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• Episode 19: Iran faces a humbler, more dangerous Israel

  The astonishing Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear program was the inevitable result of October 7, a day that convinced Israelis they do not actually understand their Islamist foes, cannot deter these foes and therefore cannot allow them to develop the capacity to destroy the Jewish state, no matter the cost.Israel woke up on October 7. Its enemies had been telling it they plan to destroy it for generations; on October 8 it finally started to listen. And the Middle East will never be the same.This episode was sponsored by Brenda Yablon in honor of the brave men and women of the IDF, without whose courage and selflessness Israel would not exist.If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at [email protected].

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• Episode 18: Taking on the ayatollahs with Mark Dubowitz

  The Trump administration has been trying to hammer out a deal to dismantle Iran's nuclear program. In the last 24 hours, the rhetoric has ratcheted up on both sides, as both Iranian and US officials have warned about impending military action.A week ago, we recorded a conversation with Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, on the Iranian regime's strategy, its nuclear aspirations and what it would take to disrupt those aspirations diplomatically or, failing that, militarily.Can Iran's nuclear program be stopped? Can the regime be reined in or even toppled? Do the interests of Israel and America overlap, or are there meaningful gaps that could force a divergence in policy? How do we support the Iranian people, who have repeatedly rebelled against the tyranny of the ayatollahs in Tehran?Mark joined Rachel and Haviv to tackle these questions in a conversation that has only grown more relevant as the days have passed.This episode was sponsored by Julie and Frank Cohen because they believe this podcast is a way to teach our story, and because understanding our past and present is key to building a better future.Julie and Frank have asked to dedicate this episode to someone we lost on October 7.Today we remember 1st Sgt. Eliran Abergil, who was 29 when he died fighting the Hamas terrorists who invaded Kibbutz Be'eri. On the morning of the attack, Eliran was in Tiberias in Israel's north celebrating the Simchat Torah holiday with family.He rushed down south to join his comrades, met them on the front lines, and volunteered to be one of the first officers to enter Kibbutz Be'eri. He was killed in a firefight with Hamas gunmen. Eliran's wife discovered she was pregnant with their first child shortly after his death.Please join me on Patreon to support this project: ⁠ www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠ If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

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• Episode 17: The Gaza war began 25 years ago, a conversation with Matti Friedman

  Last month marked the 25th anniversary of the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon after an 18-year guerrilla war that presaged everything we now think of as 21st-century warfare.I spoke to Matti Friedman, veteran of Lebanon and bestselling author of a memoir from that long war, Pumpkinflowers, about the history, the lessons drawn from it and how we're seeing the continuing effects of that conflict in Gaza today. This episode is sponsored by Julie and Frank Cohen, who believe that this podcast is a way to teach our story, because understanding our past and present is key to building a better future.And as has become a podcast tradition, it is dedicated to Carmel Gat, an occupational therapist who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Beeri while visiting family. During the first weeks of captivity, she was held with orphaned children who had also been kidnapped. The children reported that she cared for them and taught them yoga. Carmel was murdered by her Hamas captors in August 2024 along with five other hostages.Please join me on Patreon to support this project: ⁠ www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠ If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

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• Episode 16: Hamas and the broken promise of 150 years of Islamic reform

  Hamas's rule in Gaza is a theocratic dictatorship. But its roots lie in the 19th-century movement for Islamic reform that believes modernization, science and even political liberalization. How did the great liberalizing theologians of the late 19th century, from Al-Afghani to Abduh to Rida, become Hamas?Join us for a story that raises the startling possibility that the deradicalization of Gaza could come from within.This episode is sponsored by “the Frozen Chosen, Haviv's supportive community from Minnesota."And as has become a podcast tradition, this episode is dedicated to Netta Epstein, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists in his home in Kibbutz K'far Aza on the morning of Oct. 7th. In his last selfless act, he heroically jumped on a grenade, saving the life of his fiancé Irene. Netta was well known in many communities, but we focus on him today because Netta spent four summers at Herzl Camp in Wisconsin.Please join me on Patreon to support this project: ⁠ www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠ If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

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• Episode 15: Jerusalem Day, a modern redemption story

  Jerusalem Day falls on May 25th this year. It is the day of Jerusalem's unification in the 1967 Six Day War, and so a symbol of both Jewish rescue from the genocidal plans of its enemies, a palpable experience of strength and redemption just two decades after Auschwitz, and also a symbol of the perils and moral problems of Jewish power, the day Israel found itself ruling another people.It is the day of the Jews' homecoming to their sacred places, but also of political grandstanding and ideological narrative-making.Yet at its heart, Jerusalem Day is also about, well, Jerusalem, the real living city, the people who belong to it, and the grandeur of ordinary life in the shadow of great and ancient abstractions.This episode is sponsored by Julie and Frank Cohen, who believe that this podcast is a way to teach our story, because understanding our past and present is key to building a better future.And as has become a podcast tradition, it is dedicated to Kinneret Gat, teacher, mother, grandmother, who was killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7.Please join me on Patreon to support this project: ⁠ www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠ If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠.A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

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