Tel Aviv Review

How did America’s political culture move from civil disagreement to visceral rage? In American Affective Polarization in Comparative Perspective, Noam Gidron, James Adams and Will Horne argue that intense, emotional partisanship is distinct from routine ideological differences, and possibly more dangerous. And America isn’t the only country torn apart by politics. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice...

Is love of country a blessing or a menace? Can a citizen of the world embrace universal values but also love one’s country, and does it matter if old fashioned patriotism fades into the past? In Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes, Professor Steven B. Smith defends – and rebuilds – American patriotism as an antidote to America’s upheavals. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political...

Michael Sfard, one of Israel’s leading human rights lawyers, chronicles the evolution of the legal pillars of Israel’s military occupation of Palestinians, including deportation, settlements, torture policies and more. But in his book “The Wall and the Gate,” Sfard also tells of the lives and legal struggles of people who fight the policy with its very own tools: in Israeli courts. For each emerging body of law assisting occupation, there is a relentless human rights lawyer campaigning...

Why is Israel hacking away at its own democratic institutions and values? The assault on the judiciary, primacy of the majority at the expense of minorities, loyalty as a litmus test, corruption and illiberalism – are these Israel’s destiny? Hebrew University political scientist Gayil Talshir, editor of the book “Governability or Democracy” examines the roots, causes and manifestations of democratic erosion in Israel today. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of...

The nationalist-populist wave of the 21st century has affected Western liberal democracies, as well as countries from a very different political background. Julius Rogenhofer of the University of Cambridge studies manifestations of populism and democratic erosion in deeply divided societies. Rogenhofer identifies the causes and consequences of populist-driven democratic erosion in Turkey, India and Israel, shaped by each state’s social, ethnic and religious divisions. This episode is made...

Rabbi Dr Tal Sessler, the incoming Dean of the Rabbinical School at the Academy of Jewish Religion in California, discusses his forthcoming book, Leibowitz and Levinas: Between Judaism and Universalism, juxtaposing the political and theological thought of two of the most prominent Jewish philosophers in the 20th century.

Dr Arik Rudnitzky, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University's Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, analyzes the changing voting patterns in the Arab community ahead of Israel's fourth general election in two years. This episode is made possible by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

Navigating queerness in the West Bank, Gaza or Israel, in refugee camps or as a Palestinian in the West Bank? It's complicated. Why is the LGBTQ global movement intensely invested in the Palestinian cause, and when does a social movement grow or plateau? Sa'ed Atshan asks and answers these questions in Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique.

When Robert Berman, an American Jewish immigrant to Israel began studying Arabic, he didn't stop until he had written a book full of idioms. Together with language expert Christy Bandak as editor, the linguistic duo wrote Min Taq Taq: A Collection of Arabic Idioms, in which they explain what “his face is good on me” conveys in Arabic, and why they included a whole chapter on fingers.

Ahead of a fourth general election in under two years, Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute, joins us to discuss what needs to be done to come out of the ongoing political crisis that has left Israel without a stable government, a state budget for three years on end, and an effective response to the Covid pandemic. This episode is made possible by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations...

In their documentary film King Bibi: The Life and Performances of Benjamin Netanyahu, Dan Shadur and Liran Atzmor get to the bottom of Benjamin Netanyahu’s magic, which has made him the longest-serving Prime Minister in Israel’s history and a prominent fixture in Israeli politics for the past four decades, and counting.

It took the world’s most advanced digital pioneers, when the computer as we know it was barely born, to stave off Nazi conquest of the Middle East. And it took Gershom Gorenberg to write the true history of the “War of Shadows: Codebreakers, Spies, and the Secret Struggle to Drive the Nazis from the Middle East” – as if it was a novel. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relationship with the EU and European countries.

At times reminiscent of European Jewry in the 19th century, at others of American Jewry in the 20th, the modern history of Iran’s Jews varies radically from contemporary Jewish histories in the Middle East. The new book Between Iran and Zion: Jewish Histories of Twentieth-Century Iran by Lior Sternfeld, assistant professor of history and Jewish Studies at Pennsylvania State University, focuses on the unique case of Iranian Jewry.

Musa Hadid is an all-around nice guy; he’s determined to fix up the old town, re-brand his city, and have a Christmas celebration for everyone. But being the Mayor of Ramallah is no ordinary job and a new documentary, Mayor, is no ordinary film about Palestine. David Osit, the director, explains why. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relationship with the EU and European countries.

If a former White House coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf, who served as special assistant to President Obama concludes that you shouldn’t undertake regime change in the Middle East, you probably shouldn’t. But nothing is ever quite that simple. In Losing the Long Game, The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East, Philip Gordon examines what went wrong. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s...

Prof. Karnit Flug, Vice President of the Israel Democracy Institute and former Chancellor of the Bank of Israel, assesses the effects of the COVID pandemic on the Israeli economy. Does the fact that Israel is a small and centralized economy work in its benefit? To what extent was the relative robustness of the Israeli economy squandered by the mishandling of the pandemic response by decision makers? How quickly will it bounce back? This episode is made possible by the Israel Democracy...

In her bestselling Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism, acclaimed journalist and historian Anne Applebaum examines how a wave of nationalist populism swept through the western world – and tore apart her own circle of friends. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.

German-Jewish poet, political scientist and sometimes-provocateur Max Czollek examines the complex dance between modern Germany and German Jews, Holocaust memory, minority identity, radical diversity, art and politics. His book “De-integrate Yourselves” has launched a thousand conversations. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel’s relationship with the EU and European countries.

Dr. Gilad Malach, Director of the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program at the Israel Democracy Institute, discusses how the Covid pandemic has affected internal dynamics within the Haredi community in Israel, as well as their relationship with their political leadership and the state. This episode is made possible by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

Yuval Feldman, professor of law at Bar-Ilan University and a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, utilizes behavioral analysis of regulation, enforcement and compliance to discuss how trust in the state has affected the response to the Covid pandemic, in Israel and beyond. This episode is made possible by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.