State of Tel Aviv, Israel Podcast Vivian Bercovici

Tension has spiked again in Israel. The sustained war of attrition in the north is intense and wildly destructive. People are dying and a large swath of the country has been not just rendered uninhabitable but basically, destroyed. Everything. Homes, businesses, infrastructure. As expected, the hostage families are advocating constantly and in full force for the negotiation of an agreement for the release of their loved ones from Hamas captivity. We know so little of their last nine and a half months as Hamas hostages. But we do know that they have been abused and tortured physically, psychologically and, many, sexually. And then there’s the trip Bibi is taking to America to address Congress. The dissonance between his actions and the emotional despair of the people is profound. That he can place a speech ahead of the importance of being present and at least making an effort to appear to care about the exhaustion and depletion of the people – is not going down well in Israel. At such a critical moment in the nation’s history, the Prime Minister should be here. Period. Full Stop.
You may wish to have a look at an op-ed piece I wrote for the National Post newspaper (Canada) on Saturday.
Also, Ya’akov’s Friday column in the Jerusalem Post – which we mention in our conversation – is here. A great read, as always.
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In Israel this morning we awoke to the news of the attempted assassination of President Trump on Saturday. In addition, there was an Israeli operation executed on Saturday as well to assassinate Mohammed Deif, the second-in-command to Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip. Whether Deif was in fact killed remains unclear. He has eluded more than one attempt on …

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Israel is riveted by the possibility – which has been much talked about in the last few days – of a return to the hostage negotiating table to finally bring an end to this interminable crisis. We have no idea how many remain alive. But they must be brought home. In any condition. And Hamas has finally agreed to the Israeli position that it will not agre…

For the four siblings and parents of 23-year-old Hamas hostage, Romi Gonen, life has been totally upended since October 7, 2023. . Her mother, Meirav Leshem Gonen, older sister Yarden and her father, Eitan, were on the phone with her for four hours that morning. From the very first moments of the Hamas attack she was in near constant contact with one of them. They heard everything. In separate podcasts in January (links are in the notes, below), I interviewed both Meirav and Eitan. They spoke in detail about those surreal hours when no one understood the scope of the attack. But their Romi was in the vortex of the unfolding Hell and thank goodness she had a charged phone so that they could support her. Until, that is, the Hamas monsters pulled her from the car where she was trapped, with a bullet in her arm. (All this is discussed in detail in the January podcasts.) Not until some hostages were released in late November did the family receive confirmation that Romi was alive.
For nine months they have been among the hostage families at the forefront of efforts to ensure that the ongoing savagery of Hamas is not forgotten. They are at the United Nations, meeting with government leaders, groups and individuals visiting Israel, media, anyone and everyone who demonstrates an interest in the desperate plight of the hostages. I have met with Meirav and other family members on numerous occasions. This episode is a special focus on what their lives have become.
When I was in Geneva recently on June 19 (total coincidence), I was invited to watch Meirav Leshem Gonen address the opening plenary session of the UN Human Rights Council, at which Navi Pillay, Chair of the latest Commission of Inquiry into Israel’s conduct since October 7th, presented her “findings”. Not only is the Commission yet another UN farce, but the tenor of the proceedings contrasted so sharply with the dignity of Meirav. Her power saturated the large meeting hall.
Join me on this fascinating journey with the Gonen family, through desperate lows, hope, determination, fury and a relentless focus on doing everything possible to free Romi and all the other hostages in Hamas hell. It is a tour de force because of who and what they are. Their determination and courage are just awesome. You will hear Meirav laugh, cry, tear a strip off the UN Human Rights Commission and more. We get into music, family, power and the responsibility of every person who cherishes freedom to step up and speak up. This is the story of what was probably a quite ordinary family that has come to embody devotion, strength, decency, dignity and ferocious love. They are anything but ordinary. And we discuss that too - how circumstances have thrown them into this insane life situation and how they have risen to the challenge, together.

Podcast Notes:
Remarks of Ms. Navi Pillay at UNHRC, June 19, 2024:
Remarks of Meirav Leshem Gonen at UNHRC, June 19, 2024:
Link to UNHRC proceedings on June 19, 2024
Eden Golan “Hurricane” video on Youtube
State of Tel Aviv is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.




This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stateoftelaviv.com/subscribe

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I’m back today with Ya’akov Katz to review the past week and try to make sense of it all. And we spend a lot of time discussing the performance last Thursday of President Joe Biden at the debate with Donald Trump. The way in which America is perceived - the putative leader of the free world - impacts everyone, everywhere. We discuss what the consequence…

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There’s this weird feeling in the air in Israel. A very tense lull in military action. The IDF continues its limited operation in Rafah, with the intention of routing out the last of the Hamas and PIJ weapons caches and fighting forces. Sometimes it feels like it will never end and there are many Israelis who fear that may be the government’s intention.…