LISTEN: Analyst says Gantz has left long-term impact on Israeli faith in leaders
Episode #31: Globes political and diplomatic correspondent Tal Schneider on coalition deal * AJC Director of Muslim-Jewish Relations Ari Gordon on Arabic video series, ‘An al-Yahud
After three elections in less than a year, Israel may soon have a new government. This week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, announced a coalition agreement. Also this week, Israel observed Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day, and we’ll hear of an interesting outreach program to global Muslim communities.
This week on People of the Pod, a joint-production of the American Jewish Committee and The Times of Israel, co-host Seffi Kogen speaks with Tal Schneider, political and diplomatic correspondent at Globes, to discuss the agreement, including its more controversial elements.
Schneider breaks down the coalition agreement and speaks about the future of the draft bill, which will now be decided by the government and not the full Knesset. She predicts this is an issue that will return to headlines.
But the elephant in the room is Netanyahu’s upcoming trial and Gantz’s definitive campaign promise to not sit in a government with Netanyahu.
“Everything that Gantz said in this past year was just thrown out and I think this is a major crisis for Israelis who believed in him,” said Schneider. Since Israelis entrust their children to the heads of the Israel Defense Force, they are held to a higher standard — even when entering politics.
“They’re not supposed to be just regular politicians,” said Schneider. “I think that what Gantz just did may have caused lots of Israelis to lose their faith in leaders,” which may leave a lasting negative impact in the greater Israeli society.
Next, co-host Manya Brachear Pashman speaks with AJC’s US Director of Muslim-Jewish Relations Ari Gordon on the release of a new Arabic-language video about the Holocaust. The new video is the third in AJC’s highly successful Arabic video series, ‘An al-Yahud (“About the Jews”), which has reached tens of millions across the Arab world.
Gordon sees the project as a way for many living in the Arab world to have some kind of connection with Jews in an easily approachable animated video. “This is just a first touch point. This is an invitation to engage,” said Gordon.
“This is not an education for Jewish religion,” said Gordon. “But we wanted to talk about some of the tougher topics, some of the things that are live, now.”
“If we talk about history, we want it to be those areas that have relevance today,” said Gordon. “We’re genuinely trying to start a conversation about those things that are hard.”
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Also this week, two other The Times of Israel Podcasts:
Keeping up with Israeli politics can be like watching an unending game of speed chess. Sometimes it’s easy to follow the moves, other times much less. So Times of Israel podcast host Amanda Borschel-Dan — a complete amateur at political analysis — called in two Times of Israel experts, political correspondent Raoul Wootliff and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur, to explain in simple terms what the heck just happened.
Also, to mark Yom Hashoah, we’ll hear a gripping wartime account told by 94-year-old Dr. Hanan Karshai. Today, he is a laughing force of nature, but in 1944, 18-year-old Karshai was separated from his family in Plesivec and taken on a transport to a forced labor brigade. He eventually escaped during a death march and joined up with Russian partisans while living in a forest.
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