Unholy: Two Jews on the News

Yonit is joined by Yaakov Katz, author, columnist and former editor of the Jerusalem Post, and together they try to make sense of a week that had it all: a 17-hour mini-war with Iran, Trump growing visibly impatient -- and Netanyahu caught between his base and the White House. Israeli politics see the Israeli PM focusing on the rising political threat of Gadi Eisenkot, who for the first time has pulled ahead of Netanyahu in head-to-head polling for Prime minister -- and how the Likud is trying to turn his English skills into a liability. Then it's across the Atlantic — to an oyster farmer in Maine with a Nazi tattoo, a Michigan primary, and a New Jersey candidate with troubling ties, all pointing to a shift in American politics that Israelis aren't paying nearly enough attention to. Plus: our Chutzpah and Mensch awards — one goes to a Jewish politician building a very disturbing database, and the other heads to the World Cup.

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Israeli children are still running to shelters. The hostages are home, but the wars keep coming. And somewhere underneath it all — the October 7th trauma, the Iran strikes, the hostages, the endless sirens — something is being passed down to the next generation, whether we mean to or not.

This week, Yonit sits down with Dr. Galit Atlas, psychoanalyst and author of Emotional Inheritance, to ask the questions most of us are afraid to answer: what does prolonged, unprocessed national trauma do to a people? How do Jewish rituals of memory — Passover, Holocaust Remembrance Day — help or harm? And is there actually hope on the other side of all this?

Dr. Atlas's new book, Come Closer: Childhood Wounds, Adult Love and the Secrets of Emotional Intimacy, is out in September.

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Yonit Levi
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Iran broke a two-month ceasefire on Sunday night, launching missiles at Israel after Netanyahu struck Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut. By Monday, Trump declared an immediate stop — but the questions it raised won't close that easily.

In this emergency update, Yonit  and Jonathan  are joined by Amos Harel — Haaretz's military affairs analyst and author of 629: Anatomy of a Failure — to break down the calculus on every side. Did Netanyahu engineer the escalation ahead of October elections? Is Trump more irritated by Israel than by Iran? And after everything — is Iran actually stronger now than before the war started?

⏱ CHAPTERS:

[00:00] Intro — The 24 hours that shook the region

[00:15] Yonit breaks down what happened: sirens, missiles, school closures

[03:45] Amos Harel joins: Is the escalation cycle behind us?

[05:17] Did Netanyahu plan the Beirut strike — knowing Iran would respond?

[08:06] The thought experiment: Would this happen with different leaders?

[11:27] Netanyahu's bind: angering his base or angering Trump

[13:20] Iran's nuclear endgame — a historian's warning

[17:30] Trump's frustration: Is Israel now the obstacle?

[21:57] The chief of staff trolled Netanyahu live

[25:12] Can Netanyahu actually delay the October elections?

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The fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese government is overshadowed by an already notorious phone call where Donald Trump reportedly dropped multiple F-bombs on Benjamin Netanyahu for threatening Israeli strikes on Beirut. Yonit and Jonathan dissect the increasing strain in the US-Israel relationship - and a new equation set by Iran that will alarm all Israelis.

Meanwhile, two warning signs this week for the state of Israeli democracy, as Netanyahu appoints his personal lawyer as State Comptroller, with members of the Knesset pressured to reveal their secret ballot - and a mob vandalizes the home of a Supreme Court justice in a bid to intimidate the judiciary over demands to exempt the ultra-Orthodox from mandatory military service.

Also - an inquiry into antisemitism in UK’s cherished NHS, while Canada’s PM admits the country failed its Jews, prompting a new advisory council with a questionable membership. And finally (and thankfully), it’s a crowded field for our mensch of the week award.

 

00:00 Introduction and Overview of Current Events

02:47 The Impact of Smartphones on Society

05:38 Ceasefire Agreements and Regional Tensions

09:22 US-Israel Relations and Political Dynamics

13:13 Political Appointments and Democratic Erosion in Israel

18:50 Judicial Intimidation and the Rule of Law

23:02 Global Anti-Semitism and Responses

29:35 Celebrating Women in Film: Helen Mirren and Emma Thompson

35:17 A Culinary Milestone: Mutra's Michelin Star

 

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This week, Yonit and Jonathan sit down with acclaimed military and intelligence analyst Amos Harel to discuss his new book 6:29  -Anatomy of a Failure — a devastating, meticulously reported account of October 7th and the collapse that preceded it. Drawing on internal investigations, intelligence materials, battlefield testimony and conversations with senior officials, Harel reconstructs how Israel failed at every level: intelligence, operations  - and strategy.

They discuss the “Walls of Jericho” Hamas attack plan that Israeli intelligence possessed years in advance; the SIM card warnings and the signs missed in the final hours before the massacre; the operational chaos that left communities abandoned for hours; and why Harel believes October 7th could likely have been prevented.

The conversation also examines Benjamin Netanyahu’s role in the years leading up to the attack: the Qatar cash pipeline to Hamas, the belief that the Palestinian conflict could be indefinitely “managed,” the judicial overhaul crisis, and the refusal — still now — to establish a state commission of inquiry.

Plus: why Hezbollah’s hesitation on October 7th may have prevented an even greater catastrophe, whether Israel has actually learned the lessons of that day, and why Harel believes the battle over the public memory of October 7th may define Israel’s coming elections.

NOTE: Amos Harel's Book, 6:29 - Anatomy of a Failure, will be published in English Later this year.

⏱ CHAPTERS:

[00:00] 6:29 — anatomy of a failure

[06:55] The Intelligence Failures Leading to October 7th

[21:05] “Where Was the Army?” — The Operational Collapse

[32:10] Netanyahu, Qatar, and the Strategic Failure Before the War

[41:40] Hezbollah, Iran, and the Attack That Could Have Been Bigger

[45:25] Can Israel Prevent Another October 7th?

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Yonit Levi
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X: https://x.com/LeviYonit
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Jonathan Freedland
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📩 Contact: unholy@unholy-media.com
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