Teller From Jerusalem

Summary LBJ warned Prime Minister Eshkol that Israel may not fire the first shot. This bound Eshkol in a gordian knot: he had to convince the world that he had to act, while convincing the Israelis why he shouldn't. Israel's fate in the international arena was entrusted to the very competent hands of its Foreign Minister, Abba Eban. To many outside observers, Israel's fate could not have been in better hands than those of Foreign Minister Abba Eban. Hailed as the greatest orator of the century, he marshaled all his skills on behalf of Israeli diplomacy.

Credits

Mike Wallace - Abba Eban Interview April 12,1958 CSPAN

Abba Eban speaking at UCLA 11/12/1970

Israel Speaks - Selections From The Speeches of Abba Eban (1959)

Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban on "Face the Nation," March 1971

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© 2026 Media Education Trust llc

In this episode TFJ dives into some modern applications of the big lie by those motivated by financial considerations. In these instances - perpetrated in our very own times - there is also a body count.

The risks of smoking are now well known, and the damaging effects of cigarettes on human health are indisputable. But before the cat was burst out of the bag, the tobacco industry perpetuated a campaign of misinformation on the American public concerning the safety of tobacco products.

Now that traditional tobacco use has declined, deception is being employed to rope impressionable youth into vaping or e-cigarettes, touting that e-cigarettes are a considerably safer alternative to traditional tobacco and even a method to quit the habit of smoking altogether.

Disaster misinformation is another example - this time for political purposes — of how a big lie can deny the truth at the precise moment people need accurate information in order to survive.

One must be aware that social media is not optimized for truth, and it can - and often is - a medium for lethal and viral misinformation.

Because the liar incarcerates himself in a prison of his own making; it is critical to disassociate - to "stay far away," as the Bible refers to dishonesty, before there will be a need for more lies to sustain the illusion, and become irrevocably entrapped in moral erosion.

Credits

Blu E Cigarette - Stephen Dorff: QuitDocFoundation

Welcome to Vapourlites: Vapour

Marjorie Taylor Greene Spreads Jewish Space Laser Conspiracy Theory: Rebel HQ

How to spot a liar | Pamela Meyer | TED

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© 2026 Media Education Trust llc

Summary: President Lyndon Johnson and the United States were bogged down in Viet Nam and could not commit itself to any other area of the globe and risk another confrontation with the Soviets. The tenor of Cairo and Damascus, leaving no confusion as to their intentions.

Nasser's threats resulted in elation throughout the Arab world, as mass demonstrations erupted in acclaim of Egypt's action to provoke war. The armed forces of Lebanon, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia were activated, as Iraqi armored columns advanced towards the Syrian and Jordanian borders to participate in a battle of honor.

Credits: Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War, Bill Whittle PragerU

Opposition to the Vietnam War in the United States, Iowa PBS

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© 2026 Media Education Trust llc

Summary: Syria taunted Nasser that he was hiding behind UN troops; the Syrians and Palestinians were the only ones fighting against Israel. Nasser, looking to improve his image in the Arab world, and justify Soviet belief in him, carried out on May 15, 1967, six acts that collectively made war in the Middle East inevitable.

Credits:

Arab-Israeli War 1967 Real Time History

Egypt Blockades the Straits of Tiran | Six Day War - Part 3 of 12 | Unpacked

Israel's 'Operation Focus': Inside One of the Most Successful Air Campaigns in Military History CBC News

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In 1964, Israel completed its National Water Carrier, leading the Arab states to worry about the economic growth this would mean for Israel. They understood that water meant agriculture, agriculture meant food security, food security meant Israel could absorb more immigrants, more immigrants meant a larger population, and a larger population meant a stronger army and a state that would be more difficult to dislodge. Syria tried to divert the waters of the Chazbani and Banias rivers away from Israel, but in successive skirmishes Israeli tank crews wreaked havoc on Syrian bulldozers earthmoving equipment and tanks. Eventually, Syria and the other Arab states abandoned the diversion effort. On January 1, 1965 was the first terrorist incursion of a new organization called the PLO. This marked the emergence of a new model of Palestinian nationalism—one that would place armed struggle at its core and would, over time, come to dominate the Palestinian national movement.

Credits The War over Water (Survival of a Nation) Jewish Learning Institute

1959-1988 | Who Are The PLO And Fatach? Brief History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Who Was Yasser Arafat? The Jewish Nation Who Invented Palestinian Nationalism and Why? | Explained unpkd

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© 2026 Media Education Trust llc

Hitler's Big Lie found fresh expression with Hamas supporters claiming the absurdity that Israel is perpetrating genocide in its right to defend itself, executed in a legal and humane way. An accusation launched by none other than an organization that has in its charter and all of its rhetoric the desire to destroy Israel and every Jew living therein.

In this episode we explore how Hitler and the Nazi propaganda machine utilized the "big lie" with incredible effectiveness.

Whereas the virtuous woman is extolled for being an individual that may always be trusted, we conclude with a chilling story highlighting that the word of honor of one not committed to truth, is a mockery of honor.

Credits: Battle of Stalingrad that Changed World War II: InstaFactsVibe

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© 2026 Media Education Trust llc

In a PS to our coverage of the Eichmann Trial we elaborate about the testimony of Dr. Foldi's description of the last time he saw his daughter in a red coat who was separated from him upon their arrival at Auschwitz. Ever since, "the girl in the red coat" a nameless, faceless child became a representative , a composite metaphor for the millions of children who perished in the Holocaust. She was artistically portrayed In Spielberg's Schindler's List. Another outcome of Holocaust awareness, but far from the eyes of the public, Ben Gurion realized how vulnerable the Jewish People are. Given the vagaries of world history he did not wish to be exclusively dependent on the West, and decided that Israel needed to become a nuclear power. How tiny impoverished Israel pulled this off, is one more chapter in the wonders of Israel. Most of the Israel's south — the Negev Desert — was barren and uninhabitable. New immigrants were streaming into the country and every drop of water was spoken for. Israel wasn't just building a state — it was racing against thirst. Solving this problem would require innovation like the world had never seen, and something Israel's Arab neighbors could not tolerate.

Credits:

Oyf'n Pripetshok The Li-Ron Herzeliya Children's Choir

Schindler's List Music John Williams

Webb Family Film critique Mihael Okun How Israel Got Nuclear Weapons Explained So Basically Israel's MASSIVE Water Highway That Could Change The Country Forever! Billion Dollar Builds ISRAEL'S NATIONAL WATER CARRIER WHICH SHOCKED THE WORLD Grand Structures hosepipe sound effect royalty free sound effects

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Rabbi Abraham Cooper is the Associate Dean of Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. For decades he has been at the forefront of fighting antisemitism globally and promoting the cause of human rights. These efforts have taken him around the world scores of times to speak with world leaders. Thus, when he speaks, he marshals expertise and experience that has no peer.

Sound credits Yerachmiel Begun and the Miami Boy's Choir "Be a Mentsch" AQ's Blog and Grill interview with Guy Kawasaki Hayvi Bouzo Khaleej Times podcast with Secretary Mike Pompeo The National News Podcast: Pompeo on the Abraham Accords Resume 20.21 "The More you travel around the world" VOA: Tony Perkins, Chairman The United States Commission on International Religious Rights Inside Museum Walls: What is the Museum of Tolerance IDF Choir: Machar

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© 2026 Media Education Trust llc

Aside from demonstrating that Israel felt responsible for the entire Jewish People, and accordingly would bring a mass-murderer to trial for an act that had been perpetuated before the State was formed, and not on its turf, extracting him from a third country half a world away, Israel's prime minister had an educational agenda that would be accomplished through the trial.

Israel's youth had never encountered the Holocaust and were appallingly ignorant and derisive about the subject. How could Jews be so passive about their own deaths, they wondered, and they treated survivors with scorn instead of with the respect and sympathy that they deserved.

The Eichmann trial changed all of this as the entire country listed in rapt attention as 110 witnesses took the stand and explained in meticulous detail what the Nazis perpetrated and what they had suffered. As Israel's lead prosecutor said in his opening statement that he does not stand alone, with him are six million accusers.

The trial was well-received around the world as an embodiment of historical justice, although it surprisingly also revealed the banality of evil.

Credits Schindler's list - John Williams - NL orchestra Guilliame

How did the Mossad capture the Man who disappeared: Unpacked

The Capture and Trial of Adolf Eichmann CBS Sunday Morning The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising | Yad Vashem

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© 2026 Media Education Trust llc

The Talmud teaches that God's seal is truth; lying displays that you care more what your fellow man thinks than what the Lord thinks of you. A half a truth is a whole lie and partial truths should not be rationalized or legitimized. One of the attributes of The Valorous Woman that Solomon extolls is "the heart of her husband trusts in her." Trust can only be earned by being a consistently honest person, whose word is constantly reliable, and admits when they make a mistake. Everyone knows that lies travel at a faster velocity than the truth; and this was even before the digital age. Thanks to the internet and social media, a lie is far more powerful than ever previously conceived. Hitler outlined his plan for ruling Germany in his manifesto ,Mein Kampf. A key component to taking power was the implementation of the "Big Lie," explained at length in our forthcoming character episode p"G (Season Six, Episode 7).

Credits The Boy Who Cried Wolf: a lesson in honesty: Kid Stories

Rita Panahi and Australian Sky News with guest Alext Stein From Nazi Propaganda to Digital Hate: How Messages Spread: Nous and Ali Javed

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