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.
Just past Israel's 74th birthday, many North American Jews are increasingly questioning why they should have a relationship to Israel. On this 50th episode...
For millennia, the threat of antisemitic persecution has made an acute sense of vulnerability one of the defining features of the Jewish experience. More...
Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain discuss the necessity of yearning for peace and and the courage to imagine the Israel...