In the past few months, we have had a bunch of episodes on Israel. Each one has been special in its own right, and for the foreseeable future we will continue to have a few more episodes on these topics.

This episode is a bit different. It’s longer, and more importantly deeper. Our guest, Haviv Rettig Gur, touches on the usual newsy topics like Bibi Netanyahu, and we go to the places that beg for more attention, like the fraying ties between Israel and American Jews. He brilliantly illuminates everything from Israel’s long term strategy against Hamas to his motivation from Maimonides to explore journalism.

Haviv Rettig Gur is "The Times of Israel" Senior Analyst, meaning he does the deep dive pieces on subjects beyond the headlines. Before that, he was a correspondent for "The Jerusalem Post," and Gur was also the director of communications for the Jewish Agency for Israel.

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The article by Micah Goodman that was mentioned: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/eight-steps-shrink-israeli-palestinian-conflict/585964/

Gur's Article on Gantz and Netanahyu on the Gaza situation: https://www.timesofisrael.com/why-netanyahu-and-gantz-bicker-most-over-the-policy-they-most-agree-on/

Gur's Review of Dr. Daniel Gordis's new book on the US and Israeli Jewry: https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-new-book-explores-the-ties-that-no-longer-bind-the-jews-its-a-good-start/

Favorite podcast: "Lexicon Valley"

Most insightful accounts on Social Media: Facebook--The Hebrew Academy of Israel / Twitter--Pew Research Center

Book(s) that have most shaped your thinking: "The Dispossessed" -- Ursula K. Le Guin "The Ethics of Authenticity" -- Charles Taylor"The Righteous Mind" -- Jonathon Haidt _________________________________________________

From our sponsor: Link to Tikvah Fund high school program application -- https://tikvahfund.org/hs/tsp2020/overview/