'Israelis have acclimated to a reality that should be unbearable': Joshua Leifer on two years of war
Haaretz Podcast4 Loka 2025

'Israelis have acclimated to a reality that should be unbearable': Joshua Leifer on two years of war

The two years that have passed since October 7, 2023 have transformed Israel and its people, its leaders, its status on the world stage and its relationship with Diaspora Jewry.

On the Haaretz Podcast, Joshua Leifer, the newest Haaretz columnist, spoke with host Allison Kaplan Sommer the many dimensions of change the war has wrought - including the changes in his own life and thinking.

In their conversation, Leifer noted that while Israelis on the far right can indulge in "a perverse and spectacular kind of denial" regarding the death and suffering in Gaza every day, the situation is more complex and contradictory for the Israeli mainstream and people on the left.

"We know that what Israel is doing in Gaza is terrible," Leifer said. And yet, even at times when the war is visibly and audibly present, "we go to the beach, we go to family, we carry on. I think we're only at the beginning of being able to understand what that does to ‌a society, and what that does to people over time, as they acclimate to a reality that should be unbearable but isn't."

Regarding his decision to move to Israel at a time when he opposed so much of what its government is doing, Leifer said: "If you want to change a place, I think you have to be there... I didn't want to just be stuck in the meta discourse over Zionism and progressivism. I wanted to try to intervene - if possible - in the reality."

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(100)

'December 14 was our October 7': How the Bondi massacre destroyed the Australian safe haven for Jews

'December 14 was our October 7': How the Bondi massacre destroyed the Australian safe haven for Jews

For the Australian Jewish community, the date of December 14 carries as much gut-wrenching trauma as October 7 and September 11 does for Israelis and Americans, Daniel Hochberg, co-chair of the Union ...

25 Kesä 30min

Haaretz investigation: The Israeli far-right’s West Bank land grab and why it's a ticking time bomb

Haaretz investigation: The Israeli far-right’s West Bank land grab and why it's a ticking time bomb

In a special investigation on a "revolution" that has taken place over the past three years, Haaretz reporters Yarden Michaeli, Matan Golan and Yaniv Kubovich detailed the push to restore and drastica...

23 Kesä 34min

Inside Israel’s other war: fighting the quiet dismantling of democracy

Inside Israel’s other war: fighting the quiet dismantling of democracy

As Israelis focused on the life-and-death issues around conflicts with Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, the Netanyahu government has slowly but steadily progressed in its campaign to eliminate the gatekeepe...

19 Kesä 38min

Trump made a deal with Iran. What will Netanyahu do?

Trump made a deal with Iran. What will Netanyahu do?

Israel is in a strategically weakened position – and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will take a hard political hit if reports on the details of U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding are accurate, H...

16 Kesä 20min

In Mamdani's NY, Israel's far right used Israel parade to flex their muscles

In Mamdani's NY, Israel's far right used Israel parade to flex their muscles

When Mayor Zohran Mamdani refused to march in New York City’s Israel Day parade - the first mayor of the city to do so in over 60 years – “did not surprise” Rabbi Josh Weinberg, who participated in th...

11 Kesä 28min

Iran and Israel exchange fire, and 'Trump is fed up': A war update from Amos Harel and Sima Shine

Iran and Israel exchange fire, and 'Trump is fed up': A war update from Amos Harel and Sima Shine

U.S. President Donald Trump has tired of the Israel-Iran conflict, but a solution remains elusive as missile fire renewed Sunday following an Israeli attack on Beirut that provoked the Iranian regime....

8 Kesä 35min

'Nations committing genocide don’t recognize it in real time': Yuli Novak on Israel’s moral crisis

'Nations committing genocide don’t recognize it in real time': Yuli Novak on Israel’s moral crisis

For B'Tselem executive director Yuli Novak, the firestorm around the New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof decrying sexual violence by Israelis against Palestinians in the West Bank and in Israeli...

5 Kesä 40min

‘There’s a lot of anger at Israel in the Gulf’: Gregg Carlstrom on Lebanon, Gaza and the cease-fire with Iran that feels like war

‘There’s a lot of anger at Israel in the Gulf’: Gregg Carlstrom on Lebanon, Gaza and the cease-fire with Iran that feels like war

The Gulf countries are spending “enormous amounts of money to try to mask the economic consequences of the Iran war from their population,” Gregg Carlstrom, The Economist’s Middle East correspondent, ...

2 Kesä 27min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

uutiscast
aikalisa
politiikan-puskaradio
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
rss-podme-livebox
tervo-halme
the-ulkopolitist
otetaan-yhdet
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
rss-asiastudio
aihe
rikosmyytit
rss-kaikki-uusiksi
rss-raha-talous-ja-politiikka
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
rss-sinivalkoinen-islam
rss-360-podi
rss-etusivu
rss-pinnalla