Israel marking Memorial Day and Independence Day for the second time since October 7th and the war began.

We will talk about the only elections that involve Israelis and diaspora Jews.

Our guest today, a leading tech figure in Israel who might also go into politics and a special message from a freed hostage for unholy listeners.

It's unholy. I'm Neat-Levy in Tel Aviv.

And I'm Jonathan Friedland in London.

Unholy, two Jews on the news.

We talked last week about it being a solemn week. This is that

week of the national mood swing from Remembrance Day for Fallen Soldiers Memorial Day, straight into Independence Day.

I mean, we've said it a few times in the last 18 months. Moments that are meant to be the

occasions for happiness,

celebration, party mood. No one really feeling it when you're in the midst of a war and when hostages remain captive. But the kind of whiplash is even more intense, I think it's fair

to say, this time, partly because of some events that are going on, as it

were, sort of extraneous to the war, but I've added to a kind of, I mean, I don't want to say

biblical drama, but it feels that way, looking at some of these pictures. Just tell, I mean,

you know, you're in the middle of it. How is it playing out? Yeah, I mean, as you said, it's already every year. This is a kind of strange pivot that Israelis have to do

in their reality, right? There's Memorial Day where this blanket of sadness descends on the country.

Israel's mourning, it's fallen soldiers and victims of terror. And then in the evening,

kind of melting into Independence Day where you need to be sort of happy.

It's a setup that has basically accompanied Israel since its beginning.

It's enshrined in law since the 60s.

It's a very Israeli thing to begin with.

I might say it's also a very Jewish thing to sort of bind together the day of sadness and a day of

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