Welcome to State of Tel Aviv, 2023

We pick up where the headlines stop.

STLV is a weekly newsletter featuring analysis and long-form reportage reflecting a range of political opinion. Heterodox. Incisive. Bottom line.

Our beat is Israel, the middle east and Jewish life. We delve deeply into the complex realities of modern Israel, focusing on politics, business, security, tech and innovation, religion and state. And culture.

STLV writers live here and speak the languages, imbuing their work with nuance and depth. Many are leaders in their fields - influencers and household names in Israel - but unknown elsewhere. That’s due primarily to the language barrier. So, we translate. A lot. We have curated a superb, diverse roster of Israel-based talent that you will not find elsewhere.

If you are not doing so already, please consider supporting our independent publication with a paid subscription.

I arrived in Israel in January, 2014, to begin my service as the Canadian Ambassador, and never left. Aside from the climate, superb foodie scene, street culture, high art and everything in between, year-round outdoor sport, I was drawn by the energy and creativity of the place. Unceasing and intoxicating.

The economy of the start-up nation was maturing and presenting previously unimaginable opportunities. And the politics. It was a never-ending feast for a political junkie like me. When you’re immersed in Israel, living the intensity like a local, it tends to either seduce or repel.

I was hooked and in no hurry to return to Toronto or my previous life as a lawyer. So, I turned to independent business consulting and writing, contributing regular columns on `Israeli politics, security issues and culture to the National Post, Jerusalem Post and Commentary magazine, among others.

But I was frustrated by the fact that there were so many compelling and important stories meriting longer treatment that remained unpublished. There was no appropriate platform.

So, I founded State of Tel Aviv - to chase a dream and reinvent the quality of media that prevailed in the 70s and 80s: that which supported thoughtful, longer form writing and reporting that was short on partisanship and memorable for being finely-crafted and intellectually fearless.

In the coming weeks we will also be launching the State of Tel Aviv, and Beyond podcast. It’ll be a hybrid of in-studio conversations and gritty, longer-form field reporting. The pace will vary. We have some superb episodes planned and look forward to your feedback.

Follow us on social media here:

twitter.com/StateofTLV

instagram.com/stateoftelaviv/

facebook.com/stateoftelaviv

STLV is self-financed, independent and deeply appreciative of subscriber support. To those who have put their trust in us since our launch last May and continue to do so - Thank You. Your confidence in State of Tel Aviv is the reason we are expanding and taking the project to the next level.

Our page looks a little different today because we have moved to Substack from our previous platform, Ghost. As we grow and add products, Substack offers us more streamlined service and support; meaning that you will enjoy an enhanced user experience and we will have a calmer “back office.”

If you are receiving this e-mail then you are already a subscriber to STLV. We expect that the transition will be seamless, but if you do have a glitch let us know asap at support@stateoftelaviv.com

If you do not receive the newsletter directly to your inbox then check your spam folder and if our message is there then mark the e-mail as “not spam.” It may also land in your “promotions” folder in error.

We encourage you to read all content on the website, stateoftelaviv.com, for a more satisfying user experience.

For those of you who are new to STLV please have a look at our archived material. We’d love for you to sign up to receive free posts. Going forward we will be pay-walling some content in order to provide additional value to our paying subscriber community, but will always ensure that there is free content available.

Thanks again – and please consider recommending us to friends and other publications on the Substack platform.

Best regards,

Vivian Bercovici, aka TelaVivian