Ra’anana resident Yoav Cohen is a husband and father of three, and he works at one of the most successful Israeli high-tech companies in the world. 

Yoav is also a Master Sergeant in the IDF’s Magav Unit (Border Police). In late October 2023, he and his platoon deployed to Israel’s northern border for what would ultimately be a hundred days of military reserve duty. 

On this week’s episode of Inside Israel, I speak with Yoav about the impact that extended reserve military service has had on him and his family, as well the implications for his job. 

We discuss the prevalence of PTSD among IDF reservists and what the government is doing about it (if anything at all), and the month Cohen and his fellow soldiers spent living in a youth hostel in the north with Israeli civilians who’ve been evacuated from their homes since the outbreak of the current war. 

Finally, in the Hebrew Is Magic segment, Yoav explains the part of Hebrew he finds most magical of all: that any noun can be conjugated into a verb. 

To learn more about Inside Israel, and to submit a question for Joel to answer on-air, visit www.joelchasnoff.com/podcast

Sign up for Joel’s newsletter, Hebrew Is Magic: www.joelchasnoff.com

Joel on Instagram: @joelchasnoff

Israel 201, co-authored by Joel and Benji Lovitt and Winner of the 2023 National Jewish Book Award: www.joelchasnoff.com/books

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.