Noah Efron, Charlotte Hallé, and Don Futterman discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

 

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Kill First!

Two thousand and three hundred: That's how many targeted killing operations Israel has carried out over the years, Israeli journalist and author Ronen Bergman estimates in his stunning new book Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations. The book traces the history of a key strategy in the history of Israel's intelligence and security apparatuses, and raises questions about its ethical and practical aspects. When (if ever) are these assassinations justified, and are they even a smart idea?

 

Legislating Innocence

Poland's explosive "Holocaust complicity bill" may or may not be about to become law. After Israel raised concerns about the proposed penalty for anyone accusing Poland of complicity in Nazi crimes, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's explanation that the Holocaust also had its "Jewish perpetrators" then sparked further outrage. Poles had good reason to be lumped together with Germans as perpetrators of the Holocaust, but Poles also have a lot to answer for. So what is Israel to do?

 

Won’t Anyone Think of the Tour Guides?

Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin recently proposed a bill that would allow unaccredited tour guides to lead many (though not all) tours. Currently, a prospective guide needs to take a two-year course, a practice resulting in remarkably well-educated guides. But some ask why Israel can't have architects devising their own tours of cities' buildings, for example. Is liberalizing tour guiding another small step for post-modern freedom, or is it one liberalization too far?

 

Music: Lior Perla, in honor of his newest record, Bein Kotlei ha-

Zeman, released just this week!

Shoom Davar

Bein Kotley HaZman

Halev Hazeh

Ad Hasof