For Heaven's Sake

As Iran approaches the nuclear threshold, Israeli leaders are explicitly warning of an imminent preemptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. The IDF has begun training for precisely that possibility. The consequences of an Iranian-Israeli war would be devastating. Is a preemptive strike worth the price? Or is stopping what many Israelis perceive as a potential existential threat worth any risk? How does Jewish tradition define a legitimate act of self-defense? And as we approach the point of no return, how should Israelis and Diaspora Jews speak about this increasingly realistic scenario?   This week, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain begin the conversation many North American Jews have preferred to avoid.

Proposed by Hartman senior fellow Micah Goodman, the idea of “shrinking the conflict” is a new strategy for moving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict forward. What does it mean and what does it entail? Is it a step forward or a step backwards? In this episode, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi and Elana Stein Hain discuss the moral benefits and the moral pitfalls of this new strategy, and whether it is a permanent solution or a temporary one.

Last week, Congress voted overwhelmingly to approve a billion-dollar restock of Israel’s Iron Dome missile system. Is this dependency on American aid healthy for Israel? If not, is there an alternative? Is this the type of relationship Israel and American Jews want with one another? In this episode, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain explore these questions and the costs of such relationships.

As we commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11 during the Days of Awe, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain take stock of how American and Israeli reality has been shaped by the tragedy and the wars that followed. Yom Kippur is a summons to examine our mistakes and begin anew. What were the missteps after 9/11 that all of us, regardless of our politics, need to examine together?

As we head into Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, our minds turn to thoughts of atonement and self-improvement, but usually only with regard to ourselves, our families, and our friends. In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi discuss what it might mean for a nation to repent and how it might consider its internal divisions and past behavior.

Disagreement is a cornerstone of the Jewish experience. But across the political spectrum, Jewish discourse around Israel has moved beyond the realm of disagreement into something much more toxic. In the second half of this two-part episode, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain share their hopes and fears for the future of Jewish peoplehood as they continue to confront the urgent challenge of a moral, nuanced, and diverse Israel conversation, within and between Israel and North America.

The criminalization of Israel is becoming a mainstay for growing parts of the progressive American Jewish discourse. Many liberal American Jews accuse Israel of apartheid, even ethnic cleansing and genocide, against Palestinians. For Jews on the right, there is an ever-growing sentiment that Israel has lost the democratic liberal camp and with it the next generation of American Jews. In the first of two episodes on this topic, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain explore why the discourse has become so toxic and confront the urgent challenge of a moral, nuanced, and diverse Israel conversation, within and between Israel and North America.

What are we to make of Israel, a country that one moment finds itself caught in a war with Hamas and then just a week later forms a governing coalition with an Arab Islamist party? And what are we to make of Israel's law against Palestinian family reunification within the state of Israel—is this an act of discrimination, or a necessary self-protection against the Palestinian demand of a "right of return?" In this episode, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain discuss what it means to live in a country that contains these contradictions and the ways in which religion can help heal the wounds between Muslims and Jews.  

Almost overlooked in the dramatic political changes of the last two weeks is an historic moment in Israeli history: Naftali Bennett is the first Orthodox prime minister of Israel. Not everyone in the religious Zionist community is thrilled. Some accuse Bennett of betraying religious Zionism through his preference for political pluralism over an exclusively right-wing coalition. In this episode, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain explore how Bennett's so-called betrayal opens up tantalizing questions about the direction of religious Zionism and for Israeli Jewish society as a whole.

Unexpectedly, after one of the most traumatic periods in recent Israeli history, many Israelis are feeling hopeful. But beyond replacing a longstanding prime minister, what, exactly, can this strange and unwieldy "government of change" really change? In this episode, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain discuss whether and how the new coalition can begin healing Israel's political and religious divisions, and they share their hopes for a new era of dialogue within Israel and between Israeli and Diaspora Jews.