The Israel Vision Project follows Nadine Epstein’s first journey to Israel since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October 7. As of now, it includes “Six Days Without Waze,” which chronicles the despair, dreams and occasional delusions she observed during a recent trip to Israel; “Searching for Our Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky,” which takes a more historical approach and was inspired by her visit to the Ben-Gurion Archive in the Negev Desert; and “Israeli Voices and Visions,” which excerpts interviews with some of the Israelis she spoke with. The interviews include a Palestinian Israeli peace activist who holds elected office in Haifa, and wants to inspire both Arabs and Jews to imagine living a joyful world beyond fear, to an architect who lives in the West Bank settlement of Ofra and whose message to Palestinians is: “We don’t want to have to give this back. Give us back the hostages and leave us alone.”
FEATURED STORY
Six Days Without Waze
“I landed at Ben-Gurion International Airport a day after the 76th anniversary of Israeli independence. The moment felt decades away from the happy clamor of the 75th anniversary, which had, in hindsight, been a delusion. In the corridor on the way to passport control, I peeked down through the glass into the vast hall of Terminal 3 and, seeing the usual hubbub, felt reassured. Throughout my six-day stay, during which I zigzagged around Israel in a rental car, that sense of physical normalcy persisted: No missiles flew anywhere near me, and I never glimpsed an Iron Dome interception, although while near the Erez Crossing into Gaza, I heard what may have been an explosion.”
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FROM THE EDITOR
Searching for Our Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky
I entered the gleaming new Ben-Gurion Archives in the Negev Desert, wondering what its namesake—the great David Ben-Gurion—would think about the predicament Israel finds itself in today. After a tour through the public exhibit, I followed Flora Pazerker, the archivist at the facility, down to a lower-level chamber and watched as she tenderly removed one of Ben-Gurion’s 1934 journals from a box. Opening it to a page densely covered with his neat Hebrew script, she pointed to a line and translated: “I said hello without reaching out my hand.” The country’s future founding prime minister, a meticulous journal keeper, had recorded everything he did each day, including that he hadn’t wanted to shake the hand of his political rival, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, a man he abhorred.
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A BIG QUESTION
The Israel Voices and Visions Project
As part of Moment‘s Israel Vision Project, I talked with 70 Israelis from different backgrounds and falling on myriad points of the political and religious spectra. Moment is publishing excerpts from many of the interviews here. These conversations were thoughtful and heartfelt, and when read together, they will take you far beyond the headlines to understand the thinking that is shaping contemporary Israeli society today.
Read all the interviews here.