For Heaven’s Sake – “Waiting”

Shalom Hartman Institute & Ark Media / February 25, 2026
Hosts: Daniil Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi

Overview

This episode, titled "Waiting," explores the collective psychological, political, and moral state of Israel during a period of anxious suspense around potential conflict with Iran. With Israeli society caught between uncertainty and expectation—amid intense media speculation, global power plays, and ever-present existential threats—Daniil and Yossi examine how waiting shapes the national psyche, its historical precedents, and its moral implications for the future of Zionism and Jewish life.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Texture of Waiting in Israel

• Intensity of Uncertainty: Israelis experience an all-consuming state of waiting, saturated by rumor, news cycles, and conflicting "inside information." Unlike elsewhere, this anxiety is immediate and personal—it's "life and death." (01:22)
• Media Frenzy: News cycles update every few minutes, amplifying collective angst rather than clarity. Every alleged “inside tip” or military movement becomes fodder for speculation.
  • Daniil: "Here, like, you have a lead for the next three minutes. And one changes it. And then all of a sudden everybody else changes." (04:14)
• Satire and the Ordinary: Satirical takes and humor circulate about everyone knowing “someone who knows” when action will begin—be it a cab driver, the plumber’s sister, or unverifiable “military sources.”
  • Yossi: "Donnie Sanderson... had a great clip... I want to thank all the cab drivers... Yossi the plumber's sister." (08:30)

2. Historical Echoes: The Legacy of "The Waiting Period"

• T’kufat Hamtana, 1967: The present is compared to the pre-Six Day War period—a time of existential fear, military buildup, and national unity under threat.
  • Yossi: "In May 1967... ‘the waiting period’... Israel hesitated... There was tremendous pressure from the grassroots to do it already. Let’s hit them." (13:13)
• Difference Today: Unlike 1967, the Israeli government already claimed “total victory” in the recent “12 Day War,” yet the existential unease remains, creating a sense of “reversed waiting”—the supposed victory did not bring the anticipated security or closure.
  • Yossi: "Now we have a waiting period after the total victory... I sense in all of us a deep disorientation." (16:13)

3. The Ambiguity and Futility of Military Solutions

• Limits of Force: Both hosts wrestle with whether military action can truly resolve the Iranian threat, given Iran’s advanced capabilities, ideological persistence, and ability to rebuild.
  • Daniil: "Military force has its limits, and I’m just wondering when we're going to come to terms with it." (03:38, 29:27)
• Existential Anxiety: The psychological burden of being surrounded by enemies whose motivations are not merely political but rooted in messianic or ideological fervor, raising the question of whether regime change or deterrence is possible.

4. Regime Change: Hope and Skepticism

• Yossi’s Argument: Iran’s regime has "lost legitimacy among the majority, maybe the large majority, of its own people," suggesting that its fall is a matter of "when, not if." He draws contrast with Hamas, arguing that for Iran, internal collapse may be more feasible.
  • Yossi: "This regime has lost legitimacy... it’s just a question of time before this regime falls." (23:56)
• Daniil’s Challenge: Questions whether even this offers a guaranteed outcome, mediating hope with realism.
  • Daniil: "...There are limits in which a conventional army could achieve... what are the limits of power?" (28:41)

5. Living in an Unredeemed World

• Messianic Hopes vs. Reality: The desire for security and "final victory" has a messianic flavor. Both hosts ponder if Israelis (and Zionism) must develop the moral muscles to live with unfixable threats.
  • Daniil: "...Is there some deep messianic impulse to live in a world in which this evil is gone and that messianic impulse is at the end going to be destructive? The question is, how do we deal with it? This is the old Jewish question: how do we live in an unredeemed world?" (29:27)
• Historical Openings—Rare but Real: Yossi recalls the fall of communism as evidence of rare historical moments ripe for transformation. The challenge is to recognize and act upon them, even though success is not guaranteed and costs may be high.
  • Yossi: "There are openings in history. There are moments, very rare and fleeting moments, and you have to seize those moments." (32:05)

6. American Policy and Narrative

• Dependency and Despair: The sense of waiting is compounded by Israel’s reliance on US decisions—particularly President Trump’s policy, motivations, and communications.
• Dangers of Narrative: Both raise alarms about the framing of another Iran conflict as “Israel’s war” in US politics, citing historical and contemporary examples of anti-Jewish conspiracy theories and the fragility of American Jewish security.
  • Yossi: "That's an accusation that goes back in America to the 1930s... What makes this such a dangerous moment today... is that now the accusation of warmongers is coming from both left and right." (34:13)

7. The Broader Moral and Jewish Question

• The episode frames waiting not simply as a strategic interlude, but as a moral and spiritual challenge: How can Jews—and Israelis in particular—navigate the tension between vigilance against threats, the temptation of illusory solutions, and the patience required to outlast enduring dangers?

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Yossi Klein Halevi [01:22; 12:12]:
  "This notion of Israelis hoping it will happen... there's something heroic about that because we're going to get hit. We're the front line and everywhere else... it's a theoretical debate... Here, it's life and death."

• Daniil Hartman [03:38, 29:27]:
  "Military force has its limits, and I'm just wondering when we're going to come to terms with it."

• Yossi Klein Halevi [13:13]:
  "...when you look at Israeli history, the waiting period... has very deep resonance... Israel hesitated... Arab armies converging..."

• Daniil Hartman [18:57]:
  "Now all of a sudden, there's Pickaxe Mountain... so now I have to worry about Pickaxe Mountain... it's like the Three Little Pigs, you know, you're going to huff and puff..."

• Yossi Klein Halevi [23:56]:
  "Iran, this regime has lost the legitimacy to rule among the majority, maybe the large majority, of its own people... it's just a question of time before this regime falls."

• Daniil Hartman [29:27]:
  "...is there some deep messianic impulse to live in a world in which this evil is gone and that messianic impulse is at the end going to be destructive... how do we readjust to live in a non redeemed world?"

• Yossi Klein Halevi [32:05]:
  "...there are openings in history. There are moments, very rare and fleeting moments, and you have to seize them."

• Yossi Klein Halevi [34:13]:
  "That's an accusation that goes back in America to the 1930s... What makes this such a dangerous moment today... is that now the accusation of warmongers is coming from both left and right."

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:22] – Opening: The emotional reality of waiting in Israel; the difference with American and diaspora Jewish discourse
• [07:14] – The rumor mill: humor, satire, and the omnipresence of speculation in daily life
• [13:13] – Historical parallel: The 1967 waiting period and its cultural resonance—songs, collective panic, and mass graves
• [16:09] – The "12 Day War" myth and sense of reversed historical process
• [18:56] – New worries: “Pickaxe Mountain” and the moving target of existential threats
• [23:56] – Regime change in Iran: possibility, hope, and limitations
• [29:27] – Military power, messianic thinking, and the challenge of living with perpetual danger
• [32:05] – Historical openings: learning from the fall of communism
• [34:13] – The American narrative, anti-Jewish tropes, and dangers for Israel and world Jewry

Conclusion

The episode closes with a sense of resignation: “After all the analyses, we go back to our sources and whisperings and nightmares and waiting and waiting” ([39:07]). For Israelis, waiting is not idleness; it is a dynamic, emotionally fraught state of vigilance—battling uncertainty, fear, and the limitations of power. The hosts challenge each other—and listeners—to consider what it means to build a responsible Jewish future in a world that cannot be wholly redeemed, and to prepare morally and intellectually for a time when the waiting may never end.

For listeners, "Waiting" offers a moving window into Israeli existential anxiety, the dangers of both action and inaction, the importance of narrative, and the enduring question of how to live morally and resiliently amidst uncertainty.