The Times of Israel Daily Briefing Day 722 - Yossi Klein Halevi: Struggling to make moral sense of the Gaza war
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Sep 27, 2025 
Yossi Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute and a prominent voice on Israeli society, tackles the moral complexities surrounding the Gaza war. He shares insights on why he feels compelled to lead the moral conversation among Jews who cherish Israel. Discussing the IDF’s evolving role, he emphasizes the necessity of self-questioning in the Jewish discourse. Halevi also critiques both Hamas and Israel’s policies, while highlighting the broader implications of the ongoing conflict for moral credibility and diaspora relations.
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View From Mount Herzl
- Yossi Klein Halevi describes working in his Jerusalem home overlooking Mount Herzl and hearing daily eulogies from the military cemetery.
- That proximity makes the cost of war personally tangible and shapes his perspective on Israeli society.
Reclaiming The Moral Conversation
- Klein Halevi wrote to model a moral, anguished conversation about Gaza rather than to indict Israel.
- He urges Israelis and diaspora Jews to keep the moral conversation in Jewish hands, not leave it to Israel's enemies.
The Army As National Mirror
- The IDF is not an abstract institution but the nation's institution that Israelis 'own' and worry about deeply.
- Klein Halevi worries the army might be remade in the image of the current government, changing its inclusive ethos.