Israel
Life in Israel, Israeli society, culture, and domestic affairs
#5527: Seven Ways to Measure a Country's Isolation
Netanyahu's quick UN trip sparks a bigger question: how do you actually measure a country's isolation? We build seven heuristics.
#5497: Mandelbaum Gate: Inside Jerusalem's Divided Crossing
For 19 years, one narrow seam connected two hostile halves of Jerusalem. Here's how the Mandelbaum Gate actually worked.
#5496: Taking Down Jerusalem's 7km Border, Street by Street
Barbed wire, minefields, and a wax-pencil line: how Jerusalem's seven-kilometre border was physically torn down after 1967.
#5495: Musrara: Growing Up on Jerusalem's Pencil-Drawn Border
How a border drawn with wax pencils in 1948 split Musrara's homes in two — and shaped the neighborhood that raised the Israeli Black Panthers.
#5494: How Ancient Jerusalem Outgrew Its Own Walls
Jerusalem's Old City walls are Ottoman, not ancient — and the original city sits outside them. Tracing 4,000 years of expansion and contraction.
#5477: Who Owns the Antennas? Israel's MVNO Puzzle
Israel's virtual operators won't tell you whose towers they ride. Turns out your phone already knows — if you read the right signals.
#5475: Why Salad Is Breakfast in Israel and Punishment in America
Same chopped tomatoes and cucumbers — a morning staple in Israel and Turkey, a symbol of joyless dieting in America. How did one dish mean two oppo...
#5453: When Politics Ends a Friendship
Ed Sheeran lost friends over Macklemore. A listener lost a friend over being called a monster. Where's the line?
#5449: The Neurotic Jew: Where the Stereotype Came From
The anxious, overthinking Jewish personality — where did it actually come from? The answer isn't what you'd expect.
#5445: Israel's Periphery: Why It's Not About Distance
What "peripheria" really means in Israel — and why a $10B Intel fab sits in a town that still tops unemployment.
#5444: Carmei Gat: The Buchman of the Negev?
A planned neighborhood on Kiryat Gat's edge is pulling in Anglo olim with prices that undercut Beit Shemesh and Modiin.
#5428: Wills, Superstition, and the One Event With 100% Probability
Daniel is a prepper who's terrified of writing a will. Turns out the law, the psychology, and the Israeli defaults all agree he shouldn't be.
#5426: AI Wrote His Yom Kippur Prayer
A man skipped synagogue, opened ChatGPT instead, and got a prayer that knew his life. Is AI-generated prayer real prayer?
#5421: Why Secular Israelis Still Fast on Yom Kippur
A majority of secular Israeli Jews fast on Yom Kippur. What the data say about how faith gets handed down — and how observance becomes a weapon.
#5377: Is the U.S.-Israel Split a Blip or a Realignment?
Gallup's 2026 first-ever Palestinian sympathy lead isn't a flip toward Palestinians — it's a decade-long collapse in support for Israel.
#5373: Why the Same Face Cream Costs 2.5x More in Israel
Same La Roche-Posay cream: $17 on Amazon, 160 shekels in Jerusalem. Here's where the markup actually happens.
#5356: Torch Juggling in the Temple: Inside Sukkot's All-Night Water Festival
Fifteen hours of torch juggling, nonstop music, and a rain ritual the Torah never commanded — inside the Second Temple's wildest celebration.
#5352: What Do You Picture When You Hear "Religious Jew"?
Most religious Jews don't wear black hats and side curls. So why is that the image everyone pictures?
#5351: Six Thousand Years and a Deadline That Keeps Moving
Rav Katina's 6,000-year clock says the year 2239. The Ramban called it non-binding. Maimonides cursed anyone who used it.
#5349: Why Israel Feels Like a Country at War With Quiet
Balagan, matkot, and tailgating in the Negev: what explains Israel's loud, urgent tempo — and why "security" isn't the answer.