We're Out of Time - Ethiopian, Israeli, American — One Woman's Story | Tali Aynalem

Episode Date: July 14, 2026

What does it mean to be Ethiopian, Israeli, and American — all at once?Richard Taite sits down with Tali Aynalem, a former IDF soldier, Ethiopian Israeli American writer, and social media influencer whose videos about Jewish identity, Israel, and history have reached millions.Tali shares her remarkable story: growing up in Israel, moving to Oregon at age 10, serving in the IDF as an admin worker with the Givati Brigade combat unit stationed along the Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and Judea and Samaria, and returning to the United States — before October 7th changed everything.She and Richard discuss what it felt like to lose close friends overnight to ideology, why she finally decided to speak out, how she stays optimistic in a climate of rising antisemitism, and what she believes the world gets wrong about Israel and Jewish identity.Tali also opens up about her new Substack, her decision to date exclusively within the Jewish community, and why she believes being Jewish — proudly, openly, and without apology — is the only answer to the moment we're in.Follow Tali Aynalem on Instagram and subscribe to her Substack for weekly essays on Jewish identity, history, and culture.New episodes of We're Out of Time drop every Tuesday on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

It's just very dehumanizing when people just don't assume that your existence is right or your people's existence in a land that belong to them is right. You know, that's just very traumatic. It's very, I don't know, it's almost, I just feel like it's earth-shattering because what you think is reality is no longer reality, and it's based on propaganda. It's a very strange thing to go. through to lose people that you think care about you, but then they care about people that they don't even know across the globe.

If someone has a problem with substance use disorder, please call one call placement. That's 8888-8-831-1581. And if we can't help you, we'll make a referral to someone who can. Please, we're out of time. One-call placement is affiliated with Carrera Treatment, Wellness, and Spa and One Method Treatment Centers. Our guest today is Tali A'Nalam. Tali is an Ethiopian, Israeli-American writer, former IDF soldier, and social media influencer whose videos about Israel, Jewish identity, history, and culture have reached millions online through her unique perspective and lived experience to challenges, misinformation, explores identity and belonging, and helps people better understand one of the world. most misunderstood conflicts. Tali, thank you for joining us.

Thanks for having me. So nice to meet you. When I was a kid, I went to a school that was the most orthodoxy a day school in the country called Emek Hebrew Academy. Daven twice a day, where it sits it, kipa, when I got to the age, I wrapped to fill in, set a brahma before I put anything in my mouth. And I thought I was being punished. But it stayed with me forever. And as I look back on it, I was being punished by my father because I was a bad kid.

But it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. And I stopped going there in eighth grade. And what I remember was they told a story. because I'm 59. So this has got to be 45 years ago. Easy, maybe 50. And they talked about the 13th tribe from Ethiopia. And it was a big deal, right?

The biggest. And what they said was, this is the happiest days of our life that we found our people. And I've never seen an Ethiopian. Jew, ever until you the other day. And when I heard you speak, I fell apart. I've never heard another human being ever. And I've done some living.

I've never heard another human being speak on Judaism of the way you do. So I don't understand, I don't think you understand the, the importance of who you are and what you do and the effect you have on the 15.7 million Jews on earth. Because as you know, in 1939, there were 16.3 million of us. What is that, 80 years? We're not even, we're not even even. We haven't even caught up. We're a good decent people. And it's become in vogue now to hate Jews. And it's completely bizarre, right, in the climate we're in. And I lost five people, five of my grandfather's siblings on my mother's side, five of my grandmother's siblings, my mother's side. And I have no idea what I lost on my father's side. None. But that's 10 people. And we're a little, we're a little, how do I say this?

We're a little sensitive to the dialogue that's going on right here today. After six million of us were marched into gas chambers and murder. Okay? So it's affecting Jews everywhere. They're scared. Their mental health is sent up and down. I want your thoughts on that, please. Well, first of all, thank you for your kind words and, you know, speaking life into me, because sometimes in this world you don't know what you're doing.

And so to have your perspective, I really appreciate it. You know, what we're going through right now is not new, right? As Jews, we know from history that people will always turn their back on this, regardless of how good we were to them. And what I really want to tell every Jew is continue to be yourself. Don't be afraid. I think so much of what we're seeing online is, it might be like 2%. of the population, but they're a very loud percent.

So I just want to let people know that you're fine. Being Jewish is a good thing. Like, we should be proud of who we are and never back down from being who we are. And if somebody asks you, if you're Jewish, you say yes, unless you're in absolute danger, you know? So regardless of the climate, be who you are, you know, continue to be Jewish and continue to hold on to your mitzvote, but it is a sad time. It is a sad time to see how popular it is to be anti-Jew. I just really hope that it's a trend that goes away as fast as

it's come. Let's talk about that because I agree. This is a time to be more Jewish, not less Jewish. 100%. But I've been looking at the numbers, and it isn't 2%. I don't know what the numbers are, but it's in the majority of kids between 18 and 25 here. Yeah. Less, right, as people get older and wiser. Yeah. But it's a thing. Yeah.

In 10 years, these people are the politicians. These people are running the world. okay and it may have been something that and you're exactly right this has been going on throughout our history we can look at spartic jews in spain we can look at Ethiopian Jews in Ethiopia being persecuted we can look at you know Jews in in Iran Jews in Syria I just mean this is not new to us we can walk through this you know what I'm saying and I think it's so much of of what we're consuming right now, especially within this, you know, anti-Zionists and sort of advocacy realm, it's very much sort of like doomsday. And I want people to not be afraid. Because I agree

that there are young people that do believe that Jews and Israel control the world and we are the worst thing ever. But, you know, in a couple years, they'll probably forget about it. And that's my hope, obviously. That is what I hope that this is sort of a trend. But I just don't think that focusing on how much everybody hates us and anti-Semitism is really going to help us as a people. And it's, you know, maybe it's naive of me to say and maybe we need to figure out ways, but that's, we cannot live in fear every day is what I'm trying to say, you know. For people meeting you the first time, how do you describe who you are? How do I describe who I am?

That's a loaded question. It's like when people ask me, where are you from? Well, I'm an Ethiopian, Israeli Jewish woman. I was born and raised in Israel until the age of 10. Also, I'll add American to it as well. But I was born raised in Israel until I was 10. We moved to America in 2001. My dad got an opportunity to get his PhD at Oregon State University.

So we moved to Oregon. Corvallis, to be exact, I grew up in very small towns, Corvallis, Oregon for middle school and then McMinnville High School, McMinville, Oregon for high school. And I had a very, like, regular sort of like American life. But I didn't, I never forgot who I was. You know, when I was in high school, my nickname was like Black Jew because I'm Black and I'm Jewish. and that was like so cool to everybody. So that was like my nickname.

And yeah, I loved my life in America. But I also knew that I needed to go back to Israel. So when I turned 18 instead of going to college, I ended up going into the Israeli defense forces and serving for two years. And that sort of like has shaped the way that I view things, especially about the war. And like just how I view my judicious.

in Israel as a whole. I did two years in Givati. Givati is a combat unit in Israel. I wasn't a combat soldier, but I was on a combat unit as an admin worker. And I've been stationed along the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samara, Golan Heights, just sort of all over with the soldiers. And then I came back to the United States. I attended Portland State University. I studied communication and have been working in the marketing world for about a decade. So, you know, my life is sort of like American and Israeli and Jewish and all of them intertwined. My identity has never once been something I questioned. I've always been Jewish, Israeli in every room that I walk into that is my identity. I've taken on the identity of being American because that is sort of like

how I present myself in the world. You know, if you saw me walking down the street, you would not think that I have such a rich background, but being American is something that I'm also very proud of. The biggest problem today that we're having is the bias of the news media, right? So I'll give you an example. I'll watch the news and I'll see

people in Gaza carrying bloody children, right? I know why that is. You have to be able to get your hostages. You have to be able to protect your people. You have to be able to get the terrorists. And they literally use these people as human shields. They don't care about them at all.

But the 18 to 25 year olds, right? They're so stupid. It's painful. and they don't understand that nuance. And I can tell you how I deal with it when I watch it on the news as a Jew. I fast forward it. Yeah. I fast forward it because I can't see it. I'm a father.

Okay. And we know these children from the first words they say are, I hate the Jews or kill them. Jews. That's how it's done. That's their culture. That's how they, it's just all hate. But what do you say to the people that lack the education to understand the nuance that Jews don't like watching that either? That's heartbreaking too, right? How do you do it? I think if you're watching something and it causes you a visceral reaction, you should know that that's not news. You know what I'm saying? So if you're watching a kid being taken away, there was even,

I'll give you an example, there was a guy, an ambulance driver, and he's like performing, I don't know if it's CPR, but on a baby, which after you watch it a few times, you realize the baby is a doll. And why is there a cameraman filming this guy that? that's driving and giving CPR at the same time, why are, why is it the person that's filming helping with the kid, you know, and then you realize it's a doll. If you have such a visceral reaction and you're not even able to process a thought from a video, that's probably not news. That is propaganda. And that's what I want people to realize is that if you are watching something and it causes you to not even have a process or a thought and only an emotion,

that's not truth. That is a way to persuade you to think in a certain way. And I think that that's the difference. Israel, we will never put our own people. We have videos, obviously. We have all the videos that they filmed. We will never put it out for the world to see because that's not the people that we are.

We don't use our own people in order for you to believe what we are saying to you. And that's the difference. you need to be able to watch the news and have a clear mind as to what you're watching. We have to think about ourselves and our people in a much higher way. And I don't think that showing our women being raped and our men being killed is something that we want. That's the memory that we want for our own people. And it would damage the families having to see that again.

And the truth of the matter is people would say it was AI or it's a lie. or that we deserve it, honestly. And that would be even more heartbreaking, you know. Yeah, they say it all the time. You often describe yourself as Ethiopian, Israeli, and American. How have those different identities shape your worldview? Wow, that's a good question. You know, obviously who I am is how I was raised as Israeli and Ethiopian, a lot of my traditions.

a lot of just like my outlook on life is very much based on that. Like the Ethiopian side is very much about respect, you know, honoring your mother and father, having sort of like a close-knit sort of family is very important as well as being Israeli. Being Israeli has helped me to just take on life. Like with the chutzpah that you need to take it on. and that's been amazing because I think that that's just like such a good like Keying and Yang with the Ethiopian and the Israeli side. Being American has allowed me to have such a wide outlook on life.

You know, America is a melting pot of people. I know so many people from so many different backgrounds in life. It's just an amazing thing that we have a country that is just so diverse, right? I also think that having all these backgrounds, helps me look at things in a much more grounded way. You know, I was just talking to somebody about my college experience, for example, when I was attending Portland State University, very liberal college, you know, Portland's very liberal city.

And I remember how when I started college, which was after the IDF, you know, had spent a lot of time in Israel, and then I came back here. And I, like, found out that I was black, essentially. Like being black was not even in my sort of like consciousness, I guess, you know. And then I went to college and they're like, yeah, you're black. You're going to have such a hard time getting a job or doing this and that. And that was like such a weird. I wouldn't call it a realization, but it was sort of put on me to believe these things about myself.

And as somebody that says really, I'm like, what are you talking about? I can do whatever I want to do, you know? So that's sort of the difference. It's like having, coming to America and somebody telling you who you are because of your skin color, but then realizing that this doesn't apply to me because you cannot tell me who I am. I know exactly where I come from, right? So it is interesting because you realize with being American, you can be who you want because this is the land of opportunity. But also being American, you can get brainwashed to thinking that somebody is going to tell you who you are.

but then you're Israeli. You know that there's, the skies is the limit, you know? It's like, it's like being Israeli gave you the foundation to just hear all the noise and just. Exactly. Yeah, I'm like, that doesn't apply to me. It doesn't apply to anybody, honestly. A lot of the things that are put on black people in America, I feel like this doesn't apply to you anymore. You can like take off the shack.

of whatever it is that's bringing you down. Like it does not apply to you anymore. But I think that you really have to like be able to step away from it. And for me, I'm able to step away from it because I have another home to go to, you know? It's part of your DNA. Yeah. When you started creating content, what were you hoping to accomplish?

And why did challenging misinformation become such a big part of your work? You know, so I was. I was in Israel on October 7th in 2023. I would spend the holidays in Israel from Rosh Hashanah until Simchaturah, which is like about a month. I was just in Israel. And so October 7th was the day of my flight. And that day was crazy. You know, seeing the videos of people coming in to Israel was like just a mind-boggling sort of experience, like they're inside our country.

And from then on, you know, that day, people were so concerned for me. My friends in America were like, are you okay? Like, is anything happening to you? Because everybody saw that I was in Israel. And I ended up losing a lot of friends because they sort of, you know, the term genocide became a popular term to describe Israel within weeks. You know, so I lost a lot of friends. You lost a lot of friends because they died or you lost a lot of friends to the ideology

that we were. Yeah, the latter. I lost a lot of friends because they turned their back on me, essentially. You know, one of my friends who was my best friends for, like, a decade, she actually was on the phone with me when I landed from Israel. And she was like, okay, this is what you're going to do. You're going to go to the Delta counter and you're going to tell them you were going to need this and this because I had, like, missed my connecting flight.

And she was on the phone with me. You know, we'd been friends for a decade. And afterwards, you know, October 7th, if you're Israeli, if you're Jewish, that aftermath was a grieving that I have never experienced. I don't even know how to explain that time. It was just so sad and seeing all the videos. I just couldn't stop crying. It really was just such a sad, sad time, you know, to lose that many people on, you know, in Israel. It was just a very, very hard time.

And I would talk to this friend on a daily basis. And then on around Thanksgiving, I had deleted my social media also during this time because I just needed a break. I couldn't handle the videos. I couldn't handle just like the amount of hate we were getting at the same time as us going through this horrendous situation. And so around Thanksgiving, I just felt like I needed to go on social media. I felt like I need to know who's for me and who's against me. because at this point, I wasn't really going out in the city and seeing people. I just wanted to know that, like, if somebody's posting things that are anti-Israel,

I cannot say hi to them, essentially. Like, I can't be friends with them. And so I turn on my phone, and the first posts I see is this friend that I talk to on a daily basis, and she posted something along the lines of Israel is committing a genocide. And I thought to myself, you've never expressed this to me. You know, we talk on a daily basis. You've never said anything to me. And so for me, that I don't need a conversation with somebody like that.

That's, you're a coward. You're also just the betrayal was weird, you know? And so I said, we're no longer friends. And what I realized is people could not, the cognitive dissonance between me and Israel was strange. Because for me, I'm Israel. Anything you say about Israel, that's me. I'm an IDF veteran. I'm an Israeli citizen.

My parents live in Israel. my brother was living in Israel, my extended family. You're anti-Israel. You're wishing harm upon my family. And so for me, I just told her, like, thank you for letting me know where you stand, but we are no longer friends. So I lost a lot of friends, a lot of close people, and just realized that people are not going to be for me anymore. So moving forward, I didn't really start posting because I just wasn't, I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to post online.

It's a lot of responsibility. Also, as somebody that's worked in marketing, I knew that my voice is so different than a lot of people's voices because I am black and to the American world, it's like so strange to have a black Jewish person, even though we're very much a part of society in Israel. But then when Charlie Kirk got assassinated last year, I right before he got assassinated I was looking at his his content and I was like oh I I like this guy like he seems like he makes sense you know like we don't agree on everything but I agreed most with most of his thoughts so I had ordered the pocket constitution I also just really admired how much he loved America I love people like that that just really love the country that they're in and even if they don't agree with everything that that's how much he loved America I love people like that just really love the country that they're in and even if they don't agree with everything that that's

happening here, they're trying to make it better. Where I think a lot of people will just complain and complain and complain and not do something to make it better. Whereas Charlie was just, he had such a love for America that I really admired. And so I ordered the pocket constitution. And then about two weeks later, he ended up getting assassinated. And that was just like, it was such a weird thing to see. I also saw people who were posting like, why do we care? There's. there's a genocide happening and we care about Charlie Kirk and I just thought this is such a weird thing to say. Like, why are people even comparing? Like, a life was lost.

Somebody's dad just passed. Somebody's husband just got killed. It was celebrated. Yes, it was celebrate. And it just felt really dark like that were, there's people celebrating his death. For somebody that just loved America and tried to make it better through conversation, you know. that really put it in perspective where I felt like I wasn't doing enough. I felt like I wasn't doing enough for my country of Israel because I have a voice. I know what I'm talking about. I know that

my identity could shift some rooms. I know how to speak Hebrew like a native person and I understand the Israeli society and I understand the American society and I just felt like, you know what? I'm a post. And I knew I was going to go viral, which I think that's the part that sort of was like hard for me to to start with because you, you, when you know, you sort of know, you know when you're going to start something, but I just wasn't ready to, for that responsibility until then. And so yeah, Charlie Kirk sort of inspired me to start. So I posted my first post in September. And from then on, it just sort of kept going. I made my first post and I just talked about my background. I was like, this is me 15 years ago in the IDF and spoke about that. And I just felt

like this is my duty. You know, this is my duty for my country to start speaking on things that I know about. And it's been it's been sort of, it's been nice because I, you know, like this is my purpose, you know? This is what I'm supposed to be doing. I feel like this is like what I've been working, like I've been working in marketing for so long. My background is so weirdly interesting that it all sort of tied to this time and place for me to be able to share my story. Well, that's called a Godshot. I'll tell you how it affected me after October 7th and I've got a ton of friends

and we all talk about it and they all feel the same way. A lot of us have never been to Israel including me. I've never been. It's okay when I go, you're going and you're going to show it to me because you're the only person I'm going to let show it to me.

Okay. But I've never wanted to go to Israel so bad never than i do now i wanted to go immediately after that and they would not let me why oh like immediately after after yeah no i wouldn't have gone either on this and they said i was too old to fight oh to fight no you don't want to do that you do not want to do that oh i sure did and a lot of my friends did. And so instead, we found ways to be of service. But after that day, I felt a kinship to Israel and a pride. I've always been proud to be Jewish. That was not get that confused. But it was, it was that times 10. And every Jew feels that way. Okay.

Okay. The ones that aren't running for office, okay, on the left. And I'm an independent. I don't have a dog in this fight. Okay. But it was weird because I always voted Democrat. I just did. And I can never do that again. Yeah. Ever. And I don't know. I don't know any of my. friends that would. I know. You've launched a new substack exploring topics like identity, belonging, anti-Semitism, and Jewish history. What inspired you to start writing and what do you hope readers take away from it? So I was inspired to start writing because I felt like my Instagram is great, right? I have a mass of following, but I felt like it just was to surface level, you know. I, um, I It felt like it wasn't of service to my people, the Jewish people.

I felt like it was sort of like informational for people to learn more about what's happening in the news. But it just wasn't empowering enough. So and really my duty, I feel like in life, is empowering Jewish people. It's not giving information to the other side, which is what my Instagram does. My Instagram really gives you sort of news and topics that you can share with your non-Jewish people. friends and the people that don't know anything about what's going on with Israel. But I felt like this is my corner of the internet where I can just give a little bit of like encouragement to Jewish people.

I post a substack every Friday and I just talk about different topics. The last week's substack, for example, is called, what is it called? I forget. It's about marrying Jewish men. Yes. The name of it is a mitzvah, not tribalism. I'd like to commend you on your good judgment, by the way. Go on.

Yes, yes. But I really think that we need to get back and be more, you know, instead of focusing about anti-Semitism, we need to focus about being pro-Semites. You know what I mean? And that's really what I want this corner of my internet to be about. The substack is sort of just like getting us back to our roots, you know. Let's talk about why there's.

so obsessed with us, but let's talk about our history. Let's talk about the mitzvahs. Let's talk about things that really matter to us as a people because I feel like people are sort of looking for that. And I think that pre-October 7th, people sort of said that they were Jewish, but they didn't really have a connection to Judaism or maybe even a connection to Israel. And I just want people to read my substack and feel a little bit more connected. And that's sort of what I wanted to be over there instead of it being sort of like a continuation of my Instagram that sort of just talks about our hardships or what's going on in the news. Why do they hate us? I think, you know, there's really no answer, but it's like they've hated us from the beginning. They've hated us

in Israel. They've hated us in Babylon. They've hated us in Persia. But it's sort of like this, we just always come out fighting, you know. We always come out on top. And, being chosen, you know, at the end of the day, it does come down to being God's chosen people. And I know that a lot of people would like to sort of like differentiate Judaism from God. And honestly, this actually this week's substack, I was going to call it, there's no Judaism without Zionism, but I actually am going to call it there's no Judaism without God. Because I think at the end of the day, it's like we were called to be chosen. And being chosen doesn't mean that we're better than everybody, but I think that that's how

they see us. And that's really what it's about. We have to rise on top and always be better and always be a light to the people. And honestly, I think they just hate us because we don't victimize ourselves. We've gone through so much, but we always come out triumphant. So you know what I was taught at Emick as a kid, you'll tell me if it's right or wrong. Okay. Because you know best. I was taught that God's in the desert and he comes up to this first group of people and he said, hi, I'm God.

I'd like to give you the Torah and the first group of people says, what's the Torah? And he says, well, the rules to live by. And they said, no, that's cool. We don't need any rules. And he did this over and over again

until he came upon Abraham. And he says, Hi, my name's God. I wanted to offer you the Torah. And he said, I would love that. Thank you. And God said, don't you want to know what it is?

And he said, no, you're God. Anything you give me is better than I deserve. That's what I was tough. I'm paraphrated. Yeah. Is that kind of true? I mean, I don't, I don't, I'm not a, I'm not a religious scholar. I will say I'm not a religious person. I just am a person that believes in God and us. But I wouldn't be surprised if that's something that's been talked about, you know. That's important to know. That's important to know. So you're not a religious person or a religious scholar, but you are a scholar of history. You are. I don't know if you're trained in it or not. It doesn't matter to me.

Don't care. You have to let letters after your name, okay? Because I've talked to people with letters after their name, and they don't speak about it like you do. They don't. So in a recent essay, you shared how you made a decision you didn't expect to have to make consciously. You started dating exclusively Jewish men.

You said, not because we love better, because we start from the same question. Tell me about this. and how it's changed you. Yeah, I, before October 7th, I didn't really care to date outside of the Jewish community because I said, I'm Jewish. I'm raising my kids, like, they will be Jewish regardless. So it really didn't matter to me. But I think after October 7th and realizing that I cannot, also I will say,

my dad is not Jewish. My dad side of the family is not Jewish. So, and I came up in a household that was, predominantly Jewish, but like it was mixed almost with the way that I was raised. I didn't want my kids to sort of be questioned, not be questioned, but like have questions about their identity or, you know, and I also just realize that what I love most about myself is being Jewish. And I want somebody that also does that. And I want somebody that does the Kedush. And I want somebody that takes on the idea of marriage and building a family in a more pragmatic way,

rather than in a way that is more emotional. You know, obviously, like, we all want the fairy tale and love and all of that, but that doesn't last long, and we know that, you know. I think that what lasts is our values and what we believe, and there's so much more commonalities within Judaism with one another, then other people will not understand, you know, the way that we're generous to people, the way that we respect people,

the way that we just view the world is so much more aligned. And why should I sort of like not suffer, but why should I have to suffer and sort of explain myself to somebody else that is not aligned with the same things that I am, where I could just date somebody and build a home that is Jewish, and it will just be much easier, you know, if we have the basic sort of like big values aligned. And I also just don't want to have to explain to anybody

why Israel should exist or not have political views that are very similar. You've described what many Jewish people are experiencing today as trauma, not simply disagreement or politics. What's the difference? I think it's very traumatic to lose a friend of 10 years because they wanted to post something on social media, you know, because you thought that you are more important than a post to virtue single, you know? I think it's very traumatic to lose friends that you thought saw your humanity and being Jewish as like a good thing. And then all of a sudden turn around and turn their back on you because they see, especially for Jews that are not Israeli, you know, and you're losing friends over a country that you never, you weren't even born in, you know.

That could, to me, would be very traumatic if I was losing friends like that. You know, obviously you can have your alliances with certain countries, but it's very, it's just very dehumanizing when people just don't assume that your existence is right or your people's existence in a land that belong to them is right. You know, that's just very traumatic. It's very, I don't know, it's almost, I just feel like it's earth shattering because what you think is reality is no longer. reality and it's based on propaganda. It's a very strange thing to go through to lose people that you think care about you, but then they care about people that they don't even know across the globe where they couldn't probably even point out where the Gaza Strip is on a map, you know? Where they would go and get their head lobbed off the second they got off the point.

100%. The most traumatizing thing for me is Jews that are that are going against what they know right just because they're cowards and they want to look a certain way to the rest of the world. I think that is the most traumatizing and most dangerous thing

that can happen because then it gives air oxygen to the other side. See, even that Jew says so. Even that Jew says it's wrong. Yeah. Okay. That's the most traumatizing for me. How do you feel about that? 100%. It's sort of like those ultra-Orthodox that march with like the pro-Palestinians, you know. And it's interesting because most Jews are Zionists, but then the other side will be like, well, it's not all Jews. We just hate Zionists. And it's like, I can't even hear it. I don't even have a year for it.

Yeah, that's all of us. We're all Zionists. That is just what it is. And it's like, because those, There's those like few groups of people who do not identify Zionists because they want to pander to their, you know, neo-jihadist friends. Then you're giving them sort of like ammunition for us, you know. Pandering to the other side will never work for us. It just wouldn't. You're still a Jew. They're still going to hate you. It's not about Zionism.

It's about no matter what. They're going to hate you no matter what. Exactly. You've received criticism simply for. speaking publicly, how do you not let fear or anger stop you? You know, in the beginning, I remember, because I've only been doing this for less than a year on social media, I remember I had to take like a break for a week because I was checking my comments all the time. And then I realized, wow, I don't need to check my comments. And that's

what I do. You know, sometimes I'll see one-offs. And so I'll reply, I just don't care anymore because it does not matter. And a lot of the times it's bought accounts, you know. And sometimes I'll be mean back if I'm having a bad day. But it's like there's no, I don't feel scared. I don't feel anger because I know that I'm speaking the truth, number one. Like that's just what it is. And I feel like I'm like just my existence is annoying to most people.

So it's okay. Like I'm fine. The biggest thing that I'm in awe over is how do you stay so optimistic and express such gratitude in a climate like this? You know, I think it's just the Israeli in me. I don't know if you've never been to Israel so you don't. You have to, you really have to go. But it's like even when we are in war, I was in Israel in 2014. My grandma had passed away that year.

And that year was the last time that there was like a really big war. Even in war we're celebrating, you know, bad things happen. We're celebrating. Also, I love to always say I'm not religious. People always make fun of me. My religious friends are always like, you're not religious. But like, I'm not religious. but I do love the teachings of Rabbi Nachman.

He is like one of my favorite rabbis. And he always says there's, he always focuses on there's no despair in this world. And you should always focus on having joy. And I think that that is like the biggest thing that that brings joy to me is like I know, first of all, I know God is real. But I think that how we acknowledge that God is real is that you. that you need to have joy in everything that you do. And it's, you can't just like have, it's sort of like, you know, how people say it's like not good to be optimistic all the time.

It's not real. But it's like if you choose to be optimistic, even in times of quote unquote despair, everything is going to be all right. And that's what I feel like. I do feel like, what is it going to help me if I'm angry or I'm sad or if I wake up and I'm just like mad at it's not going to help me. It's better for me to be optimistic. and just to try to move forward. Because everything is temporary, you know? Even these wars, even everything that we're going through, it's temporary.

It hurts. We can acknowledge that. It doesn't feel good. We can acknowledge that. But we can also find joy in other things. So you said God is real. Is that where Israel comes from? 100%.

There would be no Judaism. There would be no Judaism. Israel, there would be, you know, who gave us the Torah? Who gave Moses the Torah? How do we even know how to have a community? How do we know how to have a government? We wouldn't know how to do that without the Torah. We wouldn't be a people. You know, there's so many. And that's sort of, yeah, like I said, that's like my substack this week that I've been sort of writing and trying to toy with. It's like we cannot argue Zionism. We cannot argue Israel without having to acknowledge that this land was given to us by God because that's just what it is. And I think that people, you know,

people don't really like to talk about God and things like that outside of like religious sort of platforms. But it's like, that's just what it is, you know. When people finish this conversation, what's the one thing you hope they think differently about? You know, I would love for people to understand Israel. It is such a fun, diverse, lively place and we are fighting for something that is so much greater, not just for us, but I think all of humanity. Yeah, that's what I wish that everybody would get from this. I think that my, you know, you can follow me and understand where I come from, but I think I come from people that are even more interesting and more vibrant. And Israel is just such a beautiful, beautiful place

that I think that people will really enjoy if they just got a chance to speak to somebody that's Israeli or come and visit. And I know that that seems a little bit scary in these times, but it really is not scary at all. One thing I will say is, you know, as you see me speaking to you, obviously I'm very human. I'm a former IDF soldier.

Like when we think about the people who are dying in order to protect our homeland. You need to think about how human I am. That is who they are. And I think that that's where we've lost a lot of humanity is the way that people speak about the IDF is so inhumane. But I need people to remember and like come back to Earth. Those are sons and daughters of people, you know, cousins, aunts, mothers, fathers.

Like, those soldiers are like literally doing. what they can in order for Israel to exist. And I think that we need to bring the humanity back to them and really keep them in our prayers. People are tired of the war. Yes, 100%. Regular people are tired because they're not able to just go to work and just live a regular life

and not send their kids to school. You know, it's hard, but I will say the spirit of Israel is always positive. 20 to 25% of Israel is not Jewish, correct? Yeah, 20% of the population is Arab. Okay. Yet the Arab population or the Arab public is in the Supreme Court, their doctors, their lawyers, there.

I mean, the top of- I mean, they get to go to school for free. They also don't have to do the military or any sort of like community service. So they have a really great life in Israel. Are they appreciated in Israel? I would say so. I think it's not appreciated the fact that they're not speaking out about how great their life is and how much of a part of the community they are.

So I think that that's sort of a problem. Why is that? Because they, some of them just don't want the backlash from their community of being like, you're actually Palestinian. And some of them might think like some of them, you know, online will be like, we're taking advantage of the government. Of course they owe us free school. Of course that we can do this and that. It's sort of like. Are people posting that, that Arab Israelis are they posting?

Of course we're taking advantage of them. they're giving us free this and that. I mean, they'll, you know, there's like people who do the Omit TV sort of like get on online and talk to random people. So they'll get caught in sort of like that conversation, but they won't say it just for fun, you know. But there is people who are, who talk about it. Like Yosef Haddad, he's like pretty big on social media.

Tamer, I forget his last name. also Arab and he talks about how great he has it in in in Israel and you know so people that do speak out speak out but then they're shunned within their community so I've never seen anybody talk an Arab Israeli speak poorly of Israel so thanks for bringing that up I've only seen the ones in my feed okay yeah I've only seen the ones that are very grateful and they're like what are you talking about? I was there. I was afraid every second.

I come here. There's a great job. It's safe. I'm accepted. Part of community. Yada, yada, yada. I want to leave it there. And thank you for coming.

Thanks for having me. See you next Tuesday, everybody. We're out of time. Please subscribe on YouTube. Click the thumbs up and leave a comment. Please subscribe on Apple Podcast and Spotify. and leave a rating and a review. And share the We're Out of Time podcast with others you know who will get value out of it.

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