Tel Aviv Review

Between 1950-1972, dozens of former Jewish kapos stood trial in Israel, yet their story is almost entirely unknown. Prof. Dan Porat, a historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, discusses his book Bitter Reckoning: Israel Tries Holocaust Survivors as Nazi Collaborators, a 2019 National Jewish Book Award finalist. An excerpt appeared in Time magazine, read it here. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr. Kfir Cohen Lustig, Academic Director of the Globalization and Sovereignty Cluster at The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, discusses his book Makers of Worlds, Readers of Signs: Israeli and Palestinian Literature of the Global Contemporary. Exploring the relevance of the Marxist tradition in literary criticism, he offers a new understanding of globalization. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Rabbi Hara Person, the Chief Executive of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, is the publisher of the new book Deepening the Dialogue: American Jews and Israelis Envision the Jewish Democratic State. She offers insights into how Reform Rabbis, whose finger is on the Jewish-American pulse virtually more than anyone else, can communicate Israel to their communities and vice-versa. This season is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr Yoav Di Capua, professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in Arab intellectual history, discusses his new book No Exit: Arab Existentialism, Jean Paul Sartre and Decolonization. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Behind the political bogeyman of modern Iran lie centuries of Persian poetry and literature. Orly Noy, journalist and political activist, translates Farsi literature into Hebrew, from the novels of Mahmoud Dowlatabadi to the poems of Forough Farrokhzad. Her work brings the soul of Iran to Israel - and her readings bring the music. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Khaled Elgindy, formerly at the Brookings Institute and currently Senior Fellow and Director of the Program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute, writes that America's fundamental ambiguity over the Palestinian national cause has been an underlying and unappreciated factor in the failure of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations over the years, in his new book, Blind Spot – America & the Palestinians, From Balfour to Trump. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Scholars and co-authors Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser and Cas Mudde provide a comprehensive look at the elusive phenomenon of populism for the general reader. Their treatment of populism spans left to right, south to north, people to leaders, and explains why democracies are the most vulnerable to populist trends. This episode is made possible by the Israel office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, which promotes peace, freedom, and justice through political education.

Prof. Karnit Flug, former Governor of the Bank of Israel and currently Vice President for Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the Israeli economy. 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.

Yossi Klein Halevy, American-Israeli writer and public intellectual, senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, discusses his best-selling book Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor, an attempt to engage in Israeli-Palestinian dialogue while transcending the temptation to try to converge the conflicting narratives. This episode is made possible by the Z3 Project, an initiative of the Oshman Family JCC, committed to creating an ongoing, dynamic forum for opinions and ideas about Diaspora Jewry and Israel. The Oshman Family JCC is a premier source in the Silicon Valley of exciting and innovative programming; focused on architecting the Jewish future.

Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger, a Reform rabbi at the West London Synagogue and a member of the House of Lords, as well as a member of several philanthropic organizations, including the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, of which she is chair, discusses her book Antisemitism: What it is. What it isn't. Why it Matters. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.