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You are listening to an art media podcast.
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It's Tuesday, july 7th. This episode was recorded at 8pm new york time on Monday. I'm deborah pardes, and this is arc news daily. The NATO summit opens today in Turkey, where its leader is expected to sit down directly with President Trump. For Israeli officials, that's a major concern. Trump has said he's making the trip because of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He's called Erdogan a friend and a respected leader, and he hinted last month that he's looking for a way to bring Turkey back into the F35 program. The F35 is one of the most advanced stealth fighter jets in the world. Turkey was blocked from the program in 2019 after it bought a Russian air defense system. Getting back in now would mean NATO's second largest military would be flying the same fighter jet Israel does, and that's what pushed Prime Minister Netanyahu into action. According to Axios, he called Trump last Friday and asked him directly to hold off on any deal that would help Turkey modernize its air force. Then he took that message public in back to back Fox News interviews yesterday.
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For a regime infected by the Muslim Brotherhood, an extreme movement that hates America, I don't think they should be given F35s because that'll upset the power balance in the Middle East.
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An analysis from the Jerusalem Post described the Fox News interviews as part of a deliberate strategy. First, to downplay any rumors of a rift with Trump.
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Well, first of all, we see eye to eye on just about everything.
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And second, to make the case against Erdogan and his government. For years, Israel has held something close to exclusive status as America's top strategic ally in the Middle East. But it's clear that relationship is being tested if Trump decides Turkey is just as important an ally, that could present a real threat not only to Israel's security in the region, but to its standing in the US Once Trump and Erdogan meet, we'll see whether Netanyahu's pressure actually slowed anything down. And Netanyahu will get his own turn to press the case directly when he's expected at the White House later this month. Over the weekend, Israel's government did something no Israeli government has ever done. In an official statement, it said it will not obey a ruling from the country's own high court. The dispute is complicated, but it has to do with who sits on the regulatory board that oversees Israel's commercial, TV and radio stations. ARC Media's Nadav Eyal helped break down the bigger picture for us.
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While sounding technical, it has everything to do with an ongoing battle for the control of the media landscape in Israel and government involvement within it.
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By ignoring the court's ruling, the government is effectively blocking the sale of Israel's independent Channel 13 news station, which is in need of money to continue operating. And critics and journalists argue the cabinet's decision is a deliberate attempt to take it over. Channel 13 opened its main news yesterday with a direct on air response. Anchor Udi Segal said, this is not a matter of right and left. When the press is subject to the government and freedom of the press is destroyed, it will ultimately hurt every home and every person, not only the opposition. And then he called on the communications minister and the prime minister to come into the studio and explain themselves, telling them, you are not fighting for the repair of democracy, you are fighting for its crushing for immunity from criticism and for brainwashing the government.
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After the backlash from both politicians, the Israeli president and others has said that this announcement does not mean that they would not actually respect the verdict of the court. But everyone else within the Israeli sphere read it exactly like that. And government ministers also back that idea.
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One of them is Communications Minister Shlomo Kari himself. He told Ynet yesterday, quote, one must obey the law and not the High Court. The worry is that the government's response to the ruling will set a new precedent, one that could even be used to dispute the results of the upcoming election. Five former chief justices of Israel's Supreme Court, spanning decades on the bench, issued a joint statement yesterday warning, failure to obey court orders and decisions is the final nail in the coffin of democracy. The move will lead to anarchy and concentrate all governing powers in the hands of one body only. The words that conclude every Jewish wedding took on a new significance over the weekend. That's because two hostages kidnapped on October 7th just got married on Sunday. Sapir Cohen and Sasha Trupanov were taken by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz near Oz, where they went to visit Sasha's family for the holiday. Sasha's father Vitaly was murdered that day. His mother and grandmother were taken hostage and released alongside Sapir after 55 days in the November 2023 deal. Sasha was held for nearly 500 days in Gaza, much of it in isolation. In an event last year, he said all he could think about was Sapir and his family.
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About my parents. I didn't know even what happened, if they were killed or not. About Sapir, I at least imagine that she has taking hostage because this is the last thing I saw he came
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home in February 2025. Sapir later described that reunion.
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The first sentence that he say mom, God save me, and God exists. And I just look at him and I was in shock. For me, it was like to see God in front of my eyes.
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Sasha proposed five months later, in July 2025, and a year after that, they got mar. The ceremony was packed with fellow survivors of captivity. Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog and his wife Michal were there too. The couple walked to the chuppah to a song called Mima Amakim, or Out of the Depths. It's a love song by the famous Israeli musician Ida Reichel. Sasha told the guest that he broke down in tears when he heard it by chance in captivity after terrorists guarding him forgot to turn off the radio. In an interview on Resh et Bet, Reichel later reflected on what that meant to him. He said, we can say that this song is Sasha's as much as it is mine. So if this song gave any hope, then it was his. This wedding is not just their wedding. It is a wedding that gives hope to a child who goes to a Jewish school in Australia and doesn't feel protected to a soldier in a distant an outpost. I have to say thank you to this wonderful couple who share moments of rebirth with us. I'm Deborah Pardes and this is Ark News Daily. If you enjoy the show or find it helpful, please consider sharing it with someone you care about. See you tomorrow.
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Hi, I'm Daniil Hartman, president of the Sholem Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.
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And I'm Yossi Kleine Halevi, senior fellow at the Sholem Hartman Institute.
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What's more important? To be feared by your enemies or morally true to yourself?
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Should Israel strive to be a nation among nations? Or should it accept the fact that it is now a fortress apart?
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What do Israelis and Diaspora Jews owe each other? If you're Jewish or a friend, an
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ally, these questions have been gnawing at you these past few years.
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For some of you, like for us, these questions have been keeping you up at night. And for some, they've been simmering in the background, waiting for answers.
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But dilemmas don't always have clear answers. What they do deserve are honest and respectful debates.
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And as it happens, Yossi and I love to challenge each other to get to the bottom of things.
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We look at current events through a lens that speaks to us most deeply, a Jewish lens.
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So if today's Jewish dilemmas are on your mind, tune in to our conversation on For Heaven's Sake, A partnership between Arc Media and the Sholem Hartman Institute
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you can find, for heaven's sake, on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
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See you.