And it was very effective.

For many years, Ben Gvir was treated like the Village Idiot.

No longer.

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As always - I close this weekly wrap with a light touch.

On my recent errand day in Netivot, I ducked into this outdoor mall. Yes. That is a faux Eiffel Tower, adding a touch of glamor, I suppose, to the otherwise utilitarian development town aesthetic that prevails in Netivot. It was a slow day at the mall. Many businesses are shuttered permanently or some of the time. The effects of close to three years of war. we see it on the ground.

Alas, the ice cream parlour and smoothie stand were doing brisk business.

Thanks, as always, for being here. Until next time……

On top of the constant war and dubious outcomes, on the eve of the recent Passover holiday, the Netanyahu government slipped an enormous sum of money to the ultra-orthodox for religious education - in addition to what they have already been allocated. Soldiers? Struggling families? Wounded IDF veterans? Zero for them.

And the extreme violence that has continued, unabated, in the West Bank for years now? This government does not seem to be terribly concerned with what can only be described as Jewish terrorism. During the last week, the patience of Israelis was sorely tested. Our regular guest, Ya’akov Katz, is angry, and he does not mince words or thoughts. There is a palpable urgency in Israel to wake up and deal with reality, while it is still possible.

Podcast Notes:

Op-Ed by Ya’akov Katz, published in The Jerusalem Post, April 3, 2026.

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Yaakov Katz is an Israeli-American author and journalist. Between 2016 and 2023, Yaakov was editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post where he continues to write a popular weekly column.

He is the author of three books: “Shadow Strike – Inside Israel’s Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power”, “Weapon Wizards—How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower” and “Israel vs. Iran: The Shadow War.”

Prior to taking up the role of editor-in-chief, Yaakov served for two years as a senior policy adviser to Naftali Bennett during his tenure as Israel’s Minister of Economy and Minister of Diaspora Affairs.

In 2013, Yaakov was one of 12 international fellows to spend a year at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Originally from Chicago, Yaakov has a law degree from Bar Ilan University. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife Chaya and their four children.

Find Yaakov Katz on X.

For the first six months or so of the war with Hamas, Israelis publicly maintained a unified front/public face. But as the hostilities dragged on, and the hostages remained in captivity, the façade began to crack. We have been living in a state of war for close to three years – and that was on the heels of ten months of extreme domestic tension following the introduction of PM Netanyahu’s judicial reform legislation in early winter, 2023.

Since October 7, Israelis who serve in the IDF have carried an impossibly heavy burden. Many combat soldiers have spent much of the last 30 months in uniform. They are losing their jobs. Their businesses are failing. Their families are under intolerable stress. And in this environment, the government has slashed rehabilitation benefits for wounded veterans. The financial and therapeutic support provided to former hostages and their families is inadequate. Insultingly so.

And in this environment, the coalition government is scheming to finalize legislation that would exempt all ultra-orthodox men from serving in the IDF. Forever.

IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir first told us about one year ago that the army faced an immediate shortage of troops. The number was 12,000. Just last week, he said that the army has a troop deficit today of 20,000. There are 100,000 haredi men of conscription age who dodge and shirk. Zamir said this week that their continued refusal to serve – illegally – will mean that compulsory service for young conscripts who do show up will be extended. And reserve duty for most others will be increased.

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For every government policy there is an inflection point – and Israel has long passed it when it comes to enforcing the shared burden and responsibility of defending the country.

When personal income tax levels exceed 60% in democracies – capital begins to leave the jurisdiction.

In Israel, the demands on a key demographic compound constantly, and the breaking point is near, if not already behind us.

At a security cabinet meeting last week, IDF Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, is reported to have told the PM and his top MKs that “the IDF is going to collapse in on itself.” That and another comment made by Zamir have been analyzed without end in recent days by Israeli media: “I am raising ten red flags in front of you.”

Zamir explained that continued expansion of settlements and outposts in the West Bank is straining IDF resources, as is the escalation of Jewish terror targeting Palestinians. We can no longer look away or pretend that this is not happening. On top of that, the refusal of the ultra-orthodox to serve in the military is sheer madness.

“Before long”, Zamir is said to have warned the security cabinet, “the IDF will not be ready for its routine missions and the reserve system will not last.”

The Chief of Staff of the IDF is telling the government that the army will soon be unable to defend the civilian population.

To anyone paying attention in Israel, particularly since October 7, his words come as no surprise. We live this reality every day.

Recently, due to settler violence in the West Bank, a battalion of IDF troops that was intended to be sent to Lebanon was diverted to the West Bank.

It is important to recall that in the days before October 7, soldiers stationed along the Gaza border were deployed on an emergency basis to the West Bank. Speculation then was that the additional troops were needed to deal with constantly escalating violence. Then, as now, the demand for additional security would likely have come through Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich – who also has “authority over civil affairs in the West Bank”. Smotrich has been given a rather free hand in interpreting this vague mandate. The coalition government – and Netanyahu – seem unperturbed by Smotrich’s extremist tendencies.

This is the new Israel.

“Netanyahu…is tearing the State of Israel apart,” former PM Naftali Bennett said a few days ago. He was referring specifically to Netanyahu’s continued prioritization on finalizing legislation that will exempt the ultra-orthodox from the IDF draft. In order to preserve his governing coalition, PM Netanyahu is prepared to capitulate to almost any demand made of him by the ultra-orthodox MKs and other extremist coalition members, among them Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir.

And the majority of Israelis, the Prime Minister presumes, will just step aside and accept it all.

It is a very high stakes gamble.

Since October 7, there has been a steady and growing increase in emigration from Israel.

One of many cases with which I am familiar, personally:

I have Tel Aviv based friends, a same-sex couple with two young children. One parent is a physician, the other a lawyer with extensive international experience in the high tech sector.

When their second child was born six months ago, they moved into a rental property. It is a beautiful, new, large penthouse apartment in a prized Tel Aviv neighborhood. The family that had intended to live there have since moved to the United States. For good. They are well-educated high-tech professionals who had no difficulty finding excellent jobs that included a relocation package. The father has had enough of serving most of his life in recent years in military reserve duty. The family see no future for their three young children in Israel. The parents have lived abroad previously but were committed to raising a family in this country. They no longer see this as viable.

My friends who are leasing the penthouse - with two very young children - also plan to relocate abroad once the new baby is a little older. They will have no difficulty finding work. In one fell swoop, nine of Israel’s finest citizens will leave. They would prefer to stay, but the price demanded of them by the state is just too high.

These reluctant emigres are random samples from a growing cohort that the government prefers to pretend doesn’t exist.

People are depleted and discouraged. The promotion of extremist interests by this government has pushed many Israelis beyond their limits; ideologically, politically, financially. Decision making and policy are skewed to ensure the survival of the coalition at any cost. And to do that, support of the ultra-orthodox and extreme nationalist parties is essential to preserve the razor thin majority coalition governing the Knesset.

When speaking of Israel and its people and challenges, “resilience” is a word that is too often invoked to laud the national fortitude of this country and its people. But the reservoir is draining.

Resilience is a trait that is fortified of and through necessity. But the supply – as with everything in life – is limited. Fatigue is setting in, even among the hardiest. I have watched too many people depart Israel with heavy hearts, and many more are contemplating doing so. Despair comingles with determination. Yes. We are still here. We soldier on. But the strains on this society are extreme and mounting.

We really must pay careful attention.

Ok. The challenge that I set for myself is to end each weekly wrap on a light note.

For much of the time since this most recent round of war broke out my daughter – who lives in the Tel Aviv area – has relocated to my place in the northern Negev desert. It’s actually not desert-like at all. As you’ve seen from photos posted in the past and mentions now and then, it is fertile, verdant, gently rolling hills. Breathtakingly beautiful. Especially in winter.

It is also way less densely populated than the central area of Israel, so everything is easier. And, in my little corner of the world, we have fewer missiles and sirens. Life is less disrupted and much calmer.

All of which lends itself to our new family past-time: doing puzzles. And the first one, completed a few days ago? Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, Canada. I picked it up on sale at a book and toy store in Sderot (city of 30,000 close to my kibbutz) a few months ago. I had to. Seeing Moraine Lake in Sderot was just so – random.

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Everything about this story is mind-blowing. That it happened. How it happened. And the beyond happy ending. Dr. Tuvia Book also wrote a book about this crazy turn of events. He spoke with State of Tel Aviv and Beyond recently about this experience and we thought it was time for an uplifting podcast. This episode contains some incredible video footage - of Amedi and Tuvia meeting last summer at a Jerusalem concert…….as well as live footage of unit 669 at work in the Gaza Strip. Extraordinary.

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Podcast Notes

Tuvia Book has a doctorate in education and is the author and illustrator of the internationally acclaimed Israel education curriculum; “For the Sake of Zion; A Curriculum of Israel Studies,” “Jewish Journeys, The First Temple Period, 1000 -586 BCE,” and, “Jewish Journeys, The Second Temple Period to the Bar Kokhba Revolt, 536 BCE-136 CE,” all published by Koren. Most recently, his memoir detailing his first-hand experiences in Gaza, “Heroes of PALMAR: How one IDF unit in Gaza Revolutionised Combat Medicine,” Was published by Gefen.

Dr. Book was born in London and raised in both the UK and South Africa. After making Aliya at the age of 17 he volunteered for the IDF, where he served in an elite combat unit. Upon his discharge he completed his undergraduate degree in Jewish history and literature, as well as a certification in graphic design. He then served as the Information Officer and deputy head of security at the Israeli Consulate of Philadelphia, while earning a graduate degree in Jewish Studies.

Upon his return to Israel, Dr. Book graduated from a course of study with the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and is a licensed tour guide. Tuvia has been working in the field of Jewish education, both formal and informal, for many years. He has guided and taught Jewish students and educators from around the English-speaking world for some of Israel’s premier educational institutions and programs. Tuvia has lectured throughout North America, Australia, Europe, and South Africa. In addition, his artwork has been commissioned on every continent (except Antarctica).

Tuvia served as a Shaliach (emissary) for the Jewish Agency for Israel as the Director of Israel and Zionist Education at the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York (Jewish Education Project). He was a lecturer/educational guide at the Alexander Muss Institute for Israel Education (AMIIE) in Israel. Tuvia has lectured at both Bar Ilan University and Hebrew University. He is a Teaching Fellow at the Tikvah Fund. He is a research associate at the Hudson Institute.

In addition, Dr Book has served in reserves (Milluim) in the IDF as a combat medic in the current “Swords of Iron” war since October 2023 in a medical combat search and rescue unit (Palmar) and is the recipient of a prestigious IDF battalion award for his outstanding contribution to the unit. He has been featured on “Call me Back” and Times of Israel’s “What Matters Now” and many other prestigious podcasts.

I caught up with Ya’akov Katz on Thursday afternoon, and we got into some very sticky issues that are being talked about in Israel. We are one month into this war with Iran and it is not exactly going as we’d thought it might. Then again, political leadership has been anything but clear in communicating with the Israeli people about war goals, how things are going and where they are going. There’s a lot of talk about numbers. Numbers of missile launchers hit, missiles intercepted, targets hit. But the weird part is - the numbers don’t add up. And we had a very similar experience with the war on Hamas. Israelis are famously resilient, yes, but they are also worn out after almost three years of constant war. And there is no letup in sight. The population overwhelmingly supports war with Iran if it will degrade the country militarily and, ideally, lead to regime change. But people are beginning to wonder if we will be “back at it” in another six months or a year. Following the June attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, we were led to believe that we had diminished the nuclear and general military threat substantially. Now? There are many questions.

This past week there has been a lot of buzz about the U.S. negotiating with Iran…..President Trump says the talks are going very well. Iran denies that there are any talks. The missiles keep coming at us from Iran. The sirens keep wailing. The intercept rate is high but there are always cluster bombs that break up and score direct hits. And we have a terrible shortage of troops in the IDF - but we don’t get into that today. I do write about it in the Weekend Wrap - which we drop tomorrow.

In this podcast, we just try to sort out what’s real and what’s, well, not.

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Yaakov Katz is an Israeli-American author and journalist. Between 2016 and 2023, Yaakov was editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post where he continues to write a popular weekly column.

He is the author of three books: “Shadow Strike – Inside Israel’s Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power”, “Weapon Wizards—How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower” and “Israel vs. Iran: The Shadow War.”

Prior to taking up the role of editor-in-chief, Yaakov served for two years as a senior policy adviser to Naftali Bennett during his tenure as Israel’s Minister of Economy and Minister of Diaspora Affairs.

In 2013, Yaakov was one of 12 international fellows to spend a year at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Originally from Chicago, Yaakov has a law degree from Bar Ilan University. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife Chaya and their four children.

Find Yaakov Katz on X.