The Promised Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The "Why Oh Why Won't You Try Me?" Edition Nov 30, 2017

Show notes

Noah, Gilad Halpern, host of TLV1's Tel Aviv Review and Miriam Herschlag, Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

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Why Oh Why Won't You Try Me? An IDF officer and spokesperson for human rights NGO Breaking the Silence demanding to be prosecuted for beating a Palestinian man, only to find that the State Attorney's Office insists he is innocent.

The Revolution Won't Be Televised A proposed amendment to the elections advertising law that will do away with government sponsored free TV spots during election campaigns, but is it too early to eulogize the place of television in electoral politics?

Bewarebnb Airbnb is driving up rent in Tel Aviv and driving out folks who desperately want to live there. Should we prefer hip German tourists over our own (also hip) college kids who just want to live in the big city?

All this and the soulful music of Toot Ard, in celebration of their great new record, Lassez Passer!

The "Take From Us Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free" Edition Nov 23, 2017

Show notes

If you wish to attend our live show at the Boston URJ Biennial conference you must fill out this form by this Sunday, Nov. 26th!

Noah Efron, Don Futterman, and Ha'aretz International Director Charlotte Halle discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Help support the show. Learn how on Patreon.

Take From Us Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free

Israel contemplates paying $8,500 a head for African asylum seekers to leave for Rwanda. Is this solving a thorny problem, or indulging an ugly xenophobia?

Losing Our Religion?

Has Israel's left "forgotten what it means to be Jews," as the new head of the Labor Party says?

The End of the Zooish People?

Tel Aviv is closing all its zoos and petting zoos, because they are inhumane and harmful to animals. But isn't something crucial lost when kids grow up seeing no animals besides dogs, cats, pigeons and rats?

Music by Avior Malasa, off his new, eponymous debut album: Kaitz Matzanu Ahava Makom Leshinui (with Noa Kirel) Baleilot

The "Unscrewed" Edition Nov 16, 2017

Show notes

Noah Efron, Don Futterman, and roving reporter extraordinaire Naomi Zeveloff discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Help support the show. Learn how on Patreon.

Unscrewed Why do members of Israel's secular and Mizrahi right not seem to feel the sense of grievance often attributed to them, and why do relatively well-off liberal-left voters feel they are subject to discrimination?

Expatriotism What is the Israeli-American Council? Why does it exist? And what is its impact on American Jewry and on Israel?

Between a Rock and a Hard-On: Israeli Women and the Patriarchy Amid ongoing revelations about powerful men committing harassment, abuse, and assault against women, we ask what this moment means, and also ask, particularly in the context of Israel, what can and must be done?

Music: Oshrat Masala, in celebration of Sigd! Kamah Ra'ash Awaki Al Tevater Tavoi Ahava

The "On the Road to Perdition with Waze" Edition Nov 09, 2017

Show notes

Noah Efron, Don Futterman, and Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Help support the show. Learn how on Patreon.

Body Politic Five Islamic Jihad militants were killed when the tunnel they burrowed to attack an Israeli kibbutz was destroyed. Should Israel immediately return the bodies, or use them as a "bargaining chip" to barter the return of the bodies of Israeli soldiers held by Hamas?

Refugee Repatriation Expectation: Acceleration to Reconciliation or Mummification of Negotiation? As Israel considers what a peace deal would look like, the debate continues about whether or not the descendants of Palestinians dispossessed of homes and lands in 1948 should be allowed to return.

On the Road to Perdition with Waze The Israeli-designed community-based traffic and navigation app Waze is one of the so-called start-up nation's biggest success stories. But could Waze be harming our environment and our democracy?

Music Salsa-ish songs by Rotem Cohen, because sometimes only a Karaite pop star will do! Palavra Kol Kach Yafah Lach Ecoute Cheri (with Maggi Azarzar) Kimat She-Hitragalti

The "Is it Time to Retire the 'Z Word'?" Edition Nov 02, 2017

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Noah Efron, Tel Aviv Review host Gilad Halpern, and Ha'aretz International Director Charlotte Hallé discuss the centennial of the Balfour Declaration which was controversial then and remains so today, the assertion of some leaders of Meretz that the party is no longer Zionist, and a Supreme Court ruling allowing stores to stay open on the Sabbath.

Help support the show. Learn how on Patreon.

Balfour's Declaration, Jewish Celebration, and Palestinian Vexation: An Evaluation It is the centennial of the Balfour Declaration, affirming the right of Jews to a "national home" in Palestine. It was controversial then, and remains so today. What should we make of it?

Meretz: Same Great Party – Now, with Less Zionism! Leaders of the long-time standard-bearer for Israel's liberal, Zionist left – Meretz – say their party is no longer Zionist. Is it time to retire the "Z Word"?

The Sabbath: Day of Unrest Israel's Supreme Court says stores should stay open in Tel Aviv on the Sabbath. Some say they struck a blow for freedom. Some say, workers deserve a day off. Some say, God is a higher authority. Whose right?

Music: Jeremy Cool Habash, the remarkable rap artist, activist and educator Na'arot Ha-Halomot (with the Afula Group) Shir Ha-Emunah (with the Sderot Group) Vodka Limon (with the Ashdod Group) HaMoah hu Koach (with the Hadassah Group)

The "A Presidential Address of Existential Distress" Edition Oct 26, 2017

Show notes

Noah Efron, Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, and Tel Aviv Review host Gilad Halpern discuss discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Help support the show. Learn how on Patreon.

Ruvi Rivlin's Presidential Address of Existential Distress President Reuven Rivlin made a chilling start-of-the-winter-legislative-session speech to Knesset, in which he warned that Israeli democracy itself may be imperiled.

The Gift of Gabbay Avi Gabbay, the new head of the Labor Party, presumptive leader of the left, and heir not-so-apparent to Israel's premiership, has triangulated to the right.

It's the Patriarchy, Stupid! There's a brouhaha over a feminist Member of Knesset who suggested that kids might be better off if there were no marriages or nuclear families.

Music: The Aprons, in honor of their newest, crowdfunded record, "Any Human Heart" Day Off Any Human Heart You Her and Me Champagne and Strawberries

The "UNESCO = United Nations, Eat Sh*t & Choke On It?" Edition Oct 19, 2017

Show notes

Noah Efron, Don Futterman, and Ha'aretz reporter Dina Kraft discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Help support the show. Learn how on Patreon.

A Separate Peace The two battling Palestinian ruling parties – Hamas and Fatah – reconcile. What does it augur for Palestinians, Israelis, and other living things?

UNESCO = United Nations, Eat Sh*t & Choke On It? Trump pulls the US out of UNESCO. Netanyahu pulls Israel out of UNESCO. Good riddance or bad judgment?

Don't be Fooled by Capitalism! Do Israel's ultra-Orthodox have an answer to the vexations of capitalism?

Music: Yehu Yaron, all off his great new record, "Im Lo Nirkod, Lo Navin Klum" Oi Dvarim Kvedim kmo Kapara Cmo Lihiot Sameach Amur Lihiot Rach

The "A Girl, and I Shoot Well!" Edition Oct 11, 2017

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"A Girl, and I Shoot Well!" There is a remarkable new documentary web series following three young women living in far flung parts of the occupied territories who have little in common, save that they are all passionate, articulate, beautiful, and armed settlers.

College of Corrections What should we make of a shocking new and "world's first" proposal to allow a university to manage a prison jointly with the Israel Prison Service?

The Problem with Jewish Pride It's a challenging claim by one of our most astute public intellectuals: the ascent of chauvinist Jewish pride is a sign that Zionism has failed.

Music: The Turkish. Gypsy genius of the Sumsum Band! Yedikule Shesh Shanim Deux Dents La Bemol

The "A Pall to Arms" Edition Oct 04, 2017

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Martial Mercy for Military Manslaughter? IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot decided to reduce by 4 months the sentence of Elor Azaria, the soldier who shot dead a 21-year-old Palestinian who had minutes earlier stabbed and wounded an IDF soldier.

A Pall to Arms As protests swell over our sale of arms to the brutish generals of Burma/Myanmar, what is the morality of Israel's weapons industry?

Museology of the Oppressed (with Apologies to Paulo Freire) There are plans to construct 20 museums in development towns, to finally acknowledge the contributions made by what was for so long regarded as "the other Israel."

Music: Sivan Talmor! Halonot Chelsea Hotel (with Gal Nisman) 17 I'll Be

The "For the Sins We Have Sinned" Edition Sep 28, 2017

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Poll: Netanyahu is the Best PM and also a Liar who Must Resign! The first public opinion poll of the new year serves us up a mess of conflicting opinions, suggesting that the right has grown much weaker and at the same time is as strong as ever, that PM Netanyahu's career is toast and also that it is as inevitable as a Shabbat challah, and more.

Foucault, Derrida, Shagar, the Settler Nakba, and the Future of Zionism Have young settlers rejected the nationalism of their parents, embracing instead a neo-Hasidic post-Zionism that changes their political views and aspirations?

For the Sins We Have Sinned Which of our collective sins should most occupy us on this Yom Kippur?

Music: Shuli Rand, because, you know, Yom Kippur (All off the amazing album, Nekudah Tovah): Sgula Ma Hatachlit Arafel Ayeka

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