Title:
JULY 10, 2026: A Fragile Calm with Iran, Israel’s Strategic Crossroads, and What the Decline of Reading Says About Our Future
Description:
This week on the Tel Aviv Diary Podcast, Marc Schulman examines the uneasy calm that has settled over the Middle East following the latest U.S.-Iran exchange of attacks. Has Tehran deliberately chosen a limited response to avoid a wider war? How much is President Trump actually willing to risk, and are political calculations ahead of the 2026 midterm elections really restraining him? Marc explores why the greatest deterrent to renewed conflict may not be politics, but the fear of triggering a global economic crisis. He also assesses what the latest confrontation means for Israel’s long-term security, the future of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the impact of continued sanctions, and why Israel should avoid being drawn into another round of fighting unless absolutely necessary.
The discussion then turns to Israel’s domestic political landscape. Marc analyzes the government’s continued emphasis on holding additional territory in Lebanon and elsewhere, questioning whether territorial expansion truly translates into greater security. He also responds to former U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel’s widely discussed “tough love” speech at Tel Aviv University, arguing that while international support for Israel has eroded dramatically, the reasons are more complex than a single speech or policy disagreement. Marc discusses the prolonged nature of the Gaza war, the realities of urban warfare, the distinction between war crimes and genocide, the damage caused by inflammatory rhetoric from senior Israeli ministers, and why Israel must work to rebuild international support without becoming a constant fixture in American political debates.
Marc also examines the latest Israeli election polling, which for the first time places Gadi Eisenkot’s new party ahead of Likud. Drawing on his own campaign experience, he explains why Eisenkot may be uniquely positioned to unite a deeply divided Israeli public, why Netanyahu’s traditional political strategy may be less effective against him, and why the coming election could produce a far more dramatic result than current polling alone suggests.
In the podcast’s final segment, Marc reflects on two thought-provoking essays from The Atlantic. The first explores whether society is entering an era in which long-form reading is slowly disappearing, replaced by podcasts, videos, and AI-generated content. The second challenges the common belief that screens themselves are harming children, arguing instead that technology can become a powerful educational tool when guided by engaged parents and teachers. Drawing on his decades of experience developing educational technology and digital history resources, Marc offers his own perspective on how artificial intelligence, multimedia learning, and changing attention spans are reshaping education—and whether books will remain central to how future generations learn.
A wide-ranging discussion of war, diplomacy, Israeli politics, education, technology, and the changing ways we learn and communicate—all from Tel Aviv.
Shabbat Shalom from Tel Aviv.
