On October 7, 2023, Eli Sharabi's home was surrounded by Hamas terrorists. As he was dragged into Gaza, he shouted to his wife Leanna and two daughters Noiya and Yahel that "no matter what they do to me, I'll be back."

It was only in February 2025, as he arrived back in Israel after enduring 491 days of physical and psychological torture at the hands of his captors, that he learned that his family was murdered that day.

Eli's new book, "Hostage," is the first comprehensive account of the experience of an Israeli hostage. It contains unique insights about the experience of captivity, about how hostages supported one another and searched for hope in the dark tunnels, about the world-conquering fantasies and fondness for American movies of their Hamas captors, about near-lynchings by ordinary Gazans, about Hamas's expectation that the war that followed their attack would be a short one and their desperate hope that Trump will force an end to the war.

This episode was sponsored by Doug and Fabienne Silverman in memory of the Jewish community of Rhodes, which was all but destroyed in the Holocaust. Fabienne’s mother Maggy’s family came from the ancient Sephardi community on the island, which the family visited in the summer of 2025 to learn about their roots.

If you like this podcast, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at [email protected]⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

The two-year anniversary of the October 7 massacre falls on the joyous holiday of Sukkot. The Hebrew calendar anniversary will fall on the holiday of Simchat Torah, literally "the Joy of Torah."

How do we deal with the juxtaposition of these painful anniversaries, of wounds and anxieties and pain that are very much still with us, and the demand to be happy, to celebrate - or even just to try to find release from the pain?

The sages of the Talmud, who lived through great and abiding traumas of their own, show us how.

This episode was sponsored by an anonymous sponsor who asked to dedicate it to all our fallen soldiers and to the sacrifices of the reservists and their families from October 7 until today.

If you like this podcast, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at [email protected]⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

The day after Trump's release of his 20-point plan for an end to the Gaza war, Haviv sat down with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, Palestinian-American analyst and director of the Atlantic Council's Realign for Palestine project, to discuss what it means.

Can Hamas really be disarmed and removed from power in Gaza, as the plan envisions? Can an international force in Gaza succeed where the likes of UNIFIL and countless other international interventions in the region have failed miserably? Who in Palestinian society can push back against Hamas or build out political and military power to rival and ultimately suppress Hamas? Can Gazan society be deradicalized?

Two tweets are mentioned in the conversation.

1. On his transitional force idea: https://x.com/afalkhatib/status/1971747726220984541

2. On Hamas's withdrawal from Gaza City and regrouping in Nuseirat: https://x.com/afalkhatib/status/1972114914069086285

Today’s episode is sponsored by Unpacking Israeli History, a podcast from Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand, which I’ve had the pleasure of joining several times as a guest. Hosted by my friend Noam Weissman, the show dives into Israel’s most fascinating and sometimes controversial moments. It’s smart, nuanced, and never afraid of complexity, taking the headlines we think we know and uncovering the deeper story of how we got here.

If you want more of the kind of thoughtful conversation we have here at AHA, go follow Unpacking Israeli History at https://unpacked.bio/havivUIH.

And if you like what we do here at AHA, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at [email protected]⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

Trump's 20-point grand bargain to end the Gaza war is a remarkable document. It offers Israel much of the Israeli cabinet's formally declared war goals, not least the summary release of Israeli hostages from Hamas hands. It seems to enjoy broad Arab backing, and it puts Hamas in the position of having to refuse not merely an end to war, but the beginning, now backed by the US and the Arab states, of Gaza's great rebuilding and rehabilitation.

It's a remarkable achievement for the US administration, and may well mark the turning point in the war, the beginning of the end.

Today’s episode is sponsored by Unpacking Israeli History, a podcast from Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand, which I’ve had the pleasure of joining several times as a guest. Hosted by my friend Noam Weissman, the show dives into Israel’s most fascinating and sometimes controversial moments. It’s smart, nuanced, and never afraid of complexity, taking the headlines we think we know and uncovering the deeper story of how we got here.

If you want more of the kind of thoughtful conversation we have here at AHA, go follow Unpacking Israeli History at https://www.unpacked.bio/havivUIH.

And if you like what we do here at AHA, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at [email protected]⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

Earlier this month, Times of Israel editor David Horovitz became one of only two or three Israeli journalists to have ever walked the streets of Damascus, Syria’s capital.

But he was the very first to be welcomed there with open arms by the Syrian government. His visit with a group of American Jews led by Michigan Rabbi Asher Lopatin was part of the new regime’s efforts to show a new openness to the world.

I asked David what he heard from senior government officials, what he saw among the National Museum’s carefully preserved millennia-old Jewish relics, and what he made of this purportedly new Syria under President a-Sharaa.

His travelogue of the visit, which included some marvelous photos, can be read here: https://www.timesofisrael.com/48-surreal-hours-in-damascus-an-israeli-reporters-travelogue-from-an-enemy-capital/

This episode is sponsored by the American Technion Society. With Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah degraded, what technologies will Israel need to defend itself in a new Middle East? Every day, groundbreaking research from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology is transformed into real-world defense tech that protects Israel and saves lives. From Iron Dome to Iron Beam, drones to satellites, and cybersecurity to supercomputers, fundamental science born in Technion labs is brought to life by visionary Technion alumni serving in the IDF and defense industries giving Israel its qualitative edge.

If you love Israel and want to keep it safe, boost its economy, and strengthen its people, investing in the great minds, discoveries, and inventions that come from the Technion is a phenomenal way to make a bigger impact on Israel’s future and ensure its safety. Visit https://www.ats.org/haviv.

If you like this podcast, please join us on Patreon to support our work: https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at [email protected]⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

Rosh Hashanah is the only Jewish holiday that falls on the first day of the lunar month - that begins in darkness. It is also the holiday most associated in Jewish tradition with great turning-points and new beginnings.

The coming year will be a time of great change and momentous decisions. Israel will have some fundamental choices to make.

This is a reflection on the holiday, on the state of the war, and on the responsibility that Judaism places upon us to shape our destiny.

Today’s episode is sponsored by Unpacking Israeli History, a podcast from Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand — and one I’ve had the pleasure of joining several times as a guest. Unpacking Israeli History, hosted by my friend Noam Weissman, takes listeners on a journey through Israel’s most fascinating and sometimes controversial moments, offering a fact-based understanding of Israel’s past and present that is both informative and really entertaining.

If you’ve been here a while, you know how much I value talking about and learning about Israel without oversimplification. Unpacking Israeli History does just that. It’s smart, nuanced, and it never shies away from complexity. Noam does a remarkable job of taking the headlines we all know, and peeling them back to uncover the deeper story of how we got here.

I’m also proud to be a partner of OpenDor Media, the team behind Unpacking Israeli History. Their mission is to meet young Jews and their peers where they are with media that deepens understanding of Israel, Judaism, and the Jewish experience — embracing complexity and fostering informed perspectives. So if you want more of the kind of thoughtful conversation we have here, go follow Unpacking Israeli History at https://unpacked.bio/havivUIH. I think you’ll find it as engaging and meaningful as I do.

To support Ask Haviv Anything, please join us on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at [email protected]⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

On September 9, Israel tried but failed to kill Hamas leaders in Qatar. The regional blowback surprised the Israelis. Emirati and Saudi leaders, who have long seen Qatar as a foe in the region, visited Doha to express solidarity. Criticism of Israel came not only from the usual suspects, but even from Trump administration officials.

Israel, many regional allies now worry, doesn't understand its new role as regional superpower. It's still locked into the mindset of a small besieged nation, and it's acting foolishly because of it.

This fallout is part of a larger story, a larger Israeli failure to tell its story in the different environments in which Israel must operate. In the West, it has lost not only opponents, but close friends as well, who are often tired of standing in the whirlwind of claims and counter-claims and hearing only Israel's most extreme voices telling its story. The government faces, too, growing distrust domestically of its war plans and intentions. And even close regional allies (and would-be allies) like the Emiratis and Saudis are growing worried.

This Israeli government has never been able to tell its story, to explain its goals and aspirations for Gaza and for the region. Not to Israelis, not to Westerners, not to regional allies. It didn't matter when the country wasn't engaged in a war that has reshaped the region, but it matters now. Israel is the undisputed superpower of the region, and no one quite knows what that means. It still seems to behave like a small country under siege. It seems to be the only actor on the regional stage not to understand its own strength and newfound position.

It's time for the Jewish state to take control of its story, to tell friends and enemies and everyone in between what it wants for itself and for the region, what its goals are for Gaza's better post-war future, what kind of regional order it hopes to help build with any ally who wants to cooperate. It's time to start thinking bigger and more long-term than the current war, which on many fronts has already been won.

This episode is sponsored by the American Technion Society. With Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah degraded, what technologies will Israel need to defend itself in a new Middle East? Every day, groundbreaking research from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology is transformed into real-world defense tech that protects Israel and saves lives. From Iron Dome to Iron Beam, drones to satellites, and cybersecurity to supercomputers, fundamental science born in Technion labs is brought to life by visionary Technion alumni serving in the IDF and defense industries giving Israel its qualitative edge.

If you love Israel and want to keep it safe, boost its economy, and strengthen its people, investing in the great minds, discoveries, and inventions that come from the Technion is a phenomenal way to make a bigger impact on Israel’s future and ensure its safety. Join us. Visit ats.org/haviv.

Please join us on Patreon to support this project: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at [email protected]⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

Events move fast in the Middle East. This episode was recorded before the Israeli strike in Qatar. We believed this episode was an important one because the world should be paying more attention to the deteriorating situation in Egypt.

The attack on Hamas leaders in Doha did indeed grab the headlines. It's a dramatic development Haviv addressed in a Free Press livestream and that we plan to address in an episode already under development.

But the original point behind this episode stands. Everyone is talking about Gaza, Qatar, Israel, Iran. Meanwhile, Egypt, the most populous Arab state, the launching pad for most of the radical Islamist ideologies that have upended the Middle East in recent decades, has been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and social implosion. Emirati bailouts, growing international concern and Egyptian officials suddenly talking openly about war with Israel are all signals of this fragility.

To make sense of this vital but under-discussed powder-keg - and to find out why Egypt continues to refuse to let Gazan civilians escape the war by waiting it out in safety in Sinai - we turned to Mariam Wahba, an Egypt expert (and Egyptian Coptic Christian herself) at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington.

This episode is sponsored by Jason and Lauriel Klinghoffer who have dedicated it to the memory of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two Israeli embassy staffers who were murdered in Washington, DC on May 21st, 2025. They were fatally shot outside the Capitol Jewish Museum by an anti-Israel terrorist after attending an event for young diplomats.

Please join us on Patreon to support this project: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at [email protected]⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

The first Jews to become subjects of the Ottoman Empire lived in Greek-speaking western Anatolia during the Ottoman conquests of the region in the early 1300s. The next seven centuries of Turkish-Jewish interaction were mostly a story of Turkish tolerance rooted in the Jews’ usefulness to the empire.

For example, when Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492, Sultan Bayezid II sent his navy to offer them safe transport into his empire. The Jews were considered a talented and industrious population, so much so that Bayezid is reputed to have quipped about the Spanish expulsion of them, “You call Ferdinand a wise king, he who impoverishes his country and enriches mine!”

But this tolerance was always conditioned on the Jews’ subservient status as dhimmi, or protected class, under the Ottoman “millet” system.

In the 19th century, a series of reforms meant to strengthen the flagging empire in the face of growing European power instituted legal equality for minorities, broke down the old social hierarchies — and as with the removal of ghetto restrictions on the Jews of Europe, made the Jews’ situation more precarious.

In our first focused treatment of Sephardi Jewry, we dive into this history with Tel Aviv University historian Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, born in Istanbul and a scion of that centuries-old community.

This episode is sponsored by Jeff and Masha Gershman who asked that we share a story of Jewish bravery on or since 10/7 so that we all might be reminded not just of our pain and anxiety but also of our individual and collective strengh. In consultation with the Gershmans we chose to share the story of Nitai Meisels, one of the friends Rachel and I lost in Gaza. Master Sergeant (Res.) Nitai Meisels, 30, was killed on December 24, 2023 by an anti-tank missile fired at his tank in the Gaza Strip during a mission to locate hostages. He volunteered to be in the formation’s front tank.

Nitai is survived by his parents Ayala and Eitan, his sisters Adi and Oriya and brother Aviad and their spouses and children. This episode is publishing close to Nitai’s birthday on vav Tishrei on the Hebrew calendar, which falls this year on September 28. If Nitai had survived the fighting he would be turning 32 this year.

Please join us on Patreon to support this project: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at [email protected]⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen joins the podcast to talk about the war with Iran (spoiler: It isn’t over), the ayatollahs' regime (which won’t be easily felled), and his assurance that there are still strategic surprises in Mossad’s quiver.

We discuss the stubborn Israeli insistence to continue investing heavily in HUMINT, or human intelligence - spies - in an age when other major agencies have turned away from classic spycraft to cyber, signals intelligence and AI.

And we discuss how Gaza could be rebuilt and rehabilitated, who’s responsible for the failures of October 7, why Yossi has called for new elections and Yossi’s own political aspirations.

This episode was sponsored by Jason and Lauriel Klinghoffer in honor of the memory of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two Israeli embassy staffers who were murdered in Washington, DC on May 21, 2025. They were fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum after attending an event for young diplomats. Yaron and Sarah were planning to get engaged. May their memory be a blessing.

Please join us on Patreon to support this project: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at [email protected]⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.