I got a few tour dates to tell you about Wallingford, Connecticut, Portland, Maine, Banger, Maine, Moncton, Canada, Las Vegas, Nevada. We'll be back for the USC LSU football weekend. Oklahoma City, Northern Little Rock, Springfield, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, La Crosse, Wisconsin, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Moline, Illinois. You can get tickets for at theovan. Com/tour. Thank you so much for your support. Thanks for tuning in. Today's episode is regarding the conflict in Israel and Palestine. I've heard a lot about this issue, and I wanted to deepen my own understanding. I recognize that this is a sensitive topic, but the only way to learn is to seek knowledge. I decided to have guests from both sides of the aisle, if you will, to help me learn by sharing their views. I did it in separate episodes because I'm not a debate moderator. I chose guests who I thought would share their views sincerely, and I think they both did. I'm very thankful to have the opportunity to learn, something that they don't even have in some countries. Today's guest has been called one of the most influential rabbis in America. Until recently, he led the Sinai temple in Los Angeles and has also taught at UCLA, Harvard Divinity School, and more.

He's written nine books, led numerous missions to Israel,and tell you my stories. Shine on Yeah, thank you so much of your time.Sure. Happy to do it. Yeah, really appreciate it. Rabbi David Wolfie.Yeah, there's no way you would know by looking at it. No. No, not at all. I got Wolf all the time.Yeah, Wolpe. The Wolpe of Wall Street, was that ever? It would be a different type of Wall Street probably.Yeah, a different kind.You just got back from Israel. Yesterday.Wow.Welcome back.Thank you.I've never gotten to go. A lot of my friends have gotten to go on birthright in that.I mean, it's really an amazing thing to do. I recommend it.Yeah, I always hear great things. I would like to get to go. What was it like over there? What's the vibe?It's resilient but depressed. I met with these students at the Technion, which is like the science tech. It's like MIT of Israel. The tech Neon? And they all serve. They miss 100 days of school because they all... They literally, when you're in Israel, it's an hour's drive and you're at war. And then You drive home for the weekend and then you go back. It's crazy. It's not like here where you have Canada, Mexico, and two oceans. There, right next door, are the people who want to kill you.Just always in the heat. Does it feel How close were you to Gaza?You could see it from where you are. It's very easy. It's not hard. You can see the West Bank. I mean, Israel is really tiny. It's smaller than New Jersey. Oh, wow.Is there a general sense of we are Israel going on? Is there people that are on the fence about what's going on over there? What's the...The general sense is, of course, we have to defend ourselves. The government is very unpopular there right now, really unpopular. The unpopular of governments here doesn't compare to how unpopular that government is right now. Netanyahu's government? They feel like he's badly mishandled this. But the sense that Hamas has to be eliminated, to the extent that you can eliminate it, I think almost everybody in Israel agrees with that. Wow.How did he become so unfavorable, do you feel?I think, honestly, I mean, this is too easy, but he stayed too long. It's like at a certain point, you have to say, I've done what I could. I'm getting complacent and not paying attention, and he's out of touch, and He just, I mean, Biden visited some of the families whose kids were taken hostages before Netanyahu did, which is insane. Yeah.So not great. He gives me the GB sometimes. I don't know why exactly.They need someone new.Oh, wow. 66% of Israelis want Netanyahu to leave politics.85. And 85% support an investigation into what happened in October seventh, and he was Prime Minister.Do they believe? I mean, you hear rumors, you hear people say that they let their guard down on purpose. Do you believe that that would ever have happened?No, I don't believe that. I really don't because the enormity of the destruction is far too great. And No government would ever... Let me put it the other way. Any government would know that if you do that, you will go down in history as having failed your people. So I can't imagine they did. I think it was a monument. One of the things that just is true in general is I try never to attribute to maliciousness things that can be attributed to incompetence because it's almost always incompetence. People think, oh, well, that's so suspicious. Why did they leave the shooter on the roof for Trump? And I think because it's so easy to get stuff wrong. It's so easy. There are like a thousand ways to get stuff wrong and only one way to get it right. And generally, it's not always true, but generally it's incompetence.It's a good point. And we've become in such a place like with media where people, I think, don't trust media or uncertain. And there's so much media now. There's so many There's AI versions of things. There's animations. You don't even know if the voice you're listening to is really of the person that you're listening to. So it's almost impossible to... So I think that just creates even more option for fantasy.Distrust is going to grow. There's no way it can't grow. It's scary what AI is doing and will do to people's perceptions of the world for all of us. Oh, yeah.And it's hard not to Because there's so much stuff you do that you're used to believing on your phone and on your- Yeah, and it's hard not to believe your eyes.It's like, they're my eyes. Of course, I believe in them.Yeah, these are them. Anyway. Rabbi Wolfie, you were a professor at Harvard, right? You've had a storied history, and I could go into a lot of stats, and I'll put those in the beginning of this episode so people know. You were working at Harvard?I was a visiting scholar at the Divinity School. Okay. Right.And you left after the October seventh?I didn't leave Harvard. I left. What happened was, so when I got there, I was visiting scholar at the Divinity School. After October seventh. The President asked me, would I be a member of the anti-Semitism Commission. She was really shaken up. This is Claudine Gay. Would I help her understand what happened? Would I give her some books? Would I be part of the Anti-Semitism Committee? I said, of course. So I became part of the Anti-Semitism Committee. And to make a long story short, it It was clear to me that they weren't doing anything. That Harvard wasn't? Harvard wasn't doing it and didn't really intend to do anything. And I think that the committee was a cover for it. And so I resigned. I was going to still teach my class next semester, and I still did. And by the way, kids were great. They were great. And most of the students at Harvard, like students everywhere, just want to get a job, want to finish their degree, but not all. But when I resigned, it became a giant, like public thing, which I did not expect because I think people were so fed up with the idiocies and the radicalism and the just thoughtlessness of the demonstrations and also of some of the faculty.And so, as you know, we're still fighting this. I mean, there are lawsuits now and testimony. I didn't even know that. Oh, yeah. It's an ongoing thing. And all All of the universities are trying to recover. I've never seen any institution ever lose as much credibility overnight as Harvard. I mean, Harvard was Harvard. It's like I watched a season of this show, Suits. I don't know if you've ever seen it. Yeah, I've seen it.My friend used to it, they're the ones that named it Palestine, the Romans. After the Romans took over, then there were a succession of empires. There was the Roman Empire, and then you had, among others, the Ottomans, the British, and the British were the ones who controlled it until Israel became Israel. And the Palestinian self-identification was in opposition to Israel. If you go back 200 years, you don't know the - I'd be able to pick up line, too.It's like we got about 40 minutes, babe. Let's figure this out. What can Israel do, you think, differently? Are you allowed to comment on that stuff? Sure.Absolutely. There are two things I'll say. One one is hard to change and one is easier to change. When you get out of high school in America, you go to college. We all know college kids, even though they can be very talented and very smart, they're also stupid. They're not only stupid because they're 17, 18. Naive. Especially guys, but both. But when you get out of high school in Israel, you're going to the army. You give a 17 or 18-year-old an Uzi, a machine gun, and you put them in a border guard, he's still a 17-year-old. And then a 50-year-old Palestinian comes, and a 17-year-old should not be able to control the life of a 50-year-old man or woman. But that's the situation. So first of all, the situation is messed up, and that is intrinsic to it, and that's tragic.Messed up in the sense of the organization of how they're running the idea.In the sense of that armies are young, and armies control people who are not young. And that built into that is this humiliation, and humiliation is the worst. Humiliation is the worst.Well, every 17-year-old wants to be Rambo. Yeah, exactly.And what Israel could do better, I believe, is there are lots and lots and lots of small ways in which they could constantly make it clear that they esteem the people and that they respect them and that they want to help them. Now, it is true that the people who did that most in Israel were actually the people who Kibbutzim were attacked on October seventh. Those were all peaceknicks on the border. They were some of the people who were kidnapped and some of the people who were killed were people who ferried medicine to Gaza. But still, even so, I still think it is true that it's incredibly important when you're in the driver's seat to constantly turn around and say, I really want this to be different. I hope for the day that it'll be different. And I think that Israel has not done that as much as it could or as much as it should.The people or the leadership?Both. Because there's this great line from the poet Yates, who, after all, was in Ireland and saw trouble, what they call the trouble three years. He said, Too long a sacrifice makes a stone of the heart. And like At a certain point, you just go, I don't care. I don't care. Those people, I don't care. And you have to fight against that.You have to. Yeah, things edify in you. Edify, is that the right word you think? Solidify. Solidify in you. Like if they calcify.And like, you can't stand your neighbor. When you first met them, you brought them a cup of sugar, but now you just can't stand or you're a landlord or whatever. And it's very human, but if we don't overcome that, it's We go the way of the grave.America and Britain, after World War II, or is it World War I, when they've freed- World War I. Okay. After World War I, they helped create the space for Israel in the current space of Israel.Especially Britain.Do you feel like they should help now? Is that part of it?After World War II, well, after World War II was the actual creation of the state, after World War I was when Britain first did all the initiatives to do it. They try. They do try. America has tried again and again and again. They have. To do this. They have. But also part of this is that for a long time, the Soviet Union was the ally of the Arab Nations, and the Soviet Union also was deeply anti-Jewish and deeply anti-capitalist and anti-western.There's a lot of Jewish people in the Soviet Union. There were, but they all left.Oh, there were. They all left. Yeah. So now I think that there really has to be an ideological change, which is the thing that you see happening in Saudi Arabia. With MBS, he's really trying to change his country. Now all of a sudden- What's the name? I'm sorry, repeat. His name is Mohamed bin Salam.Mohamed bin Salam in Saudi Arabia.There he is. Mohamed bin Salman Al-Saoud. He's like, for example, women can now drive in Saudi Arabia. I know that that seems like, but that's a huge thing, which is the other part of it is that the culture- I would not want to be there the first week.The culture, no. The The culture in the West Bank and Gaza, to women is...I mean, women are very second class citizens there, and LGBTQs have no rights, quite the opposite. So I think that there needs to be a general reckoning with the culture and an openness that would allow people to live in peace.So the responsibility really falls 50/50, do you believe?No. I know people will disagree with me. I'm going to say 80/20. I really think if tomorrow the Palestinians said, We want peace. We don't want to destroy you. We want to live in peace and we want to thrive, there would be peace and they would thrive.Is there a way for them to even verbalize that to the- Only if they have the leaders who promise it because nobody's going to believe it.I mean, there are many people who say it, but unless the leaders promise it, it's not going to happen.And the leaders are Hamas. Hamas- Is there a president outside of Hamas?There is Abu Mazen in the Palestinian Authority, but he's in his 80s. He's thought of as corrupt and not good. What the fuck is he doing? Yeah, I can't imagine that somebody would have leader in their 80s. How could that happen?What is he just milling around a fucking Bocce ball court? Get a fucking microphone, homie.This is crazy. Mahmoud Abbas. What does he say about it? Well, this is a guy who did his PhD in, I don't want to get you canceled, but in Holocaust denial. So I don't think that he's as sympathetic to Jews as he might be. I see. But he has been- I I didn't know they had a PhD for that. I think he has been okay in the sense that much more to their life than how they feel about him.So I try to get people to live locally. You can care about issues, you should care about issues. I do. Obviously, we spent the whole hour and a half talking about issues. But I also know that I'm not going to judge you as a human being based on your disagreement with me unless you hate Unless you hate, then I'll judge you. But if it's a disagreement of goodness and of love, then we can argue all day long. I got no problem with that. Yeah.I wish you could find ways to do that more. I know.Me too.It makes me sad.Yeah, it is sad. It's painful in this country, too. It's so painful because it's like it doesn't take... I mean, it's not the first time we've seen a That someone try to assassinate a political figure, but it always reminds you that the difference between chaos and civilization, it's really thin. It's like a bullet away. Yeah. And that's scary.I've said that, too. It's like, all that needs to happen is a couple of police stations need to get commandeered. Right. And then the game could change. I know. You know one thing I noticed the other day, rabbi Wolfie, was when that happened with Trump, a lot A lot of people, it didn'tI want to read it. I'm sorry, Mr. Wolf, I didn a pulpit for everybody. Everybody has their own place.Yeah, sometimes we all feel... Yeah, everybody has their own place. And so does Israel and so does Palestine, and hopefully, they'll figure it out.Amen.Amen. Thank you, Rabbi David Wolfee. We appreciate you. Thank you.Now, I'm just floating on the breeze, and I feel I'm falling like these leaves. I must be cornerstone. Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this peace of mind I found I can feel it in my bones. But it's going to take.

and tell you my stories. Shine on Yeah, thank you so much of your time.

Sure. Happy to do it. Yeah, really appreciate it. Rabbi David Wolfie.

Yeah, there's no way you would know by looking at it. No. No, not at all. I got Wolf all the time.

Yeah, Wolpe. The Wolpe of Wall Street, was that ever? It would be a different type of Wall Street probably.

Yeah, a different kind.

You just got back from Israel. Yesterday.

Wow.

Welcome back.

Thank you.

I've never gotten to go. A lot of my friends have gotten to go on birthright in that.

I mean, it's really an amazing thing to do. I recommend it.

Yeah, I always hear great things. I would like to get to go. What was it like over there? What's the vibe?

It's resilient but depressed. I met with these students at the Technion, which is like the science tech. It's like MIT of Israel. The tech Neon? And they all serve. They miss 100 days of school because they all... They literally, when you're in Israel, it's an hour's drive and you're at war. And then You drive home for the weekend and then you go back. It's crazy. It's not like here where you have Canada, Mexico, and two oceans. There, right next door, are the people who want to kill you.

Just always in the heat. Does it feel How close were you to Gaza?

You could see it from where you are. It's very easy. It's not hard. You can see the West Bank. I mean, Israel is really tiny. It's smaller than New Jersey. Oh, wow.

Is there a general sense of we are Israel going on? Is there people that are on the fence about what's going on over there? What's the...

The general sense is, of course, we have to defend ourselves. The government is very unpopular there right now, really unpopular. The unpopular of governments here doesn't compare to how unpopular that government is right now. Netanyahu's government? They feel like he's badly mishandled this. But the sense that Hamas has to be eliminated, to the extent that you can eliminate it, I think almost everybody in Israel agrees with that. Wow.

How did he become so unfavorable, do you feel?

I think, honestly, I mean, this is too easy, but he stayed too long. It's like at a certain point, you have to say, I've done what I could. I'm getting complacent and not paying attention, and he's out of touch, and He just, I mean, Biden visited some of the families whose kids were taken hostages before Netanyahu did, which is insane. Yeah.

So not great. He gives me the GB sometimes. I don't know why exactly.

They need someone new.

Oh, wow. 66% of Israelis want Netanyahu to leave politics.

85. And 85% support an investigation into what happened in October seventh, and he was Prime Minister.

Do they believe? I mean, you hear rumors, you hear people say that they let their guard down on purpose. Do you believe that that would ever have happened?

No, I don't believe that. I really don't because the enormity of the destruction is far too great. And No government would ever... Let me put it the other way. Any government would know that if you do that, you will go down in history as having failed your people. So I can't imagine they did. I think it was a monument. One of the things that just is true in general is I try never to attribute to maliciousness things that can be attributed to incompetence because it's almost always incompetence. People think, oh, well, that's so suspicious. Why did they leave the shooter on the roof for Trump? And I think because it's so easy to get stuff wrong. It's so easy. There are like a thousand ways to get stuff wrong and only one way to get it right. And generally, it's not always true, but generally it's incompetence.

It's a good point. And we've become in such a place like with media where people, I think, don't trust media or uncertain. And there's so much media now. There's so many There's AI versions of things. There's animations. You don't even know if the voice you're listening to is really of the person that you're listening to. So it's almost impossible to... So I think that just creates even more option for fantasy.

Distrust is going to grow. There's no way it can't grow. It's scary what AI is doing and will do to people's perceptions of the world for all of us. Oh, yeah.

And it's hard not to Because there's so much stuff you do that you're used to believing on your phone and on your- Yeah, and it's hard not to believe your eyes.

It's like, they're my eyes. Of course, I believe in them.

Yeah, these are them. Anyway. Rabbi Wolfie, you were a professor at Harvard, right? You've had a storied history, and I could go into a lot of stats, and I'll put those in the beginning of this episode so people know. You were working at Harvard?

I was a visiting scholar at the Divinity School. Okay. Right.

And you left after the October seventh?

I didn't leave Harvard. I left. What happened was, so when I got there, I was visiting scholar at the Divinity School. After October seventh. The President asked me, would I be a member of the anti-Semitism Commission. She was really shaken up. This is Claudine Gay. Would I help her understand what happened? Would I give her some books? Would I be part of the Anti-Semitism Committee? I said, of course. So I became part of the Anti-Semitism Committee. And to make a long story short, it It was clear to me that they weren't doing anything. That Harvard wasn't? Harvard wasn't doing it and didn't really intend to do anything. And I think that the committee was a cover for it. And so I resigned. I was going to still teach my class next semester, and I still did. And by the way, kids were great. They were great. And most of the students at Harvard, like students everywhere, just want to get a job, want to finish their degree, but not all. But when I resigned, it became a giant, like public thing, which I did not expect because I think people were so fed up with the idiocies and the radicalism and the just thoughtlessness of the demonstrations and also of some of the faculty.

And so, as you know, we're still fighting this. I mean, there are lawsuits now and testimony. I didn't even know that. Oh, yeah. It's an ongoing thing. And all All of the universities are trying to recover. I've never seen any institution ever lose as much credibility overnight as Harvard. I mean, Harvard was Harvard. It's like I watched a season of this show, Suits. I don't know if you've ever seen it. Yeah, I've seen it.

My friend used to it, they're the ones that named it Palestine, the Romans. After the Romans took over, then there were a succession of empires. There was the Roman Empire, and then you had, among others, the Ottomans, the British, and the British were the ones who controlled it until Israel became Israel. And the Palestinian self-identification was in opposition to Israel. If you go back 200 years, you don't know the - I'd be able to pick up line, too.It's like we got about 40 minutes, babe. Let's figure this out. What can Israel do, you think, differently? Are you allowed to comment on that stuff? Sure.Absolutely. There are two things I'll say. One one is hard to change and one is easier to change. When you get out of high school in America, you go to college. We all know college kids, even though they can be very talented and very smart, they're also stupid. They're not only stupid because they're 17, 18. Naive. Especially guys, but both. But when you get out of high school in Israel, you're going to the army. You give a 17 or 18-year-old an Uzi, a machine gun, and you put them in a border guard, he's still a 17-year-old. And then a 50-year-old Palestinian comes, and a 17-year-old should not be able to control the life of a 50-year-old man or woman. But that's the situation. So first of all, the situation is messed up, and that is intrinsic to it, and that's tragic.Messed up in the sense of the organization of how they're running the idea.In the sense of that armies are young, and armies control people who are not young. And that built into that is this humiliation, and humiliation is the worst. Humiliation is the worst.Well, every 17-year-old wants to be Rambo. Yeah, exactly.And what Israel could do better, I believe, is there are lots and lots and lots of small ways in which they could constantly make it clear that they esteem the people and that they respect them and that they want to help them. Now, it is true that the people who did that most in Israel were actually the people who Kibbutzim were attacked on October seventh. Those were all peaceknicks on the border. They were some of the people who were kidnapped and some of the people who were killed were people who ferried medicine to Gaza. But still, even so, I still think it is true that it's incredibly important when you're in the driver's seat to constantly turn around and say, I really want this to be different. I hope for the day that it'll be different. And I think that Israel has not done that as much as it could or as much as it should.The people or the leadership?Both. Because there's this great line from the poet Yates, who, after all, was in Ireland and saw trouble, what they call the trouble three years. He said, Too long a sacrifice makes a stone of the heart. And like At a certain point, you just go, I don't care. I don't care. Those people, I don't care. And you have to fight against that.You have to. Yeah, things edify in you. Edify, is that the right word you think? Solidify. Solidify in you. Like if they calcify.And like, you can't stand your neighbor. When you first met them, you brought them a cup of sugar, but now you just can't stand or you're a landlord or whatever. And it's very human, but if we don't overcome that, it's We go the way of the grave.America and Britain, after World War II, or is it World War I, when they've freed- World War I. Okay. After World War I, they helped create the space for Israel in the current space of Israel.Especially Britain.Do you feel like they should help now? Is that part of it?After World War II, well, after World War II was the actual creation of the state, after World War I was when Britain first did all the initiatives to do it. They try. They do try. America has tried again and again and again. They have. To do this. They have. But also part of this is that for a long time, the Soviet Union was the ally of the Arab Nations, and the Soviet Union also was deeply anti-Jewish and deeply anti-capitalist and anti-western.There's a lot of Jewish people in the Soviet Union. There were, but they all left.Oh, there were. They all left. Yeah. So now I think that there really has to be an ideological change, which is the thing that you see happening in Saudi Arabia. With MBS, he's really trying to change his country. Now all of a sudden- What's the name? I'm sorry, repeat. His name is Mohamed bin Salam.Mohamed bin Salam in Saudi Arabia.There he is. Mohamed bin Salman Al-Saoud. He's like, for example, women can now drive in Saudi Arabia. I know that that seems like, but that's a huge thing, which is the other part of it is that the culture- I would not want to be there the first week.The culture, no. The The culture in the West Bank and Gaza, to women is...I mean, women are very second class citizens there, and LGBTQs have no rights, quite the opposite. So I think that there needs to be a general reckoning with the culture and an openness that would allow people to live in peace.So the responsibility really falls 50/50, do you believe?No. I know people will disagree with me. I'm going to say 80/20. I really think if tomorrow the Palestinians said, We want peace. We don't want to destroy you. We want to live in peace and we want to thrive, there would be peace and they would thrive.Is there a way for them to even verbalize that to the- Only if they have the leaders who promise it because nobody's going to believe it.I mean, there are many people who say it, but unless the leaders promise it, it's not going to happen.And the leaders are Hamas. Hamas- Is there a president outside of Hamas?There is Abu Mazen in the Palestinian Authority, but he's in his 80s. He's thought of as corrupt and not good. What the fuck is he doing? Yeah, I can't imagine that somebody would have leader in their 80s. How could that happen?What is he just milling around a fucking Bocce ball court? Get a fucking microphone, homie.This is crazy. Mahmoud Abbas. What does he say about it? Well, this is a guy who did his PhD in, I don't want to get you canceled, but in Holocaust denial. So I don't think that he's as sympathetic to Jews as he might be. I see. But he has been- I I didn't know they had a PhD for that. I think he has been okay in the sense that much more to their life than how they feel about him.So I try to get people to live locally. You can care about issues, you should care about issues. I do. Obviously, we spent the whole hour and a half talking about issues. But I also know that I'm not going to judge you as a human being based on your disagreement with me unless you hate Unless you hate, then I'll judge you. But if it's a disagreement of goodness and of love, then we can argue all day long. I got no problem with that. Yeah.I wish you could find ways to do that more. I know.Me too.It makes me sad.Yeah, it is sad. It's painful in this country, too. It's so painful because it's like it doesn't take... I mean, it's not the first time we've seen a That someone try to assassinate a political figure, but it always reminds you that the difference between chaos and civilization, it's really thin. It's like a bullet away. Yeah. And that's scary.I've said that, too. It's like, all that needs to happen is a couple of police stations need to get commandeered. Right. And then the game could change. I know. You know one thing I noticed the other day, rabbi Wolfie, was when that happened with Trump, a lot A lot of people, it didn'tI want to read it. I'm sorry, Mr. Wolf, I didn a pulpit for everybody. Everybody has their own place.Yeah, sometimes we all feel... Yeah, everybody has their own place. And so does Israel and so does Palestine, and hopefully, they'll figure it out.Amen.Amen. Thank you, Rabbi David Wolfee. We appreciate you. Thank you.Now, I'm just floating on the breeze, and I feel I'm falling like these leaves. I must be cornerstone. Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this peace of mind I found I can feel it in my bones. But it's going to take.

it, they're the ones that named it Palestine, the Romans. After the Romans took over, then there were a succession of empires. There was the Roman Empire, and then you had, among others, the Ottomans, the British, and the British were the ones who controlled it until Israel became Israel. And the Palestinian self-identification was in opposition to Israel. If you go back 200 years, you don't know the - I'd be able to pick up line, too.It's like we got about 40 minutes, babe. Let's figure this out. What can Israel do, you think, differently? Are you allowed to comment on that stuff? Sure.Absolutely. There are two things I'll say. One one is hard to change and one is easier to change. When you get out of high school in America, you go to college. We all know college kids, even though they can be very talented and very smart, they're also stupid. They're not only stupid because they're 17, 18. Naive. Especially guys, but both. But when you get out of high school in Israel, you're going to the army. You give a 17 or 18-year-old an Uzi, a machine gun, and you put them in a border guard, he's still a 17-year-old. And then a 50-year-old Palestinian comes, and a 17-year-old should not be able to control the life of a 50-year-old man or woman. But that's the situation. So first of all, the situation is messed up, and that is intrinsic to it, and that's tragic.Messed up in the sense of the organization of how they're running the idea.In the sense of that armies are young, and armies control people who are not young. And that built into that is this humiliation, and humiliation is the worst. Humiliation is the worst.Well, every 17-year-old wants to be Rambo. Yeah, exactly.And what Israel could do better, I believe, is there are lots and lots and lots of small ways in which they could constantly make it clear that they esteem the people and that they respect them and that they want to help them. Now, it is true that the people who did that most in Israel were actually the people who Kibbutzim were attacked on October seventh. Those were all peaceknicks on the border. They were some of the people who were kidnapped and some of the people who were killed were people who ferried medicine to Gaza. But still, even so, I still think it is true that it's incredibly important when you're in the driver's seat to constantly turn around and say, I really want this to be different. I hope for the day that it'll be different. And I think that Israel has not done that as much as it could or as much as it should.The people or the leadership?Both. Because there's this great line from the poet Yates, who, after all, was in Ireland and saw trouble, what they call the trouble three years. He said, Too long a sacrifice makes a stone of the heart. And like At a certain point, you just go, I don't care. I don't care. Those people, I don't care. And you have to fight against that.You have to. Yeah, things edify in you. Edify, is that the right word you think? Solidify. Solidify in you. Like if they calcify.And like, you can't stand your neighbor. When you first met them, you brought them a cup of sugar, but now you just can't stand or you're a landlord or whatever. And it's very human, but if we don't overcome that, it's We go the way of the grave.America and Britain, after World War II, or is it World War I, when they've freed- World War I. Okay. After World War I, they helped create the space for Israel in the current space of Israel.Especially Britain.Do you feel like they should help now? Is that part of it?After World War II, well, after World War II was the actual creation of the state, after World War I was when Britain first did all the initiatives to do it. They try. They do try. America has tried again and again and again. They have. To do this. They have. But also part of this is that for a long time, the Soviet Union was the ally of the Arab Nations, and the Soviet Union also was deeply anti-Jewish and deeply anti-capitalist and anti-western.There's a lot of Jewish people in the Soviet Union. There were, but they all left.Oh, there were. They all left. Yeah. So now I think that there really has to be an ideological change, which is the thing that you see happening in Saudi Arabia. With MBS, he's really trying to change his country. Now all of a sudden- What's the name? I'm sorry, repeat. His name is Mohamed bin Salam.Mohamed bin Salam in Saudi Arabia.There he is. Mohamed bin Salman Al-Saoud. He's like, for example, women can now drive in Saudi Arabia. I know that that seems like, but that's a huge thing, which is the other part of it is that the culture- I would not want to be there the first week.The culture, no. The The culture in the West Bank and Gaza, to women is...I mean, women are very second class citizens there, and LGBTQs have no rights, quite the opposite. So I think that there needs to be a general reckoning with the culture and an openness that would allow people to live in peace.So the responsibility really falls 50/50, do you believe?No. I know people will disagree with me. I'm going to say 80/20. I really think if tomorrow the Palestinians said, We want peace. We don't want to destroy you. We want to live in peace and we want to thrive, there would be peace and they would thrive.Is there a way for them to even verbalize that to the- Only if they have the leaders who promise it because nobody's going to believe it.I mean, there are many people who say it, but unless the leaders promise it, it's not going to happen.And the leaders are Hamas. Hamas- Is there a president outside of Hamas?There is Abu Mazen in the Palestinian Authority, but he's in his 80s. He's thought of as corrupt and not good. What the fuck is he doing? Yeah, I can't imagine that somebody would have leader in their 80s. How could that happen?What is he just milling around a fucking Bocce ball court? Get a fucking microphone, homie.This is crazy. Mahmoud Abbas. What does he say about it? Well, this is a guy who did his PhD in, I don't want to get you canceled, but in Holocaust denial. So I don't think that he's as sympathetic to Jews as he might be. I see. But he has been- I I didn't know they had a PhD for that. I think he has been okay in the sense that much more to their life than how they feel about him.So I try to get people to live locally. You can care about issues, you should care about issues. I do. Obviously, we spent the whole hour and a half talking about issues. But I also know that I'm not going to judge you as a human being based on your disagreement with me unless you hate Unless you hate, then I'll judge you. But if it's a disagreement of goodness and of love, then we can argue all day long. I got no problem with that. Yeah.I wish you could find ways to do that more. I know.Me too.It makes me sad.Yeah, it is sad. It's painful in this country, too. It's so painful because it's like it doesn't take... I mean, it's not the first time we've seen a That someone try to assassinate a political figure, but it always reminds you that the difference between chaos and civilization, it's really thin. It's like a bullet away. Yeah. And that's scary.I've said that, too. It's like, all that needs to happen is a couple of police stations need to get commandeered. Right. And then the game could change. I know. You know one thing I noticed the other day, rabbi Wolfie, was when that happened with Trump, a lot A lot of people, it didn'tI want to read it. I'm sorry, Mr. Wolf, I didn a pulpit for everybody. Everybody has their own place.Yeah, sometimes we all feel... Yeah, everybody has their own place. And so does Israel and so does Palestine, and hopefully, they'll figure it out.Amen.Amen. Thank you, Rabbi David Wolfee. We appreciate you. Thank you.Now, I'm just floating on the breeze, and I feel I'm falling like these leaves. I must be cornerstone. Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this peace of mind I found I can feel it in my bones. But it's going to take.

- I'd be able to pick up line, too.

It's like we got about 40 minutes, babe. Let's figure this out. What can Israel do, you think, differently? Are you allowed to comment on that stuff? Sure.

Absolutely. There are two things I'll say. One one is hard to change and one is easier to change. When you get out of high school in America, you go to college. We all know college kids, even though they can be very talented and very smart, they're also stupid. They're not only stupid because they're 17, 18. Naive. Especially guys, but both. But when you get out of high school in Israel, you're going to the army. You give a 17 or 18-year-old an Uzi, a machine gun, and you put them in a border guard, he's still a 17-year-old. And then a 50-year-old Palestinian comes, and a 17-year-old should not be able to control the life of a 50-year-old man or woman. But that's the situation. So first of all, the situation is messed up, and that is intrinsic to it, and that's tragic.

Messed up in the sense of the organization of how they're running the idea.

In the sense of that armies are young, and armies control people who are not young. And that built into that is this humiliation, and humiliation is the worst. Humiliation is the worst.

Well, every 17-year-old wants to be Rambo. Yeah, exactly.

And what Israel could do better, I believe, is there are lots and lots and lots of small ways in which they could constantly make it clear that they esteem the people and that they respect them and that they want to help them. Now, it is true that the people who did that most in Israel were actually the people who Kibbutzim were attacked on October seventh. Those were all peaceknicks on the border. They were some of the people who were kidnapped and some of the people who were killed were people who ferried medicine to Gaza. But still, even so, I still think it is true that it's incredibly important when you're in the driver's seat to constantly turn around and say, I really want this to be different. I hope for the day that it'll be different. And I think that Israel has not done that as much as it could or as much as it should.

The people or the leadership?

Both. Because there's this great line from the poet Yates, who, after all, was in Ireland and saw trouble, what they call the trouble three years. He said, Too long a sacrifice makes a stone of the heart. And like At a certain point, you just go, I don't care. I don't care. Those people, I don't care. And you have to fight against that.

You have to. Yeah, things edify in you. Edify, is that the right word you think? Solidify. Solidify in you. Like if they calcify.

And like, you can't stand your neighbor. When you first met them, you brought them a cup of sugar, but now you just can't stand or you're a landlord or whatever. And it's very human, but if we don't overcome that, it's We go the way of the grave.

America and Britain, after World War II, or is it World War I, when they've freed- World War I. Okay. After World War I, they helped create the space for Israel in the current space of Israel.

Especially Britain.

Do you feel like they should help now? Is that part of it?

After World War II, well, after World War II was the actual creation of the state, after World War I was when Britain first did all the initiatives to do it. They try. They do try. America has tried again and again and again. They have. To do this. They have. But also part of this is that for a long time, the Soviet Union was the ally of the Arab Nations, and the Soviet Union also was deeply anti-Jewish and deeply anti-capitalist and anti-western.

There's a lot of Jewish people in the Soviet Union. There were, but they all left.

Oh, there were. They all left. Yeah. So now I think that there really has to be an ideological change, which is the thing that you see happening in Saudi Arabia. With MBS, he's really trying to change his country. Now all of a sudden- What's the name? I'm sorry, repeat. His name is Mohamed bin Salam.

Mohamed bin Salam in Saudi Arabia.

There he is. Mohamed bin Salman Al-Saoud. He's like, for example, women can now drive in Saudi Arabia. I know that that seems like, but that's a huge thing, which is the other part of it is that the culture- I would not want to be there the first week.

The culture, no. The The culture in the West Bank and Gaza, to women is...

I mean, women are very second class citizens there, and LGBTQs have no rights, quite the opposite. So I think that there needs to be a general reckoning with the culture and an openness that would allow people to live in peace.

So the responsibility really falls 50/50, do you believe?

No. I know people will disagree with me. I'm going to say 80/20. I really think if tomorrow the Palestinians said, We want peace. We don't want to destroy you. We want to live in peace and we want to thrive, there would be peace and they would thrive.

Is there a way for them to even verbalize that to the- Only if they have the leaders who promise it because nobody's going to believe it.

I mean, there are many people who say it, but unless the leaders promise it, it's not going to happen.

And the leaders are Hamas. Hamas- Is there a president outside of Hamas?

There is Abu Mazen in the Palestinian Authority, but he's in his 80s. He's thought of as corrupt and not good. What the fuck is he doing? Yeah, I can't imagine that somebody would have leader in their 80s. How could that happen?

What is he just milling around a fucking Bocce ball court? Get a fucking microphone, homie.

This is crazy. Mahmoud Abbas. What does he say about it? Well, this is a guy who did his PhD in, I don't want to get you canceled, but in Holocaust denial. So I don't think that he's as sympathetic to Jews as he might be. I see. But he has been- I I didn't know they had a PhD for that. I think he has been okay in the sense that much more to their life than how they feel about him.So I try to get people to live locally. You can care about issues, you should care about issues. I do. Obviously, we spent the whole hour and a half talking about issues. But I also know that I'm not going to judge you as a human being based on your disagreement with me unless you hate Unless you hate, then I'll judge you. But if it's a disagreement of goodness and of love, then we can argue all day long. I got no problem with that. Yeah.I wish you could find ways to do that more. I know.Me too.It makes me sad.Yeah, it is sad. It's painful in this country, too. It's so painful because it's like it doesn't take... I mean, it's not the first time we've seen a That someone try to assassinate a political figure, but it always reminds you that the difference between chaos and civilization, it's really thin. It's like a bullet away. Yeah. And that's scary.I've said that, too. It's like, all that needs to happen is a couple of police stations need to get commandeered. Right. And then the game could change. I know. You know one thing I noticed the other day, rabbi Wolfie, was when that happened with Trump, a lot A lot of people, it didn'tI want to read it. I'm sorry, Mr. Wolf, I didn a pulpit for everybody. Everybody has their own place.Yeah, sometimes we all feel... Yeah, everybody has their own place. And so does Israel and so does Palestine, and hopefully, they'll figure it out.Amen.Amen. Thank you, Rabbi David Wolfee. We appreciate you. Thank you.Now, I'm just floating on the breeze, and I feel I'm falling like these leaves. I must be cornerstone. Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this peace of mind I found I can feel it in my bones. But it's going to take.

much more to their life than how they feel about him.

So I try to get people to live locally. You can care about issues, you should care about issues. I do. Obviously, we spent the whole hour and a half talking about issues. But I also know that I'm not going to judge you as a human being based on your disagreement with me unless you hate Unless you hate, then I'll judge you. But if it's a disagreement of goodness and of love, then we can argue all day long. I got no problem with that. Yeah.

I wish you could find ways to do that more. I know.

Me too.

It makes me sad.

Yeah, it is sad. It's painful in this country, too. It's so painful because it's like it doesn't take... I mean, it's not the first time we've seen a That someone try to assassinate a political figure, but it always reminds you that the difference between chaos and civilization, it's really thin. It's like a bullet away. Yeah. And that's scary.

I've said that, too. It's like, all that needs to happen is a couple of police stations need to get commandeered. Right. And then the game could change. I know. You know one thing I noticed the other day, rabbi Wolfie, was when that happened with Trump, a lot A lot of people, it didn'tI want to read it. I'm sorry, Mr. Wolf, I didn a pulpit for everybody. Everybody has their own place.Yeah, sometimes we all feel... Yeah, everybody has their own place. And so does Israel and so does Palestine, and hopefully, they'll figure it out.Amen.Amen. Thank you, Rabbi David Wolfee. We appreciate you. Thank you.Now, I'm just floating on the breeze, and I feel I'm falling like these leaves. I must be cornerstone. Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this peace of mind I found I can feel it in my bones. But it's going to take.

I want to read it. I'm sorry, Mr. Wolf, I didn a pulpit for everybody. Everybody has their own place.Yeah, sometimes we all feel... Yeah, everybody has their own place. And so does Israel and so does Palestine, and hopefully, they'll figure it out.Amen.Amen. Thank you, Rabbi David Wolfee. We appreciate you. Thank you.Now, I'm just floating on the breeze, and I feel I'm falling like these leaves. I must be cornerstone. Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this peace of mind I found I can feel it in my bones. But it's going to take.

a pulpit for everybody. Everybody has their own place.

Yeah, sometimes we all feel... Yeah, everybody has their own place. And so does Israel and so does Palestine, and hopefully, they'll figure it out.

Amen.

Amen. Thank you, Rabbi David Wolfee. We appreciate you. Thank you.

Now, I'm just floating on the breeze, and I feel I'm falling like these leaves. I must be cornerstone. Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this peace of mind I found I can feel it in my bones. But it's going to take.