State of Tel Aviv

25/05/2024

It's impossible to overlook the virulent anti-semitism post October 7th across the United States. There has been consistent focus on the university campus protests and hate crimes.
In "Jewish Life Since October 7th: Shattered Security. Everywhere," Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman brilliantly investigated the complexity and intricacy of the contributing factors to the current wave of anti-semitism in the States, including Jewish American leadership.

🔗 Full article available only on (link in bio)

15/05/2024

The transition from Israel's Memorial Day to Independence Day celebration has always been challenging.
But this year presented challenges that no one could have ever anticipated. The agonizing, heartbreaking, and shattering reality post October 7th was palpable.

There's never a dull moment in Israel or the . And we have covered it all: PM Bibi's interview with Dr.Phil, the hostages, and the IDF morgue.

🔗Full article only available on our website (link in bio)

07/05/2024

Post October 7th anti-semitism spread like wildfire. The world was eager to have a reason to openly hate, discriminate, and persecute Jews once again.
We are living in a time of unimaginable terror.
Except, it isn't. This has happened before. Less than a century ago.

🔗Full article available only on . Link in bio and story

05/05/2024

Tonight is Erev Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day Eve, in Israel.
This year, Holocaust Remembrance Day has a different meaning, following the atrocities of October 7th, and with 132 hostages still in Gaza. Among them is 86-year-old Shlomo Mansour, a survivor of the Farhud Pogrom in Iraq, which was led by the N***s.
Israel, her allies, and Jews in the Diaspora, remember the Holocaust, past and present 🕯️

🔗Link in story to quoted article "A Personal Reflection on Jewish Power: In the Warsaw Ghetto and the Skies with the IAF"

24/04/2024

Yocheved and Oded Lifschitz are founding members of Kibbutz Nir Oz, where they raised their four children. Throughout their lives, they advocated for peace with their Palestinian neighbors.
On October 7th, they were violently abducted from their home, and separately taken to Gaza.
Recently, we sat down with their daughter Sharone. She tells the story of her parents' kidnapping, her mother's release from captivity, and what Passover means when her father, Oded, is still being held hostage.

🎧 Listen to the full episode on Apple, Spotify, and STLV's website (link in bio and story)

19/04/2024

There has been little support for Israel from the entertainment industry. There has been denialism, refuting, pointed criticism, and worst of all, silence.
But then there's John Ondrasik, known as "Five For Fighting," who composed the beautiful, poignant song "OK," which conveys the immense pain that Jews and Israelis all over the world have felt since October 7th.
John has demonstrated great fortitude in speaking up for Israel and the atrocities committed on Black Saturday.
He stands with humanity, with good, and uses his voice to speak against evil.
Thank you, John, not only for being a brilliant guest on 's podcast, but for shining a light amidst the darkness.

🎧Listen to the full podcast on Apple, Spotify, and STLV's website (link in bio and story)

28/03/2024

"Let us dance in peace."
"Freedom has no price."
🕊️🕊️🕊️

Graffiti in the

26/03/2024

Outside a private Jewish school in Toronto, 🇨🇦.

Anti-semitism is not new to Canada.
But since October 7th, it has become increasingly prevalent- so much so that many Jewish Canadians no longer recognize Canada as the country they know and love.
Anti-semitism and anti-Zionism are inextricably linked, and are synonymous. What happens in Israel has direct repercussions for Jews in the Diaspora.

28/02/2024

Karma's a bitch.

24/11/2023

Israel's hostage deal sparks fierce debate: Offers a pause in hostilities, but risks empowering Hamas. The nation grapples with a strategic dilemma, as hopes for unity fade.

It was supposed to have begun earlier today, the release of small batches of Israeli and other civilian hostages captured on October 7. Ten civilians at a time. Women, children, the elderly and the sick. Children with their mothers - if they have not been murdered already. At least 50, we were told,...

22/11/2023

Episode 3 of The Quad is out, here's a clip from it. I love thrashing around ideas with these strong women. For the full show you can go here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AqqEFr-lEs

08/11/2023

Eli Beer and his team of civilian first responders raced to the area of Hamas savage Oct 7 attacks hours before any other rescue force arrived. He tells the story of their descent into Hell.
מתנדבי איחוד הצלה תל אביב - יפו
Eli Beer - Founder of United Hatzalah

Listen now | For Eli Beer, October 7 never ends. Eli personifies courage and power and principle and drive. Yet he looks and sounds broken. Listen to his voice; a whisper of what it was a month ago. His NGO, United Hatzalah, is a Jerusalem-based organization with more than 15,000 trained paramedics,...

04/11/2023

In this special issue of State of Tel Aviv we present a remarkable photo essay by top Israeli (and international) photojournalist, Ziv Koren. Don't miss this one.

Ziv Koren: Eye on Israel from October 7 | In this special issue of State of Tel Aviv we present a remarkable photo essay by my friend and top Israeli (and international) photojournalist, Ziv Koren.

25/10/2023

BREAKING

25/10/2023

Hamas releases two elderly female Israeli hostages to try to make the world see them as “humanitarians” and not the savages we know they really are.

They failed. The world knows and has seen the images. is worse than ISIS.

Listen now | In this episode we speak with Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, IDF spokesperson, discussing the ongoing conflict in Gaza. We talk about the recent release of two elderly female Israeli hostages by Hamas and the need to understand the psychological manipulation employed by Hamas reg...

20/10/2023

Greta Thunberg tweeted this morning: Today we strike in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. “The world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected.”

18/10/2023

IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari released this map online this morning, showing all misfired Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad rockets in a single day.

17/10/2023

“Anybody who speaks with authority, and pretends to know, does not— ” says Miri Eisin, retired Colonel in the with a long career in military intelligence.

*Nobody* knows what will happen next or where this war will take us, she says.

STLV is a weekly newsletter and podcast focusing on Israel, the middle east and Jewish life. Our analysis and reportage delve deeply into the complex realities of the war in Israel, politics, business, tech, innovation and culture in this frenetic place. Click to read State of Tel Aviv, a Substack p...

17/10/2023

Read the latest updates on the state of war in Israel at stateoftelaviv.com.

17/10/2023

It is clear now that this is a war on the west. Israel and Jews are simply the front-line targets. I write this in what has become a permanent state of shock and numbness. This is an existential battle for Israel’s survival. Make no mistake.

https://www.stateoftelaviv.com/p/israel-at-war-day-10-october-16

Your update from the State of Tel Aviv | It is clear now that this is a war on the west. Israel and Jews are simply the front-line targets. I write this in what has become a permanent state of shock and numbness. I continue to be involved with humanitarian relief but I am deeply worried. This is an....

15/10/2023

Hadar Green is 25 years old and a resident of Ashdod, not far from the Gaza border. His wedding was meant to be last Sunday, but on Saturday morning, he was awoken from the loudest booms he could ever recall. He was called up to serve. The wedding would have to be now.

Listen to Hadar’s story where you get your podcasts or on stateoftelaviv.com.

15/10/2023

War in Israel, Day 9. Sunday, October 15th.

We speak today with Hadar Green, 25 years old, who woke up on Saturday, October 7th, early in the morning to a massive attack and bombardment on Israeli civilians. Hadar was to be married the following day.

Listen to his harrowing story of that day and the week that has followed.

Listen now (27 mins) | War in Israel, Day 9, Sunday, October 15th, 2023. We speak today with Hadar Green, 25 years old, woke up on Saturday, October 7th, early in the morning to a massive attack and bombardment of Israeli civilians. Hadar was to be married the following day. Listen to his harrowing....

15/10/2023

Access daily updates on the situation in Israel, with commentary from critical thinkers and those directly impacted, at stateoftelaviv.com.

15/10/2023

Where do we stand as Israel heads into a new week? Vivian Bercovici provides all the updates you need: the war, how it’s being covered, turmoil overseas, the military’s latest messages, and crucial political analysis.

https://www.stateoftelaviv.com/p/israel-at-war-day-8-october-14-2023

As you know, I usually write in narrative form but there is just too much information so I’m resorting to this format for now: Israel is clearly gearing up for a major ground offensive, supported by air and sea. I expect that it will be unlike anything we have seen in decades.

14/10/2023

Access the entire interview with Ya’akov Katz, and hear from more critical thinkers to help explain the war in Israel, at stateoftelaviv.com.

14/10/2023

As President Emmanuel Macron of France said so powerfully and succinctly, there are no more buts. No, Hamas and the IDF are not the same. Anyone who defends the slaughter and attack on Israel is an enemy of Western civilization. There are no buts. Wake up world.

https://x.com/stateoftlv/status/1713199262052352374?s=46&t=1dK0yUuowtpkZ6uB5xXGDw

https://www.stateoftelaviv.com/embed/podcast/e32-israel-at-war-day-7-october-13

STLV is a weekly newsletter and podcast focusing on Israel, the middle east and Jewish life. Our analysis and reportage delve deeply into the complex realities of the politics, business, tech, innovation and culture in this frenetic place. Click to read State of Tel Aviv, a Substack publication.

14/10/2023

11/10/2023

Glen Shear speaks to us about how surreal things have become. He has sons-in-law and daughters serving in the army and is braced for the situation to get much, much worse before it gets better. But, he says, this is why we came to live in Israel. To have the privilege to defend ourselves and never, ever allow another Holocaust. He takes us through the unsparing grief and banalities of his life in Ra’anana, a quiet city just north of Tel Aviv.

Listen now | A Day in the Life: Funerals, Shivas, Children in Combat. One Family’s Day in Ra’anana. My friend, Glen Shear, speaks to us about how surreal things have become. He has sons-in-law and daughters serving in the army and is braced for the situation to get much, much worse before it get...

26/09/2023

Yesterday, our founder and Editor in Chief Vivian Bercovici, former Canadian Ambassador to Israel, published a column in The National Post on the Canadian Parliament’s blunder in giving a standing ovation to N**i officer. To read the entire piece, head to link in our bio.