Israel from the Inside with Daniel Gordis

Today, we’ll look closely at these two graphs to see what coalition options the election results leave us with.

* Tomorrow, Friday, October 30: I plan to share my reactions to the election results—what they mean for Israel, and what they mean for those of us who love this country with every fiber of our being.

Are people really leaving?

On the one hand, it might seem surprising that the flight of talented, financially well-off Israelis over the past few years never became a central campaign issue. On the other hand, two clear reasons explain why:

* First, highlighting the issue plays into the Right’s hands. The exodus consists mostly—though certainly not exclusively—of people from the Center and what remains of the Left. To Netanyahu’s base, that’s all the more reason to vote for a “truly patriotic” leader like Bibi.

* Second, there were no policy issues in this election. This campaign was purely a referendum: “A fresh start without Bibi” versus “Stay the course with the PM.” That was pretty much it. There was no real debate on foreign policy, the economy, or education—just a brief flare-up over the Haredi draft.

Still, the fact that people are leaving is beyond question. Exactly how many is difficult to measure, and their precise motivations are nearly impossible to quantify.

Despite these limitations, journalist David Rosenberg has written compellingly about the trend. We asked him to join us and share his assessment of what the data (and the charts below) actually tell us.

In an election week, it’s a stark reminder of the urgent challenge facing whatever government emerges: convincing Israelis that the country is still on the right track.

It’s worth taking a quick look at these simple charts to get a sense of what David Rosenberg speaks about in our conversation.

If you would like to share our conversation about what Israelis are feeling and expressing at this unprecedented moment in our history, we invite you to subscribe today.

David Rosenberg has reported from Israel on business, economics and politics for more than two decades. He was Israel bureau chief for Bloomberg News and business editor of The Jerusalem Post, and earlier worked as a correspondent for Reuters and Dow Jones. His opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Jerusalem Report among others. David is the author of the book Cloning Silicon Valley: Next Generation High Tech Hotspots (Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2001), Israel: The Knowledge Economy and Its Costs (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) and Israel’s Technology Economy Origins and Impact (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

The link at the top of this posting will take free subscribers to an excerpted portion of today’s conversation.

For paid subscribers, the link at the top will take you to the full conversation; below, paid subscribers will also find a transcript for those who prefer to read, as always.

At present, our plans for the remainder of this week include:

* Thursday, October 29: David Rosenberg answers the urgent question: Are Israelis actually leaving the country? He unpacks the data and looks toward the future.

* Friday, October 30: I plan to share my reactions to the election results—what they mean for Israel, and what they mean for those of us who love this country with every fiber of our being. (If the numbers aren’t final on Friday, we may delay this until Sunday…)

For years now, Shalem College has run a program called “The Israeli Story.” As part of it, our students read a significant Israeli novel, and we bring the author to campus to speak—typically in an interview conducted by one of our students.

In January 2020, just weeks before Covid would shut us down for a long time, we invited David Grossman to campus to speak about his masterwork, To the End of the Land.

The plot revolves around an Israeli mother named Ora, who is devastated when her younger son, Ofer, voluntarily re-enlists for a dangerous military offensive just as his mandatory service ends. Consumed by a desperate form of magical thinking, Ora believes that if she remains on the move and out of reach, military casualty notifiers will be unable to find her to deliver news of his death. Fleeing her home, she recruits Avram—a former lover, estranged friend, and Ofer’s biological father, who remains deeply traumatized after being tortured as a prisoner of war during the 1973 Yom Kippur War—to join her on a grueling trek through the Galilee. As they hike the northern trails, Ora incessantly recounts the story of Ofer’s life from birth through adolescence, weaving a continuous narrative shield designed to preserve her son’s existence and ward off the tragedy she fears most.

Grossman wrote much of the novel while his own son, Uri, was serving in the military. During the final stages of writing, Uri was killed in combat during the 2006 Second Lebanon War. The book is widely read through this haunting biographical lens—as an author’s attempt to ward off grief that ultimately transformed into a monumental work of art and a devastating indictment of endless war.

All our students, of course, were painfully aware of this backstory.

When I was researching my biography of Menachem Begin, I came across several accounts noting that whenever Begin—widely considered the most eloquent and fiery speaker in government—was scheduled to speak, the Knesset plenum would pack to capacity. It filled not just with MKs, but with staff at all levels, everyone eager to hear an orator the likes of whom they knew they might never hear again. There was rarely a single spare seat to be found.

So it was on the day Grossman came to Shalem. Word had spread among faculty and staff, and the room was beyond jammed. Students, faculty, staff—everyone who could possibly be there came.

Grossman was interviewed by a stellar student who, at a certain point in the conversation, asked him, in essence: “If you didn’t live in Israel, your son would still be alive. Do you regret staying here?” She asked her question in the most reverential tone imaginable, with great tact and gentleness; but still, it was a punch to the gut. The room fell completely silent—it seemed as if people had stopped breathing. A few students, I still recall, began wiping tears from their eyes even before Grossman began to respond.

I thought of that conversation once again last week, when I had coffee with that student, who has long since graduated. We met to talk about a project she’s working on to bring hope to Israeli society and to memorialize her brother, who fell in battle on October 7. His funeral, held the following day, was the first funeral of the war that I attended. It was the first of more funerals than I can count, but I remember it as if it were yesterday.

Even then, during the funeral, I asked myself: how tragically Israeli is it that a student chosen simply for her eloquence would interview David Grossman about this agonizing question, only to later find her own family suffering a very similar loss?

Is there no escape?

As we chatted over coffee, she told me that after his visit to Shalem, David Grossman reached out to her. She didn’t share the content of his email, and I, of course, didn’t ask—though I assume he wrote because he was so moved by her. All she said was, “I knew that from that day, when David Grossman wrote to me, my life would be downhill from there.” And she laughed.

But it was a laugh tinged with terrible, terrible pain—and I suspect I’ll also remember that conversation, which was supposed to be a casual chat over coffee, for a long, long time.

This week—and especially today, the day after elections, when so many people are feeling disappointed or anxious—seemed like the right time to share this video once again. I shared it years ago on Israel from the Inside, but many new readers and listeners have joined us since. Could there be a more poignant day to hear one of Israel’s greatest talents speak about why, despite everything, there is nowhere else he could call home?

Here is Grossman’s full answer to her question:

If you would like to share our conversation about what Israelis are feeling and expressing at this unprecedented moment in our history, we invite you to subscribe today.

On this week of elections in Israel, much hangs in the balance, and some of our posts this week will address that. Hope do we maintain hope in an era in which so much militates against optimism? How do we explain why we continue to live here, when there are so many reasons (say some) not to? Are Israelis really leaving? How many, and why?

But we begin with concerns in the Israeli press about war with Iran … perhaps today? (I personally doubt it.) And other election process worries …

At present, our plan for this week is as follows:

* Today: Rabbi Yitz Greenberg on Life Against Death, his new two-volume anthology spanning a lifetime of thought and writing (University of Nebraska Press and JPS).

* Tuesday, October 27: A recent appearance on the HonestReporting podcast, where I reflect on the diverging worlds of American and Israeli Jews.

* Wednesday, October 28: David Grossman, Israel’s premier novelist, on why he continued and continues to choose Israel—even after the tragic death of his son who fell in battle while serving in the IDF.

* Thursday, October 29: David Rosenberg answers the urgent question: Are Israelis actually leaving the country? He unpacks the data and looks toward the future.

Before we get to Rabbi Greenberg, some glimpses from the Israeli press regarding concerns about the voting process. Later this week, we’ll also share some of the arguments that were made in the right-leaning, sophisticated Hebrew press for voting for Netanyahu. They’re smart people writing those pieces. Whether one agrees or not, a lot of smart people are going to vote for Bibi, and it’s important to understand their worldview.

Netanyahu asking Trump for yet another public endorsement:

Yesterday, N12 reported that Netanyahu had asked Donald Trump for another public endorsement. Why the PM believes that would sway Israeli voters is unclear to me, but he is a much sharper reader of politics than I am. Is there not a concern that some voters might view this as an act of desperation? That is certainly the spin N12 (no fans of Bibi) put on it:

* HEADLINE: American Source: Netanyahu Asked Trump for Yet Another Campaign Endorsement; President Issues New Post

* SUB-HEADLINE: In the middle of the night, the US President posted another endorsement: “Vote Bibi. We have to finish the job.” According to the source, the White House views Netanyahu’s request as a “sign of desperation” and an indication that the PM believes he is losing.

The on a new Netanyahu campaign image—a nuclear weapon exploding over Tel Aviv. As the TOI notes (see yellow), in response to the seemingly silly image, Eisenkot said of the PM “he’s hysterical,” while Golan said “He’s lost it.”

The Times of Israel reported on a new Netanyahu campaign image depicting a nuclear explosion over Tel Aviv. As ToI noted (highlighted in yellow), both Gadi Eisenkot and Yair Golan responded sharply to the seemingly absurd graphic, with Eisenkot calling the PM "hysterical" and Golan declaring, "He's lost it."

Numerous commentators pointed out that the image doesn’t square all that well with Netanyahu’s claim after the Iran War(s) that Israel had eradicated Iran’s nuclear threat.

What makes all of this not necessarily ominous (because we’re now less than 24 hours away from the opening of the polls) but (at least a few days ago) worrisome was the concern that Netanyahu was setting the stage for an attack on Iran before the polls opened (or during election day)?

Some opposition leaders used the word “treason” in reaction to these reports from Channel 12. That word, of course, has potentially far-reaching legal implications, should anything actually happen.

What does all this say about the present coalition’s fears of losing? Or at least of not being able to form a government? Are worries about the transparency of the election process over-wrought?

One surely hopes so. We’ll know very soon.

I still remember precisely where I was sitting when I first read the work of Rabbi Yitz Greenberg—and how my mind buzzed with his paradigm of the “Three Great Eras in Jewish history.” Since then, over some forty years, I’ve had the privilege of reading his work extensively, learning from him in person, and now living just one neighborhood away from him here in Jerusalem.

On the occasion of the publication of Life Against Death (University of Nebraska Press and Jewish Publication Society)—his magisterial, two-volume collection spanning decades of landmark scholarship and leadership—we sat down in his home to discuss the central ideas of his life’s work.

If you would like to share our conversation about what Israelis are feeling and expressing at this unprecedented moment in our history, we invite you to subscribe today.

Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg serves as the President of the J.J. Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life (JJGI) and as Senior Scholar in Residence at Hadar. Rabbi Greenberg was ordained by Beth Joseph Rabbinical Seminary of Brooklyn, New York and has a PhD in history from Harvard University. He has had a long and notable career in the service of the Jewish people.

Together with Elie Wiesel, he founded CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and served as its president until 1997. From 1997 to 2008, he served as founding president of Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation which created such programs as birthright Israel and the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education.

Rabbi Greenberg was one of the activist and founders of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry in the movement to liberate Russian Jewry. He was a pioneer in the development of Holocaust education and commemoration. He is a leading Jewish thinker and has written extensively on post-Holocaust Jewish religious thought, Jewish-Christian relations, pluralism, and the ethics of Jewish power.

In his new 2 volume set, Life Against Death, Rabbi Greenberg curates, introduces, and reflects on the most important essays written over the course of his lifetime in the United States and Israel, from 1965 to 2025. These influential works recognized as classic in his oeuvre identify turning points in Jewish life, along with policies key to successful Jewish living in the modern world.

This week, a critical time in Israel’s history, we are making Rabbi Greenberg’s conversation about hope, as well as the transcript, available to everyone.

My guest today is someone who I have literally, truly, and I do not use this word lightly ever, revered for 30-something, 40-something years. I actually remember Yitz— we're talking with Rabbi Yitz Greenberg. I remember the first time I was sitting at the JTS library, and I came across a copy of what was then a pamphlet from Klal, I think, about the great epics of Jewish history. I still remember exactly where I was sitting, and I grabbed it off the shelf. I didn't know what it was, and I started to read it. And I knew that I had found, not in physical presence, but very much present in my life, a really important teacher.And although I've been in Israel for a very long time, you've been in the States, you more recently met Aliyah, your work has continued to influence me and many hundreds and thousands of others as well. And just by way of letting you, of leading up to your telling us a little bit about your life, I'm sure most of our listeners know, but some of them may not. I was in Denver just a few weeks ago, We were awaiting the arrival of a grandson who, thank God, arrived and everybody's fine and it's all good. And I was talking with a friend who I knew from our Wexner days. He was a participant and you and I were on the faculty back then. And he was in Wexner, I think, in 1996 or '97. We had spoken for 5 minutes and he immediately launched into reiterating something that he had learned from you at Wexner 30 years ago. And it is not like he is a Jewish professional who, this is what he thinks about all the time. He is a very accomplished professional. It is not in the Jewish world at all. He is a super smart guy. …

To close out the week—and heading into the final weekend before the elections—we’re sharing a video circulating on Israeli social media in response to Netanyahu’s latest campaign slogan.

Because the video relies heavily on political context and subtext, here is a brief breakdown. If you’ve already watched it, read through the explanations below and then give it another view.

Bibi’s new campaign motto is “ימין או פלסטין” (Yamin O Falastin)—which, as you can hear, rhymes neatly in Hebrew. Cute. But what does it actually translate to? “Right, or Palestine.” The message is simple: Vote for the right, or expect a Palestinian state.

It’s classic Netanyahu. This is the same leader who once warned voters on live television that “the Arabs are rushing to the polls in droves,” and who implied that Yitzhak Rabin was giving away the country. His formula has always been the same: “It’s me, or disaster.”

In the past, Bibi ran on the motto of “A strong leader for a strong nation.”

Oops. That wouldn’t fly, given everything we’ve endured these past three years. So they pulled a different rabbit out of their bottomless hat: “Right—or Palestine.”

To understand the video above (you can see the original here on Facebook), you need a quick cheat sheet on the players:

* Bibi: Arranged the Qatari cash flow to Hamas that funded the tunnels and enabled October 7th.

* Liberman: Resigned the moment he caught wind of the Qatar plan.

* Eisenkot: Served 40 years in the IDF and lost both a son and a nephew in this war.

* Bennett: The hawk who never hesitates to strike when needed.

What’s the balloon in the video? Before becoming Prime Minister, Bennett publicly criticized Netanyahu’s policy of allowing incendiary balloons and rockets from Gaza to go unpunished unless they caused major damage. Bennett insisted that an incendiary balloon launched from Gaza should be treated with the exact same military response as an incoming rocket. As Prime Minister, he altered the IDF’s rules of engagement along the Gaza border to conduct airstrikes in response to incendiary balloons, establishing a firm policy of immediate retaliation. Doesn’t sound like a guy about to create “Palestine.”

Oh, and then there’s “Abu Yair.” In Arab culture, a father is traditionally called Abu followed by his firstborn son’s name. Calling Bibi “Abu Yair” is the video’s way of trolling him about Yair—his politically toxic son, exiled to Miami until taxpayer-funded security there became either impossible or embarrassingly expensive.

This is the closing image of the video.

The TOP RECTANGLE reads:

* Yashar! With Eisenkot.

In a play on Bibi’s “the right, or Palestine”, the BOTTOM RECTANGLE reads:

* It’s either Eisenkot, or “we’ll die before we enlist” [DG—which is the chant of the Haredim—to whom Bibi capitulates regularly—during their anti-draft protests]

How many voters will buy the narrative that replacing Netanyahu guarantees a Palestinian state—an idea that enjoys virtually no support in Israel today, even on the fringes of the Left?

We’re going to find out very soon.

If you would like to share our conversation about what Israelis are feeling and expressing at this unprecedented moment in our history, we invite you to subscribe today.

With elections less than a week away, today’s podcast episode features Mati Gill, a candidate running with the Be-Yachad Party—led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.

Gill represents a talented, pragmatic generation of young Israeli leaders who remain deeply committed to the nation’s future and are convinced that rebuilding the country is achievable. As he puts it, “There’s no better place in the world for Jews to live.”

However, Gill emphasizes that real transformation can’t happen through politicians alone—it requires an informed electorate willing to vote wisely.

Will voters answer the call? In less than a week, we’ll find out.

Speaking of the upcoming election… For readers interested in a thoughtful breakdown of the potential outcomes—not all of which yield a clear winner or loser—this brief essay by Amichai Magen lays out the post-election scenarios with remarkable clarity.

If you would like to share our conversation about what Israelis are feeling and expressing at this unprecedented moment in our history, we invite you to subscribe today.

Mati Gill is an Israeli biotech executive, entrepreneur, and former government official. He is the founding CEO of AION Labs, a venture studio that develops AI-driven drug discovery companies in partnership with leading pharmaceutical and technology companies. Previously, he held senior management positions at Teva Pharmaceuticals and served as Chief of Staff to Israel’s Minister of Public Security, Avi Dichter. An attorney and IDF reserve officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel, Gill also co-founded the Sanhedrin Forum, a network for young Israeli professionals. In 2026, he joined Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad political party as a candidate for the Knesset.

The link at the top of this posting will take free subscribers to an excerpted portion of today’s conversation.

For paid subscribers, the link at the top will take you to the full conversation; below, paid subscribers will also find a transcript for those who prefer to read, as always.

From the very outset, the commitment of Israel from the Inside was that when it came to critical issues in Israeli life, we would shy away from no position. Quite the contrary: we would go out of our way to expose listeners to a wide spectrum of views on Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. That, obviously, excludes racists on the right and anti-Israel post-Zionists on the left—but across the moral Zionist continuum, we actively showcase diverse perspectives to stimulate the kinds of conversations too often absent from our bubbles.

In this third and final episode, Yaakov Lozowick brings his argument to its denouement. Much of it I found painful. Some of it I agreed with; some I didn’t. About much of it, I am still reflecting.

But from all of it, I learned—and was left deeply challenged. There is no greater gift.

Listening to Lozowick may or may not convince you. But he will leave you more thoughtful and far more aware of the breadth of views shaping Israeli Zionist discourse today.

And that, ultimately, is the point of this entire project.

Listeners who would like to hear the first two parts of Yaakov Lozowick’s presentation can find them here:

* Episode I: He began by insisting that Hannah Arendt was wrong and wrote a book called “Right to Exist: A Moral Defense of Israel’s Wars.” Then he started to read the archives...

* Episode II: “I can’t say I was lied to for decades. I was lying to myself for decades.”

If you would like to share our conversation about what Israelis are feeling and expressing at this unprecedented moment in our history, we invite you to subscribe today.

Yaacov Lozowick is an Israeli historian, writer, and archivist. He studied history and Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he later earned a doctorate in contemporary Judaism.

Lozowick spent much of his career at Yad Vashem, where he served as Director of the Archives from 1993 to 2007. From 2011 to 2018, he served as Israel’s Chief Archivist at the Israel State Archives, where he was involved in efforts to expand public access to and digitize Israel’s historical records.

His scholarship focuses particularly on the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, Israeli history, and the role of archives in historical research and public life. His books include Hitler’s Bureaucrats: The Nazi Security Police and the Banality of Evil (2002) and Right to Exist: A Moral Defense of Israel’s Wars (2004). He currently teaches at Bar-Ilan University and researches the history of Israel’s settlement project.

The link at the top of this posting will take free subscribers to an excerpted portion of today’s conversation. For paid subscribers, the link at the top will take you to the full conversation; below, paid subscribers will also find a transcript for those who prefer to read, as always.

Below this brief introduction to today’s video, we have included a link to an article in PERSUASION by Amichai Magen, which lays out five scenarios for Israel’s elections. It’s a good piece, and I’m grateful to Professor Netta Barak-Corren for bringing it to my attention so that we could share it with our readers.

This morning—the day after I recorded t…

To long-term readers and listeners of Israel from the Inside, Professor Netta Barak-Corren is by now well known. During the height of the judicial reform debates, we hosted voices from across the political spectrum. But whenever we wanted a balanced, non-partisan, and deeply informed perspective on what was broken in Israel’s judicial system, what made the proposed changes problematic, and what a more moderate fix might look like, we turned to Professor Barak-Corren.

One of the most admired faculty members among Hebrew University Law students, Professor Barak-Corren is also an internationally recognized scholar who has taught around the globe.

Today, she brings her expertise to bear on Israel’s “electoral threshold”—a topic we have touched on here in recent weeks. Why does the threshold exist? Why did a previous government vote to raise it so dramatically? And did that reform actually work as intended?

Had the threshold been lower in 2022, it is quite possible that Benjamin Netanyahu would not be Prime Minister today (see my explanation here). Understanding this mechanism is critical for anyone interested in Israeli politics and in the country’s future—and there is no better guide to learn from than today’s guest.

If you would like to share our conversation about what Israelis are feeling and expressing at this unprecedented moment in our history, we invite you to subscribe today.

Prof. Netta Barak-Corren is a legal scholar and cognitive scientist specializing in the empirical and behavioral analysis of constitutional, public, and international law, and the relationship between law and society. She holds the Haim H. Cohn Chair in Human Rights and is a full professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Faculty of Law, where she leads an ERC Starting Grant developing an empirical approach to constitutional law. She is the inaugural ERC Ambassador to Israel, a member of the Israel Young Academy, and a Nootbaar Religious Freedom Fellow at Pepperdine University School of Law. She has previously held teaching and research positions at the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and Princeton, and will be a visiting professor at Yale Law School in spring 2027. She earned her degrees in law and cognitive science from the Hebrew University and received her doctorate from Harvard Law School in 2016.

To visit Netta Barak-Corren’s website, click here.

Professor Barak-Corren has kindly made her paper on the subject accessible to the IFTI communitiy. The paper is in Hebrew, but (a) you can easily copy portions and get AI translations, and (b) many of the charts are understandable without a great deal of Hebrew. Her paper can be viewed here.

The link at the top of this posting will take free subscribers to an excerpted portion of today’s conversation.

For paid subscribers, the link at the top will take you to the full conversation; below, paid subscribers will also find a transcript for those who prefer to read, as always.

Many Israelis noted—both publicly in the press and privately with family and friends—that there was something agonizing about this year’s October 7 commemoration that we hadn’t felt in years past. We all have our theories about why this year was so hard, and I address a few of them at the beginning of today’s video.

After October 7, though, when we all b…