A scandal of historic proportions has rocked Israel’s legal system. The military’s top legal officer, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, is accused of illegally leaking doctored security footage during wartime, allegedly to smear IDF reservists. The leak triggered riots, international outrage and a cover-up that reached all the way to Israel’s Supreme Court. Now, shocking evidence reveals a web of lies, destroyed phones and possibly a staged suicide attempt, all pointing to deep dysfunction and politicization inside Israel’s law enforcement elite. Legal scholar Yonatan Green joins Basic Law to unpack the explosive implications for civil-military relations, judicial supremacy and the future of Israeli democracy.

In this episode of "Basic Law," host Aylana Meisel dives deep into the fierce legal and political battle over how Israel will investigate the failures of October 7. Featuring expert commentary from Dr. Yaakov Ben Shemesh, the show explores the clash between Israel's government, its Attorney General and the Supreme Court over the formation of a commission of inquiry. At stake: not only national accountability for one of Israel’s darkest days, but also the power to shape the official narrative. Will the inquiry be truly independent or will it be politically weaponized? Meisel and Ben Shemesh break down the two competing legal paths for forming such a commission, the historic precedents and the explosive tensions between Israel’s judiciary and executive branches. With elections looming and public trust eroding, this episode asks: who gets to write Israel’s history, and can the truth survive the politics?

As the United States presses for a Gaza ceasefire and world powers search for “moderate” Palestinian leadership, a major legal development in American courts is challenging the very foundation of those diplomatic efforts. In this episode of “Basic Law,” host Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, sits down with Rabbi Dr. Mark Goldfeder, Founder of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, to discuss the extraordinary lawsuits now reshaping the conversation on terrorism and antisemitism in America.

In one of the most emotionally charged weeks in Israel’s modern history, “Basic Law,” hosted by Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, confronts the hardest question of all: When life is sacred, how do you measure its worth? 

As Israeli families rejoice at the return of their loved ones, the nation also grapples with the unbearable price: 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including convicted terrorists, now walking free. This episode features Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody, author of Ethics of Our Fighters: A Jewish View on War and Morality, for a profound conversation about the moral, legal and spiritual costs of hostage exchanges in Israel’s ongoing struggle for security.

What does it really mean when countries like France, Britain and Australia “recognize” a Palestinian state, and how could it impact Israel’s sovereignty, diplomacy, and security? In this episode of "Basic Law," hosted by Aylana Meisel, Executive Director at the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, we take a deep dive into one of the most consequential debates shaping Israel’s future.

Joining the discussion is International law expert Eugene Kontorovich, who explains why symbolic recognitions may seem hollow but could open the door to dangerous precedents at the United Nations, sanctions campaigns modeled on South Africa and pressure to erode Israel’s control over its own borders.

As Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza City intensifies, the UN Human Rights Council has once again leveled accusations of genocide against the Jewish state. Their newly released 72-page report, produced by a commission riddled with members already on record as anti-Israel, ignores Hamas’s crimes and skews casualty data to present a distorted narrative. Behind the headlines, the reality on the ground tells a very different story.

In this episode of Basic Law, we cut through the noise clouding global discourse on Israel’s war of survival. Host Aylana Meisel is joined by John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Madison Policy Forum and Director of the Urban Warfare Institute. Together, they dissect the myths, the misused legal terminology and the unprecedented challenges Israel faces as it moves into one of the most complex urban battlefields in modern history.

Spencer explains why terms like genocide, proportionality, and ethnic cleansing are being recklessly misapplied by international bodies and activists and why this undermines both critical thinking and the very laws of war. He also outlines the IDF’s extraordinary efforts to protect civilians, from mass evacuation warnings to daily humanitarian pauses and why Hamas’s strategy is less “human shielding” than deliberate “human sacrifice.”

Learn how the truth of urban warfare, international law and Israel’s moral dilemmas differs from the headlines and why it matters for the future of democratic nations everywhere.

Visa denials, Palestinian statehood and the legal limits of diplomacy take center stage in this episode of “Basic Law,” hosted by Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum. As the United Nations General Assembly opens in New York, the global push to recognize a Palestinian state reaches a tipping point, with major Western powers like France, Britain and Canada endorsing unilateral recognition. But the United States has pushed back on national security grounds, most notably by denying visas to over 80 Palestinian Authority officials, including President Mahmoud Abbas.

In this “Basic Law" episode, Aylana Meisel and Dr. Ilya Rudiak pull the camera tight on Oct. 7, 2023 and argue it wasn’t just a massacre, it was the deliberate weaponization of the family itself.

They name the crime ‘Kinoside’ and trace six chilling patterns that repeat across the day: loved ones murdered before each other’s eyes, entire households erased, parents and children abducted as units, families torn apart by force, horrors live-streamed from victims’ own accounts and homes torched or desecrated as a final violation.

Naming matters, they contend. Kinoside gives prosecutors a precise tool and gives victims the language to be heard.

The conversation maps immediate legal pathways: crimes against humanity, war crimes, elements within genocide, and torture—showing how courts could recognize kinocidal conduct today under the Rome Statute’s “other inhumane acts” and cruel or inhuman treatment.

Just as crucial, they draw a bright line between Kinoside and tragic but unintended civilian harm from lawful strikes. Finally, they chart the road ahead: judicial rulings, domestic codification and coalition-building among victims and scholars.

In this episode of “Basic Law,” host Aylana Meisel, Executive Director at the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, sits down with two special guests: Robert Gregory, head of the Australian Jewish Association, and Simcha Rothman, Member of Knesset, to unpack Australia’s shocking visa bans against mainstream Israeli political figures.

Israel’s legal system is colliding with wartime decision-making and the consequences could reshape the country’s future. 

In this episode of “Basic Law,” hosted by Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, veteran legal scholar Dr. Yaakov Ben-Shemesh returns to unpack a series of unprecedented legal interventions that are influencing Israel’s military and political strategies during the war in Gaza.

Chapters

00:00 Clash of Powers in Israel

02:46 Legal World and Military Policy

06:08 Hostage Crisis and Legal Implications

08:56 Judicial Oversight and National Security

11:54 Attorney General Dismissal Controversy

14:41 Political Chaos and Legal Procedures

17:30 Impact of Academic Opinions on International Law

20:55 Crisis of Trust in Israeli Governance

23:41 Constitutional Crisis and Government Response

26:33 The Role of Academia in Shaping Public Opinion

29:26 Future of Israeli Legal and Political Landscape