Speaking with journalist and political analyst Haviv Rettig Gur is always a journey. He begins by sharing his family's personal experience with supporting a family in which many members were taken hostage. Some have been released. Some remain. Some were murdered on Oct. 7. Haviv explains the impossible, how this trauma is at once uplifting and devastating. Nothing in life is familiar. But Rettig Gur is a pragmatic optimist. He lauds the way in which the IDF has earned back so much trust from the Israeli population, in spite of its appalling dereliction of duty on October 7. He sees an unwavering resolve among the population that is unprecedented; to destroy Hamas’ military capability and liberate every single hostage. The captives are a double-edged sword, he explains: at once tearing the nation apart and bringing people together in common purpose. And then there’s the government led by PM Netanyahu, which is disgraced and detested. Yet the military must work with and defer to the civilian leadership, a bizarre and challenging situation. Israel can and will withstand international pressure and anything else that is thrown at us, he insists. Hamas’ evil has ensured that we will stay the course. Haviv Rettig Gur's ever eloquent telling of such difficult, painful realities always adds clarity and hope to how we see the present day madness.
E45. How the Hostage Trauma Has Stoked Israeli Fortitude: In Conversation with Haviv Rettig Gur