JCC Opinion Soup: Can Israel survive another 60 years?

David Landau, the outgoing editor of Israel’s most famous newspaper, Haaretz, is one of the wisest, and most unusual, commentators on the country. He discusses Israel’s future with journalist, Jonathan Freedland.

David Landau, the outgoing editor of Israel’s most famous newspaper, Haaretz, is one of the wisest, and most unusual, commentators on the country. Born in Britain and an avowedly orthodox, yeshiva-educated Jew, he is a passionate believer in keeping religion out of Israeli politics - and is firmly on Israel’s dove-ish left. Yet when Ariel Sharon was asked whom he wanted to write his biography, he named David Landau.

Recently Landau stirred great controversy by telling British Jews they needed to drop their ‘obsession’ with media coverage of Israel and instead engage with the real threats facing the country. He argues that Israel is fighting for its very existence - that if it does not find a way to end its conflict with the Palestinians soon, the Jewish state might not survive.

Jonathan Freedland is a columnist for The Guardian and Jewish Chronicle, was recently named by The Financial Times as ‘one of the world’s most influential commentators’ and has written on the Israel-Palestine conflict for two decades.

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