Ask Haviv Anything

Welcome to our new short-form episodes interspersed with the regular interviews that dive into an often-asked question about Israel, Jews and the Middle East. Our current question: why don’t we talk about Jordan? If you like what we do here, please join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join in...

Everyone’s asking who won. That’s the wrong question. This episode explains why the war isn’t over -- and what the real lessons of this conflict mean for Israel, Iran, and the future of war. -- This episode was sponsored by an anonymous sponsor in honor of all those we lost on October 7 and in the ensuing years of war. -- If you like what we do here, please consider joining our Patreon community a...

Welcome to our new short-form episodes interspersed with the regular interviews that dive into an often-asked question about Israel, Jews and the Middle East. Our current question: why is the two state solution so difficult to achieve? If you like what we do here, please join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover o...

Passover is just around the corner. So we sat down with the ever-wise Rabbi David Stav to dig into the inexplicable contradictions at the heart of the holiday's traditional Seder meal -- and of Jewish life writ large. In the Seder's text, the Hagaddah, we are commanded to declare that “now we are slaves, but next year we shall be free” -- even if we live in freedom and prosperity. And we a...

Trump says a deal may be coming to end the Iran war. Netanyahu says it could protect Israel’s interests. Iran’s regime says little that can be trusted. So what is really happening? Prof. Dan Schueftan returns to the podcast to help us step back from the daily headlines to ask the much bigger question: If this war ends now, who actually wins? And what’s at stake? From the Strait of Hormuz to the id...

In 1944, as the gears of the Holocaust turned toward Hungary, 32 young Jewish volunteers did the unthinkable: they parachuted into the genocide. They were a motley bunch, including a celebrated poet and a nearsighted 40-year-old pacifist. They were sent by the British to rescue downed pilots and by the Zionist leadership to save Jews. They stood almost no chance of success, and by every military m...

The rules of engagement just shattered. From the death of Ali Khamenei to the elimination of wartime mastermind Ali Larijani, Iran’s leadership hasn't just been eroded—it’s been erased. As the regime retreats into a fractured "mosaic" of local commanders and a collapsing barter economy, the US-Israeli coalition is pivoting to a final, surgical strike on the regime’s last lifeline: it...

Terrorism scholar Dr. Bruce Hoffman joins the podcast to guide us through one of the most morally explosive chapters in Zionist and Israeli history: the Irgun, Lehi, the British Mandate, and the violent campaign that helped force Britain out of Palestine. Moving from Allenby’s conquest of Jerusalem to the King David Hotel bombing, the Lord Moyne assassination, the hanging of the British sergeants,...

What is this war really about, and how does it end? We sit down with warfare scholar John Spencer to explore not just the military campaign itself, but the larger stakes of this war: Whether the US, Israel and their growing list of regional allies will be able and willing (two separate questions) to carry this war to a comprehensive conclusion, one that begins the process, even if it is slow and d...

Military analyst Yaakov Katz joins the show to break down the "first Israeli war fought in English" -- a total merger of Israeli and American military might against Iran. From the high-stakes testing of futuristic US weapon systems designed to intimidate China to the "criminal negligence" of Israel's failed PR strategy, Katz exposes how this conflict is a global chess match...

In the middle of war sirens and missile attacks, Haviv Gur sits down with Israeli philosopher Micah Goodman for a sweeping conversation about one of the biggest questions of our time: Why have some societies declined while others thrive? They trace the ideological roots of modern Islamist movements, the “politics of blame” that has hollowed out regimes like Iran, and the deep miscalculation that l...

As missile sirens wail over Jerusalem and families crowd into bomb shelters on the eve of Purim, this episode steps back from the noise and the slogans to ask a harder question: What war are we actually watching? In a moment when pundits argue over Israel, regime change, and partisan loyalties, I lay out a different frame -- two chessboards, one regional and one global -- and argue that what looks...

The conflict with Iran isn’t just about nukes. It's about a revolutionary martyrdom ideology hiding in plain sight. In this explosive deep dive, we uncover the ideological engine behind the “Muqawama,” the Iran-led "resistance axis" — a fusion of Marx, Mao, martyrdom, and Shiite theology that teaches its followers that suffering is strength and devastation is victory. From Hamas to H...

Welcome to our new short-form episodes interspersed with the regular interviews that dive into an often-asked question about Israel, Jews and the Middle East. Our current question: Why does Israel hate UNRWA? If you like what we do here, please join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join in our...

In this episode, we confront a critical "blind spot" in the Israeli (and too often broader Western) consciousness: The role of the People’s Republic of China as the silent architect behind the Middle East’s most volatile threats. Guest Melissa Chen, managing director at Strategy Risks, pulls back the curtain on a sobering reality where China acts as the sole guarantor of Iran’s survival,...

Welcome to our new short-form episodes interspersed with the regular interviews that dive into an often-asked question about Israel, Jews and the Middle East. Our current question: Is it "fascist" to believe a state can belong to a specific people? If you like what we do here, please join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that guide the topi...

Welcome to our new short-form episodes interspersed with the regular interviews that dive into an often-asked question about Israel, Jews and the Middle East. Our current question: Who benefits from continuing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? If you like what we do here, please join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that guide the topics we...

Is American Jewish identity weakening before our eyes? Are American Jews, caught in a whirlwind of hatred directed both at Israel and at the Jews themselves, turning their backs on their Jewish identity? Jonah Platt joins the podcast to talk about the growing numbers of Jews moving in the opposite direction: From quiet assimilation to unapologetic, intentional pride. We confront the sobering data...

Welcome to our new short-form episodes interspersed with the regular interviews that dive into an often-asked question about Israel, Jews and the Middle East. Our current question: How can you support a better Palestinian future? If you like what we do here, please join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the...

The inimitable Prof. Dan Schueftan joins Haviv to break down a "profoundly dangerous" turn in the Middle East. With Saudi Arabia shifting away from its alliance with Israel and the Emirates and Turkey consolidating a "puppet state" in Syria, the regional map is being redrawn. Schueftan warns that the "moderate axis" has blinked, leaving Israel to face a sophisticated Turkish adversary that is ideo...

In these strange times, it is easier than ever for a Jew to learn -- and easier than ever to remain ignorant. We sit down with Dr. Noam Weissman, executive vice president of the educational nonprofit OpenDor Media, to tackle a looming crisis: a generation of Jews who no longer know their own story. From Harvard Law students paralyzed by campus slogans to the staggering reality that 62% of Jewish d...

This week, Israel finally brought home the remains of its last hostage, 24-year-old Ran Gvili. To outsiders, the sheer scale of the national sacrifice and the collective exhalation of relief that followed his return can seem like a mystery. Every nation honors its fallen, but few go to the lengths Israelis do to reclaim a body from the hands of the enemy. In this episode, we use the upcoming holid...

The fall 2024 Israeli operations that decimated Hezbollah’s missile arsenal and leadership structure marked a pivotal turning point for the Middle East. To understand the wreckage left behind and the organization's resilient global web that is already hard at work helping it to recover, I am joined by Matthew Levitt, one of the world’s leading experts on counterterrorism. Levitt pulls back the...

Welcome to our new short-form episodes interspersed with the regular interviews that dive into an often-asked question about Israel, Jews and the Middle East. Our current question: 'From the River to the Sea' - Lost in Translation? If you like what we do here, please join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cov...

Andrew Fox is a frontline conflict researcher who has visited Gaza, Syria and Lebanon to study Israeli deployments and strategy there. He joins the podcast to talk about what he calls Israel’s ticking diplomatic clock — the inevitable moment when Israel finds itself where Europe is now: suddenly shorn of American backing and having to navigate an increasingly chaotic region and world. We discuss I...