Israel Story

Israel Story

Author: Israel Story Language: English Episodes: 100
Hosted by Mishy Harman, Israel Story is an award-winning weekly podcast that moves beyond headlines to explore the nuanced, surprising, and deeply human realities of life. Each episode is built around true, meticulously crafted narratives about ordinary people, revealing the complex tapestry of Israeli society in ways that news reports rarely capture. These are extraordinary tales found in everyday moments-a portrait of a community, a personal dilemma, or a forgotten piece of history, all told with empathy and a journalist's eye for detail. The podcast, produced in partnership with The Jerusalem Foundation and The Times of Israel, offers an intimate auditory experience that connects listeners to the spiritual, religious, and cultural heartbeat of a place through the voices of those who live there. It’s a listening journey that challenges preconceptions and illuminates shared humanity. For Hebrew episodes, you can find them under סיפור ישראלי.
Episodes
122: Wartime Diaries - Datya Itzhaki [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:02
In the summer of 2005, the government of Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza. The roughly 8,000 residents of the 21 Jewish settlements within the Gaza Strip were forced to leave their homes and their communities, whic…
121: Wartime Diaries - Hai Ashkenazi [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:50
53-year-old Hai Ashkenazi from Tel Aviv is an archeologist, but never imagined he would find himself excavating a 21st-century Kibbutz. Yet in the insane reality that has become our life since October 7th, archeologists…
120: Wartime Diaries - Ronit Farm [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:41
Normally Chavat Ronit – or Ronit Farm – is a high-end event venue north of Herzliya. Ra’anan Arizon’s seventy dunams are full of quaffed lawns, picturesque trees, instagramable gazebos, a gorgeous pond and a lot of peace…
119: Wartime Diaries - Chaya Gilboa [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:47
Chaya Gilboa is a Talmud teacher, an activist, a flaming redhead, and was – for the last three years – the CEO of the Jerusalem Philanthropic Initiatives, which works with local civil society. On October 11th, Chaya turn…
118: Wartime Diaries - Faiz Abu Sabehan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:20
Over the last five weeks we’ve spoken to many families of hostages. That’s how we met Faiz Abu Sabehan, whose 53-year-old brother-in-law, Farhan al-Qadi – a father of eleven – has been kidnapped into Gaza. Faiz is a Bedo…
117: Wartime Diaries - Mishka Ben-David [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:57
Mishka Ben-David might seem – at first – like a harmless and cuddly grandpa, but the truth is that he’s lived many secret lives. He has somehow managed to seamlessly transition from community organizing to academia to ho…
116: Wartime Diaries - Agi Mishol [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:55
77-year-old Agi Mishol is one of Israel’s most prominent, beloved and widely-read poets. Over the years she’s won practically every literary prize here, and Amos Oz once said that her poems “know how to tell a tale, to s…
115: Wartime Diaries - Sahar Vardi [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:42
Today we’ll hear from Sahar Vardi, a Jewish-Israeli peace activist who lost a dear friend, Khalil Abu Yahia, in Gaza.The end song is Tamaly Maak (“I Am With You”) by Tzachi Halevy.Stay connected with us on Facebook, Inst…
114: Wartime Diaries - Louish Rijal [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:58
Among the thousands of people who had the terrible misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time on October 7th, there were also – as we now all know – many foreigners. People who had little, or no, connection…
113: Wartime Diaries - Angela Buchdahl and Shlomo Nisanov [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:23
The nature of the attacks on October 7th, together with certain subsequent reactions around the world, have blurred the lines between Jews in Israel and Jews in the diaspora. Last week, the UJA Federation of New York bro…