In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary, I begin with a grim update from Tel Aviv after a night that was anything but quiet. Repeated missile warnings sent us to the shelters at 1:00 a.m., again at 4:30, and then once more at 7:20 in the morning, when a missile with multiple warheads struck in Tel Aviv, landing uncomfortably close to home. It was a stark reminder that for those of us living here, this war is not an abstraction but a constant, physical presence.

The main conversation, recorded the night before, features former intelligence officer and security consultant Ehud Haik. Together we try to make sense of a war whose opening phase has brought undeniable military successes, but whose strategic endgame remains deeply uncertain. Ehud argues that President Trump’s push toward negotiations may be the only realistic path forward if the alternative is a prolonged air war with no political resolution. We discuss whether regimes can truly be toppled from the air, what history teaches from Japan to Serbia, and why Iran’s size, resilience, and internal dynamics make this a far more complicated conflict than many imagined at the outset.

We also turn to the broader failures of strategy closer to home: Israel’s reliance on force without diplomacy, the repeated lessons of Lebanon and Gaza, and the danger of tactical victories turning into long-term political defeats. Along the way, we examine the role of the United States, the possibility of a regional nuclear chain reaction, and the troubling sense that while missiles may be intercepted, no one yet seems able to articulate a coherent political destination. It is a sobering, candid conversation recorded in real time, in the middle of a war whose outcome remains painfully unresolved.

In this March 20 episode of Tel Aviv Diary, Marc Schulman speaks from Tel Aviv after the first full night of sleep in days, a brief pause in a war that has now reached the three-week mark. With Iranian missile fire shifting toward Jerusalem, Ashdod, Haifa, and the north, Marc steps back from the daily alerts and asks the larger question: What exactly has Israel accomplished, what were the real goals of this war, and how does it end?

This episode examines the military success Israel has achieved in Iran—eliminating senior leaders, destroying missile launchers, factories, and key parts of the regime’s military infrastructure—while also confronting the far more difficult political and strategic questions that remain unresolved. Marc discusses the uncertainty over regime change, the unresolved issue of Iran’s enriched uranium, the critical role of U.S. support, and the growing risk that Israel could emerge from the war having won tactically while losing ground strategically and diplomatically.

He also turns to the home front: the exhaustion of Israeli civilians, the government’s failure to prepare the country properly, the lack of shelters in the north, the plight of small business owners, and the growing strain on a society that has now lived under tension, war, and political crisis for years. This is a wide-ranging and deeply personal episode about war, resilience, American politics, Hezbollah, Trump, Netanyahu, and the fear that success may prove far harder to define than anyone imagined.

In this hybrid episode of Tel Aviv Diary, Marc Schulman begins not with theory or politics from afar, but with the immediate reality of life in wartime Tel Aviv. Just before recording, missile alarms once again sent him, his dog, and his laptop down to the shelter, part of a now-familiar routine as Iran continues its attacks on the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Marc reflects on the exhausting rhythm of interrupted nights, repeated alerts, and the emotional swings that come with living through a war that still has no clear end. He weighs the latest developments, including Israeli strikes on senior Iranian regime figures and the possibility, however uncertain, that sustained pressure on the regime could produce a larger political unraveling inside Iran. At the same time, he is candid about the ambiguity of the moment: the fear of a long war of attrition, the strain on Israeli society, the question of whether the Iranian regime can truly be shaken, and the uneasy sense that everything may depend on decisions being made far above the heads of ordinary people trying simply to get through the day.

From that raw and current opening, the episode shifts to a previously recorded interview with Yuval David—actor, journalist, commentator, activist, and fellow of the Middle East Forum—for a wide-ranging discussion about the battle over public opinion, Jewish identity, and the future of Israel and the diaspora. Yuval speaks about his work in strategic communications, his efforts to counter antisemitism and anti-Israel disinformation, and the challenge of operating in a world where social media, propaganda, and emotional sloganeering often overwhelm facts. Together, Marc and Yuval explore the changing nature of antisemitism in America, the erosion of the political center, the failures of pro-Israel advocacy over many decades, and the need not only to fight hatred but also to strengthen Jewish education, Jewish confidence, and Jewish public presence. The conversation is frank, sober, and often deeply personal, grappling with whether optimism is still justified in such a bleak moment.

What emerges is an episode that captures both the immediacy of war and the longer struggle over meaning, identity, and endurance. Marc brings the perspective of someone speaking from a city under missile threat, while Yuval offers the voice of an advocate trying to shape the broader information war in the United States and beyond. The result is a conversation about resilience in two senses: physical resilience under fire, and moral and communal resilience in an age of disinformation, polarization, and rising hostility toward Jews and Israel. This is an episode about fatigue, uncertainty, argument, and persistence—and about the stubborn insistence that even in dark times, one keeps speaking, keeps fighting, and keeps hoping.

In today’s Tel Aviv Diary podcast, recorded on Friday, March 13, Marc Schulman reports from a subdued and uneasy Tel Aviv on the 14th day of the Israel-U.S. war against Iran, as fighting with Hezbollah continues in the north. The streets of Tel Aviv are unusually empty for a beautiful Friday afternoon, a visible sign of a public mood that has shifted from early resolve to growing exhaustion and doubt. Marc reflects on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s first press conference of the war, his uninspiring message to the public, and the deepening sense among many Israelis that this conflict—unlike the war forced on Israel after October 7—was a war of choice, and one whose outcome remains dangerously uncertain.

This episode moves from the personal to the strategic. Marc describes the rhythms of life under missile alerts in Tel Aviv, the strain of living never more than a few minutes from shelter, and the contrast between the relative quiet in the center and the relentless attacks on northern communities such as Metula. He examines the central gamble at the heart of the war: the hope that the Iranian people will eventually rise up against the regime. It is, he argues, too early to declare that possibility dead—but if it does not happen, Israel may be left facing the worst possible outcome: a still-hostile Iranian regime, enough enriched uranium for multiple bombs, and a world furious over the economic consequences of war in the Gulf.

Marc also turns to the Lebanon front, where Israel now faces renewed questions about Hezbollah’s surviving capabilities, its restored command-and-control systems, and the prospect of yet another war of attrition in the north. Alongside this, he reflects on the troubling absence of serious planning and disciplined decision-making at the top, both in Jerusalem and Washington, and on the wider consequences of this war for Israel’s diplomacy, the global economy, and American politics. The episode closes on one welcome note of optimism: the effort by Israeli high-tech figures led by Asaf Rappaport to rescue Channel 13, preserving one of the country’s major independent and liberal media voices at a moment when those voices matter more than ever. This is a candid, weary, and deeply human dispatch from a country still functioning, still enduring, but increasingly unsure where this war is leading.

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Tel Aviv Diary: War, Iran, and the Long View — A Conversation With Yitzhak Sokoloff

Long Description:

In this special episode of the Tel Aviv Diary Podcast, Marc Schulman is joined by his longtime friend Yitzhak Sokoloff for a wide-ranging and deeply reflective conversation on the war with Iran, the goals of the current military campaign, and the uncertainty surrounding what comes next. Speaking not only as observers but as historians, Zionists, and old friends who have been discussing these issues for decades, Marc and Yitzhak examine the central question now facing Israel and the United States: even after important military successes, can enough be achieved to truly change the strategic reality? They discuss the limits of air power, the hope that the Iranian people might eventually rise up against the regime, the role of the Revolutionary Guards, and the danger of assuming that the fall of a dictatorship is either inevitable or easy.

The conversation also turns to the American dimension of the war, including President Trump’s shifting rhetoric, the meaning of U.S. military intervention, and the broader message this conflict sends to Russia, China, and the wider world. Marc and Yitzhak reflect on how much damage has already been done to Iran’s capabilities, while also wrestling with the possibility that the war could stop short of its maximum objective. From there, the discussion broadens into an equally urgent subject: Israel’s collapsing position in American public opinion, the failures of Israeli public diplomacy over decades, the influence of Qatar and other actors on American universities and media, and the growing estrangement of young American Jews from Israel. This is not a superficial exchange of talking points, but an honest and often sobering examination of how Israel fights not only on the battlefield, but also in the information sphere and in the moral arena.

In the final part of the episode, the discussion becomes personal and philosophical. Marc and Yitzhak, who first met more than fifty years ago as students at Columbia, reflect on the Israel they imagined in their youth and the Israel they live in today. They speak candidly about war, morality, religious extremism, historical memory, and the unfinished nature of the Zionist project. Despite the pain, the uncertainty, and the many failures they identify, the conversation ends on a note of stubborn hope: that Israel remains strong, that history is still being written, and that one day the dream of a different Middle East—including perhaps even a democratic Tehran—may yet become reality. This is an episode about strategy, history, and endurance, but above all it is about keeping faith with reality while still holding on to hope.

In this Friday edition of the Tel Aviv Diary Podcast, I describe Tel Aviv on the seventh day of the war between Israel, the United States, and Iran. I begin with the reality on the ground here: the Iranian missile barrages have steadily declined in size, but the disruption to daily life remains constant. Even when only one or two missiles are fired, everyone still heads for shelter, because debris from interceptions can be deadly and, as we have seen, even a single missile getting through can cause terrible loss of life. I describe what life has looked like in Tel Aviv this past week—the partial reopening of stores, the routine of running downstairs with only minutes to spare, the unusual number of attacks on Jerusalem, and the emotional strain of living hour by hour under constant alerts.

I then turn to the broader military and political picture. Hezbollah has now fully entered the fight, launching rockets and drones from Lebanon, including attacks toward the Tel Aviv area, while Israel has expanded its operations against Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs and elsewhere in Lebanon. I discuss Iran’s widening attacks on Gulf states, why that strategy appears to be backfiring, and the growing question at the center of this war: how does it end? Can the Iranian regime be weakened enough for the people to rise up? Will Trump declare victory and stop? Or will Israel and the United States continue dismantling Iran’s military and industrial infrastructure piece by piece until little remains? I also examine the strange logic behind some of Iran’s decisions, including attacks that have only widened international support for the campaign against it.

In the final section, I touch on another subject that has been very much on my mind: the intersection of AI, politics, and war. I discuss the dispute between Anthropic, OpenAI, and the U.S. Defense Department over military AI use, why Anthropic’s insistence on rejecting mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous lethal decision-making matters, and why I believe those limits are not “woke” but essential safeguards. This episode is part war diary, part political analysis, and part reflection on the broader forces shaping the world around us—from the bomb shelter in Tel Aviv to the future of artificial intelligence and military power.

In this episode of the Tel Aviv Diary Podcast, I’m joined once again by Dan Perry—former editor in chief of AP for Europe Africa and Middle East ; and a longtime observer of Israel and the region. We talk in real time as the latest war unfolds: why Dan says the conflict was “telegraphed,” what still surprised him, and why the visible, concurrent U.S.–Israel military partnership feels historically unprecedented—and strategically consequential.

We also dig into the contrast that hangs over everything: the stunning operational success against Iran versus the catastrophic failure of October 7. Dan and I debate what the next phase could look like—whether this ends with a pause and coercive diplomacy, a push for regime change, or a pivot north toward Hezbollah—and why each option carries risks that could shape the region for years. Recorded Monday night, March 2, and released Tuesday morning, March 3, with a brief update on another mostly quiet night in Tel Aviv.

In this episode of the Tel Aviv Diary podcast, I sit down with Batya Kalish, director of the Social Venture Fund for Jewish-Arab Equality and Shared Society (SVF), and Bashar Iraqi, a Palestinian Arab citizen of Israel from Tira who is active in efforts to combat crime inside Arab society and is involved with the community initiative Qulnuna. Together, we try to understand what is driving the relentless wave of murders in Arab Israeli towns and mixed cities—and what can realistically be done to stop it.

We begin with a wide-angle look at Arab society in Israel: real progress in education and higher education, an emerging middle class, and striking gains for Arab women in academia—alongside severe gaps in municipal services, chronic discrimination, and a growing vacuum of state capacity. Bashar traces the longer arc from 1948 through martial law and the ruptures of recent decades, arguing that crime did not explode “out of nowhere,” but accelerated as illegal weapons spread, trust collapsed, and enforcement became inconsistent. Batya adds a structural layer: financial exclusion, predatory loan-sharking, and the recruitment pool created by tens of thousands of young people who are not in employment, education, or training—conditions that allow organized crime to function like a parallel authority.

The conversation turns blunt. Bashar describes a reality where bullets are heard at night “as if living in Gaza,” where victims are often uninvolved family members or bystanders, and where the state’s ability to act is clear—when it chooses to act. We debate policing, discrimination within the system, and the political context, including the impact of governments that briefly prioritized the issue—and those that did not. We end with a hard question: can anything change soon? Bashar argues that participation, civic power, and equal enforcement are essential, and that both societies will ultimately have to build not just coexistence, but a better way of living together.

Recorded in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, February 21, I try to capture the mood that’s settled over the city—an anxious, pervasive uncertainty as Israelis brace for the possibility of another confrontation with Iran. A month after President Trump publicly encouraged Iranians to take to the streets, Tel Aviv feels tense in a way that’s different even from the Gaza war: people remember last June’s 12-day exchange, the shelters, the missiles that slipped through, and the sense that the next round could again put the center of the country in the crosshairs. You can see it in the streets, in the early-closing cafés, and in the questions everyone is asking—about flights, business, travel, and whether daily life can suddenly freeze for days at a time.

I also look at Israel’s pre-emptive actions in Lebanon, including reported strikes in the Bekaa Valley targeting Hezbollah’s long-range missile infrastructure, amid concerns Hezbollah could join any escalation with Iran. From there I revisit the Trump “Council of Peace,” the unresolved endgame in Gaza, and the way Israeli politics is sliding into an election campaign where “left” has become a catch-all accusation—despite the fact that much of the opposition is led by figures with deep security credentials and broadly similar positions on the long-term need for a two-state outcome, just “not now.”

Finally, I pivot to Washington: the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Trump’s tariff powers, the president’s escalating announcements anyway, and what that kind of whiplash does to business planning and global trade. I close with a personal reflection on AI—how tools like Claude Code are reshaping what a single developer can do in hours instead of months, and why I think Wall Street may be misreading what that means for big SaaS platforms. As always, thanks for listening—please subscribe, and if you can, consider becoming a paid subscriber to support Tel Aviv Diary.

In this episode of Tel Aviv Diary, I’m joined by Marina Rosenberg, Senior Vice President for International Affairs at the ADL (Anti-Defamation League)—a former Israeli diplomat whose life and career bridge continents and identities. Born in Buenos Aires and raised on Kibbutz Yechiam in the Galilee, Rosenberg spent more than 16 years in Israel’s Foreign Ministry, serving in multiple postings and ultimately becoming Israel’s ambassador to Chile. She describes what it was like to serve as the first female Israeli ambassador to Chile, and how being a young woman in diplomacy—whether in Latin America or in early, behind-the-scenes engagement with Gulf states years before the Abraham Accords—often proved less of a barrier than outsiders assumed.

We then turn to the ADL’s mission and the moment we are living through. Rosenberg explains how the ADL—founded in 1913—works not only in the United States, where it operates through a network of 25 offices, but also internationally across Israel, Europe, and Latin America. She details the organization’s three-pronged approach: security and monitoring, policy advocacy, and education—including programs aimed at empowering Jewish students on campuses and new curricula designed for non-Jewish schools, adapted to local cultures and languages. She also describes the ADL’s emphasis on measurable evidence: data collection, global surveys, and comparative tracking across major Jewish communities through initiatives like the J7 task force.

A central theme of our conversation is the transformation of modern antisemitism—especially in the post–October 7 environment—and how online platforms have accelerated radicalization across borders and languages. Rosenberg discusses ADL research on hate online, the limits of regulation, and the alarming vulnerabilities emerging in large language models and other AI tools—alongside the ADL’s work pushing for accountability from tech platforms and for stronger public policy outside the constraints of America’s First Amendment framework. We also explore her argument that the international picture is uneven: while the United States has seen dramatic growth in incidents over the past decade, other countries experienced different trajectories, with sharp escalations in some places only after October 7.

The discussion widens to state-linked propaganda and geopolitics. Rosenberg lays out ADL’s view of Iran as a leading exporter not only of terrorism but also antisemitism, including the spread of Spanish-language messaging targeting audiences in Latin America and beyond. She reflects personally on the long shadow of the 1992 Israeli embassy bombing in Buenos Aires and the 1994 AMIA attack, and the continuing demand for accountability decades later. We close on a hard-won note of realism—and hope: the necessity of building coalitions beyond the Jewish community, insisting on moral clarity from political leaders, and asking allies to speak up rather than waiting in silence.