Basic Law

A scandal of historic proportions has rocked Israel’s legal system. The military’s top legal officer, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, is accused of illegally leaking doctored security footage during wartime, allegedly to smear IDF reservists. The leak triggered riots, international outrage and a cover-up that reached all the way to Israel’s Supreme Court. Now, shocking evidence reveals a web of lies, dest...

In this episode of "Basic Law," host Aylana Meisel dives deep into the fierce legal and political battle over how Israel will investigate the failures of October 7. Featuring expert commentary from Dr. Yaakov Ben Shemesh, the show explores the clash between Israel's government, its Attorney General and the Supreme Court over the formation of a commission of inquiry. At stake: not only national acc...

As the United States presses for a Gaza ceasefire and world powers search for “moderate” Palestinian leadership, a major legal development in American courts is challenging the very foundation of those diplomatic efforts. In this episode of “Basic Law,” host Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, sits down with Rabbi Dr. Mark Goldfeder, Founder of the National Jewis...

In one of the most emotionally charged weeks in Israel’s modern history, “Basic Law,” hosted by Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, confronts the hardest question of all: When life is sacred, how do you measure its worth?  As Israeli families rejoice at the return of their loved ones, the nation also grapples with the unbearable price: 2,000 Palestinian prisoners...

What does it really mean when countries like France, Britain and Australia “recognize” a Palestinian state, and how could it impact Israel’s sovereignty, diplomacy, and security? In this episode of "Basic Law," hosted by Aylana Meisel, Executive Director at the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, we take a deep dive into one of the most consequential debates shaping Israel’s future. Joining the discussi...

As Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza City intensifies, the UN Human Rights Council has once again leveled accusations of genocide against the Jewish state. Their newly released 72-page report, produced by a commission riddled with members already on record as anti-Israel, ignores Hamas’s crimes and skews casualty data to present a distorted narrative. Behind the headlines, the reality on the groun...

Visa denials, Palestinian statehood and the legal limits of diplomacy take center stage in this episode of “Basic Law,” hosted by Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum. As the United Nations General Assembly opens in New York, the global push to recognize a Palestinian state reaches a tipping point, with major Western powers like France, Britain and Canada endorsing...

In this “Basic Law" episode, Aylana Meisel and Dr. Ilya Rudiak pull the camera tight on Oct. 7, 2023 and argue it wasn’t just a massacre, it was the deliberate weaponization of the family itself. They name the crime ‘Kinoside’ and trace six chilling patterns that repeat across the day: loved ones murdered before each other’s eyes, entire households erased, parents and children abducted as units, f...

In this episode of “Basic Law,” host Aylana Meisel, Executive Director at the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, sits down with two special guests: Robert Gregory, head of the Australian Jewish Association, and Simcha Rothman, Member of Knesset, to unpack Australia’s shocking visa bans against mainstream Israeli political figures.

Israel’s legal system is colliding with wartime decision-making and the consequences could reshape the country’s future.  In this episode of “Basic Law,” hosted by Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, veteran legal scholar Dr. Yaakov Ben-Shemesh returns to unpack a series of unprecedented legal interventions that are influencing Israel’s military and political str...

Host Aylana Meisel, Executive Director at the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, explores the critical legal and diplomatic implications of the growing international push for Palestinian statehood. As countries like Canada, the UK and France consider recognizing a Palestinian state, Israel is locked in its ongoing battle with Hamas and contemplating a major military strategy to end the conflict by full...

Host Aylana Meisel-Diamant, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, gets the facts straight on the complex and often misunderstood issue of humanitarian aid in Gaza. With global powers like France, the UK, and Canada now pushing for Palestinian statehood, Aylana is joined by international law expert and lawyer Yifa Segal to unravel the misleading narratives surrounding Gaza’s human...

Host Aylana Meisel is joined by international lawyer Mark Zell, who sheds light on the weaponization of universal jurisdiction, a legal strategy that allows foreign courts to prosecute individuals for alleged crimes committed outside their borders. The show explores how this strategy is being used against Israeli citizens worldwide, with a focus on Belgium, Brazil and Spain, where laws are being m...

Is Israeli democracy cracking…or finally correcting course? Host Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, is joined by Dr. Yaakov Ben-Shemesh, a leading constitutional law scholar, to unravel one of the most turbulent weeks in Israel’s political and legal history. From Ambassador Mike Huckabee's surreal appearance at Prime Minister Netanyahu’s trial (with a Bugs Bunny...

Is Israel's judicial system endangering its national security? Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, sits down with veteran investigative journalist Akiva Bigman to expose how unchecked judicial power has reshaped, and even weakened, Israel’s ability to defend itself.

Former British military officer and Middle East specialist Andrew Fox joins the show this week to uncover the real story behind the viral “It’s a Killing Field” article. They explore how misleading media coverage, amplified by outlets like Haaretz and CNN, is fueling war-crimes accusations against Israel and threatening to distort legal proceedings in international courts. The conversation gives a...

What happens when the rules of war no longer match the reality of the battlefield? In this episode of Basic Law, host Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, sits down with Professor Jeremy Rabkin, Professor Emeritus of Law at George Mason University, to tackle one of the most urgent legal and moral dilemmas of our time: Should why a nation fights change how it fight...

Is Israel’s war with Iran legal under international law—or is it a war of aggression? In this episode of “Basic Law,” international law expert Professor Avi Bell joins host Aylana Meisel to unpack the legal justification behind Israel’s historic preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear program. Together, they dive deep into the laws of armed conflict, the principle of self-defense, proportionality and...

How can legal strategies, both in the U.S. and abroad, be deployed to confront the dangerous rise of antisemitic radicalism and terror-linked activism in the West? Anne Herzberg, Legal Counsel at NGO Monitor and the organization’s UN Representative, joins host Aylana Meisel to shed light on how the legal system is becoming a critical battlefield in the fight to protect Jewish communities and uphol...

How can legal strategies, both in the U.S. and abroad, be deployed to confront the dangerous rise of antisemitic radicalism and terror-linked activism in the West? Anne Herzberg, Legal Counsel at NGO Monitor and the organization’s UN Representative, joins host Aylana Meisel to shed light on how the legal system is becoming a critical battlefield in the fight to protect Jewish communities and uphol...

Has Israel’s Democracy Been Hijacked? Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, is joined by Yonatan Green, Fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for the Constitution and author of a forthcoming book on the Israeli legal system. Green is here to discuss two landmark judicial decisions that have intensified the high-stakes power struggle between Israel’s judiciary an...

Is Israel’s legal system prepared to deliver justice after the horrors of October 7, or is it paralyzed by outdated frameworks and political hesitation? On this episode of “Basic Law,” Aylana Meisel sits down with Col. (Res.) Adv. Maurice Hirsch, former senior IDF prosecutor and Director of Legal Strategies at the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs, to unpack the urgent need for a new legal resp...

Is the United Nations broken beyond repair? Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, sits down with renowned international law expert Professor Eugene Kontorovich to explore how international institutions like the UN, ICC, UNRWA and WHO have become politicized and weaponized against Israel and the West.

Israel’s democracy, judicial power and national identity take center stage in this episode of Basic Law, hosted by Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum. This week, Meisel sits down with leading Israeli thought-leader and podcaster Dr. Gadi Taub for a wide-ranging, no-holds-barred conversation filmed live at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem. In this...

Host Aylana Meisel, Executive Director of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, sits down with leading international law expert Professor Avi Bell (University of San Diego, Bar-Ilan University, Kohelet Policy Forum and board member at NGO Monitor) for a powerful exposé on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and its deeply controversial role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.