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With Israel's October 27 election days away, Mati Gill, a candidate for the 26th Knesset on Naftali Bennett's party, Together (B'Yachad) joins Grace for Impact. We discuss Bennett’s plans to bring industry expert Israelis who have left Israel, back home, the push for a constitution, Gaza and the West Bank (Judea and Samaria, as he calls it), education reform, Haredi military service, and what the FlyDubai security breach reveals about the current government. Guest appearances on Grace for Impact are not endorsements. For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caroline Shinkle is running for Congress in New York's 12th District against Micah Lasher. Caroline addresses why she believes antisemitism in New York has become a moral emergency. Caroline also discusses the results of political realignment and its result, along with her platform on affordability, housing, energy, small business, and balancing the budget. Whatever your politics, this is a candid conversation about leadership, identity, and the future of the city. Grace for Impact does not endorse political candidates. Guest views are their own. For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the third anniversary of October 7th, Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy returns to discuss her Civil Commission's completed report on Hamas's crimes against women and children. We cover how the evidence was gathered, including forensics, testimony, videos, and photographs. We also discuss the patterns of sexual violence the Commission documented, often committed in front of victims' families. Dr. Elkayam-Levy hopes to bring the report into schools and universities and to create an independent archive so that the record is permanently preserved. Content note: This episode discusses sexual violence and atrocities in detail. For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle (@amen_sis) talks about faith, identity, and the courage to say what she believes even when it's unpopular. A Black Christian woman deeply grounded in Scripture and committed to her faith, she's also known for defending Jewish people and Israel, pushing back on the idea that her race should dictate her politics, and digging into antisemitism, Israel, as well as the history of slavery.  For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katharine Birbalsingh, founder of Michaela Community School and one of Britain’s most influential education reformers, joins Grace for impact to talk about discipline, culture, and what it really takes to change outcomes for kids written off by the system. For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One year after her first “grace for impact” podcast appearance, Turkish journalist Türkü Avci returns to share what’s happened since: an Erdoğan-issued arrest warrant, a smear campaign back home, and her decision to seek asylum in Israel rather than abandon her beliefs. For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talia Davood is an Iranian, first generation American, undergraduate student at UCLA and an elected USAC General Representative. This past year she has shown up with tremendous courage, clarity, and sheer resilience. In April, Talia organized an event where former Hamas held hostage Omer Shemtov came to share his story of captivity, an event attended by hundreds of people. While the event was taking place, a condemnation letter from a fellow student council member was published, framing the event as insensitive to the Palestinian cause, and questioning the security presence that was there to protect over 350 attendees, security that any event of that size is fully eligible. Talia responded with her own letter, one that she read aloud at a subsequent student council meeting that was direct, rational, and completely dismantled every allegation. Talia doesn’t just push back, she’s pushes toward. She is doing the work to build real bridges across faith communities, finding common ground with students who want to move forward together, even amidst deep divides. For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Award-winning journalist and Zionist Yardena Schwartz returns to Grace for Impact to cut through the noise on two competing narratives: Nicholas Kristof’s largely unsubstantiated NYT op-ed alleging systematic Israeli prisoner abuse of Palestinians, and the just-released 300-page Civil Commission report documenting Hamas’s fully substantiated crimes against women and children on October 7th. She also makes a compelling case for why West Bank annexation would be, in her own words, the unraveling of the Jewish state. For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A year after our first conversation, I reconnected with Tessa Veksler, the former UCSB student body president who navigated one of the most turbulent periods in recent campus history as a Jewish woman in the wake of October 7, 2023. In this follow-up, Tessa reflects on how far she’s come since graduating and the toll that year of relentless hate and harassment took on her personally. A reel from our interview went viral, but not without consequence, as a subsequent “sitch incoming” reel stripped it of context, distorted her words, and weaponised her message to push a narrative she never espoused. Tessa breaks down the experience through the lens of the Three D’s, a framework for identifying and understanding antisemitism, and explains why incidents like this are exactly why media literacy and honest dialogue matter. Despite facing ongoing hostility, she remains deeply committed to bridge-building, believing that connection, not division, is the only path forward. For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As an aerospace engineer, Hilla Haddad builds at the intersection of survival and possibility. She was a member of the Iron Dome development team, working on systems that protect lives in real time. As former Director-General of Israel’s Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology, she helped shape national priorities at the highest level. Now, as founding partner and CEO of Moonshot Space, an aerospace start up, she’s focused on what comes next for the future of Space innovation. For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch is the senior Rabbi at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, in New York City, where he leads a reform congregation. In this episode, Rabbi Hirsch and I discuss his Zionism, which embodies liberal values, including the right of the individual to self determination, free speech, open debate and equality for all. He points out the illiberalism of many self proclaimed liberals today in their outspokenness and in their silence. He also discusses the emotional and intellectual connections between Judaism and Israel for Jews living in the diaspora.  For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MEP Assita Kanko unapologetically describes how she worked her way from the repressive society in which she was raised in Burkina Faso to now being the Belgian Member of European Parliament. She’s not in the political business to be liked. She’s in it to fight for what’s right. For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Türkü Avcı is a Turkish writer, commentator, and student of Political Science and Communication at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Born and raised in Turkey, she developed a deep interest in Middle Eastern affairs from a young age and sought to experience Israel firsthand in order to understand the region beyond the narratives she encountered at home. In 2021, despite warnings that she might face hostility or rejection, she moved to Jerusalem—a decision that shaped her worldview and strengthened her commitment to dialogue and bridge-building. For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gadi Hitman returns to the podcast, nine months later, to discuss the current Iran war - Iran’s major miscalculations, what kind of leader Iran would need for actual progress, Israeli resilience and more.  For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tali Aynalem proudly carries many identities, including Jewish, Israeli, Ethiopian & American. We met to discuss the misconceptions and misinformation she is trying to clear up as it relates to people’s stereotypes of her and her heritage.  For more, you can follow the show on Instagram @Graceforimpactpodcast Produced by Peoples Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.