FIDF Live

FIDF Chief Executive Officer Steve Weil tells the story of Passover and its lasting effects on human history as well as relevance in modern times.Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.

FIDF Chief Executive Officer Steve Weil welcomes Shai Bernstein, an American-Israeli IDF Reservist who just completed his third round of reserve duty, to discuss his experiences over the course over the last 365+ days going back and forth into the field of battle. Shai served as an officer and a captain and officer in Givati, beginning his active duty in 2003. Shai was living in Riverdale when October 7th broke out, having received reports in synagogue about what was happening. He immediately booked a ticket to return to Israel and join his unit. He arrived with his gear in the kibbutzim, and walked four miles with his unit into Gaza. Shai describes a mission during which his unit was hit by an RPG. Several of his comrades were wounded and killed, and another mission in which he was ambushed by RPGs. His friend Moshe Leiter discovered a tunnel shaft under a mosque, and was subsequently killed by a booby trap. Shai describes the immense survivor’s guilt he has been dealing with since his return from duty. He also explains how much he had previously underestimated the true face of evil and hatred that he experienced both in Israel and Gaza, but also in America, on college campuses and otherwise. He also underestimated the love and support that exists amongst the Jewish people, which was revealed following October 7th and the ensuring war. Shai also explains the sacrifice that the spouses of reservists must make, as well as the responsibility of maintaining a household despite the looming fear they live with. Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.

FIDF Chief Executive Officer Steve Weil welcomes Maj. Gen. (Res.) Nadav Padan to discuss the current situation in Gaza and the multi-front war. Nadav reminds us that Israel is still dealing with a 7-front war, despite the tremendous progress in each front since the war began on October 7th. In Gaza, there remains 59 hostages, and Hamas has begun to rebuild its ammunition and missile stores, as well as its terrorist operatives. The recent ceasefire contributed to Hamas’ rebuilding efforts significantly, and has culminated in recent rocket fire targeting dozens of cities in Israel. The IDF has made significant progress in breaking up the Houthi forces, who have been relentless in their rocket fire in recent weeks. The message the IDF is trying to send to the Houthis and Iran is, if you do not cooperate, you will be targeted heavily with potential devastating missile attacks and otherwise. Meanwhile, with soldiers needed on the Syrian, Lebanese and Gazan borders, there is a growing need for soldiers in Judea and Samaria, putting a great strain on the IDF and IDF reservists, and Israel’s economy. Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.

FIDF Chief Executive Officer Steve Weil welcomes Yuval Baron, Son-in-Law of Keith and Aviva Siegel, to share his family’s unique story of survival. Yuval describes the feeling of welcoming back his mother Aviva, and later his father Keith, from Gaza as witnessing what is known in Judaism as “Techiat Hameitim,” the revival of the dead. Yuval then provides some details on the harrowing conditions under Hamas captivity, such as living underground in tight quarters, a lack of food and water, and being under constant psychological torture from their Hamas captors. Yuval is thrilled to have his family back, but, he explains, healing for Keith and Aviva cannot begin until the other hostages are back. Keith finds it difficult to understand why he is home but not the other hostages. With that being said, Keith is recovering well, and is receiving an outpouring of support from the country and the Israeli government. And Yuval has taken it upon himself to be an ambassador for his parents and the other hostages, using his voice to influence the current state of the hostages. Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.

FIDF Chief Executive Officer Steve Weil welcomes Olga Deutsch, VP of NGO Monitor, to discuss what Olga calls the most neglected front of Israel’s multi-front war - the political front. Olga gives Steve a breakdown of what it is NGO Monitor does. As the name suggests, NGO Monitor monitors activities of NGOs, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, to assess the true focus of their efforts, and to detect any potential biases in their focus. Unsurprisingly, Olga often finds that these organizations are disproportionately focused on Israel and pointing the finger at the State of Israel as in violation of international human rights laws, and some funnel funds to anti-Israel groups. Further, representatives of various countries at the UN and the International Criminal Court will vilify Israel and Israeli officials based solely on reports from the aforementioned NGOs, thus revealing an entirely corrupt and complex system. Further, the efforts of BDS have harmed Israel greatly in terms of potential investments and business deals that were shut down due to BDS advocacy, and the efforts of the NGO-lobbied Al-Haq, which presents misinformation about the state of affairs in Gaza and the current war with very sophisticated legalistic jargon. The larger goal of course is to undermine Israel’s legitimacy as an independent state and further erode its perception in the court of public opinion. Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.

FIDF Chief Executive Officer Steve Weil welcomes back Ari Sacher, rocket scientist for RAFAEL, to discuss the current state of Israel’s multi-front war. Ari explains that, militarily, the combat has significantly dissipated. Ari also goes into details regarding Israel’s response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack that occurred months ago, explaining that Israel set back Iran’s ballistic missile production capabilities immensely via a successful airstrike. Ari also explains Israel’s capability to defend against Iran were they to decide to launch their missiles stockpile at Israel, and against Hezbollah’s Almas missiles. Israel has done a stellar job defending against both of those threats, and has pushed Hezbollah above the Litani river. While the IDF has responded successfully to the war, over 70% of Israelis disapprove of the recent ceasefire deal with Hamas, and it is likely, according to Ari’s estimation, that the war with Hamas will resume.Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.

FIDF Chief Executive Officer Steve Weil welcomes Ruby Chen, the father of Itay Chen, a 20-year-old IDF soldier and U.S. citizen, who likely fell while defending his military base on October 7th, and who is still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Ruby describes Itay's life, personality, hobbies, and values. He relates what the family now knows about Itay's experiences and actions on October 7th, and the family's journey in learning about what happened to him following that fateful day. Ruby also tells Steve about his political advocacy in trying to get the hostages, both alive and deceased, back to Israel from Gaza. Steve and Ruby discuss the emotional impact of this ordeal on the Chen family, and their relationship with other hostage families. Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.

FIDF CEO Steven Weil is joined by Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, Senior Vice President of Research for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) to discuss the current ceasefire and hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas. Dr. Schanzer provides exclusive insight into the intents and aims of Israeli officials who helped formulate the deal. He elaborates on the broader regional geopolitical ramifications of continuing the deal or resuming the war with Hamas and the impact of the new American administration on the situation. Steve and Dr. Schanzer also talk about the war between Israel and Hezbollah, and what the future may hold with the current ceasefire ending. Finally, the two discuss Israel's potential future military engagements with Iran and the Houthis in Yemen.Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.

FIDF CEO Steven Weil is joined by Lt. Col. (Res.) Dr. Mordechai Kedar, Israeli Scholar of Arab Culture, Lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, and Vice President of NEWSRAEL. Dr. Kedar elucidates the level of impact Trump’s recent press conference regarding his plans to relocate Gazan residents of Gaza in order to revitalize the infrastructure in Gaza had on the world, particularly the discourse in the Middle East around the State of Israel and the two state solution. In the wake of this landmark announcement by President Trump, Dr. Kedar explains how difficult it is to fathom that Zionism has come out as the victor after the tumultuous year and a half following October 7th. However, Dr. Kedar explains, Arab countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia have no choice but to accept this new reality as it is rolled out, because they need the support of the U.S. Dr. Kedar suggests that Qatar should be the lead candidate to weather the impending onslaught of over 2 million Gazan refugees, as they have the planes, the space and the infrastructure in place to accept these refugees. Dr. Kedar goes on to explain the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose hateful and murderous ideology has spread throughout the Middle East and the western world. Looking into the future, Dr. Kedar believes that the fate of the future lay in the hands of the western world, and how they respond to the increase in radicalized Muslims residing in western countries. Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.

FIDF CEO Steven Weil is joined by Daniel Flesch, Senior Policy Analyst for Middle East and North Africa at the Allison Center for National Security, which is a subsidiary of the Heritage Foundation, the largest conservative think tank in the country. Daniel offers his perspective on the recent ceasefire deal with Hamas. Flesch explains that while the ratio of terrorists being released by Israel to hostages being released by Hamas is a lopsided 50-to-1, Gilad Shalit was released in exchange for 1,027 terrorists, one of whom being Yahya Sinwar. So, with that in mind, the deal isn’t as bad as many of its detractors have made it out to be. It was an opportune time for Israel to make a wing at a deal, due to both the change in administration in the US, and with the threats in Syria, Lebanon and Iran all being significantly diminished. Flesch clarifies that we are currently in phase one of a three phase deal with Hamas, and he is pessimistic that we will make it to phase two and three, most notably due to Hamas’ recent breach of the deal when they released soldiers instead of hostages. However, Flesch is very optimistic about Israel’s future, due to the economic growth, the global display of its might during the multi-front war, and a new generation of young leaders in Israel who proved that they can set aside ideological differences to defend the nation of Israel in remarkable dramatic fashion.  Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.