Inside Israel with Joel Chasnoff

As we head into the new year,  Joel shares what’s been on his mind — personal, national, and geopolitical.He starts with money: living in Israel while getting paid in US dollars means the weakening dollar suddenly feels very real. From there, the focus shifts to the army. With a child heading into the Israel Defense Forces — and still not knowing which unit — Joel reflects on how unsettling that uncertainty is, and how normal it is in Israeli life.The episode also looks ahead to national elections in October 2026, and to a question many Israelis are asking more openly than ever: will this be the year the country rethinks funding and exempting the Haredi community, while the rest of society works and serves?Finally, Joel turns to Iran — war, internal change, and one clear prediction: by January 2027, the situation will look dramatically different than it does today, possibly in a good way.---------------Support Inside Israel: ContributeBook Joel during his spring/fall 2026 lecture and comedy tour: www.joelchasnoff.comTo learn more about Inside Israel, and to submit a question for Joel to answer on-air, visit www.joelchasnoff.com/podcast Sign up for Joel’s newsletter, Hebrew Is Magic: www.joelchasnoff.comJoel’s tour schedule: www.joelchasnoff.com/showsJoel on Instagram: @joelchasnoff Israel 201, co-authored by Joel and Benji Lovitt and Winner of the 2023 National Jewish Book Award: www.joelchasnoff.com/books

In this episode, Joel shares a recurring dream tied to his combat service in the IDF. In the dream, he’s suddenly sent back into a war zone—often Lebanon—unprepared, panicked, and unsure of what lies ahead. Using the dream as a starting point, Joel reflects on fear, memory, and how experiences from long ago can resurface when you least expect them. It’s his most personal episode to date, shared in the belief that what feels most individual often turns out to be universal.---------------Support Inside Israel: ContributeBook Joel during his spring/fall 2026 lecture and comedy tour: www.joelchasnoff.comTo learn more about Inside Israel, and to submit a question for Joel to answer on-air, visit www.joelchasnoff.com/podcast Sign up for Joel’s newsletter, Hebrew Is Magic: www.joelchasnoff.comJoel’s tour schedule: www.joelchasnoff.com/showsJoel on Instagram: @joelchasnoff Israel 201, co-authored by Joel and Benji Lovitt and Winner of the 2023 National Jewish Book Award: www.joelchasnoff.com/books

Why did Joel walk away from a real estate deal after putting money down? In this episode, he tells the full story — not just about property, but about the uniquely Israeli mindset around ownership in a region where nothing is ever guaranteed. Plus: reflections on Bondi Beach, listener questions about high school transcripts, and potential war with Iran.---------------Tickets for Joel’s annual comedy show: Christmas Eve for the JewsSupport Inside Israel: ContributeBook Joel during his fall 2025/spring 2026 lecture and comedy tour: www.joelchasnoff.comTo learn more about Inside Israel, and to submit a question for Joel to answer on-air, visit www.joelchasnoff.com/podcast Sign up for Joel’s newsletter, Hebrew Is Magic: www.joelchasnoff.comJoel’s tour schedule: www.joelchasnoff.com/showsJoel on Instagram: @joelchasnoff Israel 201, co-authored by Joel and Benji Lovitt and Winner of the 2023 National Jewish Book Award: www.joelchasnoff.com/books

In this Ask Joel Anything episode, Joel tackles listener questions on political language, education, travel, the IDF’s handling of the war in Gaza, and why living in Israel is at once frustrating and magical. The episode wraps up with a lighter, relatable take on how Joel manages traveling back to the US as often as he does – to date, about 75 roundtrips over the past 10 years. ---------------Tickets for Joel’s annual comedy show: Christmas Eve for the JewsSupport Inside Israel: ContributeBook Joel during his fall 2025/spring 2026 lecture and comedy tour: www.joelchasnoff.comTo learn more about Inside Israel, and to submit a question for Joel to answer on-air, visit www.joelchasnoff.com/podcast Sign up for Joel’s newsletter, Hebrew Is Magic: www.joelchasnoff.comJoel’s tour schedule: www.joelchasnoff.com/showsJoel on Instagram: @joelchasnoff Israel 201, co-authored by Joel and Benji Lovitt and Winner of the 2023 National Jewish Book Award: www.joelchasnoff.com/books

This week, Joel takes you inside parent–teacher conferences at a high school in Ra’anana, and what they reveal about how different the Israeli education system really is. From walls lined with photos of former students who’ve fallen in battle to meetings with a single homeroom teacher and an English curriculum taught almost entirely “for the Bagrut,” Joel explores why grades can feel like life-and-death in Israel—and why, despite it all, the kids seem genuinely happy and socially grounded.---------------Tickets for Joel’s annual comedy show: Christmas Eve for the JewsSupport Inside Israel: ContributeBook Joel during his fall 2025/spring 2026 lecture and comedy tour: www.joelchasnoff.comTo learn more about Inside Israel, and to submit a question for Joel to answer on-air, visit www.joelchasnoff.com/podcast Sign up for Joel’s newsletter, Hebrew Is Magic: www.joelchasnoff.comJoel’s tour schedule: www.joelchasnoff.com/showsJoel on Instagram: @joelchasnoff Israel 201, co-authored by Joel and Benji Lovitt and Winner of the 2023 National Jewish Book Award: www.joelchasnoff.com/books

This week: Ask Joel Anything — where you set the agenda. Listeners sent in dozens of questions, from the deeply personal (would his family still have moved to Israel knowing October 7 was coming?) to the quirky (odd Hebrew phrases that make no sense). Also: Thanksgiving in Israel, synagogue life, Jewish identity, and more. So many questions came in that this is part one of two; part two drops in two weeks.---------------Tickets for Joel’s annual comedy show: Christmas Eve for the JewsSupport Inside Israel: ContributeBook Joel during his fall 2025/spring 2026 lecture and comedy tour: www.joelchasnoff.comTo learn more about Inside Israel, and to submit a question for Joel to answer on-air, visit www.joelchasnoff.com/podcast Sign up for Joel’s newsletter, Hebrew Is Magic: www.joelchasnoff.comJoel’s tour schedule: www.joelchasnoff.com/showsJoel on Instagram: @joelchasnoff Israel 201, co-authored by Joel and Benji Lovitt and Winner of the 2023 National Jewish Book Award: www.joelchasnoff.com/books

Joel examines a phenomenon that’s overtaken the country — the bumper stickers now plastering everything in Israel, from cars and playground equipment to park benches, gas pumps, and even the walls outside Ben Gurion Airport. These homemade memorials honor the soldiers and civilians Israel lost on and after October 7. Joel explains what these stickers are, how they spread, and what they reveal about Israelis and the Israeli psyche. In his view, this quiet, grassroots ritual captures something essential and uniquely Israeli: a refusal to let the fallen become faceless numbers, and a collective commitment to memory, individuality, and shared responsibility that he believes you won’t find anywhere else.---------------Tickets for Joel’s annual comedy show: Christmas Eve for the JewsSupport Inside Israel: ContributeBook Joel during his fall 2025/spring 2026 lecture and comedy tour: www.joelchasnoff.comTo learn more about Inside Israel, and to submit a question for Joel to answer on-air, visit www.joelchasnoff.com/podcast Sign up for Joel’s newsletter, Hebrew Is Magic: www.joelchasnoff.comJoel’s tour schedule: www.joelchasnoff.com/showsJoel on Instagram: @joelchasnoff Israel 201, co-authored by Joel and Benji Lovitt and Winner of the 2023 National Jewish Book Award: www.joelchasnoff.com/books

Back home in Israel, Joel reflects on the country’s shifting energy — and tackles a tough question: why are so many young North American Jews turning against Israel? He argues the real problem isn’t what we’re teaching, but who’s teaching it, and why the Jewish world needs to invest in passionate educators the way pro sports teams invest in high-level athletes. Plus: listener questions on the death penalty for terrorists, the politics of cost of living, and two must-visit Israel sites for your next trip.---------------Tickets for Joel’s annual comedy show: Christmas Eve for the JewsSupport Inside Israel: ContributeBook Joel during his fall 2025/spring 2026 lecture and comedy tour: www.joelchasnoff.comTo learn more about Inside Israel, and to submit a question for Joel to answer on-air, visit www.joelchasnoff.com/podcast Sign up for Joel’s newsletter, Hebrew Is Magic: www.joelchasnoff.comJoel’s tour schedule: www.joelchasnoff.com/showsJoel on Instagram: @joelchasnoff Israel 201, co-authored by Joel and Benji Lovitt and Winner of the 2023 National Jewish Book Award: www.joelchasnoff.com/books

This week, Joel reflects on the election of Zohran Mamdani as New York’s new mayor — and why his popularity points to something deeper than politics. He also shares thoughts on Veterans Day in the U.S., the return of Hadar Goldin z’’l to Israel, and Dorit’s attendance at the funeral of Itai Chen — and what these moments reveal about the growing divide between Israel and the diaspora.---------------Support Inside Israel: ContributeBook Joel during his fall 2025/spring 2026 lecture and comedy tour: www.joelchasnoff.comTo learn more about Inside Israel, and to submit a question for Joel to answer on-air, visit www.joelchasnoff.com/podcast Sign up for Joel’s newsletter, Hebrew Is Magic: www.joelchasnoff.comJoel’s tour schedule: www.joelchasnoff.com/showsJoel on Instagram: @joelchasnoff Israel 201, co-authored by Joel and Benji Lovitt and Winner of the 2023 National Jewish Book Award: www.joelchasnoff.com/books