Can an army of the people maintain its ethical compass when a faction of the public it protects and consists of embraces ideological lawlessness?

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect the IDF Chief of Staff's urgent warning regarding military discipline, examine the ideological evolution of the Hilltop Youth and the government and public responses to it. Together, they confront the dangerous "Torah of dominance" taking root and ask what it will take to reclaim the soul of Zionism for future generations.

From the episode:

IDF chief said to order investigation into claims of widespread looting by troops in south Lebanon, Times of Israel, April 24, 2026

Entire Villages Razed – Report Reveals Scale of Destruction Israel Unleashed on South Lebanon, Haaretz, May 5, 2026

Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.

Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:

Learn how Hartman is building the pipeline of young Jewish leadership.

In light of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid recently announcing the launch of a unified party for the Knesset elections, we are re-releasing our episode Bennett 2026, recorded on January 6, 2026. Donniel and Yossi will be back with a new episode next week.

Is former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett a right-wing ideologue or Israel's great national healer?

Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi grapple with this paradox as they examine the only candidate currently ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in national polling. They explore Bennett's extraordinary transformation from an ideological conservative to national unifier, discuss his brief but transformative year as Prime Minister, and consider what his return might mean for Israel's future.

Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.

If you read our journal Sources, complete our reader survey by January 15.

Learn more about the Kogod Research Center, whose scholars develop the ideas of the Hartman Institute.

What do you wish for a country you love that is still learning to love itself?

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi mark Israel's 78th Independence Day with a meditation on eulogies, blessings, and the distance between the two. They dissect the growing divide in world Jewry over Israel's future and the stranglehold of an "October 7 consciousness" on Israeli political imagination. Between the grief of Memorial Day and the joy of Independence Day, they articulate their wishes for a society desperate to heal, demanding a return to hope and the courage to envision a thriving Jewish future.

Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.

Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:

Register to join Yossi Klein Halevi in Vancouver, Detroit, and Palo Alto and Yehuda Kurtzer in Toronto!