Unholy: Two Jews on the News

As Israel heads into what may be the most consequential election of its history, the country is still arguing less about where it's going than about how it got here. This week, Yonit and Jonathan sit down with a titan of Israeli broadcasting — Ilana Dayan, anchor of the investigative program Uvda for three decades — who returns to Unholy to make sense of it all. She traces how Netnayahu survived a moment that should have ended his political career, makes the case for what actually sets challenger Gadi Eisenkot apart, and confronts head-on whether Israelis see the last three years as a win or a wound still open. Plus: her read on the West Bank sanctions rattling even Netanyahu's own coalition — and why, despite everything, she still finds a reason for optimism.

Chapters:
0:00 – Ilana Dan returns to Unholy
0:27 – Is this really Israel's most crucial election ever?
4:33 – How did Netanyahu survive October 7th?
9:33 – Why do Israelis still buy his message?
14:51 – Enter the challenger: who is Gadi Eisenkot?
18:01 – The interview that revealed Eisenkot's character
22:25 – Can a candidate who pauses beat Netanyahu's charisma?
27:41 – Israel's deepest rift — and how it got here
32:22 – The "wins" since October 7th, and the West Bank sanctions
39:13 – Was Israel's war in Gaza fought right?
52:47 – Her hopes going into the new year

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Yonit Levi
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September 8th was the deadline for Israeli parties to file their lists — and Netanyahu reached it less organised than he'd have liked, with a rival on the right running alone, a reserved slot for his own Channel 14 broadcaster, and barely a handful of women anywhere near the top.
Then Britain, joined by France, Canada and nine others, sanctioned settlement goods, and used the words "ethnic cleansing" about settler violence in the West Bank. The UK's chief rabbi called it a dark day for British Jews.
Yonit and Jonathan work through what sanctions actually hit when the target is a bank that gave someone a mortgage — and whether, six weeks before an election, this lands as pressure or as a gift.

Recorded in field conditions, from a Tel Aviv living room and a Washington hotel — so no Mensch and Chutzpah this week. Back next week.
Shana Tova!

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Yonit Levi
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The Jewish new year arrives with the word ‘Zionist’ deemed an insult and a technology that never forgets anything that anyone has ever said or done. Following Unholy tradition, Yonit and Jonathan usher in the season of awe and the High Holydays with Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, who leads New York’s Central Synagogue and whose congregation was rushed by an intruder during a packed Friday night service weeks before this conversation. She walks through what repentance actually demands — a real apology, a change of action as well as heart, and three attempts — and why she thinks Abraham, the first Jew, failed the test we remember on Rosh Hashanah. Plus: the sermon she is dreading, why she calls the coming Israeli election existential for Jews everywhere, and, as ever, the music.

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Yonit Levi
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Jonathan Freedland
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Seven weeks out from an election that in many ways is a referendum on culpability for October 7th, Benjamin Netanyahu tells Channel 14 that if only they had woken him earlier that fateful day, everything would have been different — and his wife goes considerably further about Yair Golan, a man who drove towards the gunfire that morning and saved lives. Yonit and Jonathan take Mrs Netanyahu’s accusation apart, then turn to the week's most improbable story: Yoav Segalovich, a Jewish former police commander, joining Mansour Abbas's Islamist party - because the crime wave destroying Israel’s Arab communities needs someone with a proven ability to fix it. Plus a Channel 13 poll that should worry the anti-Netanyahu bloc; Britain's expected ban on trade in goods linked to the West Bank - and why Greece and Finland moved in the other direction.
Our Chutzpah award goes to a perennial winner with a new map, and the Mensch of the Week award is split three ways between brothers.

00:00:00 a US-Iran war nobody is calling a war
00:03:39 Netanyahu on Channel 14: if only they had woken me up
00:08:03 Yair Golan, October 7th, and a smear the hosts reject
00:14:26 Netanyahu's advisors, the pool party and the Qatar accusations
00:17:50 The Channel 13 poll and the shape of the Israeli right
00:22:54 Yoav Segalovich joins Mansour Abbas and Ra'am
00:30:27 Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Ron Dermer and the hostage families
00:35:39 Britain, the E1 corridor, and why Greece and Finland moved
00:39:09 Chutzpah of the Week and Mensch of the Week

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🎙️ THE HOSTS
Yonit Levi
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X: https://x.com/LeviYonit
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Jonathan Freedland
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📩 Contact: unholy@unholy-media.com
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The former UK Prime Minister and Chancellor joins Yonit and Jonathan for the latest of our Unholy Conversations — on the void populist nationalists have moved into, on the difference between hope and optimism, on the father whose projector slides taught him the kings of Israel before the kings of England, and on the Middle East peace deal he watched come apart in 2009.

Chapters:

00:06 Introduction to Gordon Brown and His New Book

05:48 The Connection Between Nationalism and Community Decline

12:46 Personal Responsibility and Moral Leadership

17:23 Addressing Anti-Semitism and Global Issues

22:41 Hope vs. Optimism in Times of Crisis

30:13 Britain's Role in Global Peace Efforts

32:27 Personal Reflections and Motivations of Gordon Brown



🌐 Our website: https://unholy-podcast.com
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🎧 LISTEN TO UNHOLY
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🎙️ THE HOSTS
Yonit Levi
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X: https://x.com/LeviYonit
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yonit-levi/
Jonathan Freedland
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📩 Contact: unholy@unholy-media.com
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