For 60 years, Israel has counted on the United States. Is the "special relationship" between the U.S. and Israel now in jeopardy—not from the left, but from the MAGA right?

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi unpack Vice President J.D. Vance's recent troubling statements, the rise of "America First" isolationism, why Israel may need to rethink its dependence on American aid, and what this means for Jews on both sides of the Atlantic.

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What does the horrific attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach mean for the future of Diaspora Jewish life?

Australian Jews have built one of the most vibrant, cohesive, creative Jewish communities in the world. Shaped by Holocaust survivors and a deep sense of Zionism, it has become a model for Jewish life in the Diaspora. In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi explore whether small Diaspora communities can thrive in the current environment, and if the post-Holocaust era of Jewish immunity has definitively ended.

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With elections less than a year away, Israel's political center faces an existential test. What does it stand for—and can it beat Netanyahu?

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi analyze the state of Israel's center and center-left. They trace the historical collapse of the left, the rise of centrist politics under Ariel Sharon, and the post-October 7 reality where moral discourse about Palestinians has disappeared from mainstream Israeli conversation.

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Can Israel's right-wing reclaim its principles? Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi examine the mainstream Israeli right's evolution from Jabotinsky's ideals of security and dignity to today's personality-driven politics.

They explore the critical divide between Prime Minister Netanyahu’s loyalists and principled conservatives, identifying three challenges facing the next right-wing government: articulating affirmative policies, healing internal divisions, and rejecting the false choice between security and morality.

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With Israeli politics deadlocked, could Arab parties provide the path to a new coalition? Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi discuss the extraordinary political journey of Mansour Abbas, the complexities of Palestinian-Israeli identity, and the future of Israeli democracy.

Listen to the Shalom Hartman Institute's new Thoughts and Prayers podcast: https://go.hartman.org.il/Thoughts-and-Prayers-FHS-202

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Who's afraid of a Palestinian state? According to Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi, the answer is: almost every Israeli.

In this urgent conversation recorded after the UN Security Council backed President Trump's Gaza peace plan, Donniel and Yossi explore why an entire generation of Israelis has stopped talking about Palestinian statehood—and why their silence may be unsustainable.

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Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.

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What happens when 30% of NYC Jews vote for a candidate others see as antisemitic?

In this week’s episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi consider issues of betrayal, tolerance, red lines, and unity in a conversation about whether some positions cross from legitimate dissent into existential threat.

From the episode:

Rabbi Eliot Cosgrove, “On the Record”

Identity/Crisis with Howard Wolfson

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Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.

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What happens when everything becomes instantly politicized and no institution is safe from attack? Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect how October 7 has transformed Israel's moral landscape, as the Netanyahu government shifts focus from defeating external enemies to waging war against internal opponents.

Through the lens of the explosive scandal involving Israel's former top military lawyer, they examine whether Israeli society can survive when accountability becomes partisan, institutions lose legitimacy, and the pursuit of political ends justifies any means.

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Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.

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