Yossi Klein Halevi is someone I have wanted to interview for a while now. I immensely enjoyed his newest book, “Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor,” and felt it was a developed emotional and political expression of thoughts from my own two summers of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. So I was thrilled when he agreed to do an interview at his home (a place that overlooks Arab East Jerusalem, something he has written about beautifully in Letters). The book is a New York Times bestseller, and is now out in a second edition with the responses of “neighbors” — Palestinians and Arabs from around the West Bank, Gaza, and around the world. He is also the author of three critically acclaimed books, "Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist," "At The Entrance to The Garden of Eden," and "Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation."

The interview begins with Klein Halevi’s thoughts on Israel’s current political gridlock, then moves to the role of religion in both the Israeli and Palestinian narratives of the conflict. In the second half, we focus on Klein Halevi’s political development, beginning with the influence of his parents as Holocaust survivors and involvement in far-right youth movements as a teenager, and his transition to centrist politics later in life. I really enjoyed Klein Halevi’s balance of empathy and emotion with hard-hitting political analysis. I hope you take a listen!

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Link to “Letters to My Palestinian Neighbors”: https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Palestinian-Neighbor-Yossi-Halevi/dp/006284492X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=37AOMO8HP04MW&keywords=letters+to+my+palestinian+neighbor&qid=1581272753&s=books&sprefix=letters+to+my+pa%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C320&sr=1-1

The song by “The Who” called “We Won’t Get Fooled Again”: https://youtu.be/UDfAdHBtK_Q

The short film Yossi Klein Halevi produced decades ago about his survivor parents and their influence on him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhG7bqINntU

Favorite podcast: “Everybody Assumes” (!)

Most insightful people to follow on social media: Hen Mazzig, Einat Wilf, Bari Weiss

Book(s) have most shaped your thinking: -“Sacred Fire” — Rabbi Kalonymos Kalmish Shapira

-“The Liberation of the Camps: The End of the Holocaust and Its Aftermath” - Dan Stone