Episodes
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Welcome back to BALAGAN. It has been too long, and I have much to share.
Since it has been a while since my last episode, and even though I have a few recorded materials and more episodes in the making, I wanted to dedicate my first episode of the season to your questions. So, if you're going to ask me anything, feel free to do so in one of the following ways:
Fill in this short Google form - https://forms.gle/CGVqEd1TVXtVFSph8Please email me directly at [email protected]I am looking forward to hearing from you and Yalla BALAGAN!
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It has been two months since the war was forced upon Israel by Hamas, but it seems that Israel doesn't have any Exit Strategy. While soldiers are dying, the world sees the photos from Gaza and the Gaza people suffering. They don't know these people are used as Human shields by Hamas and that the war can end quickly if Hamas surrenders and sends free all the people abducted.
On the other hand, Netanyahu and his coalition refuse to take responsibility and keep painting his alliance without paying attention to Israelis' suffering. On November 30th, Israeli hero - Yuval Kestelman fought against two terrorists who murdered three people, wounded six more, and killed them. Sadly, he was killed in cold blood by a settler who executed him (There is documentation of the horrible event). Netanyahu had no words of empathy to his family and summarized it "At times of wars, accidents happen. That's life"...
When it comes to his allies and himself, he will always ensure they are secure, but when it comes to his opponents or someone he has no political gain from, he will either ignore or make excuses as to why things are the way they are.
After spending three and a shelf weeks there, I spoke to my friend Jeff Becker about recent events and the political atmosphere in Israel.
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Missing episodes?
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On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly voted in favor of the Partition Plan over British Palestine, also known as UN Resolution 181.
The plan to divide the land between Israelis and Arabs was accepted by Zionist leaders and was turned down by the Arab Nations.
Today it seems that more than ever, we should discuss the two-state solution, as from both ends of the Radical Left and the BDS supporters to the Israeli Messianic Right Wing, there is strong support for "From the River to the Sea - One State will be Free".
To discuss Israel's situation, The Partition Plan, and more related subjects, I was glad to host my friend Ido Dembin, Executive Director of Molad - The Center for the Renewal of Israeli Democracy, once again.
To read more about UN Resolution 181 - https://www.un.org/unispal/data-collection/general-assembly/
Tor read more about Molad - http://www.molad.org/en/
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Uri Ashi was one of the only people advocating for peace for the last couple of years. For over two years, he stood holding a sign with big letters saying, "Peace with the Palestinians is doable."
Even though he works in the High-Tech scene, Uri has dedicated his last years to research, writing, and advocating for the two-state solution.
His book Hatikvah (Just like Israel's National Anthem) covers the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and offers a solution. I reached out to Uri to see if he thinks we can still achieve Peace amid the Black Sabbath of October 7th.
To check Uri's website (Hebrew) - https://hatikvah.co.il/#book
#Peace #Israel #HaTikvah
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Tikkun Olam is one of the most essential values in Judaism. But how do we make this idea concrete by helping change the world for people with disabilities?
Disabilities are color, gender, religion, or Nation blind, and some Israelis are working hard to provide solutions that are easy and simple to make.
TOM - Or Tikkun Olam Makers, is a global movement of communities that creates and disseminates affordable solutions to neglected challenges of people with disabilities, the elderly, and the poor.
How do they do that? For that, I spoke to Roy Goldenberg, Israel Director at TOM.
To learn more about TOM please check their website -
https://tomglobal.org/about
#TikkunOlam #Israel #DIsabilities
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I traveled to Israel to check the pulse, be with my people and see for myself what was happening. Here is a quick update.
I will have many exciting guests speaking in the next couple of episodes.
Do you have any ideas or questions? Feel free to email me at [email protected]
#Israel #BringThemBackHome #HamasisISIS #FreeGazafromHamas
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In 1923, Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Founder and Leader of Beitar (Revisionist Zionism) wrote an essay called The Iron Wall, which, in a nutshell, says - The Arabs will not accept our existence and make peace until we will have strong institutions of our own. They will understand they can not outtake us.
For years, Israel has built its institutions and mainly its Military power, with one of the strongest armies in the world. Further than that, for years, Israel was able to minimize its casualties from Terror, which led us, Israelis, to believe that we could keep on living the way we did without seeking to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The leader of this conception was Netanyahu, who bragged that the Arab countries are making "Peace for Peace", ignoring the threats from Gaza (And Lebanon and the West Bank, but that is for other episodes).
What was right and wrong with the Iron Wall conception, and why did it fail under Netanyahu?! On this and more, I spoke to my friend, Nir Reisler, a Zionist Researcher.
To read the English translation of The Iron Wall - http://en.jabotinsky.org/media/9747/the-iron-wall.pdf
#Israel #Hamas #Peace #HamasisISIS
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Until October 7th, Israel was the Goliath in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, but Hamas's atrocities changed things. Since then, four weeks have passed, and it seems that in the war that is also being held on Social Media and Traditional media, the wind is shifting, and the damage in Gaza is moving the public sentiment toward Hamas.
What can we learn from the trends, and can Israel have the upper hand?! On these questions and more, I discussed with Joana Landau, Founder, President, and former CEO of Vibe Israel, a nonprofit sharing Israel’s story with the world that has generated over a billion positive mentions of Israel online and the best-selling co-author of “Ethical Tribing: Connecting the Next Generation to Israel in the Digital Era,” which was endorsed by President Herzog. She is a global expert on country branding and the unique challenges Israel faces when building its global reputation.
To learn more about Joana and Ethical Tribing - https://www.ethical-tribing.com/
#Israel #BringThemBack #HamasisISIS #October7 #EthicalTribing #JoanaLandau #VibeIsrael
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On today's episode, I discussed Accountability, Responsibility, and what is happening within Israeli politics amid the Was forced upon us on October 7th. A lot of aggression, distrust, and scarcity are taking place, and it is quite concerning. To discuss the options and what I think is the right thing to do for Israel, I hosted my dear friend Jeff Becker.
#Israel #IsraeliPolitics #Netanyahu #BennyGantz #YairLapid
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It's hard to say that the Pro-Israel sentiment on American campuses is strong. For years, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The BDS movement, and Israeli government policies took their toll when the advocacy organizations tried to alarm that some of the clashes were not just legitimate criticism but pure Antisemitism.
The is FACT that this war was forced upon Israel after the Massacre Hamas did on The Black Sabbath of October 7th, murdering more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and taking more than 200 people hostage until now, more than two weeks after the war started, we don’t know what is their status - Are they alive or dead, what is their health status, and how are they being treated; All that, doesn’t seem to bother many, who hold themselves to higher progressive standards.
The Ivy League campuses students are leading a strong anti-Israel sentiment. Along with Barak Sella, we will discuss the progressive discourse, what happened at Harvard as a case study, and what can be done - Because a true progressive person doesn’t discriminate against any blood.
Barak Sella is a dear friend, an educator, currently a student at the Kenndey School at Harvard, and former Executive Director of Reut Institute in Israel.
#Harvard #Ivyleague #HamasisISIS #HumanRights #Hamas #Terror
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As time goes by, the numbers are still growing - So far, more than 1,400 people have died in the horrific Hamas massacre in Israel, and more than 200 people are still being held hostage under Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Almost 200 people are still considered missing (Neither dead nor hijacked. Status unknown).
Avi Dabush is a social activist and the CEO of Rabbis for Human Rights. He was also living in Kibbutz Nirim, one of the 11 Kibbutzim built as part of the 11 Points project to settle the area bordering Gaza / Egypt (1948 border).
On the Black Sabbath, Avi was seiged with his family in the shelter for 8 hours; his Kibbutz lost 5 community members who Hamas terrorists murdered.
Hear his story - that is the story of the survivors. If you wish to help the Kibbutzim Nirim and Nir Oz who were attacked and suffered heavy losses in lives (Nir Oz lost more than 100 people out of a community of 400 people in total!) and property, here are a few links to donate and also a campaign to free our hijacked civilians with Posters you can download and hang -
Nirim - https://my.israelgives.org/he/fundme/Nirim
Nir Oz - https://my.israelgives.org/he/fundme/kibbutzniroz
Kidnapped from Israel Campaign - https://www.kidnappedfromisrael.com/languages
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On Saturday, October 7th, At 6:29, simultaneously with an attack of hundreds of missiles fired at Israel and under the IDF radar, more than 1,500 armed Hamas terrorists breached the wall between Gaza and Israel. In a well-planned attack, they raided 11 IDF outposts and bases and more than 20 Israeli civilian settlements - The city of Sderot, Kibbutzim, and Moshavim, all in the Gaza envelope (A description of the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, which is located up to approximately 6.5 miles / 10 kilometers from the border). They were well armed, crossing the wall with well-weaponized vans and motorcycles by land, motorboats by sea, paraglides, and drones by air. What Happened? A special episode of BALAGN. To join the campaign to release the hostages -
https://www.kidnappedfromisrael.com/
To see Nas Daily videos -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNW2p0nTEto&ab_channel=NasDaily
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw9bfddQzxw&ab_channel=NasDaily
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Former MK Major General Yair Golan served the state of Israel and its people most of his life. His Military career ended after 38 years, and he jumped into politics from there. Golan was perceived as controversial. As Deputy Chief of Staff, Golan made a speech on Holocaust Day in 2016 in which he drew a parallel between Europe in general and Germany in particular in the 1930s and current-day Israel by saying, "If there is one thing that is scary in remembering the Holocaust, it is noticing horrific processes which developed in Europe – particularly in Germany – 70, 80, and 90 years ago, and finding remnants of that here (in Israel) among us in the year 2016." Since then, he was marked by the Right-wing extremists and their allies in Israel. Listen to what he has to say.
#YairGolan #Democracy #ElorAzaria #Netanyahu
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Episode 9 - Israel is captivated by Fundamentalist Jews with Dr. Tomer Persico
The Judicial Overhaul in Israel is led by four different groups of interest - Netanyahu, who is invested in stopping his trials; Likkud members, who seek Power and control; the Haredim, who care about being exempt from military service and continuing their control over the Rabbinical institutions, and the Extremist Nationalists from "Religious Zionism," Jewish Power and Noam - A group of Messianic Orthodox. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Betzalel Smotrich, Simcha Rotman, and Avi Maoz all represent different approaches to Jewish Supremacy that are nurtured from the same origins. To Discuss Jewish fundamentalism, I am glad to have Dr. Tomer Persico, a Research Fellow at the Hartman Institute, a religious and secularism researcher and thinker. He is the author of Jewish Meditation and In God’s Image - the idea of individualism, freedom, and equality.
To read his last post at Sources “A Natural Act of Vengeance”: Settler Violence and Two Types of Jewish Fundamentalism
To read more of Dr. Persico’s thoughts - tomerpersicoenglish.wordpress.com/
#Israel #Extremists #JewishSupremacy #IsraeliDemocracy
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On this episode, I spoke to Yossi Klein Halevi, an American Israeli, a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem author, and a known Zionist speaker. In our conversation, we discussed his history, coming from supporting Meir Kahana and the Jewish Defence League(JDL) in the US to being one of the biggest opposers to Kahana and his ideology, which recently was legitimized by PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party.
We also discussed the shifting relations between Israel, Israelis, and American Jewry, and finished with a powerful massage to All Israel lovers in the world - Stand up in support of the Pro-Israeli protest movement to keep Israel a vital Jewish and Democratic state.
BTW - Yossi wrote a book about his memoirs as an Extremist. You can read more about it here -
https://www.yossikleinhalevi.com/
#YossiKleinHalevi #Zionism #Israel #IsraelDemocracy #Kahana #Netanyahu
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On September 13th, 1993, a ray of light shined. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Negotiator Mahmoud Abbas signed a Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, commonly called the “Oslo Accord,” at the White House. Israel accepted the PLO as the representative of the Palestinians, and the PLO renounced terrorism and recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace. Both sides agreed that a Palestinian Authority (PA) would be established and assume governing responsibilities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over a five-year period. Then, permanent status talks on the issues of borders, refugees, and Jerusalem would be held. While President Bill Clinton’s administration played a limited role in bringing the Oslo Accord into being, it would invest vast amounts of time and resources to help Israel and the Palestinians implement the agreement. However, by the time Clinton left office, the peace process had run aground, and a new round of Israeli-Palestinian violence had begun.
Along with Gidi Grinstein, Co-Author of (In)Sight: Peacemaking in the Oslo Process Thirty Years and Counting, I discussed the importance of the Oslo Accords and their ongoing impact on today's relationship with Israel's neighbors and the impact on American Jewry.
You can find Gidi's book on AMAZON.
#Peace #Oslo30 #OsloAccords #Israel #Diplomacy #(In)Sight #Peacemaking #Israel
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One of the phenomena of the Judicial coup in Israel is the great awakening of Israelis who live abroad and until recently did not set foot in a Jewish setting or were involved in Political activity are now protesting in their thousands. All around the world, groups of concerned Israelis are rallying in city centers and trying to raise awareness of what is happening in Israel.
I had the pleasure of hosting my dear friend Offir Gutelzon, founder of UnXeptable, a grassroots movement, to speak about the growing involvement of Israelis abroad and why it is important that Diaspora Jews join the rallies and have their voice heard.
Between September 18-22, the UN General Assembly will convene in New York City, and the protestors are waiting for PM Netanyahu with many surprises.
If you are interested in reading more about the protest movement and what you can do, please check the following links -
UnXeptable - https://www.unxeptable.org/
Donate to Unxeptable - https://www.americaisraeldemocracy.org/unxeptable
UnXeptable Link. tree - https://linktr.ee/unxeptable
Usa4IsraeliDemocracy - https://www.usa4israelidemocracy.org/
#IsraeliDemocracy #Israel #Democracy #Netanyahu
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The different groups collaborating in the backlash against the Judicial Overhaul seem to have different leaders, pulling in different directions. While some say it should focus on the Judicial Overhaul only, other groups target some of Israel’s deeper issues - The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the tension between Ultra-Orthodox society and the Settlers. Is this the way to stop the judicial overhaul? To discuss how to gain the most out of the protest movement, I am glad to host Rachel Azaria, former MK of the Kulanu Party, and author of “Guided Revolution” (In Hebrew, it sounds better - המדריכה למהפיכה).
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One of the strongest engines of the protests against the Judicial Overhaul is Israel’s economic engine - The High-Tech industry. that its leaders joined forces against what they see as a threat to the state of Israel as the Start-Up Nation with a thriving economy needs a strong democratic foundation. On the other hand, some parts of the high-tech industry actually help populist leaders strengthen their control over massaging, tracking opposition and bypassing the conservative media channels with no filters.
One of the loudest voices in the Israeli High-Tech scene calling her friends to go out to the streets is here with us -
Inbal Orpaz is a strategic consultant in the fields of innovation and start-ups, the Founder of the "#WomanInTech" initiative to promote women in high-tech, and a visiting researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS)
#WomenInTech #Israel #JudicialOverhaul #Democracy
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Money, Power, and Respect - That is the Philosophy in a nutshell.
Under cover of the demand to improve the ability of Governance, the coalition members narrowed civil rights. They cut budgets for minorities and not-for-profit organizations while over-budgeting the Ultra-Orthodox and the Religious Zionism projects. The Likkud, which used to be the Liberal Party, is now the Populist Party, which appoints point persons only based on their loyalty to Netanyahu or being good friends with Likkud Politicians.
To discuss the looting of the nation's resources, I am glad to have Eran Etzion, former Deputy head of the National Security Council and former Head of the Policy Planning Division at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and current protestor against the Judicial Upheaval again.
#Israel #IsraeliDemocracy #JudicialOverhaul
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