Tel Aviv Review

Historian and journalist Dr Tom Segev discusses his new book, A State at all Costs: The Life of David Ben-Gurion, a new biography of Israel's founding father that draws heavily on his newly declassified personal papers. Tel Aviv Review is supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

Jerusalem Post reporter Sam Sokol traveled the Ukraine numerous times from 2013 to cover Jewish communities as the country spiraled into conflict with Russia. He found that each side wanted to exploit the Jews for competing political purposes, documented in his book, Putin's Hybrid War and the Jews: Antisemitism, Propaganda and the Displacement of Ukrainian Jewry. 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. Tel Aviv Review is also supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

Elizabeth Tsurkov is among the few Israelis to have visited Syria since the war began. She might be the only one to have reached a sweeping range of people from Kurdish fighters to ISIS supporters to Alawites, for in-depth interviews about the future of the tortured country. 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.

Alejandro Paz, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto, discusses his book Latinos in Israel: Language and Unexpected Citizenship, an ethnographic study into the formation of an unusual migrant community. Tel Aviv Review is supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

In Zionism and Melancholy, The Short Life of Israel Zarchi, Nitzan Lebovic inhabits the mind and soul of a lesser-known early Zionist poet. The result is a literary, academic, psychoanalytic - and slightly melancholy - journey through a political movement, via the short life of a poet. The Tel Aviv Review is supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

In A Rich Brew: How Cafés Created Modern Jewish Culture, Shachar Pinsker shows how coffee houses then and now, there and here, helped give rise to modernity itself. The Tel Aviv Review is supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

Joseph Zeira, Professor of Economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, discusses his new book The Israeli Economy, an introduction to all matters Israeli and economic. 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. Tel Aviv Review is also supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

What does it mean to live in the divided and unified city of Jerusalem? What are the different memories and narratives that inhabit its streets? Dana Hercbergs, a scholar of folklore and anthropologist, discusses the role of social history and anthropology in telling a different story of the city. Episode Discussion Forum Tel Aviv Review is supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

Dr Eitan Regev, an economist and Research Fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, is a co-author of The Handbook on Vocational Training. Regev analyzes the downsides of Israel's excessive reliance on academic higher education which has hurt its economic prospects and social integration, and offers policy recommendations to rectify that situation. Episode Discussion Forum This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was brought to you by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

The Tel Aviv Review of Books is a new online English-language publication that seeks, by way of book reviews, essays, literary criticism, original fiction and poetry, to give the international reader a glimpse into the Israeli world of letters. The Tel Aviv Review's Gilad Halpern is joined by co-editors Akin Ajayi, Olga Kirschbaum and Alex Stein to discuss the whys and wherefores of a new magazine. Check it out on tarb.co.il

One of the most controversial questions about the Holocaust is whether it should be seen as a universal human problem, or a unique horror perpetrated by Germans on Jews. At the heart of this question lies the work of Christopher Browning, author of numerous books on the history of the Holocaust, survivors, the Final Solution, and the story of a German auxiliary police battalion - Ordinary Men - who became killers. 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. Tel Aviv Review is also supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

The rage against communism led some countries to diminish the historic fight against fascism under leaders they now loathe. Could this help justify neo-fascist revivals in the post-communist world? In "Red Star, Yellow Star," Dr. Jelena Subotic examines Holocaust memory in the former Yugoslavia and other post-communist countries, showing why memory is never just memory, and it is always political. Join the discussion on Patreon 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.

Israel's judiciary is under assault, according to some, or experiencing a necessary corrective to rampant judicial activism, according to others. Dr. Amir Fuchs, legal expert and the head of the Defending Democratic Values project at the Israel Democracy Institute, walks through the Knesset's attempt to change the judiciary and the balance of powers in Israel, what's behind it, and what it means for the country. Episode Discussion Forum This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was brought to you by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

Dr. Peter Lintl, a researcher at the German think tank Stiftung Wissenschaft Und Politik (SWP), has the complex job of analyzing Israeli political trends to the German policy community. In this interview, he discusses how Germany views issues such as the Nation-State Law and the status of Israeli democracy, in the context of the sensitive Israel-German relations, and Israel-EU relations more broadly. 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.

Why does a Palestinian professor believe it is so important for his students to learn about the Holocaust? Mohammed Dajani talks about what he has learned from taking Palestinian students to Auschwitz, and why he believes his movement Wasatia - moderation - is the right path for Islam. 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.

"Liberal" and "nationalist" sound like mutually exclusive forces that cannot coexist. Yet Yuli Tamir, scholar, peace activist and a former government minister, makes the liberal case for nationalism, and argues for a nationalism that is liberal, in her book Why Nationalism. 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.

Moshe Sakal's novel The Diamond Setter brings old Middle Eastern themes into contemporary Israel, and weaves them into a story comprising of a rediscovered Jewish-Arab heritage, reinvented Israeliness, cross-border relations and homosexuality. 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. Tel Aviv Review is also supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

Shane Baker, a theater director and creator, recounts his unusual entry into Yiddish theater and his efforts to revive a once-glorious artistic tradition in the city. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by YIVO, dedicated to fostering knowledge of the ongoing story of Jewish life, with a focus on the history and culture of East European Jewry.

All societies are divided, and constitutions are supposed to set the rules for a peaceful life. Hanna Lerner is the expert on how constitutions around the world seek to express complex national identities, contain and prevent conflict. In her 2017 book co-authored with Asli Bali, Constitution Writing, Religion and Democracy, it turns out Israel isn't the only country with a thorny constitutional complex. 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 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.

Ken Krimstein, an illustrator and graphic novelist, discusses his new book The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by YIVO, dedicated to fostering knowledge of the ongoing story of Jewish life, with a focus on the history and culture of East European Jewry.

Michael A. Cohen (no, not that one) and Micah Zenko have a radical proposal: The world is getting better, not worse. Their book Clear and Present Safety looks beyond sensational and short-term political trends and finds that all global indicators have improved - as a result, Americans need not live in perpetual fear. 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. Tel Aviv Review is also supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

Having experienced virtually the most devastating crisis in its history, what can the media do to safeguard democracy, in an increasingly hostile environment? Susan Glasser, staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, analyzes the challenges of the American media in the age of Trump. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was brought to you by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

Prof. Hanna Yablonka, a historian at Ben-Gurion University, discusses her book Children By The Book: Biography of a Generation, painting a collective portrait of a unique generation of Israelis who were born together with the state. 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. Tel Aviv Review is also supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

Stephanie Halpern and Leo Greenbaum of the YIVO archives take us on a stroll through decades of Jewish history via historical documents and paraphernalia that have made the institute the primary guardian of Jewish macro and micro history. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by YIVO, dedicated to fostering knowledge of the ongoing story of Jewish life, with a focus on the history and culture of East European Jewry.

Israel claims it owns his papers, but so does a German archive and an old lady on Spinoza Street in Tel Aviv. Nothing is more Kafka-esque than the story of his papers, chronicled in Benjamin Balint's Kafka's Last Trial: The Case of a Literary Legacy. 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. Tel Aviv Review is also supported by the Public Discourse Grant from the Israel Institute, which is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel.

Michael Walzer, political philosopher of international renown and Professor Emeritus of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, joins the Tel Aviv Review on the premises of YIVO for a discussion on his latest book, A Foreign Policy for the Left. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by YIVO, dedicated to fostering knowledge of the ongoing story of Jewish life, with a focus on the history and culture of East European Jewry.

Mustafa Akyol believes that it is high time for Islam to undergo liberalizing reforms and he knows just the person to do it: Mustafa Akyol. In two books, Islam Without Extremes, and The Islamic Jesus, along with regular New York Times columns, Akyol articulates an emerging school of liberal Islamic thought and practice. 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.

Mark Lilla, Professor of Humanities at Columbia University, recently participated in the Global Forum of the National Library of Israel. He discusses his book The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics and offered insights into the past failures of progressive politics and how the liberal left can reinvent itself in a few easy steps. 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.

Who lost Russia? In The Future is History, acclaimed author Masha Gessen dove into the heart of the Soviet Union and came up with the root causes of Russia's trajectory in the decades after communism. In a twist of political fate, these insights positioned her to become one of the foremost cultural critics of the Trump era, and of populist, authoritarian regimes around the world. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.

Dr Shay Rabineau, Assistant Professor of Israel Studies at Binghamton University, discusses his forthcoming book Marking and Mapping the Nation: A history of Israel's hiking trail network, analyzing Israel's unique culture of yediat ha'aretz, educational outdoor activities. 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 Jonathan Karp, Associate Professor of History and Judaic Studies at Binghamton University, discusses the crossover between Jewish-American and African-American cultural, economic and intellectual histories. 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 Nir Arielli, Associate Professor of International History at the University of Leeds, discusses his book From Byron To Bin Laden: A History of Foreign War Volunteers. 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.

In Israel, people vote for a party rather than a candidate. But over the years, there has been a shift towards the personalization of politics. Why have our elections become a competition among single personalities rather than a confrontation among different parties and ideas? Prof. Gideon Rahat, faculty member of the Political Sciences Department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and director of the political reform program at the Israel Democracy Institute, offers his take. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was brought to you by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

Gilad Malach of the Israel Democracy Institute gives the latest electoral trends among Israel's insular ultra-orthodox Jewish community. Why is a small community so divided, and why are growing numbers of ultra-Orthodox voters leaving the Haredi parties altogether? This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was brought to you by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

In this special panel discussion recorded in Washington DC, Gilad Halpern and Americans for Peace Now's PeaceCast host Ori Nir speak to Amir Tibon, the Haaretz correspondent in Washington, and to Said Arikat, his counterpart for the Palestinian newspaper Al Quds, about covering consecutive US administrations, journalism in the age of social media, and the role of diaspora groups in setting the dynamic of the Israeli-Palestinian-American love-hate triangle over the years. 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.

Iran has apparently hacked the cellphone of Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Netanyahu's main challenger in the April 9 elections. But despite serving as a tool in Likud's campaign, it has not derailed the democratic process in any significant way. In this conversation, produced as part of the Tel Aviv Review's special election series in partnership with the Israel Democracy Institute, we speak to Eli Bahar, former legal adviser to Shin Bet and IDI fellow, and Ron Shamir, the former head of the technology division at Shin Bet and a fellow at the Hebrew University's Federman Cybersecurity Center, about the danger posed by potential cyber attacks on the anyway vulnerable Israeli democracy. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was brought to you by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

Prof. Oren Harman, a historian of science and the Chair of the Graduate Program in Science, Technology and Society at Bar-Ilan University, discusses his book Evolutions: Fifteen Myths that Explain Our World and Talking about Science in the 21st Century, a lecture series he directs at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. 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.

Will Israel's democratic institutions prove resilient? How is the party system changing and is Israel headed for a tyranny of the majority? Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute, examines the ramifications of the unprecedented indictment of an incumbent Prime Minister in Israel. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was brought to you by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

Dr. Cecile Kuznitz, director of Jewish Studies at Bard College and author of YIVO and the Making of Modern Jewish Culture: Scholarship for the Yiddish Nation retraces with host Gilad Halpern the history of the 90-year-old Yiddish Scientific Institute from Interwar Poland to Postwar America. Song: Tuna ft. Shlomi Saranga - Lama Lo Achshav This episode originally aired on Oct. 16, 2015

Yossi Dahan, a law and philosophy professor at the Ramat Gan College of Law and Business and at the Open University, and the chairman of the Adva Center for equality and social justice, discusses his new book "Justice, Privatization and the Objectives of the Education System," published by the Van Leer Institute press. How has education in Israel been influenced by the encroachment of capitalism, on the one hand, and the growing awareness of multiculturalism in society, on the other? What is educational justice, and how should policymakers address it? 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.

When do people to commit mass violence against an ethnic, religious or racial group in their midst? Does the demand for minority rights inevitably spark existential fears and violent reactions from the majority group? In his book Intimate Violence, co-author Jeffrey Kopstein of University of California, Irvine looks at pogroms against the Jews of Poland to explain when and why ethnic violence occurs. 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.

Nurit Novis-Deutsch, a psychologist of religion, values, morality and identity, believes that people who perceive themselves as having a complex identity might be more tolerant of the "other" in society. Her research advances much-needed anecdotes to angry tribalism in the world today. 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.

Before human rights was a universally accepted concept, and before there was Israel, there were prominent Jews who supported both. Some would contribute to the evolution of modern human rights concepts and conventions in place today. James Loeffler's Rooted Cosmopolitans: Jews and Human Rights in the Twentieth Century, tells the story of human rights pioneers and how their commitment grew out of the Jewish diaspora experience. 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.

Prof. Yoav Alon, a historian of the Middle East, discusses his award-winning book The Shaykh of Shaykhs: Mithgal al Fayiz and Tribal Leadership in Modern Jordan. 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.

From Hungary to Brazil, to Italy, the UK and US a special style of nationalist politics seems to be taking over. But is the current wave of national-populism new, or rooted in older historic trends? Can its supporters be de-demonized, humanized or at the very least understood? Co-authors Roger Eatwell and Matthew Goodwin analyze the causes of the trend in their book National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was brought to you by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

Neil McGregor, the former director of the British Museum, analyzes the enduring validity of museums in the age of technological upheavals and fake news. He recently visited Israel to deliver the inaugural lecture of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute's Tom de Swaan Series on the Role of Ideas and the Responsibility of Intellectuals in Contemporary Society. 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.

Transparency International is among the most prominent global organizations fighting corruption through exposure, documentation and measurement. Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of the organization, discusses the challenges, pitfalls and goals of their work, while Alona Vinograd of the Israel Democracy Institute brings the question of corruption home to Israel against the backdrop of a heated political stage. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was brought to you by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

Shibley Telhami is the master of survey research in the Middle East. His book The World Through Arab Eyes walks through the complexities of characterizing the Arab world through survey data. His research tracks and explains changes over time on the most sensitive public issues, from the Arab Spring, America, Israel, al Jazeera, and democracy. 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. Yonatan Mendel, the director of the Center for Jewish-Arab relations at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem, is author of the recently published "The Creation of Israeli Arabic: Security and Politics in Arabic Studies in Israel." Dr. Mendel explains to host Gilad Halpern why generations of Israeli high school students who specialized in Arabic are unable to string a sentence together. Song: Guy Mazig - Levad Bamidbar This episode originally aired 9-10-15.

Dr Gilad Malach, head of the ultra-Orthodox research program at the Israel Democracy Institute, discusses the findings of the 2018 statistical report on the ultra-Orthodox society in Israel, which he directed. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was brought to you by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.