FIDF Live

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Moving stories, exclusive base visits, donor spotlights. Bringing the men and women of the IDF directly to you.

  1. 12/07

    FIDF LIVE BRIEFING Brig. Gen. Elad Edri, Homefront Command Chief of Staff - July 12, 2026

    Jennifer Scher opens this IDF Live briefing by introducing Brigadier General Elad Edri, Chief of Staff for the Homefront Command, who joins from Venezuela after two major earthquakes caused historic damage and prompted a rare request for Israeli assistance despite the absence of diplomatic relations since 2009. Edri explains that, unlike past Israeli disaster missions focused on search-and-rescue, this delegation was asked to provide recovery expertise, so Israel sent a 30-person team centered on engineers trained to inspect damaged buildings and classify them as safe, repairable, or unusable. He describes the mission as both technically complex and emotionally significant: the team needed nearly four days to reach Venezuela, was warmly received by the local Jewish community, and later presented a national recovery framework to senior Venezuelan officials and the president. Edri says the delegation quickly expanded from inspecting individual buildings to helping draft a broader one-to-two-year national recovery plan for hundreds of damaged structures, drawing on lessons from Surfside, Turkey, and Israel’s own wartime home-front experience. He shares moving moments of civilians crying with relief when told their homes were safe, and says the mission has become about more than rebuilding buildings—echoing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s line that Israel came to “recover buildings” but is also helping “recover relationships between countries.” The briefing closes with gratitude for the Homefront Command team, a prayer for their safety, and a reminder that FIDF supports Israel’s soldiers wherever they are serving, whether on the front lines of war or in humanitarian missions abroad.

  2. 28/06

    FIDF LIVE BRIEFING: Gadi Ezra, Former Director, Israel's National Public Diplomacy Unit - June 28, 2026

    Lara Krinsky opens the briefing by framing the last two weeks as a major diplomatic pivot, with military pressure giving way to negotiations involving Iran, Lebanon, the U.S., and regional intermediaries. Gadi Ezra explains that two parallel tracks are now shaping the region: U.S.-Iran talks in Switzerland aimed at keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and stabilizing the broader conflict, and Israel-Lebanon talks under U.S. auspices focused on southern Lebanon and Hezbollah’s disarmament. He warns that Iran is trying to tie Lebanon into the broader U.S.-Iran framework so it can preserve influence through Hezbollah, cast Israel as the obstacle to peace, and tell its own public that it still controls the region. Ezra argues Israel must not sit back and let others design the “day after,” pointing to Gaza as a cautionary example where Qatar gained influence because Israel failed to shape the diplomatic architecture early enough. He says Israel needs to take initiative by putting forward a concrete plan for Lebanon that combines IDF enforcement, Lebanese legal and political action, and American-led economic rehabilitation. The briefing closes with Ezra stressing that the information and diplomatic battles are now as critical as the military ones, and that Israel’s soldiers ultimately carry the consequences of every negotiation, compromise, and strategic decision.

  3. 14/06

    FIDF LIVE BRIEFING: Jonathan Schanzer, Executive Director, FDD - 6.14.26

    Lara Krinsky opens this briefing by framing the moment as fast-moving and unstable, with Israel facing pressure to accept deals even as Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas continue testing red lines. Jonathan Schanzer explains that the recent “ceasefire war” exposed Iran’s attempt to fold Lebanon into the Iran ceasefire, while Hezbollah kept attacking Israel with rockets and FPV drones until Israel finally struck major Hezbollah targets and then hit Iran after Tehran fired ballistic missiles. He argues Israel established an important deterrent message: Iran does not get to dictate what Israel can do in Lebanon, and attacks on Israel will be answered more painfully than they were delivered. Schanzer says President Trump’s push for a deal reflects real constraints—finite U.S. munitions, air-defense burdens, domestic politics, oil prices, and pressure from Gulf states—but that Iran’s downing of a U.S. helicopter appears to have reinforced the lesson that weakness invites more aggression. He outlines a possible path that does not require a full renewed hot war: sustained economic pressure, a blockade on Iranian oil exports, targeted strikes when necessary, and continued messaging to the Iranian people until the regime buckles. The briefing closes by warning that Turkey may be the next major regional threat if Iran weakens, while also noting real IDF progress in Gaza, where Israel has expanded its control beyond the original “yellow line” and significantly reduced Hamas’s ability to threaten southern Israel.

  4. 31/05

    FIDF LIVE BRIEFING: SFC. Kelly Odes, IDF Head of Strategy & Messaging - May 31, 2026

    Lara Krinsky hosts this IDF Live briefing with Sgt. First Class Kelly Odes from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, focusing on how the war is fought both on the battlefield and in the global information space. Kelly says the main current effort is the northern front, citing major IDF gains against Hezbollah’s command structure—including roughly 7,500 operatives eliminated since the start of the war (about 2,500 since Operation Roaring Lion began in March), plus hundreds more since the ceasefire understandings. She stresses that the threat is evolving, especially the surge in explosive drones, noting the recent death of a young female soldier, Rotem, and outlining a three-part response: better detection/interception, improved protective measures, and strikes on drone storage/production sites. On Gaza, she describes renewed activity and a string of high-level Hamas eliminations—including two successive heads of military operations—while warning Hamas is still trying to regroup and rearm despite international pressure to disarm. On Iran, she says the IDF remains on high readiness and is building contingency plans while awaiting political decisions as negotiations extend, and she argues Israel’s post–Oct. 7 doctrine is proactive: don’t wait for threats to grow. The briefing closes with a strong emphasis on morale—soldiers are fatigued but undeterred—and a call to support troops facing relentless combat and delegitimization through FIDF.

  5. 17/05

    FIDF SPECIAL BRIEFING Dr. Mordechai Kedar, Vice President of Newsrael - 5.17.2026

    Lara Krinsky opens this briefing by noting a week of deadlines, threats, and quiet repositioning from China to Lebanon to Iran, then welcomes Dr. Mordechai Kedar to unpack the psychology driving events beneath the headlines. Kedar argues President Trump is approaching a “T-junction” on Iran—torn between domestic pressure to avoid another long war and the risk of looking weak after weeks of strikes if Iran still refuses to bend and keeps threatening the Strait of Hormuz. He says Iran’s leadership operates under a jihadist logic in which surrender is not an option, and that even major damage to air and naval capabilities doesn’t necessarily destabilize the regime because internal control depends mainly on security forces with rifles. The conversation then shifts to a provocative alternative to the traditional two-state model: Kedar advocates “emirates” in Judea and Samaria—locally clan-based city-states (Hebron, Nablus, Jericho, etc.) that could declare independence from the Palestinian Authority and potentially join a normalization framework like the Abraham Accords. He argues nationalism is a recent and fragile glue in the region and that the PA’s legitimacy relies on anti-Israel incitement, while clan structures are the durable social unit and therefore could govern without needing perpetual conflict. He closes by warning that Qatar’s money and media ecosystem (including Al Jazeera and funding of Western institutions) shapes global narratives, and Lara ends with a call to support Israel’s soldiers and security forces through FIDF.

  6. 3/05

    FIDF LIVE BRIEFING: Brig. Gen. (Res.) Nitzan Nuriel, Counter Terrorism Expert - May 3, 2026

    Lara Krinsky opens by warning that Israel is still facing active threats on multiple fronts—Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and Judea/Samaria—and brings on Brig. Gen. Nitzan Nuriel (ret.) to explain how terrorism and escalation are evolving in real time. Nuriel says Israel’s achievements are significant but the war is far from over, and he worries the IDF is stretched thin as exhausted reservists and under-trained active units struggle to sustain the tempo. He predicts another round of U.S.-Israel kinetic action against Iran soon and argues regime change is the only durable end state, outlining a six-part approach that combines continued strikes, empowering Iran’s regular military, mobilizing Kurdish forces, targeting IRGC leadership, pushing Gulf states to join offensively, and calling Iranians back into the streets. He warns that while Israel controls large portions of Gaza, Hamas is still regenerating by controlling aid, raising money, and recruiting new fighters, meaning Gaza remains unresolved. On Lebanon, he says Hezbollah is also fighting for survival and will try to sabotage any diplomatic opening with Beirut, and he floats a long-term regional “10-year plan” led by Saudi Arabia to rebuild trust and stability. He closes with a blunt manpower reality: reservists can’t serve 200 days a year indefinitely, frustration over unequal service burdens is rising, and without clear political end-states Israel risks running a marathon without knowing where the stadium is.

  7. 26/04

    FIDF LIVE SPECIAL BRIEFING: LTC (Ret.) Or Horvitz, National Security Expert, Elsight - 4.26.2026

    Lara Krinsky opens by warning that public messaging doesn’t match the hidden “movements beneath the surface,” then speaks with Lt. Col. (Res.) Or Horovitz about a fragile window in which the Middle East could tip into either renewed war or a drawn-out stalemate. Horovitz says the key U.S. pressure point is the Strait of Hormuz—where Iran’s harassment and a U.S. maritime blockade are colliding—while the deeper, harder issues remain Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missiles, where he sees little “zone of agreement.” He describes Iran’s leadership as fragmented and incoherent after recent upheaval, with the IRGC potentially calling the shots and still telling itself a delusional “survival equals victory” story that makes concessions unlikely. On China, he argues Beijing’s priority is restoring steady oil flow, but warns that even “dual-use” Chinese materials could massively accelerate Iran’s missile production if not stopped through U.S. economic leverage. Horovitz says Israel’s strategic imperative is regime destabilization over time—Reagan-versus-the-Soviets style—while simultaneously preventing Iran from rebuilding nuclear and missile capabilities, and he frames removing Iran’s enriched uranium as the single most important near-term outcome. He also sees a rare opportunity in Lebanon: under U.S. “umbrella” diplomacy, Israel and Lebanese officials could move toward a peace process that steadily drains Hezbollah of Iranian money and influence, even as Hezbollah tries to sabotage talks with provocations and the region’s next looming challenge becomes Turkey as the Shiite axis weakens.

  8. 19/04

    FIDF LIVE SPECIAL BRIEFING: Jonathan Schanzer, Foundation for Defense Democracies (FDD) - April 19, 2026

    Lara Krinsky opens the briefing by saying the week’s “pause” feels less like an ending and more like a setup, and she brings on Jonathan Schanzer (FDD) to explain the contradictory messaging and whether the ceasefires with Iran and Lebanon can hold. He argues the U.S.-Israel conventional campaign badly weakened Iran, but warns the regime is using the lull to rearm—refurbishing missile launchers and seeking Chinese inputs like drone parts and chemical precursors—raising the odds of renewed fighting. Schanzer says the bigger complication is Iran’s asymmetric “economic war” through the Strait of Hormuz, which spiked energy prices and pushed Trump toward a ceasefire to stabilize markets. He describes the U.S. response as “Operation Economic Fury,” centered on a blockade and expanded sanctions meant to choke Iran’s oil revenues—potentially costing the regime hundreds of millions per day—while leaving Israel watching from the wings. On Lebanon, he highlights a new tension point: pressure from Iran and others to fold Lebanon into the ceasefire, Trump publicly telling Israel to stop bombing, and Israel’s concern that delays benefit Hezbollah after major mobilization. He closes by saying the coming weeks hinge on whether Iran’s economic coercion forces U.S. choices, whether the Iranian people can unify if a “phase two” emerges, and whether Israel can seize a rare diplomatic opening with Lebanon without letting Hezbollah regroup.

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Moving stories, exclusive base visits, donor spotlights. Bringing the men and women of the IDF directly to you.

Informação

  • Autoria
    Friends of The IDF
  • Anos em atividade
    2022 - 2026
  • Episódios
    157
  • Classificação
    Para todos
  • Copyright
    © Friends of The IDF
  • Site do programa
    FIDF Live

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