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Episode 25: What is happening in Gaza? Jul 01, 2025

Show notes

A bombshell Haaretz report last Friday concluded that IDF soldiers were responsible for a great many of the deaths of Gazan civilians outside aid distribution centers in Gaza.

What should we make of the report? How reliable is it? And what does it tell us about the army's handling of Gaza and the progress of the war?

This episode was sponsored by an anonymous donor in memory of the seven IDF soldiers who were killed on June 24, 2025, during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip. Their names were: Lt. Matan Shai Yashinovski, Staff Sgt. Ronel Ben-Moshe, Sgt. Ronen Shapiro, Sgt. Maayan Baruch Pearlstein, Staff Sgt. Niv Radia, Sgt. Shahar Manoav, and Staff Sgt. Alon Davidov. May their memory be a blessing.

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 ⁠haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

Episode 24: With Iran down, Turkey steps into the breach - a conversation with Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak. Jun 26, 2025

Show notes

(Update: audio issues corrected)

Turkey was the first Muslim country to recognize Israel. I was an ally and vital trading partner for decades -- until the rise of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, head of the Islamist AKP party, who began pursuing a "neo-Ottomanist" foreign policy of Turkish influence and expansionism in the region, and specifically identified Israel as a long-term ideological enemy.

Turkey is now forging alliances on all Israel's borders and looking to found an Islamic defense alliance a la NATO. Earlier this year, Turkish lawmakers formally declared Israel the country's top national security threat.

As Iran's influence retreats in the wake of the war, Erdogan has already energetically stepped into the breach, calling for Israel to be dismantled and trying to position himself as leader of the Muslim political world. Unlike Iran, he may well have the military and geopolitical clout in the region to get it done.

Are the two countries on a trajectory for a clash in, say, 20 years' time? Or can these two Middle Eastern powers find a modus vivendi that prevents more conflict in the region?

We posed this question to Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, a scholar at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University who grew up in Turkey's Jewish community and is today one of Israel's top Turkey analysts.

This episode was sponsored by an anonymous sponsor and dedicated to Aviv Atzili, 49, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7 was while fighting alongside the kibbutz’s emergency response team. His wife, Liat, was kidnapped that day, but was released as part of the first truce in November 2023.

Aviv's body was located and returned to Israel for burial in a joint IDF-Shin Bet operation in Gaza two days before the start of the Israel-Iran war together with the body of Yaakov Yagil, also from Nir Oz. We remember them.

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 ⁠haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

Episode 23: Iran bows out Jun 24, 2025

Show notes

There's now a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Who won the war? And what happens now?

We offer some preliminary conclusions as the dust settles.

This episode is sponsored by the Peters family, Tom, Shevi, Daniel, Ethan, Arielle, Yoni and David, in honor of BeLev Echad, an organization devoted to helping wounded Israeli veterans recover physically, medically and emotionally. To learn about how you too can help Israeli veterans recover, visit Belevechad.nyc.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.

A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

Episode 22: A new dawn in the Middle East? Jun 22, 2025

Show notes

The United States has struck the Iranian nuclear program, marking a watershed moment for the region.

It will take days to determine the scale of the damage and many years to understand the implications of President Trump’s decision. But a few things are already clear. A new relationship was established between the US and its ally Israel that defined a new security architecture for the American-led alliance worldwide. Israel did the heavy lifting, suffered the blowback, and only because it was willing to fight successfully itself was then able to call on America’s unique capabilities. Taiwan, take note. Russia’s European neighbors, ditto. Be ready and able to fight, and America will help. But America will no longer fight for you as in the past.

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Willy Field by his family. Willy Field was born Willy Hirschfeld in Bonn, Germany and is perhaps the only survivor of a Nazi death camp who managed to survive, escape and return to German soil in a British tank. His story of disaster, recovery and frontline heroism against Nazi Germany is a testament to over a million brave Jewish soldiers who fought the Nazis in the Allied armies.

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 ⁠haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

Episode 21: Why won’t Haredim serve in the IDF? A deep dive with Shmuel Rosner Jun 20, 2025

Show notes

Haredi Israelis make up some 13% of the population but have extremely low rates of workforce participation and military service. The growing welfare subsidies that sustain their communities have increasingly become a source of tensions and frustration for other Israelis, and the multi-front war that began on October 7 has now made their exemptions from military service a major political issue. Israel needs more workers, less welfare spending and many more soldiers to thrive in the future. Can the Haredi community change? What happens if it doesn't?

We spoke with Shmuel Rosner, senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and veteran journalist and analyst. Rosner has studied the Haredi community and the policy debates on these questions. He's the editor and publisher of the political website The Madad, themadad.com, which we recommend for, among other things, its aggregation of polling and political writing from across the spectrum of Israeli media.

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 Yochai Azulay, 28, from Holon, was murdered while trying to flee the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival on October 7. Born in Tel Aviv, Yohai grew up in a traditionally religious family and spent much of his time devoted to exploring his roots and his connection to Judaism. He served in the Kfir Brigade during his mandatory military service, and after his release, he toured around South America. After his return, Yohai soon met his girlfriend, Noa, and the pair were planning a future together.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.

Episode 20: Regime change in Iran? What the 1979 revolution can teach us. Jun 16, 2025

Show notes

Twenty-four people have been killed in Israel since the outbreak of the direct Israel-Iran war. The Air Force is busy hunting launchers inside Iran to constrain Iran's ability to fire missiles at Israeli cities. Parts of Tehran are being evacuated as Israel continues to hunt down the IRGC leadership and demolish the country's nuclear program.

But enormous questions remain unanswered. Can Israel actually destroy the nuclear program all by itself? If it can't, and America doesn't join the airstrikes, then what's the goal? Could Israel be hoping to achieve regime change?

We raise these questions and others, and then pay a short visit to the 1979 revolution that felled the oppressive Shah in a vast uprising by nearly all parts of Iranian society - and was then taken over and subverted by Khomeini into the theocracy we're still dealing with today. What does that historical perspective tell us about the Iranian regime's staying power?

This episode is sponsored by an anonymous donor who dedicated it to the incredible female lone soldiers of the IDF hailing from Silver Spring, Maryland.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com.

Episode 19: Iran faces a humbler, more dangerous Israel Jun 13, 2025

Show notes

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 haviv@askhavivanything.com.

Episode 18: Taking on the ayatollahs with Mark Dubowitz Jun 12, 2025

Show notes

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 ⁠haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

Episode 17: The Gaza war began 25 years ago, a conversation with Matti Friedman Jun 09, 2025

Show notes

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 ⁠haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

Episode 16: Hamas and the broken promise of 150 years of Islamic reform May 30, 2025

Show notes

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 ⁠haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

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