Israel celebrated its 75th birthday in the midst of one of the biggest crises of democracy that the country has ever experienced and one of the most energetic protest movements in its history. In this episode, recorded live at the Marlene Meyerson JCC in Manhattan on Yom Ha’atzmaut, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Knesset member Merav Michaeli, the head of the Israeli Labor Party. They engage in a conversation about the current moment in Israel, the ethics of political compromise, and the past and future of the Israeli left. Can liberals reclaim the language and narratives of Zionist thought and history that have been co-opted by the far right? What is the role of American Jews in bringing about an Israel we can be proud of? And is there something in the air in Israel these recent weeks that might hint toward an affirmative vision for Israeli liberal democracy?

Identity/Crisis: The Ideas Behind the News is a podcast of the Shalom Hartman Institute.

A transcript of this episode is available here.

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In a frenzied media cycle, Identity/Crisis delves into the big ideas behind the news from a uniquely Jewish perspective. Host Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, talks with leading thinkers to unpack current events effecting Jewish communities in North America, Israel, and around the world, revealing the core Jewish values underlying the issues that matter to you.