This Yom Ha’atzmut carries an apt but concerning metaphor for the State of Israel: as a brushfire burns along Route 1, the annual Independence Day torch-lighting ceremony has been canceled and the connection between Israel’s cultural and ideological poles, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, is literally blocked.

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi test the limits of their gratitude to the Israeli government and look for avenues of hope in a deeply broken country this Independence Day.

JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.

In the wake of the Holocaust, the Jewish people defied history. We restored sovereignty in our homeland and established the State of Israel, vowing that such victimization would never befall us again.

Then came the massacre on October 7. Though Israel has successfully fought back against Hamas and its allies, the war is still being waged, hostages remain in captivity, and the evil that motivated the attack grows.

As we approach Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi reflect on what this moment of remembrance means to them this year in an Israel still shaken and hardened by tragedy.  

JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.

A shadow lingers over Passover this year: 59 hostages still languish in Hamas captivity, Netanyahu continues his efforts to mold Israel into an authoritarian state, and Gazans once again live with the dangers of war. How can we celebrate freedom when so many in and around Israel are figuratively—and literally—not free?

This week, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi reflect on the Pesach seder as they explore how our oldest holiday can liberate us from despair and inspire us in this precarious moment.

JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.

The Shin Bet, IDF, and Israel’s judiciary should serve the nation regardless of the government’s political leanings. But Prime Minister Netanyahu seems determined to bend these institutions to serve his will and that of his right-wing coalition. Despite his visibly corrupt behavior, he may already be succeeding at instilling autocracy into Israel’s highest public institutions.

This week, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi unpack the unbelievable recent absurdities and tragedies—from Netanyahu’s whiplash dismissal of his new Shin Bet chief and his response to Qatargate, to IDF arrests in the West Bank village of Jinba—and the choice Israelis face in allowing the current leadership to remain in power.

JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.

With the return to war in Gaza, a wave of fresh recruits would relieve the intense pressure on Israel’s fatigued fighting force and struggling economy. But those potential new recruits—Ultra-Orthodox young men—are refusing or ignoring their conscription orders, often at the behest of their rabbis and leaders.

This week, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi untangle the enigma of Haredi draft refusal. Why has this community—whose livelihoods rely so heavily on Israel’s taxpayer funds—acculturated such disdain against national service amidst a war of survival, and what can the country do about it?

JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.

In the early hours of Tuesday, March 18, the IDF resumed airstrikes on Gaza, breaking the two-month ceasefire with Hamas.

Israel’s decision to return to war can be debated, but what is harder to understand is why Netanyahu, after promising to fire the chief of the Shin Bet—Israel’s counter-terrorism agency—and with a new Haredi draft exemption in the works, has chosen this moment to thrust Israel back into the fray.

This week, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi discuss Hamas’s resurgence, the impasse in ceasefire negotiations, and the fate of the hostages as the Prime Minister continues to erode Israel’s democratic institutions and divide the Israeli people.

This episode is sponsored by Wayne Robbins in honor of his grandson, Charlie Jacob Robbins’ first birthday.

JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.

As pressure mounts to move forward with further ceasefire negotiations, Israel finds itself beset with national scandals and crises, including a new Haredi draft exemption bill, threats to fire the Attorney General and Shin Bet Chief, and allegations that Netanyahu’s office took money from Qatar, while a looming budget deadline threatens to topple the government.

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi unpack the growing set of threats on Israel’s domestic front and ask how Israelis can heal their divisions under a government that thrives off schism.

JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.