Two Nice Jewish Boys

(We apologise for the technical issues you might hear during the recording) Today’s guest is no less than extraordinary. There is no way we can do justice to his life history in this short intro, in this single episode, or even if we dedicated this entire podcast to it, for that matter. No joke. But just to give you an idea: After witnessing the Nazi book burnings and Kristallnacht, he escaped Germany in the nick of time in 1939 only to be on the front lines during the invasion of Normandy as part of the British Royal Army Service Corps. After the war, he interrogated the Nazi Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop as part of Counter Intelligence, was awarded the Military Medal by King George VI as well as France’s highest honor, the Legion of Honor, and now holds the Guiness World Record for being the eldest Radio Talkshow Host. But not too old to have skydived just last year at the age of 94. Oh yeah, and he acted in a couple of Harry Potter movies. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I am extremely thrilled and tremendously honored to be joined today by host of the radio show Walter’s World, Walter Bingham.

Israel has certainly earned the nickname “StartUp Nation”. We have the largest number of startups per capita in the entire world. The population of this small country recently passed 9 million, so that’s about a startup for every 1,500 people. The stories abound of huge exits, like Mobileye to Intel for 15 billion dollars, Mellanox sold to Nvidia for about 7 billion dollars earlier this year, and the list goes on and on and on. But what makes Israel the startup hub that it is? What does the VC - startup courtship look like here in Israel ? And with so many startups, what happens to all the ones that fail? Max Marine is a CFA at Lool Ventures, an Israeli VC that has invested in many successful Israeli startups including Zooz which sold to PayU for $80 million. I'm super thrilled to be joined by Max Marine on the podcast today to talk about our startup nation.

Eytan and Naor discuss the podcast's 3rd anniversary, election results, and much more!

It is an ideal of most societies to support and respect those who defend it - namely, the police and the military. That is why when someone speaks out against these institutions, things get a bit heated. Today, in many societies there are indeed movements that put into question the integrity of these institutions. Here in Israel, one of the most controversial organizations, Breaking the Silence, has made it its mission to, “expose the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories. [...] to stimulate public debate about the price paid for a reality in which young soldiers face a civilian population on a daily basis, and are engaged in the control of that population’s everyday life. [their] work aims to bring an end to the occupation.” Avner Gvaryahu served in the Orev Unit in the Paratroopers and is currently the Executive Director of Breaking the Silence. We are excited to be joined by Avner today on the podcast to talk about our troops and the morality (or immorality) of the occupation. (Photo by Joe Mabel)

Think about your favorite food. Whatever it is, it’s probably safe to say, you think it’s tasty. Unless you’re some sort of foodie masochist. But do you think it’s really tasty? Objectively tasty? How much of our taste is biological and how much is constructed, culturally, socially, maybe even morally? It’s exactly questions like this one that have accompanied Ruthie Rousso on her lifelong journey to discover food. Ruthie Rousso is a well known Israeli Chef and food journalist. She’s the daughter of Nira Russo, who you might call Israel’s Julia Child. And she has just released her first cookbook, Ruthie Rousso’s Kitchen. Ruthie joins us today to talk about her personal love story with food.

Aesop, the great greek storyteller, once said “We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.” Israel, just like any country with a government, has a history of political corruption. Ehud Olmert, Ariyeh Deri, Moshe Katzav, these are all names that are synonymous in most Israeli minds with the concept of political corruption. One party that has been especially dogged by corruption charges is Israel Beyteinu, the party founded and headed by Avigdor Liberman. Today we’re joined by the amazing journalist Simona Weinglass. Simona is an old friend of the podcast, she joined us around two years ago to discuss the fraudulent Binary Options industry we she helped to take down with her groundbreaking expose in the Times of Israel titled the Wolves of Tel Aviv. Today, Simona joins us to talk about corruption in Israel.

In 2011 Civil War broke out in Syria. Many people had high hopes for the uprising and for the Arab spring in general. Perhaps this would end of the long reign of dictators in the Middle East. But quickly, the war took a sharp downturn into oblivion. What started out as rebels against the regime, quickly transformed into something entirely different. Since 2011, you might have noticed that Israel has struck Syria with hundreds of airstrikes. And if you’ve only been reading the headlines, you might be wondering, what the hell is Israel doing? Why get embroiled in a mess that has seemingly little to do with Israel. Let the Muslim nations battle it out and let’s just be happy that they’re not messing with us. Well, it turns out, that’s not the case at all. Prof. Dan Schueftan is the head of the National Securities Studies Center at the University of Haifa. He’s also the author of several books and articles on issues pertaining to Israel’s National Security. He joins us today to talk about the Iranian Threat. We’re thrilled to welcome Prof. Dan Schueftan to the podcast.

Throughout history, Christianity and Islam have battled it out, each vying to be the dominant religion on our planet. Jews, on the other hand, have done everything within their power to stay inside their tiny communities. Becoming Jewish, to this day, is extremely difficult. We’ve done a few episodes in the past on the struggles of “orthodox” conversion. The fact of the matter is - if you don’t go full ‘orthodox’, Israel will not consider you a real Jew. The divide between Orthodox Judaism and other denominations, mainly reform and conservative Judaism, is growing wider and wider. And many people find themselves stuck in this divide. Rabbi Angela was born in South Korea to a Jewish Father and a Budhist mother. She grew up in America, and from a young age she experienced demeaning comments, by fellow jews, doubting her Judaism. And from a young age, she decided she would not let those people dictate her relationship with Judaism. What led Angela on the path of becoming one of the most influential women Rabbis in America? How did she pave a way from Temple Beth El in Tacoma, Washington, to singing Hanunuka songs to President Obama in the White House? And ultimately, what helped her persevere in spite of all the obstacles she faced? We’re honored and thrilled to be joined by the Rabbi and Cantor Angela Buchdahl.

If you’re looking for a stable, financially secure, safe career, one profession you definitely want to stay as far away as you can from is journalism. There’s a reason Jewish mothers aren’t praying for their kids to become doctors, lawyers, or journalists. But at the end of the day, journalism is one of the main pillars of modern society, and many would even say it’s a pillar of democracy. Itai Anghel is a household name in Israel. But while his name lives comfortably in every home in Israel, Itai himself does quite the opposite. Since the early 90s, Itai has been flying to and covering the most conflict ridden regions in the world. From Bosnia, Rwanda and Kosovo in the 90s to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Lebanon in the 2000s. This decade Itai has covered the Civil War in Syria and the war against ISIS in Iraq. While most wars drive people away, it seems that war draws Itai Anghel in. Itai started his career out, as many journalists in Israel do, in the Army Radio. He worked as a reporter for Israel’s prime time Friday Night news show, Ulpan Shishi, where he prepared documentary pieces. And later he worked for Uvda, one of Israel’s leading news magazine shows. We are thrilled and honored to be joined by Itai Anghel on the podcast today.

Most Israelis are drafted to the IDF when they turn 18. For many of them, the years in the military involve extreme stress, frustration, and sometimes real life danger. It’s no wonder that the first thing most people do when they finish their service, is to go abroad for a trip that lasts anywhere between 3 to 12 months, minimum. Alongside that trip, comes a need for money. So, some become waiters, other bartenders. But in Tel Aviv of 2019, it just isn’t enough to make ends meet, surely not for the big trip abroad. The solution? Carts. If you’re an American and you happened to go into a shopping mall, you might have noticed them. Mall carts manned by well groomed young Israelis selling peculiar products like hair straighteners and remote control helicopters. But the most famous, or infamous, of them all, are the Dead Sea carts. And what you might at first say is an innocent business, or even praise as an entrepreneurial endeavor, has some rather shady elements to it. And that’s putting it lightly. Tal Badichi grew up in Israel and moved to America after the army to work in the Dead Sea carts. Like many others, she did pretty well for herself. Now, she’s back in Israel, and she’s written a book revealing all the dirty secrets behind this under-the-radar, millions of dollar industry. Tal joins us on the podcast today to share all those dirty secrets with us.