While President Biden’s disastrous debate and the attempt on Donald Trump’s life last night have captured all the Israeli news about America’s upcoming election, this was an election that Israelis were watching closely even before these developments. The election has huge potential implications for the future of our war, for the future of the relationship between Israel and the United States and—by implication—for the future of American Jewish relations with the Jewish State.
In the last nine months of war, no one has emerged as a more articulate and compelling spokesperson for the State of Israel than Eylon Levy, who represented Israel until Sarah Netanyahu apparently pushed him out of his position because of his previous criticism of the Prime Minister and his having participated in the anti-judicial reform protests in 2023.
But Levy hasn’t allowed that the get in the way of his continuing to take center stage on speaking about the issues that matter most to the future of the State of Israel. He recently invited me to join him to discuss “American Judaism at a Crossroads,” a conversation that proved to be enjoyable and rather far-reaching as we covered an array of subjects.
We’re sharing that conversation with you today.
With the obvious caveat that the news cycle here can change on a dime, here are our plans for this week, at least as of now:
MONDAY (7/15): Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be highlighting some of the art that has emerged in the aftermath of October 7, and we’ll look at how several museums are handling the challenging of conveying the enormity of what transpired. At ANU, in addition to a very powerful exhibition, the museum also shared a playlist of the most compelling songs that Israelis are listening to in this era. We’ll share the playlist and some of the songs.
TUESDAY (7/16): Small Israeli businesses are struggling, and not always making it. When just a few people from a small business get called up to reserves and are gone for months, it can spell the end of a business. Koret Israel Economic Development Fund (KIEDF) was established in 1994 with the aim of promoting employment and economic mobility, through access to credit, guidance and support for small and micro businesses in Israel's geographic and social periphery. In this podcast, which we’ll make available to everyone, we’ll hear how KIEDF is working to address and new and pressing need.
WEDNESDAY (7/17): Until Amanda Gorman took the stage at Joe Biden’s inauguration, most Americans probably hadn’t heard the name of a contemporary poet in years, if ever. While it’s obviously true that rank and file Israelis do not spend all day reading contemporary poetry, poets in Israel are a pretty big deal—and we’ll meet a new voice in the Israeli poetry scene, Noa Sorek, whose first book of poetry just appeared. We’ll hear why the thinks poetry matters to Israel, and she’ll “walk” us through several of her new poems. We’ll make excerpts of this podcast available to everyone, and the full recording along with a transcript for our paid subscribers.
THURSDAY (7/18): It’s been some six weeks since the heroic rescue of the four hostages—and the tragic death of Arnon Zemora in that battle. In classic Israeli fashion, people are rallying to support his wife and are sharing a unique project she’d begun long before the war. We’ll share the project, along with the window into Israeli life that it provides.
An Israeli Perspective on American Jews at this moment—hard choices, stark realities