It’s great to be back with the wonderful Ya’akov Katz doing what we love… jousting about Israeli politics. Although these days we agree on most things. Especially the imperative of Israel electing a different government on October 27.

I’ve been in North America for a month now and am asked everywhere… ”Will Bibi win? If not him then who can run the country?” One thing has become clear… there is a significant gap between the reality in Israel and the understanding in Canada and the US as to how critical the situation is. Israel is not just in another rough spot.

Israel is very much on the brink…if not over it… and we desperately need a government that will restore accountability and equality in a dangerously cleaved society. So Ya’akov and I decided to explain why this election is more about a viable coalition than a particular leader. In a country of 10-million people… Benjamin Netanyahu is not the only person who can lead us into the future.

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Yaakov Katz is an Israeli-American author and journalist. Between 2016 and 2023, Yaakov was editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post where he continues to write a popular weekly column.

He is the author of three books: “Shadow Strike – Inside Israel’s Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power”, “Weapon Wizards—How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower” and “Israel vs. Iran: The Shadow War.”

Prior to taking up the role of editor-in-chief, Yaakov served for two years as a senior policy adviser to Naftali Bennett during his tenure as Israel’s Minister of Economy and Minister of Diaspora Affairs.

In 2013, Yaakov was one of 12 international fellows to spend a year at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Originally from Chicago, Yaakov has a law degree from Bar Ilan University. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife Chaya and their four children.

Find Yaakov Katz on X.

“Crisply written... draws on excellent sources within Israel’s military and intelligence services.” —The Wall Street JournalA powerful indictment of the political and military decisions that led to October 7While Israel Slept tells the gripping inside story of how Hamas, Israel’s weakest enemy, succeeded in launching a surprise attack on one of the world’s most powerful militaries. Through a detailed examination of the events leading up to October 7, 2023, the book exposes the intelligence and strategic failures that enabled this devastating invasion. It takes readers back in time, showing how years of complacency, mistaken intelligence analysis, and a misguided policy of containment enabled Hamas to prepare for an assault that Israel did not believe was possible and that would change the Middle East.The book unveils the dramatic events of the night before the attack, highlighting the cracks in Israel’s military and political leadership. It provides unprecedented details on how key warnings were missed, and how Israel ignored the growing threat from Hamas, believing that the group was weak and deterred. By exposing these failures, While Israel Slept offers a stark, sobering account of how overconfidence and complacency paved the way for disaster, while underscoring the critical lessons Israel must embrace to safeguard its future.

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In recent decades, the burgeoning ultra-orthodox demographic in Israel has become increasingly autonomous and aggressively entitled. They have leveraged their political power skilfully - as the “Kingmakers” in successive elections. And their support has been very richly rewarded - particularly by PM Benjamin Netanyahu. He has diverted significant state funds to haredi institutions and programs in return for their coalition support. Four years ago, when negotiating the present coalition government, Netanyahu promised the haredi parties that the government would pass a law granting exempting ultra-orthodox men who studied religion full-time from IDF service. Additionally, the ultra-orthodox were allocated significant increases in financial support for families with a full-time religious student. In fact, haredi families are fully supported financially by the state. And in the last three years of near-constant war - when so many Israelis have given so much - state largesse to the ultra-orthodox has exceeded that allocated to veterans and their families. Day care is just one of many examples. Haredi families receive very generous stipends for day care costs, far more than what is provided to non-haredim. But their refusal to serve in the IDF and share the security burden that is so critical to Israel’s survival, well, that is too much. In this episode, we speak with Uri Keidar, who heads Free Israel, an NGO focused on policy that addresses religion and state matters. We discuss a recent hearing at the Supreme Court of Israel in which a non-judge panel heard arguments as to why haredi men who dodge their draft call-ups should be subject to arrest and criminal charges. This issue is tearing at the heart and soul of the country, perhaps more than any other. It is not the external enemies that will destroy Israel. It is the domestic madness.

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Podcast Notes

I mention this recent STLV article in the podcast that chronicles the last-minute efforts by the ultra-orthodox political parties to ram a law through the Knesset exempting haredi men from serving in the IDF. There are some great clips from committee discussions (with English subtitles) that show you the reality of this issue. It’s kind of surreal:

Uri Keidar is the Executive Director of Israel Hofsheet, the largest advocacy organization in Israel in the field of religious freedom and Jewish pluralism. Israel Hofsheet works with members of the Knesset, ministers, and government officials to promote liberal policies regarding Religion and State, and it also fosters change through municipal politics and change-maker training. The organization also creates national campaigns that move the needle around public opinion on these ideas. It also promotes Bottom-Up change as it conducts hundreds of Jewish weddings a year without the Chief Rabbinate’s involvement, making it the most prominent organization in Israel to do so.

Before this role, Uri spent over seven years in leading positions in civil society organizations and politics, both in elected and professional positions. Uri grew up in Kibbutz Givat Brenner, where he now lives with his wife, Ayelet, and their children, Imri, Adam, and Eytan. He also serves as the elected Chair of the Kibbutz’s Municipal Committee. Uri earned his BA in political science and communications from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, where he served as the elected Chairperson of the Student Union, and also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Tel Aviv University. He completed his military service as a tank commander in the IDF’s armored corps, where he still serves in active reserve duty.

Find Uri Keidar on Social Media:facebook.com/bfreeisraelinstagram.com/israel_hofsheet

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FDD Senior Fellow and former IDF Spokesperson, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus is back and dives deeply today on three issues: What’s really going on with Hamas? How should we interpret the tension between IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and Minister of Defense, Yisrael Katz? And of course - we get into Iran. Trump seems to be very indecisive and there are strong signs that the power struggle within Iran between the “moderate” political leadership and the hardline IRGC is becoming more entrenched. Conricus and I discuss the many concerning signs around the much-ballyhooed Board of Peace “agreement” with Hamas to disarm and relinquish power that was announced a few days ago. People have been writing to me and asking - “Is this real?” Who better to turn to on that question than Jonathan Conricus..

There are no clear terms, no protocols for overseeing and verifying disarmament and no indication that Hamas is actually serious about any of these initiatives. But President Trump needs a win…..and a distraction from the mess in which he’s entangled in Iran. And he seems to think that a very porous “agreement” with Hamas will divert attention from Iran. We discuss all that and more - with an interlude in the middle section about political brinksmanship between the IDF Chief of Staff and the Minister of Defense.

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Jonathan Conricus is a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington D.C.-based think tank. He served in the IDF for 24 years, four of them as spokesman during the intense 11 days of the Guardian of the Walls Operation between Israel and Hamas. Now a reserve officer with the rank of Lt. Col., he is a sought-after speaker internationally and is frequently seen on major television news shows. Jonathan was born in Jerusalem to a Swedish father and an Israeli mother and spent his formative years in Sweden.

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I spoke with Sharren Haskel in mid July, within days of her resignation from the Knesset. Immediately after the coalition government voted to recognize religious study as being a national foundational value, Haskel left the Knesset chamber and went straight to the cluster of reporters in the hallway. She would not stand by as the government made decisions that immediately imperiled the safety and security of Israel. For months, the IDF Chief of Staff has been warning the government that the army is about to collapse in on itself. Prime Minister Netanyahu pushed ahead, regardless, with his promise to the ultra-orthodox parties to enact a law giving them a lifetime exemption from IDF service. This policy is pushing Israelis - exhausted from three years of war - to the brink. Perhaps over. National unity and values are shaping up to be the key issue in this election to be held on October 27. There is no more fundamental value than security and defense. And equality. Sharren Haskel has long fought for these core principles and is now staking her political future on ensuring that this next election brings the change that more than 70% of Israelis want. A universal draft and an end to the absurd financial and other entitlements allocated to the haredim. We discuss this critical moment in the history of Israel and how she intends to bring much needed change Sharren is also one of the few women in the political scene. Israel used to be so much more progressive than so many countries. Or so it seemed. As haredi power becomes more entrenched and Likud is a hollowed-out husk of talent, we see a government dominated by older men. Older tired men. It is time for a new wave of talent and leadership.

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Sharren Haskel is married and the mother of three young children.

At 18, she served in the Israel Defense Force, as a combat soldier in the Border Guards during the Second Intifada. Following her military service, Deputy Minister Haskel pursued a career in veterinary medicine.

Haskel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and International Relations from The Open University in Israel, where she also was the Israeli national debating champion. She entered the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in 2015.

In November 2024, she was sworn in as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. She resigned from her position in mid July, immediately following the Knesset vote recognizing religious study as a foundational value of

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Since resuming America’s on-again off-again war with Iran, President Trump has left astute observers of military strategy slack-jawed. Among them is Andrew Fox, a repeat State of Tel Aviv and Beyond guest and one of those rare individuals who brings rich experience from the battlefield, backroom policy and military discussions. These days Fox is immersed in the academic side of things. Fox came out swinging earlier this week with an essay very candidly discussing the lack of strategy in American policy regarding its conflict with Iran. Articulated goals change - frequently and dramatically. The lack of consistency and discipline in the way in which America is handing Iran is worrisome. Very. Fox and I get into what America seems to be doing in Iran and why it should either focus its blurry war strategy or cut its losses and pull out. This is not a real estate deal. And it’s unclear that the President understands that.

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Podcast Notes:

Essay by Andrew Fox published on July 20, 2026, which formed the basis of this discussion:

Andrew Fox is a former British Army Major and frontline conflict researcher specialising in modern warfare. A former senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he is now a senior associate fellow at several international think tanks and a regular media commentator on global conflicts.

He writes the Fox on War Substack and co-hosts The Brink podcast, bringing field reporting and strategic analysis from conflicts including Gaza and Ukraine.

State of Tel Aviv is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This evening at sundown marks the onset of Tisha B’Av, a 25-hour period in the Jewish calendar which is the saddest of the year. We commemorate and remember the destruction of the First and Second Temples, among the most important events in Jewish history. These disasters led to the dispersal of the Jewish people for thousands of years. They never abandoned their dream of returning to their ancient homeland, but throughout the centuries of exile they were persecuted ruthlessly and relentlessly. In Spain. England. Throughout Europe. In the middle east. And today, we are clearly in the early stages of yet another era of extreme tumult. For Jews.

In this episode I speak with Dr. Yiftach Shalev of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Just a few weeks ago, Dr. Shalev and his team discovered charred wooden beams used in the construction of a grand home adjacent to the First Temple, which was destroyed by the Babylonians. The parallels regarding what transpired during this time and on October 7 are eerie. And we are only able to understand the commonalities because of strides in scientific and forensic analysis.

Think about it. For a wooden beam charred more than 2,000 years ago to be preserved so that it can be analyzed is extraordinary. What kind of wood was used? Where did it come from? Why did it not decay? Dr. Shalev analyses the detail to preserve and present the big picture. The attackers had a plan. They ignited concentrated fires that incinerated the Temple and adjacent buildings, with temperatures reaching 700 degrees Celsius. Just as Hamas did on October 7. They had a similar plan, going house to house, torching the living and murdered.

Everything about this story is fascinating; the scientific advances that make this forensic archaeological work possible. And how much it enhances our understanding of the present, in the context of the past. This is more than archaeology. It is history, war, conquest, and political reality tumbled together. If nothing else listen to the introduction and watch the two minute video. You’ll be hooked by then. Trust me. I have never been one to show great interest in “archaeological” stories. This changed everything.

Podcast Notes

Dr. Yiftah Shalev is a leading field archaeologist and the Scientific Advisor for the Jerusalem District of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Over the course of his career, he has directed and participated in major excavations throughout Israel. He spent fifteen years excavating at Tel Dor, one of the most important archaeological sites on Israel’s Mediterranean coast, before turning his primary research focus to Jerusalem.

Since 2017, Shalev has co-led the Givati Parking Lot excavations in ancient Jerusalem. The excavations he directs have reshaped our understanding of the city’s development from the Iron Age through the Persian and Hellenistic periods. Among the remarkable discoveries he has helped bring to light are a monumental rock-cut moat that once divided ancient Jerusalem, an elite public building destroyed during the Babylonian conquest of 586 BCE, the first decorated ivory panels discovered in Jerusalem, and vessels that once contained wine flavored with vanilla. He is also advancing a pioneering interdisciplinary project that uses cosmic-ray muons to investigate underground spaces and structures without excavation.

Following the October 7, 2023 attacks, Shalev was called upon to take part in the emergency effort in the communities near the Gaza border, where he used archaeological methods as part of the search for missing persons.

Shalev is a teaching fellow at Tel Aviv University and Jerusalem University College. He has published extensively on the archaeology of Jerusalem, ancient economy, and Mediterranean trade networks. His interdisciplinary research has appeared in leading journals, including PNAS, Scientific Reports, PLOS ONE, the Journal of Applied Physics, the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Tel Aviv, and the Israel Exploration Journal. He is married, a father of three, and enjoys hiking and traveling with his family.

Show your support for STLV at buymeacoffee.com/stateoftelaviv

State of Tel Aviv is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

It is great to have Ya’akov Katz back from his holiday in the Canadian wilderness. He is just in time to help unpack and decipher the political chaos that has intensified in Israel in recent weeks.

In fact, this past week may have been one of the most consequential since October 7 in Israel. As we begin the countdown to elections on October 27 a very harsh reality is taking shape.

We begin by paying tribute to Senator Lindsay Graham z”l, touch on the latest escalation in the conflict between Iran and America and then move to the main event: the pending Israeli elections and the mess that PM Benjamin Netanyahu has made of Israel.

We are led by a 76-year-old man who seems incapable of relinquishing power. Bibi has led an unprecedented blitz of legislation that was jammed through the Knesset in the last two weeks. The flurry of laws further empowers the ultra-orthodox haredim and other extremists who constitute the coalition government. Netanyahu has sold out the majority; the Israelis who work, pay taxes, and serve in the army. He has put the IDF in an untenable position. The demands his government places on the military are beyond excessive. The IDF Chief of Staff has been warning for months that they are unable to properly defend the state and the people. But Netanyahu is quite prepared to court that risk in order to stay in power. He has acceded to outright political extortion to appease the haredim, while enraging everyone else.

We continue to look at how the election playing field is shaping up and who may be the main individuals and parties leading up to October 27. Never before has more been at stake.

Ya’akov and I get into what is a profound betrayal by the Prime Minister of Israel’s national values in order to further his partisan interests. And, of course, his personal goals. If you missed it yesterday you might want to read the Wrap that we published which gets into more detail about the shenanigans in the Knesset of the last two weeks and how imperiled is democracy in Israel. We’ve lost our way. This election is critical for re-calibrating everything in this country. If we don’t….

Just this morning, Ya’akov Katz’s weekly column in the Jerusalem Post further addressed the issues we discuss in the pod. Well worth reading. The link is below:

Israel’s government knew the risks of haredi draft evasion – and ignored them - opinion

Leadership is supposed to be about making difficult decisions for the good of the country, even when they carry political costs. What we saw this week is the opposite.

Show your support for STLV at buymeacoffee.com/stateoftelaviv

Yaakov Katz is an Israeli-American author and journalist. Between 2016 and 2023, Yaakov was editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post where he continues to write a popular weekly column.

He is the author of three books: “Shadow Strike – Inside Israel’s Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power”, “Weapon Wizards—How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower” and “Israel vs. Iran: The Shadow War.”

Prior to taking up the role of editor-in-chief, Yaakov served for two years as a senior policy adviser to Naftali Bennett during his tenure as Israel’s Minister of Economy and Minister of Diaspora Affairs.

In 2013, Yaakov was one of 12 international fellows to spend a year at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Originally from Chicago, Yaakov has a law degree from Bar Ilan University. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife Chaya and their four children.

Find Yaakov Katz on X.

“Crisply written... draws on excellent sources within Israel’s military and intelligence services.” —The Wall Street JournalA powerful indictment of the political and military decisions that led to October 7While Israel Slept tells the gripping inside story of how Hamas, Israel’s weakest enemy, succeeded in launching a surprise attack on one of the world’s most powerful militaries. Through a detailed examination of the events leading up to October 7, 2023, the book exposes the intelligence and strategic failures that enabled this devastating invasion. It takes readers back in time, showing how years of complacency, mistaken intelligence analysis, and a misguided policy of containment enabled Hamas to prepare for an assault that Israel did not believe was possible and that would change the Middle East.The book unveils the dramatic events of the night before the attack, highlighting the cracks in Israel’s military and political leadership. It provides unprecedented details on how key warnings were missed, and how Israel ignored the growing threat from Hamas, believing that the group was weak and deterred. By exposing these failures, While Israel Slept offers a stark, sobering account of how overconfidence and complacency paved the way for disaster, while underscoring the critical lessons Israel must embrace to safeguard its future.

The Israeli election must be held by October 27, latest, and Dr. Einat Wilf, former MK and prominent public presence (not sure what to call her - politician? Advocate? Public intellectual? All of the above?) is emerging as a strong voice in the mix of candidates vying for Israeli votes. Her newly constituted party - Oz - advocates a return to the fundamental principles of political Zionism, or, as she puts it - “from exilic mindset to sovereign conduct.” Einat was raised in a very progressive, left-leaning environment. I would not suggest for a moment that she has veered rightward. I happen to find the “right-left” paradigm obsolete these days but especially so when it comes to Israel. Those often tagged as being “right” are anything but. They have morphed into extremists of different types. What we have in Israel today is a large left/centrist/center right majority that is looking for a way to ensure that the extremist coalition that we have lived with for four years is not re-elected. Einat Wilf and the Oz party are solidly in that majority mix. We talk about her party’s fierce dedication to the founding principles of the state of Israel; a pluralistic, liberal democracy. And she makes no apologies for standing firm.

As I mention in the podcast introduction, I first met Einat Wilf when I began my tenure as Canadian Ambassador to Israel in winter, 2014. She has continued to embody the best of Israel. Proud. Strong. Knowledgeable and courageous. We need people with Einat’s integrity and intelligence in the mix in the Knesset…….and, frankly, we need women in positions of leadership in Israel. In the last decade we have slipped terribly in that regard. Not only is the political sphere male-dominated, but they tend to be repressively so - towards women. That’s my view. Do not attribute it to Einat - although I expect she would agree.

We begin this podcast with the horrifying attacks recently on US Congressional candidate Scott Wiener. Why? Because the harassment of him is exactly what Oz is all about. Reclaiming our dignity and nationhood.

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Podcast Notes

* Link to five minute animation video recently released by Einat Wilf explaining the history and political concept of Zionism.

* Website for Einat Wilf’s Oz Party - in English (also Hebrew, if you prefer - just toggle in the menu at the top of the page. https://www.ozparty.co.il/en

Dr. Einat Wilf is Chair of Oz Party and a leading thinker on Israel, Zionism, foreign policy and education. She was a member of the Israeli Parliament from 2010 to 2013, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Born and raised in Israel, Dr. Wilf served as an Intelligence Officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company. Dr. Wilf has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. She was the Goldman Visiting Professor at Georgetown University. Dr. Wilf is the author of seven books that explore key issues in Israeli society. “We Should All Be Zionists”, published in 2022, brings together her essays from the past four years on Israel, Zionism and the path to peace; the co-authored “The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace”, was published in 2020.

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Our star return guest, FDD Senior Fellow, Jonathan Conricus, has just returned to Israel from a three-week speaking tour in Canada. And he has a lot to say. About many things. We focus in this podcast on the continued volatility in the Middle East, with the MoU negotiations between Iran and America in Switzerland overshadowing everything. As President Trump “joked” when assigning VP Vance to the thankless task, if he is successful (however that is measured) then Trump will take credit… and if he fails, well, he’ll get the blame. The MoU parameters seem to have been slapped together in quite a hurry, more in order to push oil prices down and allow a happy celebration of the 250th 4th of July, a truly momentous occasion. But the spectacle of America denigrating its most reliable ally in the the Middle East (and possibly the world) - Israel - while presenting Islamist, terror supporting governments - notably Pakistan and Qatar - as the “reasonable” players, should give everyone pause. Trump even went so far as to speak of Hamas as being “good guys” and the new/not new Iranian regime as being “very reasonable.” Conricus and I discuss the optics and the facts and I don’t want to spoil the ending but neither one of us is overly optimistic regarding the outcome of these negotiations.

He also shares his view of what’s going on in Canada, these days a country with a very pro-Islamist and deeply antisemitic and anti-Israel government, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Conricus returned quite disheartened by what he saw and heard while in Canada. Now he understands much more intimately that I’m not exaggerating when I report, with great sadness and reluctance, on the radical transformation of my home and native land. (I’m sure those words - taken from the version of the national anthem I grew up on - have been replaced by some unintelligible DEI version. Too bad.)

We’ve included some really fantastic video segments in this podcast - going back to the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis. Remember those daily broadcasts by the extreme students holding American diplomats hostage? Well, we’ve got that and much more: Hezballah attack tunnels in southern Lebanon; J.D. Vance slamming Israel; and more.

Podcast Notes

Full video of a speech delivered on Monday, June 22 in Jerusalem by U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee

My recent op-ed in the National Post addressing Canadian PM Mark Carney’s failure to address rampant antisemitism.

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Jonathan Conricus is a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington D.C.-based think tank. He served in the IDF for 24 years, four of them as spokesman during the intense 11 days of the Guardian of the Walls Operation between Israel and Hamas. Now a reserve officer with the rank of Lt. Col., he is a sought-after speaker internationally and is frequently seen on major television news shows. Jonathan was born in Jerusalem to a Swedish father and an Israeli mother and spent his formative years in Sweden.

State of Tel Aviv is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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After very intense days of build-up, when President Trump spoke openly about his anger at his one-time pal, Benjamin Netanyahu, we learned on Sunday night - the President’s 80th birthday - that Iran and America had agreed to end the war.

Come again? Which war?

On Monday, the President, Vice-President and Iranian Foreign Minister Aragchi signed a “Memorandum of Understanding”. Electronically. Diplomacy by docu-sign. We are told that it takes care of all outstanding business and acrimony. Most importantly, Trump gloated, gas prices dropped immediately and the Strait of Hormuz was open to commercial shipping traffic. Who knew it was all so easily resolved?

On today’s podcast I get into the ugly underbelly of this “deal” - or what we think we know about it - with two of the top analysts in this business: Andrew Fox and Negar Mojtahedi. Their bios are below. The discussion is fantastic.

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Podcast Notes

Must-read essay published on Monday, June 15, by Andrew Fox. “Anatomy of a Debacle.”

Andrew Fox is a former British Army Major and frontline conflict researcher specialising in modern warfare. A former senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he is now a senior associate fellow at several international think tanks and a regular media commentator on global conflicts.

He writes the Fox on War Substack and co-hosts The Brink podcast, bringing field reporting and strategic analysis from conflicts including Gaza and Ukraine.

Negar Mojtahedi is a journalist with Iran International and an award-winning documentary filmmaker. She is based in Vancouver, B.C.

Follow Negar on X @NegarMojtahedi / Instagram @negarmojtahedi

State of Tel Aviv is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.