Transcript
Elana Steinhein (0:04)
You are listening to an art media podcast.
Yossi Klein Levi (0:10)
Which group of Israelis do you detest more? Or are you more afraid of? Is it the ultra Orthodox or the Arab Israelis? Or to put it another way, which community of Israelis do you regard as Persona non grata for the next coalition? These are the two communities that have a very tangential relationship with the Israeli mainstream.
Daniel Goodman (0:36)
As we're coming closer to elections, we're used to thinking that elections are going to resolve, solve our problems, someone's going to win. But there's a stalemate and I feel like Israelis are watching it, but they're not inhaling it. This election is momentous for everybody. We know what's at stake, but it's not resolving anything.
Yossi Klein Levi (1:01)
Foreign.
Daniel Goodman (1:08)
This is Danielle Hartman and Yossi Kleine Levi from the Shalom Hartman Institute. And this is our podcast, for heaven's sake. Nice to be with you, Yossi.
Yossi Klein Levi (1:16)
It's great to be with you, Danil.
Daniel Goodman (1:18)
This podcast is in collaboration with our friends at Arc Media and today is Tuesday, February 3rd and our theme for today we entitled Election Currents. Even though there's potentially a life changing war all around us, the thing that is infusing most of the political media discourse in Israel right now is the upcoming elections. Last Wednesday the government succeeded in passing the first reading of the budget, which if they hadn't passed it by Wednesday night, would have automatically triggered new elections. So they gained a couple of months. The ultra orthodox agreed that we don't like what's written, but we're not going to step away right now. And now there's two months to iron out basically a draft exemption deal. Whether they could do so or not is not really clear. Someone's going to have to climb down from some tree or a ladder. Will it be the ultra Orthodox?
Yossi Klein Levi (2:20)
Unlikely.
Daniel Goodman (2:21)
Unlikely. Unless you could come up with some amorphic halachic category like selling Chametz. You know it's in your house, but it's not yours. There might be some definition, Daniel.
Yossi Klein Levi (2:33)
It's a great metaphor, but for people who don't understand it, it's going to take too long to explain.
