Winter 2026

Even those of us who follow developments in Israel closely are struggling to make sense of a rapidly shifting reality and are regularly with more questions than insight:

How should Israel’s security be understood in a Middle East that is changing faster than ever?

How is the government responding to unprecedented global criticism of the Jewish state, and what options does it truly have?

Is Israel’s identity as the “Start-Up Nation” under strain, or simply evolving?

Can the growing rift between religious and secular Israelis be bridged, and what would that require?

Does Israel’s leadership genuinely listen to the concerns of the Jewish diaspora? And should it?

With so many urgent questions and so much uncertainty, we have turned to an expert guide to help cut through the noise: Israeli diplomat, university professor, writer and investor Ido Aharoni.

Each month, Ambassador Ido Aharoni will provide a concise, insider’s update on the most pressing developments in Israeli affairs, addressing your questions and offering a behind-the-scenes look at the thinking of policymakers, business leaders and the Israeli public alike.

Ambassador Ido Aharoni is a veteran of the Israeli Foreign Service who, among other things, served as Israel’s Consul General in New York (2010-2016), took part in the back-channel negotiations with the Palestinians and introduced the concept of nation branding to Israel’s public diplomacy. Since retirement from government in 2016, he has held senior advisory roles with multinational corporations such as APCO, Libra, Value Base, Bank Leumi USA and MasterCard. He is currently serving as Professor of Business at Touro University, and held professorships at NYU, University of California at San Diego and Tel Aviv University. A widely sought-after speaker, he was invited to lecture on the marketing of places at scores of universities, including Wharton, UC Berkeley, Harvard, Yale and UCLA.