18 Questions, 40 Israeli Thinkers

18 Questions, 40 Israeli Thinkers is a new podcast by 18Forty interviewing Israel’s leading voices to explore critical questions on Zionism, the Israel-Hamas War, democracy, morality, Judaism, peace, Israel’s future, and so much more. We introduce you to fresh perspectives and challenging ideas about Israel that you won’t find elsewhere.

Join us on our journey as we pose 18 pressing questions to the 40 Israeli journalists, scholars, and religious thinkers you need to hear from today.

Watch all our interviews here.

EPISODES

June 11, 2024

Benny Morris: ‘We should have taken Rafah at the start’

June 24, 2024
28 min listening

Leading Israeli historian Benny Morris answers 18 questions on Israel, including Gaza, Palestinian-Israeli peace prospects, morality, and so much more.

June 11, 2024

Yakov Nagen: ‘Jewish Messianism is a vision for all of humanity’

June 30, 2024
28 min listening

Interfaith activist Rabbi Yakov Nagen answers 18 questions on Israel, including Jewish-Musim relations, Messianism, peace, and so much more.

June 11, 2024

Sivan Rahav-Meir: ‘When it comes to terrorism, you can’t compromise

July 5, 2024
45 min listening

Religious journalist Sivan Rahav-Meir answers 18 questions on Israel, including Israelis' search for meaning, peace prospects, the war, and so much more.

June 11, 2024

David Horovitz: ‘We need this state to survive’

July 12, 2024
48 min listening

Times of Israel Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz answers 18 questions on Israel, including Western media, Gaza after the war, Israel's future, and so much more.

June 11, 2024

Anita Shapira: ‘You cannot wipe out Hamas’

July 21, 2024
45 min listening

Leading Israel historian Anita Shapira answers 18 questions on Israel, including destroying Hamas, the crisis up North, and Israel's future.

Yehoshua Pfeffer: ‘The army is not ready for real Haredi participation’

July 26, 2024
55 min listening

Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer answers 18 questions on Israel, including the Haredi draft, Israel as a religious state, Messianism, and so much more.

Ronit Heyd: ‘If Israel becomes less democratic, it will become less Jewish’

August 5, 2024
56 min listening

Ronit Heyd answers 18 questions on Israel, including democracy, religion, and the future of the Jewish state.

Efraim Inbar: ‘Israel doesn’t use enough force’

August 12, 2024
44 min listening

Efraim answers 18 questions on Israel, including the Iranian threat, Gaza's future, and Israel's use of force.

Gadi Taub: ‘We should annex the north third of the Gaza Strip’

August 18, 2024
67 min listening

Gadi answers 18 questions on Israel, including judicial reform, Gaza's future, and the Palestinian Authority.

Rachelle Fraenkel: ‘I had expectations from humanity’

August 26, 2024
61 min listening

Rachelle answers 18 questions on Israel, including her religious views, religiosity in Israel, and Messianism.

Yossi Klein Halevi: ‘Anti-Zionism is an existential threat to the Jewish People’

September 2, 2024
61 min listening

Yossi answers 18 questions on Israel, including anti-Zionism, the Iranian threat, and Western media's coverage of Israel.

Haviv Rettig Gur: ‘Hamas is upset the death toll in Gaza isn’t higher’

September 16, 2024
122 min listening

Haviv answers 18 questions on Israel, including the country's leadership, Western media, and the Palestinian people's future.

David Stav: ‘Israel as a state should not be a religious state’

September 23, 2024
56 min listening

David answers 18 questions on Israel, including Israel's democratic character, the Haredi draft, and Messianism.

Rivka Ravitz: ‘Being separated is at the core of being Haredi’

September 30, 2024
50 min listening

Rivka Ravitz may be a long-time Haredi political thinker, but that doesn't mean she thinks politics is always the answer.

Despondent, Unmoored, Hopeful: How Israeli Thinkers Feel After October 7

October 7, 2024
35 min listening

How do Israeli thinkers feel after October 7?

Netta Barak-Corren: ‘I hope that Gaza will see a day when it is no longer ruled by Hamas’

October 14, 2024
70 min listening

Israel is facing several existential crises—at least three, by Netta Barak-Corren's account.

Nechumi Yaffe: ‘I hate the idea that we are being killed and need to kill’

November 4, 2024
60 min listening

As a Haredi woman of the Israeli left, Nechumi Yaffe lives between a few different worlds—and she feels at home in Israel's new "Religious Left" movement.

Uri Zaki: “The War Has to End in Gaza’

November 11, 2024
79 min listening

Uri Zaki supported Israel's war against Hamas from the getgo—but the killing of six hostages and Sinwar's assassination were a turning point. Now, he thinks it needs to end.