The Philos Project Podcast The Philos Project

Join Dominique as she speaks with people on the ground during the recent Philos Leadership Institute’s solidarity trip to the Holy Land. 
In the second episode of this miniseries, Dominique is joined by Ronen Gurievsky. Ronen has led the Philos Leadership Institute in Israel since 2017. 
Not only does he have a vast knowledge of the three Abrahamic faiths, regional history, and geopolitics but his service in the IDF provides our audience with context to complex regional actors and a region on the brink of large-scale conflict.

Join Dominique as she speaks with people on the ground during the recent Philos Leadership Institute’s solidarity trip to the Holy Land. In the first episode of this mini series, Dominique is joined by Isaac Woodward and Shadi Khalloul to address the recent Tucker Carlson interview with Munther Isaac. Shadi, an Israeli Christian, speaks to his lived experience as a Christian free to practice his faith in the only democracy in the Middle East and dispels the misinformation peddled by Carlson's recent interview.

Luke Moon, Executive Director of the Philos Project, joins Dominique to discuss the preliminary findings from the recent investigation into UNRWA’s ties with Hamas following Israeli accusations of collaboration with the organization on October 7th. Earlier this year, Israel provided evidence at least 12 UNRWA employees participated in the October 7th massacre, and over 1,500 employees (~10%) have formal ties with Hamas. Luke discusses the role UNRWA plays as a de facto government in Gaza and how this points to the historic anti-Israel bias in the UN.

When introducing his foreign policy with Iran, the "Octopus Doctrine," Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet stated, "We no longer play with the tentacles, with Iran's proxies: we've created a new equation by going for the head."
Philos' resident Iranian expert Farhad Rezaei speaks with Dominique about the April 1 Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria. The strike hit a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy, successfully eliminating senior Iranian officer Mohammed Reza Zahedi.
Farhad points to this as a shift in Israel's defensive tactics to pre-emptive attacks against not just Iranian proxies but the regime itself.

The alliance between the United States and Israel is one of the strongest and longstanding in U.S. foreign policy history. 
While acknowledging Israel's sovereignty in 1948, the Cold War marked a crucial regional shift that strengthened the security interest between both nations. In its tenure, the Biden administration has repeatedly broken with the status quo in this longstanding alliance, feuding with Netanyahu publicly, condemning Israel's domestic policies, and even endorsing U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer's call for elections in Israel to provide a few examples. 
The Biden administration also continually undermined Israel's security in dealings with other states in the region, including Iran. 
How does this policy and diplomatic tension threaten our alliance with Israel and contribute to the conflict on the ground? 
Director of the Philos Project's Charles Malik Institute, Farhad Rezaei, joins Dominique to unpack this on today's episode.
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The ethnic cleansing of Christian communities in the Middle East has altered the religious landscape of the region. In Gaza, it is partly the result of Hamas' corrupt economy and its war with Israel. But life is undeniably made worse for Christians under Hamas as dhimmi, meaning second-class citizens. 
In 2010, Christians comprised 6% of the population in the region. Today, that number is just 4%. Since 2010, the region has changed with the Arab Spring, ISIS, and now the war in Gaza that is re-aligning the region along religious lines. 
It is likely that by 2050, only 3.7% of the region's population will be Christian. 
Follow the Philos Project podcast for weekly news highlighting critical events in the East for a Christian audience in the West.
Want more content from the Philos Project?
Follow us on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thephilosproject/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thephilosproject
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PhilosProject/videos
Twitter: https://twitter.com/philosproject