S2 E24. Sundays with Ya’akov: USA Slapping Sanctions on the IDF? Iran’s Retreat. Passover with Hostages.

Believe me, our heads are spinning. Each week becomes more intense than the last. And there is a general feeling in Israel that rage is on a collision course with despair. Israel remains mired in conflict in Gaza with no apparent resolution in sight. Hostages remain in captivity six months on and the nation is absolutely dumbstruck. There is very little, if any, trust or confidence in the government or IDF leadership. We stand behind our soldiers and civil society leaders but those in positions of actual authority continue to amaze Israelis with their incompetence and arrogance. It seems that the counter-attack against Iran was well-considered and executed but we cannot say that about much, if anything else. Today, Ya’akov and I discuss all these issues and more. The hostage disaster. How many remain alive? And we try to place this very difficult time in the context of Jewish history, distant and recent past. How do we understand this moment, when we are meant to celebrate liberation and freedom?  As one hostage family member said to me recently: “We stand and look into the abyss. But with our heads held high.” Not in my lifetime has there been a time when the existence and future of the Jewish democratic state has seemed and actually been so imperiled. How do we understand this and how do we fix it? You can hear the intensity in the pitch of our discussion this week. We’re a metaphor for the national mood.

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