As the host of the podcast History of the Land of Israel, and his own YouTube show, Israel Explained, Shaiel Ben-Ephraim spends his time thinking about Israel, assessing Israel’s long term goals and strategies and nuancing a discussion about Israel and the Palestinians which blessedly sheds more light than heat.
A self described “Liberal Zionist,” Shaiel sits down with Adam to discuss his time as a young man working in intelligence for the IDF, the current state of Israel’s war with Hamas, the necessity of a demilitarized and self governing Palestinian state, and the fraught legacy of Benjamin Netanyahu. Like Adam, Shaiel remains deeply worried about the fate of democracy both in the United States and Israel, and he sounds the alarm about the the threat to both the American and Israeli democratic projects from its opponents on the right and the left.
As Dirty Moderate continues its coverage of Israel since the horrific attacks of October 7th, this engaging and enlightening confab between Adam and Shaiel is not to be missed. Have a listen !
Shaiel is a former UCLA professor and diplomat with a Ph.D. in military strategy from the University of Calgary. He currently works for one of the large hi-tech companies and hosts the History of the Land of Israel Podcast and the Israel Explained YouTube channel. Dr. Ben-Ephraim lives in Hollywood, where he follows the New York Mets closely and listens to the Allman Brothers Band far too often.
Watch here: Israel Explained
Listen here: History of the Land of Israel
Shaiel on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/academic_la
Israel explained