It’s well known by now that Peter Beinart, no friend of the Jewish State (or to my mind, of the Jewish people) wrote a book not long ago called Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. Beinart wrote that book (which I confess I have not read), as has been widely noted in the reviews, without ever so much as coming to Israel after the 7th to interview Israelis who’d actually been here or who actually live here. Makes sense — why complicate your theory with reality?
The book we’re going to hear about today, Being Israeli After the Destruction of Gaza: Reflections and Visions, is also about moral and political reflections in light of the terrible suffering on both sides of the border. But unlike Beinart’s book, it is written by people who live here and who have committed their lives to the Jewish state.
The book is composed of many essays, and is a fascinating read. We’re very grateful to these three authors for taking the time to share their thoughts with us on what it means to be a morally-nuanced Israeli at such a fraught time.
Ariel Beery was born in New York and made Aliyah at the age of 19 in 1998. He holds a B.A in Economics and Political Science from Columbia University, a MPA (master’s in public administration) in Management, and an MA from in Jewish Studies, both from NYU.
Ariel is dedicated to solving problems facing humanity with sustainable and scalable solutions and has founded and led multiple ventures on every side of the innovation ecosystem. He is the founder and CEO of the PresenTense Group (founded 2005), a global accelerator franchise for social ventures, and the co-founder and CEO of MobileODT (founded 2012), a mission-driven, VC-backed medical technology company to address women’s health challenges across low-resource settings.
Ariel Beery advises government officials and foundation executives on how to best support mission-driven innovation, and has lectured broadly on social entrepreneurship, its opportunities and challenges.
Mike Berman is a Consultant and Venture Partner at Rivervest. A medical device entrepreneur, Mike works with a select group of high-potential, early-stage companies. As a consultant to RiverVest, Mike provides the firm with advice on existing and potential portfolio companies, especially as it relates to technology being developed in Israel.
Mike was the President of the Boston Scientific Corporation Cardiology business from 1995 to 2000 and is a co-founder of eight medical technology companies including Velocimed, LLC, a former RiverVest Fund I portfolio company acquired by St. Jude Medical, Inc. In addition, he was a founding director of Lutonix, Inc., a former RiverVest Fund II portfolio company acquired by C.R. Bard, Inc. He currently serves as a board member of a number of private and public medical technology companies.
Mike earned an M.B.A. and a B.S. from Cornell University.
Meredith Rothbart is Co-Founder and CEO of Amal-Tikva.
Meredith brings almost 15 years of leadership experience with Israeli and Palestinian NGOs. She holds an MA from Hebrew University in Community Development and a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Pittsburgh. Meredith has addressed the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the White House, the Delegation of the European Union to Israel, the UN Security Council and continues to be a strong voice for civil society peacebuilding. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband and children.
The link at the top of this posting will take free subscribers to an excerpted portion of today’s conversation.
For paid subscribers, the link at the top will take you to the full conversation; below, paid subscribers will also find a transcript for those who prefer to read, as always.
For Hebrew speakers, a panel about an article I just wrote for HaShiloach, on the intellectual roots of American Jewish anti-Zionism. Panel includes Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli, Dr. Masua Sagiv (previously on our podcast) and Dr. Sagi Barmak, Editor in Chief of HaShiloach. July 21 at 630 pm in Jerusalem.
For tickets: https://hashiloach.org.il/american-jewry/
Many Israelis could not travel for months this past year, because the skies were closed, or if they were open because it was not clear that they would stay open so it felt risky to leave, or because we didn’t wish to leave our children and grandchildren when war could break out again.
So with things quiet(er) for the moment, many Israelis are traveling more than usual this summer.
We, too, will be away the weeks of July 5th and July 12th. Podcasts will continue on schedule, as always, for our paid subscribers. But other posts will come at a slower rate during that period.
