Before a live audience including a delegation from UJA-Federation of New York, we discuss Israel’s “new poverty,” whether philanthropists from abroad ought to withhold support when Israel’s government pursues policies they find lamentable, and why, for all its discontents, Israel is the place we chose to raise our kidlings.

We discuss a new survey finding that American Republicans and Democrats are more divided about Israel than ever, the growing shortfall in talented young recruits for Israeli diplomatic jobs, and why the government’s long-awaited affordable rent bill is being attacked by those you’d expect to be praising it.

This week’s episode covers Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s latest diatribes against Israel, the “Anne Frank Home Sanctuary Movement”, and reports of Amazon.com’s forthcoming arrival in Israel.

We discuss whether it’s time for Israeli leftists to embrace a sort of Bernie-Sandersian populism, an unnerving new viral video of two kids rapping about taking selfies in Auschwitz, and whether the demise of beloved literary hangout cafes in Tel Aviv signals the deterioration of public discourse.

We discuss Trump’s decision to stop funding the UN agency that gives aid to Palestinians, the Israeli minister of agriculture’s decision to hold a mass prayer for rain at the Western Wall, and the brouhaha over celebrity chef Rachael Ray’s tweet about hummus being Israeli.

What accounts for Likud’s settlement-schizoid behavior? What accounts for some Israelis’ fears of one of the country’s two official languages? And what is most Israeli?