On a cool, unusually relaxed Friday morning in Tel Aviv, the city feels like it has exhaled. After two tense days of rumors, alerts, and the sense that a U.S. strike on Iran might be imminent, the immediate danger appears—at least for now—to have receded. But that calm comes with a bitter underside: Iranian demonstrators who were encouraged to take enormous risks are now facing a regime that still kills, while Washington appears to be stepping away. I look at the possible reasons behind Trump’s reversal—logistics, Gulf pressure, internal U.S. politics, and the hard reality of what it would take to sustain a campaign—and what that means for Israel’s missile-defense readiness after last year’s confrontations with Iran.

Then we shift back to Israel’s own unresolved fronts: the Trump administration’s announcement that “stage two” of the Gaza plan has begun, the stalled reality of reconstruction and disarmament, and the lingering failure to return the last hostage’s body. Domestically, the countdown to elections tightens as the budget deadline approaches and Netanyahu fights to pass a draft-exemption law for the ultra-Orthodox—using political deals that many Israelis see as corrosive to the state. Finally, I take a tour through the week in AI: Google’s Gemini integrating with everyday services, Apple’s reported pivot, Anthropic’s Claude as a genuine working partner, and OpenAI’s move into medical records—along with a warning about where all of this leads if AI ever gets a body. Shabbat Shalom from Tel Aviv.

This week on Tel Aviv Diary, Marc Schulman sits down with Ruthie Blum—journalist, and commentator —for a wide-ranging conversation that begins with biography and ends in the fog of history-in-the-making. Schulman and Bloom first met as on-air foils on i24News—“the right-wing woman” and “the left-wing man,” as Bloom puts it—but their discussion quickly shows how much the political map has shifted, and how often today’s arguments scramble old labels. What emerges is not a debate for sport, but a candid conversation between two people who disagree on some fundamentals, yet share a sense that the ground has moved beneath everyone’s feet.

Bloom recounts a life shaped by New York’s intellectual world and by her parents, Norman Podhoretz and Midge Decter, figures associated with the original neoconservative turn—liberals who migrated toward conservatism in the late Cold War era. Her own political instincts, she says, were formed early: a suspicion of elite hypocrisy, a preference for merit, and an impatience with fashionable ideology. She describes arriving in Israel in 1977 intending a single year at Hebrew University—and then staying, building a life that took her from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and from “Dear Ruthie” at The Jerusalem Post to editing roles and ultimately to her current work at Jewish News Syndicate, alongside a weekly video podcast with former ambassador Mark Regev (“Israel Undiplomatic”). Along the way, Schulman and Bloom spar and converge on a theme that recurs throughout the episode: equality of opportunity versus equality of outcome—and what happens when a country’s opportunities are shaped by geography, class, and war.

From there, the discussion widens to Israel’s immediate strategic uncertainty. With Iran dominating Israeli attention, the episode captures a society living on alert—sandals by the bed, jokes about shelters, and a sense that “unfinished business” hangs in every direction even after the return of most hostages. Schulman and Bloom treat predictions with skepticism, emphasizing how hard it is to understand events while they are still unfolding—and why Israelis, in particular, have learned to live inside contingency. They discuss how Iran’s trajectory could reshape the region’s other arenas—from Hezbollah to Gaza—without claiming certainty about what comes next.

The conversation then turns to Qatargate, leaks, and the way foreign money and influence seem to seep through multiple systems—Israeli politics, Western universities, and media ecosystems. Bloom, who worked briefly inside the Prime Minister’s Office before and after October 7, offers dry humor and sharp skepticism, while Schulman presses on accountability and institutional trust. Their disagreement here is real, but so is their shared frustration: Israel’s governance battles, they suggest, are intensified by structural problems—no constitution, unclear boundaries between branches, and power vacuums that politics rushes to fill.

Finally, the episode shifts to America, where both hosts express deep concern over the mainstreaming of antisemitism—first on the left and now increasingly on the right. Bloom outlines how figures with large platforms have normalized or echoed antisemitic tropes, and why that matters more than fringe theatrics. Schulman asks the historian’s question—how did this travel from the margins to the semi-mainstream?—and Bloom traces a combustible mix: resentment politics, isolationism, and conspiratorial narratives that now circulate with alarming speed.

The episode closes on a rare note of optimism—Bloom recounts her son, a Gaza veteran, telling younger coworkers that despite the exhaustion and trauma, Israel has also achieved outcomes that would have seemed impossible before October 7. It’s a complicated hope, not a cheerful one—but it is the kind Israelis recognize: measured, hard-earned, and spoken without illusion.

January 9, 2026 finds Israel in a familiar but unsettling posture: waiting. In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary, Marc Schulman surveys a region caught between ceasefire talk and battlefield reality—Gaza’s “stage two” remains opaque, Hamas appears financially entrenched through control and taxation of incoming goods, and the final unresolved issue of a captive’s remains hangs over the process as a warning from past agonizing precedents.

On the northern front, the picture is similarly suspended. Hezbollah has been weakened and partially constrained, yet not decisively disarmed; Israeli strikes continue, but larger decisions are deferred as Jerusalem and its neighbors watch Iran. Marc explores the historical problem of predicting revolutions—how regimes fall (or don’t), what outsiders misunderstand, and why Iran’s trajectory could reshape the entire Middle East, from Hezbollah’s funding to future nuclear diplomacy and the region’s diplomatic alignments.

The episode also flags a quiet but potentially consequential development: reports surrounding Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s visit to Somaliland and speculation about an Israeli military foothold near the Bab al-Mandab—an outpost that could matter for Red Sea security and future Houthi contingencies. At home, Israeli politics shifts toward election season, with the ultra-Orthodox draft and workforce participation debate at the center, and party primaries intensifying the country’s internal divisions. Marc then turns outward to U.S. politics—from Venezuela and the expanding reach of presidential power to the broader implications of force, norms, and precedent.

January 9, 2026 finds Israel in a familiar but unsettling posture: waiting. In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary, Marc Schulman surveys a region caught between ceasefire talk and battlefield reality—Gaza’s “stage two” remains opaque, Hamas appears financially entrenched through control and taxation of incoming goods, and the final unresolved issue of a captive’s remains hangs over the process as a warning from past agonizing precedents.

On the northern front, the picture is similarly suspended. Hezbollah has been weakened and partially constrained, yet not decisively disarmed; Israeli strikes continue, but larger decisions are deferred as Jerusalem and its neighbors watch Iran. Marc explores the historical problem of predicting revolutions—how regimes fall (or don’t), what outsiders misunderstand, and why Iran’s trajectory could reshape the entire Middle East, from Hezbollah’s funding to future nuclear diplomacy and the region’s diplomatic alignments.

The episode also flags a quiet but potentially consequential development: reports surrounding Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s visit to Somaliland and speculation about an Israeli military foothold near the Bab al-Mandab—an outpost that could matter for Red Sea security and future Houthi contingencies. At home, Israeli politics shifts toward election season, with the ultra-Orthodox draft and workforce participation debate at the center, and party primaries intensifying the country’s internal divisions. Marc then turns outward to U.S. politics—from Venezuela and the expanding reach of presidential power to the broader implications of force, norms, and precedent.

In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary, Marc speaks with Russell Robinson, CEO of Jewish National Fund USA, about how descendent of a century-old institution—best known to many for the iconic blue donation box—became a driver of some of Israel’s most ambitious nation-building projects.

Robinson recounts his own unlikely path from El Paso, Texas, into Jewish communal leadership, and the pivotal moment Ronald Lauder recruited him to help tackle what he calls Israel’s looming water catastrophe. He walks through the thinking behind the Lauder Water Plan, the hard choices between desalination and large-scale water reuse, and why long-term infrastructure planning—quietly and persistently—can change a country’s trajectory.

The conversation then moves from water to geography and demography: the push to develop the Negev through “Blueprint Negev,” the effort to strengthen Israel’s north, and on-the-ground work in places like Kiryat Shmona—from a new regional medical center to housing and education initiatives. Robinson argues that Israel’s future depends not only on projects, but on people—especially teenagers—and makes the case for long-term Israel programs as the most consequential investment American Jewry can make in the next generation.

In this thought-provoking episode of Tel Aviv Diary, host Marc Schulman sits down with Dr. Chuck Freilich, former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council and current senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School and Columbia University, to explore a bold alternative to the seemingly impossible Israeli-Palestinian stalemate.

With decades of experience in Israel’s defense establishment and three published books on Israeli national security, Freilich presents an innovative three-part proposal that moves beyond the conventional two-state framework. His plan centers on a confederation between Jordan and the Palestinians, multilateral land swaps involving Egypt to expand Gaza while allowing Israel to incorporate major settlement blocs, and an Israeli civil separation from most of the West Bank while maintaining security control.

The conversation tackles the hard questions: Why has the traditional two-state solution effectively died, especially after October 7th? How do you overcome extremists on both sides who have consistently derailed peace efforts? Can legal guarantees for Jordan’s Hashemite kingdom be trusted in today’s volatile Middle East? And perhaps most importantly, how can any agreement succeed without a Palestinian leader willing to truly end the conflict?

Beyond the Palestinian issue, Freilich offers his perspective on Israel’s current strategic challenges across four fronts—Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran—and sounds the alarm on what he sees as the greatest existential threat: the deteriorating relationship with the United States. With support eroding on both the Democratic left and troubling signs emerging on the Republican right, he argues that saving the U.S.-Israel relationship must be the next government’s top priority.

While acknowledging his proposal faces enormous obstacles and may only have slightly better prospects than the classic two-state solution, Freilich makes a compelling case for why new thinking is essential. As he notes, continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity—and after nearly 60 years of occupation, it’s time to think outside the box.

In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary, Marc is joined again by his friend Ehud Haik retired military officer, to take stock of Israel’s strategic reality—now that the landscape has shifted since Ehud’s last appearance. Last time they spoke it was before the ceasefire, beforehostages began returning, and before it was clear whether the regional balance had changed or merely rearranged itself. This conversation begins where Israelis are living today: Gaza, the uncertainty around what comes next, and the uncomfortable truth that Gaza can no longer be understood as an isolated front.

Ehud argues that, tactically, Israel has redrawn the map—enforcing what he calls a new border, the “Yellow Line,” and doing so aggressively. But sustainability, he says, depends less on Israel’s capabilities than on what external forces will permit. From there the discussion expands outward: Iran trying to re-carve its place after setbacks; Turkey pushing to emerge as a regional superpower and attempting to insert itself into Gaza; and Qatar working to preserve its influence and, in Ehud’s view, to help keep Hamas alive in some form. The key variable hovering over all of it is Washington—specifically what Donald Trump will allow, tolerate, or decide, and how much leverage Turkey and Qatar may have in that calculus.

The episode then pivots to the larger strategic dangers that may be building beneath the surface: the risk of Turkish “official” involvement in Gaza, the question of whether reconstruction becomes Israel’s primary leverage, and why a future war could arrive faster than people want to admit—especially if Hamas remains armed or if Turkey gains a foothold. From there, Marc and Ehud move into Iran: sanctions, internal regime pressures, executions, the nuclear question, missile production realities, and the widening advantage attackers gain in a cyber age shaped by AI. The conversation closes with Israeli politics and accountability: October 7 as a stain that cannot be erased, Netanyahu’s dependence on PR and delay, the draft crisis, and a warning that Israel may be rebuilding its future force structure without fully confronting what went wrong. Recorded on the eighth night of Hanukkah, the episode ends with a sober but fitting line: hope for the best—prepare for the worst.

In this hybrid episode of Tel Aviv Diary, Marc Schulman opens with a fast-moving roundup from overnight: the fallout from a Breslov Hasidim trip toward Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem/Nablus that ended in a hit-and-run of a Palestinian civilian, renewed friction around one of the West Bank’s most persistent flashpoints, and reflections—personal and political—on widening ultra-Orthodox riots in Jerusalem and Ashkelon as the conscription fight escalates.

From there, Marc turns to the broader strategic picture: another alleged Iranian espionage arrest, anxieties about what a future “round two” with Iran could look like, and cautious skepticism about claims that another Lebanon war is inevitable. He also breaks down fresh polling signals—tightening numbers, shifting blocs, and what they may (or may not) mean as Israel heads toward an election deadline.

The heart of the episode is an interview with Jack Lowenstein, a longtime Tel Aviv Diary subscriber living roughly 500 meters from Bondi Beach. Jack describes Australia’s Jewish community in a week of fear and solidarity—vigils, public Hanukkah lighting, the debate over “being seen” versus keeping a low profile, and sharp criticism of government and security failures. Their conversation widens into diaspora dilemmas: Aliyah as an “insurance policy,” the uneasy balance between safety and belonging, and why events far from Israel increasingly feel tied to Israel’s choices—and Israel’s image—at home.

In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary, Marc Schulman sits down with neighbor and new olah David Schlachter, who moved his family from the Bay Area to Tel Aviv in August 2024 after a decade-long plan collided with the realities of October 7 and rising antisemitism in the United States. David describes the family’s debate—stay in California or make the leap during wartime—and what it felt like to land, settle, and place three children into Israeli public schools just days before the school year began.

David also shares his unusual sabbatical project: building a “demographic mosaic” of Israel by creating 100 profiles that mirror the country’s population—by age, gender, geography, and background—then interviewing and photographing real people to match each profile. The result is a portrait-driven book, “Hinenu” (“Here we are”), designed to capture Israel at a singular moment: diverse, wounded, resilient, and intensely communal. Along the way, Marc and David talk about Tel Aviv’s transformation since 2010—food, coffee, skyline, and all—and why, in Israel, strangers are often ready to tell their life story if someone simply takes the time to ask.

Show notes: Hinenu: Israel at Ten Million is a new photography and oral-history book by David Shlachter that captures Israel through the lives of 100 people at the exact moment the country reached a population of ten million. Created during wartime and deep national uncertainty, the project pairs striking portraits with first-person stories that reflect Israel’s full demographic mosaic—Jews and Arabs, religious and secular, sabras and immigrants, elders and children—mirroring the latest census data.

Intentionally apolitical, Hinenu (Hebrew for Here we are) is an act of listening: a human portrait of a society still becoming itself, told in its own voices.

Learn more at www.HinenuBook.com

In this week’s Tel Aviv Diary (December 12), Marc Schulman reflects on newly released IDF-captured Hamas footage of six hostages later executed in the tunnels under Rafah—images of young Israelis lighting Hanukkah candles underground, trying to keep their spirits alive, as the country watches with grief and fury. Marc returns to Hostage Square after the storm, noting what has been dismantled, what still stands, and the clock still counting down—especially for the one last body not yet returned. He asks what comes next in Gaza as talk swirls around a Trump-backed plan, a looming committee, and conditions—Hamas disarmament, Israeli pullbacks, and controversial roles for Turkey, Qatar, and the Palestinian Authority—that collide with political realities in Jerusalem.

From there, the episode widens to Israel’s northern front, the uneasy truce lines, and a larger argument about defense: how much of Israel’s future security will be manpower, and how much can be technology—interceptors, lasers, surveillance, and eventually autonomous systems—without repeating the blindness of October 7. Marc then turns to the budget fight and the ultra-Orthodox draft crisis, tracing the issue from Ben-Gurion’s original exemptions through the Tal Law era and Supreme Court rulings to today’s political brinkmanship, committee shakeups, and a bill widely viewed as preserving exemptions rather than producing the soldiers the army says it needs. Finally, he surveys American politics and AI: a Trump national security doctrine that, in Marc’s view, reads like disengagement from the world; big-tech moves that reshape culture and power; and a regulatory retreat that leaves AI accelerating with fewer constraints—ending the week with hard questions, sharp skepticism, and a Shabbat Shalom from Tel Aviv.

In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary, Marc speaks with Alon Ben-Noon, founder and CEO of NeuroSense Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NRSN), about Israel’s bid to change the prognosis for ALS. Ben-Noon traces his path from early years in Nahariya, studies in industrial engineering and an MBA, and work at Perrigo and Teva, to launching his own consultancy and eventually founding NeuroSense. He recounts how meeting ALS patient and activist Shai Rishoni pushed him from advising biotech companies to building one, and how that encounter led to the development of PrimeC, a combination drug designed to target key ALS mechanisms such as neuroinflammation, iron dysregulation, and microRNA imbalance.

Ben-Noon explains what PrimeC has shown so far in trials—slowing functional decline by roughly 30–40% and improving survival by about 60% in a phase 2b study—and outlines the company’s next step: an international phase 3 trial in the U.S., Europe, and Israel, now cleared by the FDA. The conversation ranges from the scientific debate over whether ALS is one disease or many, to the realities of running a small public biotech company from Herzliya, raising capital, partnering with big pharma, and keeping focus through war and national trauma after October 7. Ben-Noon shares his cautious optimism about the timeline ahead, his hopes for eventually “beating ALS,” and why he believes Israeli ingenuity and persistence can help turn a devastating diagnosis into a treatable condition.