Exploring the rise of right-wing politics in Israel, the podcast delves into the religious frameworks shaping national identity, resistance to a two-state solution, and the impact of leaders like Benjamin Netanyahu. From the assassination of Yitzak Rabin to the growth of extremist views, the podcast uncovers the evolution of Israel's conservative faction amidst ongoing conflicts with Palestinians.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Oslo Accords Protests
In 1995, Israelis protested Prime Minister Rabin's Oslo Accords, a peace deal with Palestinians.
Right-wing Israelis saw this deal as a national betrayal.
question_answer ANECDOTE
The Jewish Defense League
Rabbi Meir Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in 1968, advocating for Jewish rights.
The JDL's "never again" slogan, referring to the Holocaust, became a rallying cry.
insights INSIGHT
Kahane's Move to Israel
Revisionist Zionism, the belief that Israel should include the West Bank and Gaza, influenced Kahane.
In 1971, Kahane moved to Israel, where settlement construction was expanding.
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For most of its early history, Israel was dominated by left-leaning, secular politicians. But today, the right is in power. Its politicians represent a movement that uses a religious framework to define Israel and its borders, and that has aggressively resisted a two-state solution with Palestinians. And its government – led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — is waging a war in Gaza which, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, has killed over 30,000 people, many of them children. The government launched the war in response to the October 7th, 2023 Hamas-led attack that, according to Israeli authorities, killed over 1,200 Israelis with an additional 250 being taken hostage.This is not the first time that tension has erupted into violence. But the dominance of right-wing thinkers in Israeli politics is pivotal to how the war has unfolded. On today's episode: the story of Israel's rightward shift.
Correction: In a previous version of this episode, we said incorrectly that Benjamin Netanyahu was born in 1948. He was born in 1949.
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