For years, Einat Wilf warned the world: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was never about borders. It wasn’t about settlements. It wasn’t about occupation. It was about one thing—the refusal to accept a Jewish state in any part of the land.

This week on For the Love of Zion, Joe and Shahaf sit down with one of Israel’s most fearless and brilliant voices to talk about everything the world got wrong—and what it will take to finally get it right.

Dr. Wilf, a former Israeli lawmaker and author of The War of Return, has spent two decades exposing how international institutions, especially UNRWA, have sustained not peace—but the illusion of peace—by funding the dream of Israel’s destruction. That dream shattered on October 7. But it didn’t start there. And it won’t end there—unless we confront it.

This is not a conversation about geopolitics. It’s about ideology. About a century-long war against Jewish self-determination. About the global campaign to cast Zionism—the Jewish people’s liberation movement—as colonialism, racism, even genocide. And about the only path to peace: killing the lie.

In this moving and deeply personal conversation, we sit down with Anna Kislanski, one of the most influential liberal Jewish leaders in Israel today, to talk about what it means to be a Reform Jew in the Jewish state—especially after the horrors of October 7.

Anna shares the story of a moment of joy and progress—16 Israeli municipalities inviting Reform communities to lead egalitarian Simchat Torah celebrations—cut short by Hamas’ brutal attacks the next morning. From there, she traces how her movement sprang into action: mourning, organizing, comforting, and rebuilding.

She speaks candidly about the trauma facing Israel’s liberal Jewish communities, from the kibbutzim of the Gaza Envelope to the displaced families of the northern Galilee. But she also tells a story of hope—of Havdalah ceremonies in Hostage Square, of Reform rabbis crisscrossing the country to hold together scattered communities, and of new bridges built between Jews and Arabs.

What happens when a nation already divided is plunged into the worst trauma in its history? How does a journalist navigate war when her own children are on the front lines?

This week, we sit down with Tal Schneider, the political and diplomatic correspondent for The Times of Israel, to discuss the state of Israel in the wake of October 7th. A veteran reporter with a career spanning decades, Tal has covered everything from Israel’s political chaos to its foreign policy, and she brings a deeply personal perspective to the current crisis.

We talk about:

🔹 Covering war while being the mother of two IDF soldiers.

🔹 The transformation of Israeli civil society and its response to government dysfunction.

🔹 Why so many Israelis feel disconnected from their leadership—and what that means for the country’s future.

🔹 The global media’s failures in reporting the war and what Israelis actually think about Gaza.

🔹 The shifting relationship between Israel and the Diaspora—why the last 18 months have reshaped how Israelis view Jews abroad.

And we end with a call to action: What can the Diaspora really do to support Israel beyond fundraising?

A gripping, deeply human conversation about a country forever changed.

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📌 Learn more: Times of Israel