S2 E12. Sundays with Ya'akov Katz: Hostages and National Unity

On Friday, as I planned ahead to record with Ya’akov on Sunday (today),  I was certain that we would discuss “the day after”, which was much talked about last week, internationally. But, this being Israel, that issue was overtaken by events on Saturday: reports of a breakthrough in talks in Paris to bring home some (sadly, not all) of the hostages and a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday night that turned violent very quickly. A group of several thousand gathered in front of IDF Headquarters and called for everything possible: elections, hostage release, ultra-orthodox draft, you name it. It’s been five months since civil protests like this have occurred in Israel and it will definitely not be the last. The societal divisions that shook Israel throughout 2023 were put on hold on October 7th but the problems have not dissipated. If anything they are more pronounced. And another imminent crisis? The exemption of ultra-orthodox men from military service, while compulsory and reserve service times will be increased for those who do step up. It’s all just too much. And we get into it all.

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