Sitemap - 2024 - Israel from the Inside with Daniel Gordis

"I saw the American progressive movement ... as an ally. That was a mistake."

"Every day that passes, we're creating more Hamas fighters, because we're giving them no future."

From IFTI's archives, March 23, 2023: "What you just witnessed was one of the greatest weeks in Israel's history"

From IFTI's archives, March 21, 2021: "What if there's never going to be peace?"

He's alive ... and so are we.

"If they're at the beach, the war is over. And if the war is over, let's admit the war is over."

One video, less than forty seconds long, has thrown a country back into agony.

"I still believe that our problems do not start and end with our external enemies"

"I'm so glad you got cancelled ... "—the heaviness of Pesach when Jewish history has become the Jewish present

"Because in each generation, they rise up against us to destroy us."

"Home alone" ... never has Israel, in such deep danger, been so leaderless

A country prepares for .... Shabbat? Or .... ?

Six months ago, we did not imagine that this was where we could be

Esty Shushan is Haredi (ultra-Orthodox), a political activist, a film-maker—AND the mother of soldiers

"We are a nation of superheroes," says Omri Glikman. And as if to prove him right, middle age moms are getting drafted.

"Something dormant is beginning to wake up." Ehud Banai's new song for this moment in Israeli history

Today is six months. Six months of war, of sadness, of fear. "I'm stepping on the pain and creating something new."

Heroism comes in all forms: a young woman who avoided captivity, and a woman who was much less fortunate but just as brave

The losing battle against delegitimization just took a mortal hit, some Israelis believe

"If everyone knows the historical record is safe, might that create space in our collective consciousness to start thinking about how we rebuild?"

"Even if you have family kidnapped in Gaza, I'm not going to let you burn this country down."

"We are the families of the winter of '23"

In 50 years, what will the history books say about 2023/2024? Did Israel begin to end, or did a new Israel begin? 🔷 "What was cannot be what will be"

"There's no recess in captivity"

Sword of Iron - Israel Volunteer Opportunities: Two women, an American and an Israeli, join forces in a unique way

"There is no other democracy where the national archive reports to the seat of power."

"Please, Lord, watch over him... When, my boy, will you return to me?"

"A month ago, she asked me if Omri is still her father. That's the question that finished me."

"We apologize for being kidnapped." It ought to be made up for Purim, but it's not.

"YOU will not utter one word here!" A father refuses to allow his (murdered) daughter's commander to speak at an IDF ceremony

"Bibi didn't know about Hamas' preparations, the dangers of the Meron Lag Ba'omer celebration or the Carmel forest fire disaster waiting to happen."

"The image of Israel as the 'villa in the jungle' has died. Our future depends on collaborations and creative leadership."

What's the "Jewish" in "Jewish and Democratic"?

The "Bring Them Home" protests heat up, but there's another group that's not coming home

Perfect enemies come in all forms—some terrifying, others entertaining in the best sense of the word.

"Brigadier General Dan Goldfus should be fired, but not in our world"

Striking in its beauty, the Dead Sea is actually drying up and disappearing

"The political formula is for the Zionists to unite... let's go back to profound Zionist principles and Zionist values"

"The dumbing down of Israeli politics has erased its Jewish wisdom"

How will histories of Israel portray 2023? As the beginning of the end, or the start of Israel 2.0?

"Letter of life, sign of life"

The "shrunken hearts" we're learning to live with

"America is Israel. New York City is Jerusalem." Freddie deBoer says it's time to move Israeli Jews to the United States.

"The next elections are going to be make or break for the future of Israel."

"This is the moment of truth for Israeli society," says Yair Lapid about the Haredi draft. Is Israel about to change a long-immoral policy?

Is this 1948 all over again? Comparisons are often made, which is why some say this should be called "The Second War of Independence"

"Tomorrow it will be over"—a song that captures Israel's mood, and long history of loss, perfectly.

I was wrong when I said that the police would never water-cannon the families of hostages

"With great sorrow, we've chosen to leave"

The impact of this war on the National Religious segment of Israel and its attitude to other Jewish groups

Gadi Eisenkot, former Chief of Staff, who lost a son and a nephew in this war, is perhaps the main reason Israelis have faith in the war cabinet.

"Our children learned in school that we have a country so that there won't be another Holocaust, and they died in a Holocaust."

With apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein, "How do you solve a problem like ... Gaza?"

"If you stay silent now, you and your father's house will disappear." What Mordechai said to Esther is just as true today....

Israeli comedy strikes hard at the Haredim and their refusal to be drafted, but ironically, it's the IDF that got angry

"He's going to fight for his reputation, he's going to fight to shift the narrative...."

"It's an important lesson for them, that their principal was sent to go to war"—and the first woman to operate a D-9

"It doesn't smell of death anymore, so the birds have started to return."

"It feels like they've returned from a different planet"

Two Israeli plans to end the war by this spring now emerging

An Israeli tank fired on a home in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7, knowing there were Jewish hostages inside

"Ari, we're in trouble." Netanyahu's former political right hand man on the Obama years and much more: Part I

"We should never have sent in humanitarian aid. They want aid? Then let the hostages go."

"Ari, we're in trouble." Netanyahu's former political right hand man on the Obama years and much more: Part I

A tale of two friends, estranged during the judicial reform protests, now reunited and determined to make Israel better

What happens on the "day after"? There's rage at Bibi, but there's also nuanced thinking about our choices

Meet Captain 'B'—the first Israeli Arab woman in an IAF airborne unit

"They see hiring Hamas terrorists as a mark of diversity"

She was healthy and full of life when she was kidnapped, and this is what they did to her ...

Turns out that there IS life after death ... at least for tanks ...

Everywhere, all the time. ....

The Soul of Israel: Lost in Translation

"If you're reading this, then something happened to me." Another letter left behind by a soldier reminds us of what this country is made of.

"Transparent uniforms," they call them. The war that's being fought by the women at home.

"I was among those people who made the country weak, who hurt people."

When Natan Gross became Ma'ayan Gross—and continued to serve in her original combat unit

It's all in the shape of the Lamed: how to read the reservists' protest.

When a new Israel emerges, it will be thanks to people like this.

"If all your data is so negative, on what grounds are you optimistic?" My answer: Jewish life cannot be sustained without a belief in redemption.

06:29

"It's as if Hamas attacked on October 7, but then disappeared"

Two weeks into the Yom Kippur War, Kissinger had to stop Israel from marching to Cairo and Damascus. This is different. Now, what?

A brief story of a fender-bender, and then: The most documented pogrom in Jewish history

The "Noa's" of Israel band together

"Building a life from what remains" — Israelis begin to look beyond the war

Is Israel Winning? Was it ever winnable? Should we attack Hezbollah? Is this war about to become regional?

100 days ....

"Our darkest periods have always led to periods of revival and resurgence"—from the Second Intifada to October 7th

When the going gets tough, Israelis get funny

"I have spent nearly every one of the last 91 days inside a Merkava 3 tank with my IDF reserve unit"

"When it comes to the lives of those who are fighting with you ... you know what you need to do."

"I felt uncomfortable from the beginning because there is no such thing as destroying Hamas."

The "Black Sabbath" meets Israeli music

"This reality is no longer tolerable. ... It's time for your sons to enlist in the IDF."

When Jews become uncomfortable praying for Jews: "Two Rabbis, One Broken Heart"

"Values in Conflict—Negotiating the Impossible in the Israeli Hostage Crisis"

"Ethics of our Fathers" meets "Ethics of our Fighters." How we mesh the two.

2023 was without question the worst year in Israel's history