Unholy: Two Jews on the News

Amos Harel on the Anatomy of a Failure - how October 7 happened 02.06.2026 53min

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.

Ceasefire talk, hostage politics and Logan Roy 28.05.2026 46min

A US-Iran deal appears to be taking shape — and Israel isn't in the room. As diplomatic back-channels buzz and American strikes on Iran continue under a ceasefire that apparently requires bombing to maintain, Netanyahu finds himself watching from the outside: no seat at the table, no answers on the nuclear file, no movement on proxies. Meanwhile, two hostage parents — whose sons were held in Gaza at the same time — are entering Israeli politics from opposite ends of the spectrum, a story that says more about where the country is heading than any poll. Plus: the Caroline Glick appointment, the Israel Solidarity Parade in New York, antisemitism in London's British Museum, and a Chutzpah award for a congressman whose concession speech managed to be both funny and deeply troubling. This week's Mensch of the Week will leave you wanting to move to Tel Aviv.

Franklin Foer on why fatalism isn't a strategy for American Jews 26.05.2026 42min

Franklin Foer is the man who declared that the golden age of American Jewry is over - or at least ending. Two years on — in the aftermath of October 7th and the Gaza war, collapsing bipartisan support for Israel, a wave of antisemitism from both left and right, and a military misadventure in Iran — he thinks he underestimated the problem. This week, Yonit and Jonathan sit down with Foer, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of the landmark piece that became required reading in Jewish communities across America. They discuss whether the anti-AIPAC pledge that has become a feature of Democratic primaries is classical antisemitism in new clothing; how a forgotten Jewish genius from Odessa might explain what American Jews are supposed to do now; and why Foer refuses — loudly — to bow to fatalism. Also: Bob Dylan's existential crisis, Abraham Joshua Heschel's ode to the Sabbath, and how soccer helps explain at least one aspect of modern Jewish life. Guest: Franklin Foer, staff writer, The Atlantic Watch us on YouTube: Follow Unholy and learn more about the pod: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ Join our Patreon community to get access to bonus episodes, discounts on merch and more: https://bit.ly/UnholyPatreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company.

Flotilla Disgrace, Election Fever and Football Joy 21.05.2026 51min

This week Jonathan is in celebratory mode—and no, it's not only because it’s the festival of Shavuot, but because his beloved Arsenal finally won the Premier League, sparking a spontaneous tribal gathering of ‘marauding revellers’ in North London. Meanwhile, Yonit and Jonathan unpack the volatile situation with Iran, and ask where President Trump’s vague threats of a renewed strike are heading. Then, it's wall-to-wall condemnation for National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose grotesque 56-second video taunting Gaza flotilla detainees was a nightmare for Israel’s defenders especially. And Jonathan describes his visit to the Nova exhibition in London, which offers a powerful, heart-rending glimpse of the human faces of the October 7th massacre and the shocking refusal of much of the world to look directly at what happened on that day. Plus: a musical mensch for the ages.

Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy On the sexual violence of October 7 19.05.2026 40min

Two and a half years after October 7th, the Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children has published its comprehensive report — 300 pages of meticulously corroborated evidence documenting what was done to women, men, children, and hostages on that day and in captivity since. This week, Yonit and Jonathan speak with Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, the founder and chair of the Commission, 2024 Israel Prize laureate, and expert in international law and human rights — the woman who spent more than two years immersed in 10,000 photographs and videos and 430 testimonies so the world could not look away. They discuss what the evidence reveals about the scale and calculated nature of the atrocities, why so many feminist organisations around the world fell silent, the new legal concept of “kinocide” that the Commission had to coin because no existing term could capture what had happened to families — and what it means that the person who stared deepest into this abyss still believes in peace.

Bibi's secret visit, Israeli election timetable - and a veteran mensch 14.05.2026 48min

Yonit and Jonathan discuss a week brimming with unresolved questions. Did Benjamin Netanyahu really travel to the UAE during the war with Iran? Why would he leak it now, and what led the UAE to issue such a quick denial? After a trip to China, where is Donald Trump heading on Iran? And inside Israel, as the political drama intensified with United Torah Judaism threatening to break ranks with the coalition over the draft bill's failure, could elections be held in September? And what role could be played by a possible plea bargain for Netanyahu? Finally, there’s a crowded field for our mensch award this week – who will come out in front: a 100 year old international treasure or a newborn baby?

The Future is Peace - with Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah 12.05.2026 40min

Israel Election whispers, Iran Negotiations and "Lashon Hara, Babe" 07.05.2026 42min

The Iran war may be over — or it may not. In the space of a few hours this week, Washington ordered warships into the Strait of Hormuz, paused the operation, threatened to resume bombing at higher intensity, and then declared peace was near. Yonit and Jonathan cut through the chaos — and ask the question the ceasefire deal still hasn't answered: what happened to Iran's nuclear stockpile? Also this week: Bezalel Smotrich calls October 7th "a tactical failure" and says including Arab parties in government would be a thousand times worse — Jonathan calls him what he is. Gadi Eisenkot and former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen join forces. Netanyahu's plea deal murmurs get louder. The UK goes to the polls with antisemitism front and center. And the Chutzpah and Mensch awards both go to the same unlikely figure: Nick Cave, who told a hostile fan to go F himself — and blamed his wife's absence.

Iran War: What Comes Next - with Dr Suzanne Maloney 05.05.2026 41min

Forty days of war with Iran. Four weeks of an uneasy ceasefire. And one verdict that nobody in Washington wants to say out loud: the Islamic Republic came out of this stronger. Dr. Suzanne Maloney, Vice President of the Brookings Institution's foreign policy program and one of America's most trusted voices on Iran, joins Yonit and Jonathan as US warships attempt to escort vessels through a Strait of Hormuz that Iran still effectively controls. They get into whether the ceasefire can hold, why the nuclear threat was never really addressed, who is actually making decisions inside Tehran now that the supreme leader is gone, and what a realistic deal — if one exists — might look like. Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/D_P_lca1OzQ

Stabbings in London, a political marriage in Israel 30.04.2026 46min

As stabbing against Jews in Golders Green rises up, again, the question of security of Jewish communities around the world, Iran and the US still calling diplomatically, and Israel starts the countdown: 6 months to the elections. Yonit and Jonathan discuss the Golders Green knife attack and the wave of antisemitism hitting Britain since October 7th; the Bennett–Lapid merger and what it means for Israel's October elections; whether the Iran–Israel war is on pause or simply reloading; Jake Sullivan's bombshell statement on arms sales to Israel; and — in the awards — Israeli police cutting a Palestinian flag from a Jewish man's kippah, and King Charles delivering a Magna Carta reminder to Congress that Democrats jumped to their feet for.

Howard Jacobson - Unholy Conversations 28.04.2026 50min

Howard Jacobson has screamed "liar" at the BBC, lost friends over a newspaper article, and started asking his wife whether it's still safe to live in London. Now he's written a novel about all of it. *Howl* is the story of Ferdinand Draxler — Jewish headmaster, reluctant marcher, man on the edge — who watches the world he believed in applaud the October 7th massacre and descends into a rage that may or may not be madness. Jacobson says he borrowed quite a lot from the last two years of his life. In this Unholy Conversations episode, Jacobson talks with Yonit and Jonathan about the ungovernable anger behind the novel, why he chose comedy as the only honest vehicle for it, the friends who wrote accusing him of celebrating Palestinian deaths, the Manchester synagogue where he was bar mitzvahed and which was attacked on Yom Kippur, and the question he can't shake: what would we have done in Berlin in 1932?

Independence, food and a response to Ezra Klein - with special guest Adeena Sussman 23.04.2026 1t 22min

Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1RBYWVXGom0 Follow Unholy and learn more about the pod: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ Join our Patreon community to get access to bonus episodes, discounts on merch and more: https://bit.ly/UnholyPatreon Listen to Aner Shapira z"l and Yehudit Ravitz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1XbaGln45Q Pre-order "Zariz" by Adeena Sussman: https://www.adeenasussman.com/zariz Israel's 78th Independence Day arrives in the shadow of a three-year war — and a nation more divided than ever. As US-Iran talks stall and the Lebanon ceasefire holds by a thread, Yonit and Jonathan take stock of where Israel stands: from the parallel ceremonies splitting the country, to Rahm Emanuel's seismic break from past support for Israeli military aid, to Ezra Klein's "one state reality" argument — and why Yonit thinks it misses half the picture. Then: a joyful detour. Adeena Sussman, author of the forthcoming Zariz: 100 Easy, Breezy, Tel Aviv-y Recipes, joins to talk about cooking through a war, the fusion of Jewish and Israeli identity on the plate, and why every pot of Sabbath stew is a political act.

Rachel Goldberg-Polin - Unholy Conversations 21.04.2026 44min

Rachel Goldberg-Polin has stood before the UN, met with presidents, and worn a number on her chest every single day until there were no more hostages in Hamas captivity. Now, months after Hersh was murderd, she sat down and wrote a book. When We See You Again is not a hostage story and not a political reckoning. It is, as Rachel describes it, a painful love story — a grief memoir written "with one finger from underneath a truck," with no distance, no perspective, and no pretense that any of that is coming soon. In this conversation with Yonit and Jonathan, Rachel talks about the moment a released hostage told her Hersh had heard her voice in captivity, why she refused to name the officials who promised and delivered nothing, the 87 pages she cut and called "the suitcase," and how Hersh's memory will become a "revolution for go.”

Lebanon ceasefire, Senate Showdown, Orban out 16.04.2026 41min

Watch us on Youtube: https://youtu.be/1GIuMFYYX1E Get more Unholy content: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ As Israel marks one week out of 40 days of missiles from Iran, Yonit and Jonathan take apart the week's impossible contradictions: Netanyahu delivering a triumphalist Yom HaShoah speech while 400 kilograms of enriched uranium remain intact in Iran; a fragile Lebanon ceasefire that almost no one trusts; 40 Democratic senators voting against arms transfers; and Italy's far-right prime minister — until now Israel's last ally in Europe — quietly moving toward the exit. They also clock a historic election in Hungary, what Orban's fall means for the Israeli opposition, and whether Gadi Eisenkot is the figure who finally changes the picture.

Ceasefire on day 40 - with Bret Stephens and Amir Fuchs 09.04.2026 1t 20min

Follow Unholy and learn more about the pod: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ Join our Patreon community to get access to bonus episodes: https://bit.ly/UnholyPatreon Day 40 of the US-Israel war on Iran — and it's ceasefire. But the relief is complicated: Israeli bombardment of Hezbollah in Lebanon has already shifted the world's anger from Washington back to Jerusalem. Bret Stephens, opinion columnist at the New York Times and one of the conflict's most prominent intellectual defenders, joins Yonit and Jonathan to take stock — was it worth it, what was actually achieved, and what does an inconclusive ending mean for Israel's standing with a younger American generation that's turning away. Then: the death penalty bill that slipped through the Knesset on Erev Pesach. Dr. Amir Fuchs of the Israeli Democracy Institute was inside those committee rooms. He explains what passed and who it targets.

Books special: conversations with Daniel Taub and Yardena Schwartz 07.04.2026 50min

Day 39 of the war. Pesach. Instead of news, we brought you books — two of them, both essential. Jonathan speaks with Daniel Taub, former Israeli ambassador to the UK and author of Beyond Dispute: Rediscovering the Jewish Art of Constructive Disagreement — about why Jewish argument culture might be the most relevant thing in the world right now, and how families torn apart over Gaza might actually talk to each other. Yonit speaks with Yardena Schwartz, award-winning journalist and Emmy-nominated producer, author of Ghosts of a Holy War — about the 1929 Hebron massacre, and why this nearly-forgotten event explains almost everything about the conflict today. Two books. Two conversations. One mid-week treat while we wait for whatever comes next.

Middle East Past and Present: A deep dive into history with Tom Holland 01.04.2026 1t

In this special Pesach episode, Yonit and Jonathan discuss seder traditions and those who had to change due to the war. They are joined by Tom Holland — co-host of The Rest Is History and author of landmark books on Rome, Persia, and the roots of Western civilization — to explain why the Romans were wrong about the Jews, why the West fundamentally misunderstands Iran, and why secularism is itself a religious inheritance. From Cyrus the Great to the Iranian Revolution to Donald Trump, this is the episode that puts the present moment in full historical context.

Talking peace, making war - with Jake Sullivan 26.03.2026 1t 19min

Please note that an (authentic!) alert sound is heard twice throughout the episode. Watch us on Youtube: https://youtu.be/UdhHLAquwgs Follow Unholy and learn more about the pod: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ The fourth week of the war with Iran finds both sides insisting—loudly and contradictorily—that peace talks are either underway or nowhere in sight. In the meantime, Iranian missiles continue to hit civilian neighbourhoods across Israel, while rolling news blurs day into night, tracking both the war itself and the political manoeuvres that show little sign of slowing down. And in London, another antisemitic attack raises uncomfortable questions about double standards when it comes to hatred directed at Israel. This week, Yonit and Jonathan sit down with Jake Sullivan, who puts it bluntly: this war should not have started. Sullivan lays out three reasons why the decision was flawed, argues that Donald Trump’s “appetite grew with the eating” from the 12-day war to the current escalation, and offers an alternative path—a renewed nuclear deal backed by long-term deterrence. He also raises a troubling possibility: could this conflict increase the likelihood of Chinese action against Taiwan? Plus: a rare look behind the scenes of Israel’s most-watched news broadcast, as Yonit reflects on what it means to sit in the anchor’s chair for hours on end—and the personal toll it takes. 00:00 Day 27 — Cluster bomb near Yonit's house 03:00 Life under sirens: sheltering in Tel Aviv 19:48 The Rubio remark: did Israel drag America into war? 23:28 Yonit on anchoring Israel's news during a war she's living 31:23 Jonathan: global antisemitic attacks since the war began 42:06 Jake Sullivan: deal or escalation? 1:15:16 Chutzpah & Mensch Awards

War with Iran Update: Trump Hits the Pause Button 23.03.2026 21min

Watch us on Youtube: https://youtu.be/dhvM7lnkO88 Follow us on social media and get more Unholy content: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ This morning, Donald Trump posted something that might — or might not — mean the US-Israeli war on Iran is coming to an end. A five-day pause on strikes. Secret talks via Pakistan and Turkey. Kushner and Witkoff on the American side. A shadowy Iranian speaker being cast as the pragmatist the US has been searching for. This is a special emergency episode of Unholy, recorded on 23 March 2026, as events were still unfolding. Jonathan and Yonit break down the two scenarios — deal or larger war — and why Trump's exit ramp looks nothing like Netanyahu's. They also turn to the daily wave of antisemitic attacks across Europe and North America since this war began, including last night's arson on four Hatzalah ambulances in Golders Green, London. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Update Episode 01:02 Trump's Social Media Post and Its Implications 03:40 Negotiations and Mediating Efforts 08:29 The Role of Iran and Potential Outcomes 13:30 Israel's Position and Concerns 16:26 Rising Anti-Semitism and Community Safety

Day 20 of the Iran war - with Amos Harel. Plus: Shelter Q&A 19.03.2026 1t 16min

Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HeoVvd294Ww Follow us on social media and join Patreon to get more of Unholy: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ Day 20 of the US-Israeli war on Iran — and it's becoming a war of attrition. In the meantime, Europe refuses to lend its ships, daylight emerges between Trump and Netanyahu, and Joe Kent's antisemitic conspiracy theory gets the full debunking it deserves. Amos Harel, Haaretz's military affairs correspondent, joins Yonit and Jonathan for a deep dive. What does the assassination of Ali Larijani — Khamenei's right-hand man — actually achieve? Is the war drifting from plan A toward something no one planned at all? And why is Netanyahu now talking less about regime change and more about Israel as a "world superpower"? And we turn to you, our listeners, with your most pressing questions about anything between life and war.