Tel Aviv Review

When Robert Berman, an American Jewish immigrant to Israel began studying Arabic, he didn't stop until he had written a book full of idioms. Together with language expert Christy Bandak as editor, the linguistic duo wrote Min Taq Taq: A Collection of Arabic Idioms, in which they explain what "his face is good on me" conveys in Arabic, and why they included a whole chapter on fingers.

Ahead of a fourth general election in under two years, Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute, joins us to discuss what needs to be done to come out of the ongoing political crisis that has left Israel without a stable government, a state budget for three years on end, and an effective response to the Covid pandemic. This episode is made possible by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

In their documentary film King Bibi: The Life and Performances of Benjamin Netanyahu, Dan Shadur and Liran Atzmor get to the bottom of Benjamin Netanyahu's magic, which has made him the longest-serving Prime Minister in Israel's history and a prominent fixture in Israeli politics for the past four decades, and counting.

It took the world's most advanced digital pioneers, when the computer as we know it was barely born, to stave off Nazi conquest of the Middle East. And it took Gershom Gorenberg to write the true history of the "War of Shadows: Codebreakers, Spies, and the Secret Struggle to Drive the Nazis from the Middle East" – as if it was a novel. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel's relationship with the EU and European countries.

At times reminiscent of European Jewry in the 19th century, at others of American Jewry in the 20th, the modern history of Iran's Jews varies radically from contemporary Jewish histories in the Middle East. The new book Between Iran and Zion: Jewish Histories of Twentieth-Century Iran by Lior Sternfeld, assistant professor of history and Jewish Studies at Pennsylvania State University, focuses on the unique case of Iranian Jewry.

Musa Hadid is an all-around nice guy; he's determined to fix up the old town, re-brand his city, and have a Christmas celebration for everyone. But being the Mayor of Ramallah is no ordinary job and a new documentary, Mayor, is no ordinary film about Palestine. David Osit, the director, explains why. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel's relationship with the EU and European countries.

If a former White House coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf, who served as special assistant to President Obama concludes that you shouldn't undertake regime change in the Middle East, you probably shouldn't. But nothing is ever quite that simple. In Losing the Long Game, The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East, Philip Gordon examines what went wrong. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel's relationship with the EU and European countries.

Prof. Karnit Flug, Vice President of the Israel Democracy Institute and former Chancellor of the Bank of Israel, assesses the effects of the COVID pandemic on the Israeli economy. Does the fact that Israel is a small and centralized economy work in its benefit? To what extent was the relative robustness of the Israeli economy squandered by the mishandling of the pandemic response by decision makers? How quickly will it bounce back? This episode is made possible by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.

In her bestselling Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism, acclaimed journalist and historian Anne Applebaum examines how a wave of nationalist populism swept through the western world – and tore apart her own circle of friends. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.

German-Jewish poet, political scientist and sometimes-provocateur Max Czollek examines the complex dance between modern Germany and German Jews, Holocaust memory, minority identity, radical diversity, art and politics. His book "De-integrate Yourselves" has launched a thousand conversations. This episode is part of a series made possible by the German Government which examines Israel's relationship with the EU and European countries.