Who should be hired to do the labor in Israel? Evidence has been uncovered that Arab laborers from the Gaza strip provided Hamas with intel on the Israeli towns where they worked. In the wake of this shocking news, Israelis are debating who to hire for many basic jobs. How should we balance insecurity with inclusivity? Should Israeli Arabs return to work in Israeli Jewish businesses? What about West Bank Arabs? Should Israel return to an old Zionist idea, “Avoda Ivrit” - “Jewish Labor”? Mike hos...
Dec 15, 2023•31 min•Season 10Ep. 5
Should Israel Fight Hezbollah? While most of our attention is on the war in Gaza, there has been constant combat on our northern border. Will the battle with Hezbollah heat up to a full scale war? Should it? While war is always horrible, should Israel extend the conflict and eliminate Hezbollah as it has pledged to do to Hamas? Benji hosts this episode’s debate, where Calev takes the position that Israel should resist preemptive attacks, and Mike argues that Israel must do just that. Am Yisrael ...
Dec 08, 2023•28 min•Season 10Ep. 4
What will happen after the war? When the dust settles, what will Gaza look like? What would be success for Israelis? What could make a better future for Gazans? While the war is far from over, the question is already relevant. Many are speaking about this issue in Israel and around the world. While we aren’t privy to the discussions behind the scenes where people in power are working the plans out, we can still try to figure out what the possibilities are. This is a difficult debate. All of the ...
Dec 01, 2023•25 min•Season 10Ep. 3
What will winning the war look like? This episode was recorded before the deal to recover hostages was announced. Has Israel set realistic goals in its war with Hamas? What would victory look like? Is it possible to eliminate Hamas as an organization? As an idea? Can the hostages be rescued? Can Israel win the public relations battle? Should it? Join us as we dissect these complex events, aiming to provide insight and understanding. Our goal is to help listeners process these challenging moments...
Nov 24, 2023•32 min•Season 10Ep. 2
How did we get here? In this gripping podcast episode, Calev, Alan, and Matt delve into the intricate factors that led to the October 7 massacre. Was it a result of tactical errors, intelligence failures, or misinterpretations of Hamas' intentions? Or does the root cause trace back to Israel's strategic decision to disengage from Gaza in 2005? Join us as we dissect these complex events, aiming to provide insight and understanding. Our goal is to help listeners process these challenging moments, ...
Nov 17, 2023•29 min•Season 10Ep. 1
Special: Israel at War - Episode 3 Crisis on Campus In this third special current event episode, Calev, Liel and Mike, discuss what is happening outside of Israel in college campuses during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. How should students understand the anti-Israel protests? What should they do? We hope these special episodes help our listeners understand and process these difficult events in order to build up our own resilience. Together we will find the light at the end of the tunnel. Am Y...
Oct 23, 2023•35 min•Season 9Ep. 12
Special: Israel at War - Episode 2 What happens next? In this second of two special current event episodes, Mike, Alan, Mordechai and Jordana discuss what may come next in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. They share their feelings and observations in this difficult time. We hope these special episodes help our listeners understand and process these difficult events in order to build up our own resilience. Together we will find the light at the end of the tunnel. Am Yisrael Chai!...
Oct 13, 2023•33 min•Season 9Ep. 11
Special Israel at War - Episode 1 Where are we now? In this first of two special current event episodes, Calev, Liel and Matt discuss where we are on day 4 of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. They share their feelings and observations in this difficult time. We hope these special episodes help our listeners understand and process these difficult events in order to build up our own resilience. Together we will find the light at the end of the tunnel. Am Yisrael Chai!
Oct 11, 2023•28 min•Season 9Ep. 10
Are there boundaries to Jewish caricatures? We didn’t even know that Ben was recording. But he was! He recorded our discussion of a political cartoon. ( you can look at it on this link ) It made Matt particularly uncomfortable and we debate its appropriateness. The issue was that the government was defunding existing programs to transfer more money to Haredi causes and institutions. And so the cartoon showed Orthodox Jews running away with bags of money. Isn’t that an antisemitic trope? But even...
Sep 22, 2023•14 min•Season 9Ep. 9
Should Israel Do More to Support Ukraine? Israel faces a complex dilemma when it comes to supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. On one hand, Israel maintains strong historical ties with Russia, particularly regarding the Russian-speaking Jewish community. Russia has also been a key player in regional stability, particularly in Syria, where Israel has concerns about Iranian influence. Israel has generally tried to maintain a delicate balancing act between the United States and Russia, i...
Sep 15, 2023•32 min•Season 9Ep. 8
Haredi Draft The debate over drafting the Haredim, or ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel, has been a contentious issue in the country for several decades. At its core, the debate revolves around the question of whether or not Haredi men should be subject to compulsory military service like the rest of the Israeli population. This issue stems from a historical exemption granted to the Haredi community, dating back to the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. The exemption was intended t...
Sep 08, 2023•24 min•Season 9Ep. 7
Can Israel Have a Constitution? Israel’s Declaration of Independence calls for a “Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948...". It doesn’t look like we’re going to make the deadline. The current judicial reform crisis exists because of that. So too the current crisis over the role of the Attorney General . There simply aren’t agreed upon rules of the road for how governance and legislation should take place. Of course, not all co...
Sep 01, 2023•27 min•Season 9Ep. 6
Apartheid Type the word “ apartheid ” into a google search bar and the second search that pops up is “apartheid Israel”. We’ve all heard the accusation. It is also a demonstrably false descriptor for the State of Israel. This ridiculous calumny may make a nasty sound-bite sized accusation. But for anyone genuinely trying to understand the conflict, it clearly fails to explain anything in an honest way. But this podcast has a debate format! So after explaining why the above paragraph is true, our...
Aug 25, 2023•29 min•Season 9Ep. 5
Is There a Future for the Jewish Diaspora ? Jews have been living outside of the land of Israel for thousands of years. It is a historical truth that this process started by enemies driving them into exile. But these diaspora communities settled in, expanded, and continued to migrate around the globe for over two millennia. In the 20th century, Jews chose two strategies for building a thriving Jewish future. One approach was to create and live in a Jewish State. The State of Israel was founded b...
Aug 20, 2023•44 min•Season 9Ep. 4
Herzl vs. Ahad Ha’am There is an old saying that “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” We deeply believe that knowing the history of Zionist debate brings a richness of perspective and understanding to the issues that we face today. So we submit for your approval one of the first deep debates that divided the Zionist world. In past episodes when we’ve mentioned Ahad Ha’am in passing, listeners have contacted us to know who he was. But before Herzl, he was arguably the intellectu...
Aug 11, 2023•28 min•Season 9Ep. 3
Does Israel Need America? Everyone knows that Israel and America have a strong relationship. As allies their economic, political, military, and cultural ties are deeply rooted. It remains so across multiple administrations in each of the countries. But is America a necessary ally for Israel? What would happen if that relationship changed? Could Israel survive and thrive if for some reason it lost America as an ally? Matt hosts and frames the discussion, and Mike and Calev debate the issue. Calev...
Aug 04, 2023•28 min•Season 9Ep. 2
Note: This is the beginning of season 9, which is season 2 of our new debate format! We decided to get this episode published in a timely fashion. Normally, our debates are meant to be “evergreen” educational discussions about Israel and Zionism. But we’re breaking the format because so many people are asking how to process the Knesset vote this week. What does the removal of the unreasonableness grounds mean for the Supreme Court? For Israeli law, Democracy and society? How should we understand...
Jul 28, 2023•43 min•Season 9Ep. 1
We are excited to announce the upcoming second season of our new debate format! This episode was recorded and edited by the amazing Ben Wallick Studios . Ben is awesome! Theme music by Akiva Y. Unterberg. Masa Website Facebook page Please rate, review, share and recommend our podcast....
Jul 26, 2023•1 min
How Should Diaspora Jews Express their Ideas About Israeli Politics? Note: This is the end of the season and our podcast will be on a brief hiatus. Keep subscribed for season 9! There are several factors that can make it complicated for diaspora Jews to express their opinions on Israeli politics. Here are a few: Lack of firsthand experience: Diaspora Jews may not have firsthand experience living in Israel or the Palestinian territories, which can make it difficult to fully understand the complex...
Apr 27, 2023•28 min•Season 8Ep. 9
Should Israeli Reserve Soldiers Refuse to Serve as Protests? The protests against Judicial Reform have continued on a smaller scale over the past weeks. With Passover behind us, and the national holiday season underway, Israelis are gearing up for whatever is coming next. One aspect of the protests in particular has been hotly debated. Should reservist soldiers refuse to perform their duties (“miluim’ in Hebrew) as a form of protest? Over the course of the past few months, this has been a growin...
Apr 20, 2023•23 min•Season 8Ep. 8
Nation State Law Israel's Nation-State Law, also known as the Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, was passed by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in July 2018. The law enshrines Israel as a Jewish state and makes Hebrew the country's official language, while downgrading Arabic from an official language to one with "special status." The debate over the Nation-State Law has been largely divided along political and ideological lines. Supporters of the law argue that it is...
Mar 30, 2023•22 min•Season 8Ep. 7
Is Israeli Democracy in Existential Danger? Once again, we turned to Chat GPT and asked a simple question. “Does the current judicial reform crisis mean that Israeli democracy is coming to an end?” Here’s the essential parts of it's answer: As an AI language model, I strive to remain impartial and avoid making predictions about political developments. However, I can provide some background information on the ongoing judicial reform crisis in Israel and its potential implications for Israeli demo...
Mar 23, 2023•33 min•Season 8Ep. 6
Do we wish for an Exceptional or Normal state? What do we hope for when we consider the Jewish State? Let’s consider our National Anthem: “As long as deep in the heart, The soul of a Jew yearns, And forward to the East To Zion, an eye looks Our hope will not be lost, The hope of two thousand years, To be a free nation in our land, The land of Zion and Jerusalem.” Is that hope to become a free nation like all others, or to become an exceptional lofty nation? I suppose it depends who you ask. Ben-...
Mar 16, 2023•33 min•Season 8Ep. 5
Should the IDF end the draft? Polling over the last few years shows growing support among Israelis for a professional, rather than a conscripted army. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has had a mandatory conscription policy since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. All Israeli citizens, with few exceptions, are required to serve in the IDF for a period of 2-3 years for men, and 2 years for women, after reaching the age of 18. So why, in recent years, has there been a growing debate ...
Mar 09, 2023•22 min•Season 8Ep. 4
Is there still a chance for a two-state solution? For the last nine decades, whenever outsiders looked at the conflict between Jews and Arabs between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea, they have come up with the same idea. Since both people have claims to the land, it will need to be split. A two-state solution refers to the idea of establishing two independent states for Israelis and Palestinians, respectively, living side by side within recognized borders. This usually means creating ...
Mar 02, 2023•27 min•Season 8Ep. 3
Are Jews Indigenous to Israel? There are still some things you can Google, but now we also have Chat GPT. When we looked on google to define indigenous peoplehood, it said it means “inhabiting or existing in a land from the earliest times or from before the arrival of colonists.” Does this concept apply to Jews in Israel? There are two ways to address this question. One is simply to answer it. The other is to question its relevance. It feels like it's important and relevant to the Zionist cause,...
Feb 23, 2023•27 min•Season 8Ep. 2
The Israeli Judicial Reform Debate This is certainly the most divisive topic in current Israeli politics. While many thousands protest every week, supporters call those protesters anarchists. We recorded this episode before all of the plan’s specifics were announced, we certainly called the issues correctly. This debate has been ongoing for several years, but is now reaching a crisis point. The main issue at the center of the debate is the balance of power between the legislative and judicial br...
Feb 16, 2023•25 min•Season 8Ep. 1
New episodes on the way! Our new season is coming before you know it. We've reformatted in light of a different podcast landscape then when we started, back in 2016. (There are more options now for Israeli headlines in english) As educators, we decided that working out various issues that affect Israeli life, culture and politics is our strength. We thought it would be fun to take turns debating these topics in an informal way. Issues like judicial reform, the Nation-State law and the viability ...
Feb 16, 2023•1 min0
There are thousands of Israelis who do not meet the definition of "Jew" by the standards of Orthodox Judaism. Imagine going to Jewish schools, serving in the IDF, and then being told that you can't marry a Jew! How should the Jewish State resolve this disturbing problem for so many of its citizens? Rabbi Chashi Freedman is the Educational Director of Nativ, the largest conversion preparation organization in Israel. He sat down with Mike and Rena to discuss the work he does. He shared moving stor...
Jul 22, 2022•Season 7Ep. 266
Always get as much Hillel Halkin content as you possibly can. If you want to know why, listen to our current episode. Alan rejoined Mike for this one. They discussed Ahad Ha'am's arguments with Herzl, but it's really about why the history of Zionism is so relevant to us today. Normally we discuss current events, but a scholar like Hillel reminds us that we need to be informed by our past. Don't miss this one! Hillel Halkin His Amazon Page Masa Website Facebook page Please rate, review, share and...
Jul 15, 2022•Season 7Ep. 265
