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Israel Votes: World Jewry – The Invisible Stakeholders Oct 15, 2026

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Israel Votes: World Jewry – The Invisible Stakeholders

Millions of Jews can't vote in Israel's election, yet so many feel their future is on the ballot.

With 12 days to go, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi compare the election Israelis are voting in with the one Jews abroad are watching. They explore what Israelis and diaspora Jews each fear and hope for. From settler violence to a commission of inquiry, and the very different reasons both groups say, "just not Netanyahu," they ask whether Israel still understands that world Jewry is part of its own viability.

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Vote in the Signal Listener’s Choice Awards for our podcast mini-series Thoughts and Prayers by October 15!

Scheduling Note on this Week's Episode: October 14, 2026 Oct 14, 2026

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Hello For Heaven’s Sake listeners. We are adjusting our publishing schedule this week, and you won’t see an episode in your feed today. Please make sure you are subscribed to us wherever you get your podcasts, so new episodes download automatically as soon as they are released.

Thank you for listening to For Heaven's Sake.

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Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.

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3 Big Changes at Ark Media Oct 09, 2026

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Dan Senor and Ark Media CEO Ilan Benatar announce Ark+, our expanded membership; The Fold, our new private community; and the network's newest show, Chosen People Problems.
In the episode:
0:00 Announcement
1:41 Introducing Ark+
2:29 Meet Chosen People Problems
5:05 A first look at The Fold
Join Ark+ and The Fold.
https://arkmedia.org/subscribe

It's Still October 7 Oct 07, 2026

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When does October 7 stop feeling like the present?

Three years to the day after the Hamas attack, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi face an uncomfortable truth: for Israelis, October 7 is not a memory but a lens. Starting from last week's foiled attempt to crash a passenger plane bound for Tel Aviv, they debate what it means to live a hair's breadth from catastrophe.

They ask why the shock of 1973 sparked movements for change while this one has bred fatalism, how that fatalism is shaping Israel's election, and why Israel and the rest of the world now seem to be living in different time zones.

From the episode:

"Israel must defend itself — without defending the indefensible," Donniel Hartman, Times of Israel, October 5, 2026

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Watch the video version of our podcast on our YouTube channel.

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.

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We Were Warned About October 7; Why Didn't We Listen? Sep 30, 2026

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Why did Israel, one of the most sophisticated military and intelligence powers in the world, repeatedly ignore explicit, urgent warnings about an impending national catastrophe?

As the anniversary of October 7 approaches, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi explore the profound institutional failure, psychological denial, and national trauma surrounding the unheeded intelligence warnings before the traumatic attack.

They examine the Israeli military's long-standing belief that Gaza was an uncapturable trap, how societal exhaustion after the Second Intifada fueled a collective refusal to address the Palestinian issue, and the political hubris that treated high-tech border barriers as a substitute for strategic vision.

They challenge global Jewish discourse to embrace intellectual honesty when confronting the complex realities of modern Jewish sovereignty and to initiate long-term political solutions rather than wait for the next inevitable crisis.

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RSVP to Ark Media's October 5th Virtual Announcement Event: https://arkmedia.org/rsvp/

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This episode sponsored by Kim Shafer and Isaac Finkle.

Watch the video version of our podcast on our YouTube channel.

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.

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Israel Votes: And What if it's Deadlocked? Sep 23, 2026

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Can a society battered by years of political polarization and existential war survive an election cycle where no political faction can achieve instant victory?

As critical polling deadlines approach, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi confront the sobering reality of Israel's impending political stalemate. They discuss the psychological barriers preventing major political blocs from entering national
unity arrangements, the host-specific red lines separating unpalatable political partners from genuine existential threats to Israeli democracy, and the feasibility of a short-term minority government designed to pass foundational reforms before calling a new vote.

By examining the deep philosophical tension between grievance-based politics and aspirational governance, they offer an insightful assessment of how political compromise functions as the vital oxygen of Israeli coalition life.

Watch the video version of our podcast on our YouTube channel.

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.
For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit
shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.
Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.
Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:
High school seniors: learn more about and apply to our Hevruta
Gap-Year Program!

Naza: When a Film is the News Sep 16, 2026

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Can a provocative film transform into an unshakeable weapon in the global battle over Israel's moral legitimacy?

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect the intense cultural and political fallout surrounding "Naza," the award-winning Venice Film Festival documentary that accuses Israel of systematically embracing disproportionate
civilian deaths in Gaza. From the surreal spectacle of the film's record-breaking 25-minute standing ovation in Europe to sweeping indictments and unverifiable soldier testimony, they confront how the film alienates Israeli society rather than fosters genuine moral self-reflection during the High Holiday season of teshuvah. In the process, they discuss how the total erasure of Hamas's battlefield presence distorts Western understanding of asymmetric urban warfare.

Mentioned in the show:

"The ICJ's Pernicious Plan to Redefine Genocide," by Orde F. Kittrie and Andrés B. Muñoz-Mosquera, September 13, 2026, WSJ Opinion

“Full speech: Ed Miliband says entire occupation unlawful, slams ‘settler terrorists’ and Israeli government that indulges them,” by British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, September 8, 2026, Times of Israel

Israel Votes: New Year, New Hopes Sep 09, 2026

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How can a society deeply divided by electoral deadlock find the collective moral courage to choose democratic renewal over perpetual crisis?
In this Rosh Hashanah episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi set aside the reactive mode of recent years to name their realistic hopes for Israel: the return of truth to public life, a moral reckoning with settler violence in the West
Bank, and the quiet shifts stirring in the Haredi and Arab sectors. Grounded in the High Holiday belief that what once was isn't necessarily what must be, this is a hopeful yet clear-eyed look at the year ahead. Shana Tova.
Watch the video version of our podcast on our YouTube channel.

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit
shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.

Israel's Election: What Do Israelis Really Want? Sep 02, 2026

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Why does Israeli political life appear hopelessly frozen at the top even as tectonic shifts stir beneath the surface?

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi examine the looming Israeli elections, the persistent mathematical stalemate between major political blocs, and the tired defensive tactics driving Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign. They investigate the fragmentation of the right wing following Ofer Winter’s entry into the race, the demise of small vanity parties failing to clear the threshold, and the emerging revolutions within both the Haredi and Arab-Israeli sectors.

Watch the video version of our podcast on our
YouTube channel.

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit
shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake.
Click here to learn more.

Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:
Register for The Road to the Israeli Elections on September 8.

Israel’s Election Season: The Opening Shot (Re-release) Aug 26, 2026

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What do four political earthquakes in a single week – as the Knesset is on the brink of dissolving – reveal about the election that will define Israel's future?

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi open Israel's election season by mapping the upheaval: the sudden formation of new parties, Gadi Eisenkot's rise to rival Likud as Naftali Bennett fades, a blitz of contentious legislation, and a government openly declaring it will defy the Supreme Court. Together they ask what Israelis actually want and whether this moment marks the true end of the Netanyahu era. A clear-eyed guide to the opening shot of the most consequential election in years.

This episode originally aired on July 8, 2026.

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Watch the video version of our podcast on our YouTube channel.

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.

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College students, apply now for the 2026 Edward Fein Winter Student Seminar!