Podcast Summary: The Promised Podcast

Episode: "The ‘More War, More Bloodshed’ Edition"

Date: August 14, 2025
Host: TLV1 Studios
Participants: Noah Efron (A), Miriam Herschlag (B)

Overview

This episode of The Promised Podcast grapples with Israel’s latest government decision to ramp up the war in Gaza, the resulting public backlash, and larger existential questions around conflict, unity, and protest in Israeli society. The hosts, with their signature blend of earnestness, cultural references, and dry wit, dissect the morality, logic, and fallout of these political choices, while reflecting on ways Israelis try to live and hope amidst darkness.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Israeli Life, "Friends" Pop Culture, and Emotional Reality

• [00:33]–[06:58]
  • The episode opens with a characteristic mix of the serious and the whimsical. Noah describes the opening of a "Friends" pop-up in Tel Aviv, juxtaposing the show's escapist comfort with grim proximity to “Hostage Square.”
  • Miriam finds it notable how deeply "Friends" references have permeated Israeli culture, even among those who never actively watched it.
  • Noah shares a personal moment of waking on Shabbat Nachamu, hearing poet Nadav Halperin connect the Jewish love holiday of Tu B’Av and Shabbat Nachamu—a rare overlapping and a metaphor for private hope and national heartbreak.
  • Multiple cultural references—Rabbis, Isaiah, Coltrane, Kohelet, and philosophical reflections on Jerusalem as a city with a heart, not just a battleground.

Notable Quote

"[Isaiah] tries to speak to Jerusalem's heart, meaning that he thinks that that heart has not entirely gone bad, that even if it is not pure, there is still something there. The heart has not turned to stone." – Noah, quoting Nadav Halperin ([10:17])

2. Main Topic 1: "More War, More Bloodshed" – The Government's Gaza Decision

• [17:54]–[46:05]

Cabinet’s Decision

• Details of the Plan ([23:25]):
  • Conquer Gaza City, aiming to force Hamas to surrender, release hostages, and pave way for a demilitarized, non-Hamas, non-PA civil government.
  • Hostages' families describe the plan as a "death sentence" for their loved ones.
  • The IDF Chief of Staff (Ayal Zamir) opposes the plan, proposing a more perimeter-based approach; his argument is that a direct assault increases the risk to hostages.
  • Global condemnation follows: Germany suspends weapons shipments, Australia recognizes Palestine, and numerous countries criticize or condemn the Israeli move.

Emotional and Moral Complexity

• Noah’s internal conflict:

  • Strongly against the logic of a ground campaign but feels compelled to be "all in" as a member of the collective.
  • Grapples with the abstraction of life and suffering in government decision-making:

    "It's really, really hard to think of... dozens and dozens of dead soldiers and hundreds or thousands of dead Gazans and God forbid, maybe 20 more dead hostages... and to get out of bed and say, 'yeah, I'm still in, because where else would I be?'" ([29:55])

• Miriam’s assessment:

  • Netanyahu operates as a "strategic thinker," seeing history and geopolitics on a grand scale.
  • The real cost—in lives, morality, and international standing—may be minimized for the sake of long-term regional realignment (such as Gulf alliances and disabling the Muslim Brotherhood).
  • Guest: “What could possibly go right in this kind of fighting?” ([36:05])
  • Calls out the "problem of evil" becoming normalized in public debate—when even decent people discuss “acceptable” civilian casualty ratios.

Notable Quotes

"One of the problems of evil is the way it splatters onto everyone... it becomes like a talking point argument. And normal people are having this conversation—and you suddenly hear things coming out of your mouth or out of the mouths of people who, you know to be perfectly fine, moral, upstanding humans..." – Miriam ([39:37])

“I don’t think the prime minister does much factor in the lives of Gazans, I think, for sure, but also not soldiers and hostages.” – Noah ([32:06])

Israel’s Public and Political Divide

• Stark polarization: Only a minority of the population supports the cabinet decision, but debate feels futile; the value of “human life” and “national security” exist on incompatible moral scales.
• Disillusionment with the perpetual cycle—the “no good choices, only bad ones.”

3. Main Topic 2: "Shut It Down" – The Strike Debate

• [46:05]–[67:15]

The Call for Strike

• Hostages’ families call for a general strike to protest the government's latest decision: “Silence kills. The time has come to bring the country to a halt.”
• The largest union (Histadrut) declines to join, although many tech firms and local councils indicate support.
• Noah and Miriam discuss whether mass work stoppages, rather than demonstrations, are an appropriate and effective means of protest.

Efficacy, Legitimacy, and Class

• Noah argues a strike is unlikely to change government policy, but acknowledges expression of dissent is vital.

• Expresses discomfort with the subtext he hears: a socioeconomic, Ashkenazi, tech/university elite flexing economic muscle after losing political ground in Knesset.

  "We control the economy. You control the government, but we control the economy. And if you push us too far, we will shut that shit down." – Noah ([54:35])

• Miriam notes strikes can be a substitute for democratic recourse when elections are too distant and the government disregards public will and court oversight.

On Soldiers’ Conscience

• Miriam suggests one function of strikes/protests is to relieve soldiers of the burden of civil disobedience, keeping social dissent in the civilian realm instead of fracturing the army ([61:18]).

Participation Dilemmas

• The hosts themselves struggle with the ethics and morals of participating in the strike: Is it more meaningful than mass demonstrations? Is it dangerous for representing only a privileged “we”? Is it justified given the depth and urgency of crisis?

4. Voda Country: “Things That Brought Us Solace or Delight”

• [68:15]–[81:14]

Miriam: The “Chance to Meet” Initiative

• A cross-border art and music project connecting Israelis and Gazans, collaborating digitally and in occasional meetings abroad.
• Songs, dance, clowning, and film made together—fighting “learned helplessness” through creative, human connection.

“But seeing people still daring to create together, across borders, across grief, reminds me that despair isn’t the only option.” – Miriam ([75:42])

Noah: Shapira’s Shade Project

• Neighborhood activists organize to demand more shade in Tel Aviv; logistical barriers (pipes, narrow streets) seem insurmountable.
• Noah connects them with young plant scientists innovating shallow-rooted vine solutions for shade.

  “Plants do amazing things. You just gotta work with them, you just gotta learn them, you just gotta find a way to communicate with them, to cooperate with them, to trust them.” – Yuval Godolter ([81:14])

• The story closes with hope: “There is always something to do.”

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Enduring in the Collective:

  “I’m part of this people that was attacked so horribly... And if this is what this people... has decided to do, then I’m part of that too. And the last thing that I’m going to say now or ever, I think is, ‘not in my name’. I’m part of this thing. That’s it.” – Noah ([29:55])

• On Protest’s Moral Weight:

  “Maybe it’s as close as we can get without an election or referendum to a public vote of no confidence.” – Miriam ([58:11])

• On Creative Resistance:

  “They are fighting their own war. A rebellion, really, against... learned helplessness... But seeing people still daring to create together... reminds me that despair isn’t the only option.” – Miriam ([75:42])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:33–06:58] — Opening, Friends Pop Up, Cultural commentary
• [06:58–17:54] — Personal reflection, Tub’Av and Shabbat Nachamu, “speaking to the heart of Jerusalem”
• [17:54–46:05] — Topic 1: Gaza assault decision, reactions, deep dives on morality and strategy
• [46:05–67:15] — Topic 2: Hostages’ families call for a strike, debate over efficacy, legitimacy, and public protest
• [68:15–81:14] — Voda Country: Sources of solace/hope
• [81:14–84:42] — Outro, World Lizard Day, humor

Tone and Language

• Warmly intellectual, reflective, sometimes sardonic; deeply personal at points; not shy of expressing ambivalence, pain, or hope.
• Pop culture and highbrow references, philosophical digressions, and a willingness to let existential questions blend with the mundane.

Conclusion

This episode offers a window into the Israeli experience at a moment of profound conflict—caught between collective trauma, political impasses, and the ever-present search for hope and solidarity. The hosts dissect both the large and small dilemmas facing Israeli society—whether in the morality of war, the modes of protest, or the comfort found in art, plants, or humor. Through it all, the message emerges: even amidst dread and darkness, “there is always something to do.”