In recent weeks, U.S. foreign policy decisions have raised alarms in Israel. A ceasefire with the Houthis came with no demand they stop attacking Israel. Four rounds of nuclear talks with Iran have excluded Jerusalem entirely. The release of Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American hostage, caught even his family off guard. And now, the U.S. has dropped its demand that Saudi Arabia normalize ties with Israel as part of a nuclear deal.

Each move on its own might be explained. But taken together, they paint a troubling picture—one that suggests Israel is being bypassed, sidelined, or used as leverage.

Aviva Klompas speaks with Dr. Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to Washington, about what these changes signal for the U.S.-Israel alliance.

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Learn more about Boundless: https://boundlessisrael.org/

Host Aviva Klompas sits down with Izabella Tabarovsky to unpack how foreign funding and Soviet-era propaganda have shaped the crisis unfolding on American campuses.

Universities once seen as bastions of free thought are now flooded with billions of dollars from authoritarian regimes like Qatar and China — and the effects are plain to see. Students rally in support of terrorist groups. Jewish students are harassed without consequence.

Izabella explains how Soviet disinformation campaigns against Zionism laid the ideological groundwork for today’s anti-Israel narratives, why Jewish identity has been systematically distorted in academic discourse, and how foreign money buys influence over what students are taught and believe.

We also explore the broader impact of this infiltration beyond the university gates — on American democracy, civic culture, and the future of Jewish life — and ask what can be done to push back against it.

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Learn more about Boundless: https://boundlessisrael.org/

Referenced in this episode:
Qatar and China Are Pouring Billions Into Elite American Universities in The Free Press

Guest Bio:

Izabella Tabarovsky is a scholar of Soviet antizionism and contemporary antisemitism. She is a Senior Fellow with the Z3 Institute for Jewish Priorities in Palo Alto, CA and a Fellow with several prominent academic and policy centers, including the Comper Center for Contemporary Antisemitism at Haifa University; the London Center for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, and ISGAP. She is a contributing writer at Tablet magazine. Her writings have appeared in Newsweek, Sapir, Quillette, The National Interest, Fathom, Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, as well as several essay collections, including The Rebirth of Antisemitism in the 21stCentury: From the Academic Boycott Campaign into the Mainstream;Mapping the New Left Antisemitism: The Fathom Essays; and Jewish Priorities: Sixty-Five Proposals for the Future of Our People.

Dr. Rachel Fish sits down with two leading voices in higher education - Dr. Jessica Liebowitz and Dr. Ron Liebowitz - to discuss the big questions facing the academy today.

How can universities reclaim their commitment to truth-seeking, intellectual integrity, and academic rigor—especially in a time of rising antisemitism and growing public distrust?

Jessica introduces an innovative AI-driven project designed to evaluate the quality of peer-reviewed scholarship in highly politicized fields, helping distinguish serious research from ideological activism.

Ron takes a broader view, examining the headwinds facing higher ed: declining enrollment, politicized classrooms, and the erosion of public confidence—and reflects on what real leadership and accountability should look like.

From academic publishing and AI to university governance, campus culture, and the role of trustees, this wide-ranging conversation offers insights and ideas for the future of higher education.

Guest Bios:

Dr. Jessica Liebowitz is a Research Scientist in Computer Science at Brandeis University, where she is co-founder and co-director of the Data Science Internal Internship (DSII) lab. Dr. Liebowitz also serves as the Chair of the Advisory Council of the Brandeis Hebrew Consortium, is a member of the Board of Directors of Fulbright Israel, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Following her role as lead telecommunications policy staffer for U.S. Senator Pete v Domenici, Liebowitz served as Adjunct Professor and Fellow at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information of the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University. She holds a PhD from Harvard University, BA from Yale University, and Honorary Doctorate from Middlebury College.

Ron Liebowitz is president emeritus of Brandeis University and president emeritus of Middlebury College. He earned a BA from Bucknell University and a doctorate from Columbia University. As President of Brandeis University, Ron launched in the spring of 2023 an initiative to focus on antisemitism in higher ed, and also an initiative to deepen academic ties with institutions of higher ed in Israel as a response to growing BDS in the American academy. His scholarship has focused on the nationality question in the former Soviet Union and issues in higher education.  During his career, he has served as a department chair, dean of the faculty, provost, and president and was a trustee of a leading liberal arts college.

We’re diving into an issue that sits at the core of Israel’s security and its enduring relationship with the United States: foreign aid.

U.S. assistance has been a critical force in strengthening Israel’s defense capabilities. But as Dr. Michael Oren explains, it hasn’t come without costs. While aid has helped build Israel’s military strength, it has also created strategic dependencies and, at times, limited Israel’s autonomy on the global stage.

In this conversation, we explore how U.S. aid to Israel evolved from early economic assistance into today’s substantial military funding. We examine why aid, while beneficial, can also be a double-edged sword — tying Israel’s hands when it comes to innovation, defense exports, and strategic decision-making.

Dr. Oren also walks us through the shifting political dynamics in the United States, including the growing influence of progressive voices that are reshaping foreign policy and making support for Israel increasingly contentious. He offers a candid assessment of how these trends are impacting the U.S.-Israel relationship — and why Israel must be prepared to rethink its approach to American aid.

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Learn more about Boundless: https://boundlessisrael.org/

Referenced in this episode:
Dive deeper into the topic with Ambassador Michael Oren’s provocative 2021 article in Tablet Magazine: "Is U.S. Aid a Threat to Israel?"

As Israel marks its 77th Independence Day, we step back from the headlines to reflect on the extraordinary, improbable story of its survival and triumph.

Aviva Klompas opens with a moment from November 1947: just hours after the UN vote to establish a Jewish state, Golda Meir warned a jubilant crowd that the dream would not come easily. It would have to be fought for—and it would come at a cost.

Israel’s early years were defined by war, scarcity, and isolation. But against overwhelming odds, the state didn’t just survive—it reinvented itself, again and again, turning the impossible into the possible.

Each week on Boundless Insights, we tackle hard news: war, hostages, internal turmoil. But today, we remember where Israel began—and why hope remains central to its story.

Dr. Michael Oren joins the episode to bring that story to life. He reflects on pivotal moments that reveal the many faces of Israeli identity: courage, innovation, grief, and defiance. Together, we revisit the spirit of the founding generation, the resilience that shaped the nation, and the enduring hope that still lights the way forward.

A celebration of Israel at 77—through memory, storytelling, and the enduring miracle of the Jewish state.

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Learn more about Boundless: https://boundlessisrael.org

Israel is facing a domestic crisis with sweeping implications for its democracy, national security, and political leadership.

In a sworn affidavit to Israel’s Supreme Court, Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of demanding personal loyalty above the rule of law. Among the explosive allegations: that Netanyahu urged him to spy on Israeli citizens, interfere with the premier’s corruption trial, and defy Supreme Court rulings in the event of a constitutional crisis.

Bar says he was fired not for any professional failings—but for refusing to turn the Shin Bet into a political tool and refusing to protect the prime minister from legal accountability.

This episode isn’t just about one affidavit. It’s about the integrity of Israel’s institutions, the balance of power in a democracy without a written constitution, and what happens when security and politics collide.

To break it all down, host Aviva Klompas is joined by historian and former Israeli ambassador to the United States, Dr. Michael Oren.

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Learn more about Boundless: https://boundlessisrael.org/

Since October 7, antisemitism has surged across American college campuses—setting off one of the fiercest debates in higher education today. In response, the Trump administration has launched an aggressive crackdown: threatening to pull federal funding, investigating elite universities, and detaining foreign students accused of supporting terror groups. Supporters see this as long-overdue protection for Jewish students. Critics call it a dangerous overreach aimed at silencing dissent and reshaping academia.

Host Aviva Klompas sits down with Alyza Lewin, President of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and a leading legal voice in the fight against campus antisemitism.

In this wide-ranging conversation, they explore the line between protected speech and targeted harassment, what Jewish students are experiencing on the ground, and whether the federal response will ultimately safeguard civil rights or erode academic freedom. Alyza offers a frank and clear-eyed assessment of the legal and political stakes—and what students, families, university leaders, and lawmakers need to grapple with next.

Guest Bio:

Alyza D. Lewin is President of The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, where she leads legal and educational efforts to combat antisemitism and defend civil rights, particularly on college campuses. She is also a partner at Lewin & Lewin, LLP, specializing in litigation, mediation, and government relations.

Lewin successfully represented Avi Zinger in securing the rights to sell Ben & Jerry’s in Israel and argued the landmark Zivotofsky v. Kerry case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which helped pave the way for U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. She has also litigated key terror finance cases, clerked on Israel’s Supreme Court, and led the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists. A graduate of Princeton and NYU Law, she is a member of the New York and D.C. bars and a trained mediator.

Referenced in this episode:
Trump’s Jewish Cover Story by Yair Rosenberg in The Atlantic

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Learn more about Boundless: https://boundlessisrael.org/

As nuclear talks between the United States and Iran get underway, Israel is watching with unease. What’s being billed as technical negotiations over uranium levels and verification protocols is, in truth, a high-stakes diplomatic gamble with enormous implications for the Middle East.

Iran is dragging its feet, playing for time. Former President Donald Trump, eager for a foreign policy win ahead of the election, wants a deal sealed fast. And Israel is stuck in the middle—between a regime that seeks its destruction and an ally willing to look the other way to score political points.

Dr. Michael Oren returns to Boundless Insights to discuss the deal and what’s at stake. Drawing on his experience as Israel’s former ambassador to Washington, he shares why the current moment echoes the lead-up to the 2015 Iran deal—and why this time, the risks may be even greater.

We talk about the limits of trust in any deal with Tehran, the challenges of verification, and what Israel can do when it’s excluded from decisions that threaten its security. And we ask a central question: can the West afford to underestimate Iran again?

Referenced in the episode:
There’s only one way US-Iran talks should end: Halt Tehran’s nuclear terror for good by Dr. Michael Oren in the New York Post

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Learn more about Boundless: https://boundlessisrael.org/

Since October 7, Israel has been fighting a war unlike any in modern history — against a terror group that hides in hospitals, stores weapons in schools, and holds hostages underground. The IDF is operating under intense pressure, with international demands for zero civilian casualties, blocked operations in key Hamas strongholds, and constant pauses driven more by perception than fact.

Urban warfare expert John Spencer joins Aviva Klompas to explain what’s really happening on the ground in Gaza. He’s been inside Hamas’s tunnels, studied the world’s most complex battlefields, and advised top U.S. generals. Together, they unpack the realities of urban combat, the misinformation war playing out across social media, and what the world gets dangerously wrong about how Israel is fighting.

Guest Bio:

John Spencer is an award-winning scholar, internationally recognized expert and advisor on urban warfare, military strategy, tactics, and other related topics. Considered one of the world’s leading experts on urban warfare, he served as an advisor to the top four-star general and other senior leaders in the U.S. Army as part of strategic research groups from the Pentagon to the United States Military Academy. John currently serves as the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, Co-Director of the Urban Warfare Project, and host of the Urban Warfare Project podcast.

Recent Articles from John Spencer:
The lies behind the Gaza casualty figures and the thousands of names removed without explanation

How Hamas Can Be Destroyed With Military Force

Why doesn’t Israel have a constitution and what would it mean to finally write one

Aviva Klompas sits down with Dr. Michael Oren to discuss one of the most foundational—and contentious—questions about Israeli democracy: the absence of a formal constitution.

Despite a promise made at the country’s founding in 1948, Israel continues to operate under a framework of Basic Laws and judicial precedents, with no singular document that defines the principles, powers, and limits of governance.

As Israel faces political upheaval, protests, war on multiple fronts, and a deepening struggle over the role of the judiciary, the debate over a constitution has resurfaced with urgency. Once an opponent of adopting a constitution, Dr. Oren now believes it’s essential to Israel’s future—and even to its security.

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Learn more about Boundless: https://boundlessisrael.org/

Referenced in the episode:
2048: The Rejuvenated State by Michael Oren
Israel needs a constitution to prevent civil war by Michael Oren