Itamar Ben Gvir is the leader of an extreme right wing Israeli political party, who in the past has supported Israel settler violence against Palestinians and advocated for the forced expulsion of "disloyal" Arab citizens of Israel. In this week's election, Ben Gvir's party is projected to win the third largest bloc of seats, which would represent a major victory for his ideology and turn him into an important political player. Netanyahu has signaled that he would sit with Ben Gvir in a future coalition.
The normalization of Ben Gvir's ideologies has been a major topic of conversation throughout the campaign. In this episode, Yaakov Katz, Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post, joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the reasons for Ben Gvir's success.

Why is Ben Gvir so Popular?

In a frenzied media cycle, Identity/Crisis delves into the big ideas behind the news from a uniquely Jewish perspective. From the Shalom Hartman Institute, host Yehuda Kurtzer invites leading thinkers to unpack current events effecting Jewish communities in North America, Israel, and around the world, revealing the core Jewish values underlying the issues that matter to you.
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Celebrating Jewish redemption on Passover this year feels nearly impossible, while the Israel-Hamas war rages on and so many hostages remain in captivity. Can the Exodus story and the raw pain of the current moment exist together at the seder table? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer turns to president of Hebrew College, Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, to share her thinking on intergenerational disagreements, communal boundaries, prayer, and freedom as we approach the holiday.

In Every Generation Haggadah Supplements

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Enacting Redemption

As we mark 6 months since October 7 and approach the holiday of Passover, questions of communal memory feel more critical than ever. This week, guest host Sara Labaton speaks with Raquel Ukeles, Head of Collections at the National Library of Israel, about how the library is grappling with preservation, ownership, stewardship, and accessibility while creating a physical and cultural gathering place that represents all the communities whose heritage it houses. 
 
 
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Echoes of History at the National Library of Israel

The organizations that constitute the Jewish world—schools, synagogues, social service agencies, philanthropic institutions, and more—keep Judaism alive, yet not everyone who works in that world is Jewish. In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Darin McKeever, CEO of the William Davidson Foundation, about his experience leading a Jewish organization as a non-Jew, navigating Jewish culture, Israeli politics, and questions of identity and belonging. 
 
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Alone, Adjacent, and Among

Jewish organizations are finding it increasingly challenging to represent the wide diversity of North American perspectives on Zionism. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with David Matlow about his lawsuit against the Toronto Zionist Council and the responsibilities of Zionist organizations in their representation of the voices of the Jewish people.

This episode of Identity/Crisis is sponsored by the Howard and Irene Levine Family Foundation

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Who Gets to be a Zionist?

Antisemitism on college campuses has seen a dramatic uptick in recent months. In an attempt to pressure U.C. Berkeley’s administration to address this issue, Ron Hassner, a professor of political science and the Helen Diller Family Chair in Israel Studies, is staging a sleep-in protest. In this week’s episode, Yehuda Kurtzer talks with Ron about his act of protest, what he wants from the Berkeley administration, and the importance of free speech, especially on university campuses. 
 
 
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Why is Ben Gvir so Popular?

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