Tel Aviv Review

As part of our special series sponsored by the German government, the Tel Aviv Review hosts Germany's Ambassador to Israel, Dr. Susanne Wasum-Rainer. The Ambassador discusses Germany's vision at the start of its Presidency of the Council of the EU, challenges to the post-war global order, German-Israel relations, and her long professional connection to Israel. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel's relationship with the EU and European countries. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

If healthy democracies depend on a well-informed citizen body, does disinformation destroy them? Can the average person know when to trust science, or spot bad information causing political and social mayhem? In Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World, co-authors Carl Bergstrom and Jevin D. West argue that people have the power to judge data critically and independently – and they teach us how. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Menny Mautner, Professor Emeritus of Law at Tel Aviv University, discusses his book Liberalism in Israel: History, Problems and Contingencies, analyzing the onset of the liberal agenda in Israel's political history, up to its precarious state at present. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Prof. Ruth HaCohen-Pinczower, co-author of Singing Freedom: The Interplay between Music and Politics in the West, discusses the power of music as well as power and music. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

After decades of diplomacy, Oded Eran, former Ambassador to the EU and Jordan, now at the Institute for National Security Studies, provides a comprehensive checkup of Israeli foreign policy. He examines Israel's relations with the Middle East, India and China, the EU, the Palestinians and the US, and we consider what impact annexation – or COVID – will have on Israel's standing in the world. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel's relationship with the EU and European countries. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

The Kishinev Pogrom of 1903 was among the seminal events of modern Jewish history. The violence was memorialized in ways that shaped Jewish identity, from the early Zionist national narrative to Jewish American social activism. Prof. Steven Zipperstein examines the history, memory and myth of the violence in Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

A politician you don't like might be running child prostitutes from a pizzeria. Election results you don't like were rigged. In their new book A Lot of People are Saying, Professors Nancy Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead argue that new conspiracists in Donald Trump's America have no evidence and no argument – in essence, no theory at all. Rosenberg explains how they harm democracy. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

In his authoritative book on the subject, Prof. Jan Werner Muller asked What is Populism; in other works, he considers "militant democracy," when constitutions protect countries from populist injury, Christian democracy, conservatives and populism, and how communities of democratic countries can deal with members who stray. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr Gili Hammer, an anthropologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, discusses her book Blindness through the Looking Glass: The Performance of Blindness, Gender, and the Sensory Body, exploring how visually impaired Israeli women grasp and perform the interface between blindness and gender. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

In his new biography, Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent, Paul Mendes-Flohr explores the journey of the Jewish philosopher, from his early years as a polyglot cosmopolitan intellectual under the waning Habsburg empire, to a voice of political dissent in the new state of Israel. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

How can the EU cope with recent or ongoing ruinous wars in Syria, Yemen and Libya, in a field full of foreign powers, and still tow a clear line on the Israeli Palestinian conflict? Muriel Asseburg of the German foreign policy think tank SWP makes sense of the quagmire and offers policy ideas for a mission that can look impossible. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel's relationship with the EU and European countries. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Rashid Khalidi, a leading historian of the Palestinian national movement, weaves his family history into a century of the Palestinian national struggle against Israel and international forces seeking to thwart self-determination in his new book, The 100 Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

There's no time like the COVID-19 pandemic to learn about the interconnectedness of countries in the Middle East – even across conflict lines. Gidon Bromberg, director of EcoPeace Middle East, shows the urgency – and feasibility – of coordinating environmental policies and sharing vital resources between Israel, Palestine and Jordan. Because water, energy and climate change won't wait. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel's relationship with the EU and European countries. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Nancy Sinkoff, Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and History and the academic director of the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life at Rutgers University, discusses her new book From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The New York Intellectuals and the Politics of Jewish Life, recounting her life on the cusp between Europe and America, and between liberal socialism and Reagan-era conservatism. This episode is sponsored by Tel Aviv University's Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Prof. Dani Filc of Ben Gurion University continues our populism and democracy series by shining the spotlight on Israel. With comparative global context, he asks how Israeli political populism differs from all others, or does it differ? What other countries share similar qualities in their own populist movements? And he has surprising answers. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr Zohar Maor, lecturer in history at Bar Ilan University and co-editor of the new volume Nationalism and Secularization, discusses new views on the crux of political modernity, and old views revisited. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

The European Union treats Israel like the closest of cousins. However, the EU remains vexed by the atrophied peace process, and seeks measures to push the sides to end their conflict. But can EU's current response be effective? Hugh Lovatt of the European Council on Foreign Relations explains the EU dilemmas regarding Israel, Palestine and an elusive peace. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel's relationship with the EU and European countries. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Israel and the European Union were both founded following World War II – Israel would protect the Jews and the EU would inoculate the continent from another war. Yet their relationship with each other has been uneven: robust economic ties are beset by political tension. Dr. Maya Sion of Hebrew University 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. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr Rachel Mesch, professor of French and English at Yeshiva University, discusses her new book Before Trans: Three Gender Stories from Nineteenth-Century France. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel. This episode was made possible by Yeshiva University's Center for Israel Studies and the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, and was recorded on the YU premises in New York City in front of a live audience.

Ronnie Perelis, Associate Professor of Sephardic Studies and the director of the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, discusses his book Narratives from the Sephardic Atlantic, a collective biography of three Iberian crypto Jews in the late 16th and 17th centuries. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel. This episode was made possible by Yeshiva University's Center for Israel Studies and the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, and was recorded on the YU premises in New York City in front of a live audience.

Why are young Israeli Jews, three generations after the Holocaust, moving to Germany in droves? Who are they, how do they explain their choices, and what are the reactions back home? What does the trend say about both Israel and Germany? Political scientist Hadas Cohen asked them. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel's relationship with the EU and European countries.

Yeshiva University professors Jess Olson, Ronnie Perelis and Steven Fine, contributors to the edited book Jewish Religious Architecture: From Biblical Israel to Modern Judaism, come together to discuss the role of aesthetics and functionality for a predominantly text-based faith, focusing on different instances in the long history of the Jews. This episode was made possible by Yeshiva University's Center for Israel Studies and the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, and was recorded on the YU premises in New York City in front of a live audience.

Orthodox journalists Sivan Rahav-Meir and Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt discuss the media, religion and gender in a panel discussion held at Yeshiva University in New York. This episode was made possible by Yeshiva University's Center for Israel Studies and the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, and was recorded on the YU premises in New York City in front of a live audience.

Jess Olson, Associate Professor of Jewish History at Yeshiva University, discusses his book Jewish Culture: A Quick Immersion. Is the title not a contradiction in terms? This episode was made possible by Yeshiva University's Center for Israel Studies and the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Program for International Affairs, and was recorded on the YU premises in New York City in front of a live audience.

Adeena Sussman's new Israeli cookbook Sababa took the food world by storm, and everyone else. With prose as effortless as her recipes look, she tells the story of her life in Israel through the best edibles on offer, filtered through Israel's kaleidoscope of cultures. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Acclaimed novelist Colum McCann's newest novel confronts pain so deep, it can only be dismantled and reassembled as images. His new novel, Apeirogon, uses a unique literary form to make meaning out of trauma in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Between 1950-1972, dozens of former Jewish kapos stood trial in Israel, yet their story is almost entirely unknown. Prof. Dan Porat, a historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, discusses his book Bitter Reckoning: Israel Tries Holocaust Survivors as Nazi Collaborators, a 2019 National Jewish Book Award finalist. An excerpt appeared in Time magazine, read it here. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr. Kfir Cohen Lustig, Academic Director of the Globalization and Sovereignty Cluster at The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, discusses his book Makers of Worlds, Readers of Signs: Israeli and Palestinian Literature of the Global Contemporary. Exploring the relevance of the Marxist tradition in literary criticism, he offers a new understanding of globalization. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Rabbi Hara Person, the Chief Executive of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, is the publisher of the new book Deepening the Dialogue: American Jews and Israelis Envision the Jewish Democratic State. She offers insights into how Reform Rabbis, whose finger is on the Jewish-American pulse virtually more than anyone else, can communicate Israel to their communities and vice-versa. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr Yoav Di Capua, professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in Arab intellectual history, discusses his new book No Exit: Arab Existentialism, Jean Paul Sartre and Decolonization. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Behind the political bogeyman of modern Iran lie centuries of Persian poetry and literature. Orly Noy, journalist and political activist, translates Farsi literature into Hebrew, from the novels of Mahmoud Dowlatabadi to the poems of Forough Farrokhzad. Her work brings the soul of Iran to Israel - and her readings bring the music. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Khaled Elgindy, formerly at the Brookings Institute and currently Senior Fellow and Director of the Program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute, writes that America's fundamental ambiguity over the Palestinian national cause has been an underlying and unappreciated factor in the failure of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations over the years, in his new book, Blind Spot – America & the Palestinians, From Balfour to Trump. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Scholars and co-authors Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser and Cas Mudde provide a comprehensive look at the elusive phenomenon of populism for the general reader. Their treatment of populism spans left to right, south to north, people to leaders, and explains why democracies are the most vulnerable to populist trends. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.

Prof. Karnit Flug, former Governor of the Bank of Israel and currently Vice President for Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the Israeli economy. 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.

Yossi Klein Halevy, American-Israeli writer and public intellectual, senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, discusses his best-selling book Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor, an attempt to engage in Israeli-Palestinian dialogue while transcending the temptation to try to converge the conflicting narratives. This episode is made possible by the Z3 Project, an initiative of the Oshman Family JCC, committed to creating an ongoing, dynamic forum for opinions and ideas about Diaspora Jewry and Israel. The Oshman Family JCC is a premier source in the Silicon Valley of exciting and innovative programming; focused on architecting the Jewish future.

Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger, a Reform rabbi at the West London Synagogue and a member of the House of Lords, as well as a member of several philanthropic organizations, including the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, of which she is chair, discusses her book Antisemitism: What it is. What it isn't. Why it Matters. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr Tomer Persico, a religions scholar, currently Shalom Hartman Institute Bay Area Scholar in Residence and the Koret Visiting Assistant Professor of Jewish and Israel Studies at UC Berkeley, discusses his forthcoming book, The Image of God: The Idea that Changed the World and Judaism. This episode is made possible by the Z3 Project, an initiative of the Oshman Family JCC, committed to creating an ongoing, dynamic forum for opinions and ideas about Diaspora Jewry and Israel. The Oshman Family JCC is a premier source in the Silicon Valley of exciting and innovative programming; focused on architecting the Jewish future.

Israeli law scholar Dr. Yaniv Roznai analyzes the multiple layers of damage populist leaders wreak on democracy, often attacking the foundation of political life: the constitution. But he also argues that this is not a losing battle, and analyzes legal mechanisms for limiting the injury, and preserving liberal democracy values in the long game. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.

Rabbi Prof. Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, one of the most prominent Jewish thinkers and community leaders in Postwar America, discusses the place of Israel in his theological worldview, and the shifting characteristics of the Jewish-American experience in the 21st century. This episode is made possible by the Z3 Project, an initiative of the Oshman Family JCC, committed to creating an ongoing, dynamic forum for opinions and ideas about Diaspora Jewry and Israel. The Oshman Family JCC is a premier source in the Silicon Valley of exciting and innovative programming; focused on architecting the Jewish future.

Two of the most prominent figures in America's efforts to advance a two-state solution, Ambassador Dennis Ross and David Makovsky, take a deep look at four Israeli leaders and their pivotal decisions. Their book, Be Strong and of Good Courage: How Israel's Most Important Leaders Shaped Its Destiny, shows how the strength of these leaders lay in their vision of knowing when to make historic compromise. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

The prominent New York Times columnist joins the Tel Aviv Review at the Z3 conference to discuss politics in the US and across the pond. This episode is made possible by the Z3 Project, an initiative of the Oshman Family JCC, committed to creating an ongoing, dynamic forum for opinions and ideas about Diaspora Jewry and Israel. The Oshman Family JCC is a premier source in the Silicon Valley of exciting and innovative programming; focused on architecting the Jewish future.

Edna Harel-Fisher, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute and a former legal adviser to several government bodies, discusses her position paper on the government's role in financing culture as part of ensuring the freedom of expression - before, during and after Miri Regev. 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.

Sara Haetzni-Cohen, the director of My Israel, a grassroots organization dedicated to promote Zionism online and a columnist in the weekly Makor Rishon newspaper, explains the role of the hard right in challenging Likud centrists and center-left moderates alike. This episode is made possible by the Z3 Project, an initiative of the Oshman Family JCC, committed to creating an ongoing, dynamic forum for opinions and ideas about Diaspora Jewry and Israel. The Oshman Family JCC is a premier source in the Silicon Valley of exciting and innovative programming; focused on architecting the Jewish future.

Israeli television's veteran foreign affairs reporter Nadav Eyal has hung out with miners in Pennsylvania, Molotov-cocktail wielding anarchists in Greece, neo-Nazis in Germany, Marine LePen and other good company. In his book The Revolt Against Globalization, he argues that globalization provides the unifying context for some of the most powerful, and worrying, political movements of our age. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.

Rabbi Sigalit Ur, a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, discusses her study encompassing hundreds of dialogues between Jews and Gentiles in Rabbinic literature. This episode is made possible by the Z3 Project, an initiative of the Oshman Family JCC, committed to creating an ongoing, dynamic forum for opinions and ideas about Diaspora Jewry and Israel. The Oshman Family JCC is a premier source in the Silicon Valley of exciting and innovative programming; focused on architecting the Jewish future.

Avishai Margalit, Prof. Emeritus of Philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Institute of Advanced Studies in Princeton, as well as a senior research fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, discusses his 2017 book On Betrayal, a philosophical exploration of the similarities and differences between adultery, treason and apostasy as well as other forms of breach of trust. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr Ben Kasstan, medical anthropologist at the University of Sussex and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, discusses his new book Making Bodies Kosher: The Politics of Reproduction Among Haredi Jews in England with Gilad Halpern and guest co-host Dina Kraft.

Shmuel Rosner, journalist, editor and senior research fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute discusses his new book (co-authored with Prof. Camil Fuchs), Israeli Judaism, an attempt at a snapshot of current Israeli attitudes towards Judaism as a religion, as peoplehood and as tradition. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Liza Rozovsky, culture reporter for Haaretz newspaper, writes about contemporary Russian culture under ongoing forms of political oppression, alongside artistic expressions of the experiences former Soviet immigrants to Israel. Her subjects touch on alienation, marginalization, subversion and defiance in literature, drama, art and politics. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

How did Ben Gurion and first post-war German chancellor Konrad Adenauer become sincere political allies just a few years after the end of the war? David Witzthum, historian and longtime journalist, explores how Germany and Israel built a critical and controversial political alliance, in his book, The Beginning of a Wondrous Friendship? The story of Israeli-German reconciliation 1948-1960. Z3 Conference Tickets to The Promised Podcast Live Show (use promo code TLV1xZ3) This episode of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.