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Unholy: Two Jews on the News

Talking peace, making war - with Jake Sullivan

Unholy: Two Jews on the News

Unholy Media

News, Yonit Levi, News Commentary, Society & Culture, Jews, Religion & Spirituality, Israel, Jewish, Judaism, Israel Podcast, Middle East, Jonathan Freedland, Documentary

4.7 • 770 Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2026

⏱️ 80 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Please note that an (authentic!) alert sound is heard twice throughout the episode. Watch us on Youtube: https://youtu.be/UdhHLAquwgs Follow Unholy and learn more about the pod: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ The fourth week of the war with Iran finds both sides insisting—loudly and contradictorily—that peace talks are either underway or nowhere in sight. In the meantime, Iranian missiles continue to hit civilian neighbourhoods across Israel, while rolling news blurs day into night, tracking both the war itself and the political manoeuvres that show little sign of slowing down. And in London, another antisemitic attack raises uncomfortable questions about double standards when it comes to hatred directed at Israel. This week, Yonit and Jonathan sit down with Jake Sullivan, who puts it bluntly: this war should not have started. Sullivan lays out three reasons why the decision was flawed, argues that Donald Trump’s “appetite grew with the eating” from the 12-day war to the current escalation, and offers an alternative path—a renewed nuclear deal backed by long-term deterrence. He also raises a troubling possibility: could this conflict increase the likelihood of Chinese action against Taiwan? Plus: a rare look behind the scenes of Israel’s most-watched news broadcast, as Yonit reflects on what it means to sit in the anchor’s chair for hours on end—and the personal toll it takes. 00:00 Day 27 — Cluster bomb near Yonit's house 03:00 Life under sirens: sheltering in Tel Aviv 19:48 The Rubio remark: did Israel drag America into war? 23:28 Yonit on anchoring Israel's news during a war she's living 31:23 Jonathan: global antisemitic attacks since the war began 42:06 Jake Sullivan: deal or escalation? 1:15:16 Chutzpah & Mensch Awards

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello there. We just wanted to let you know in advance of this week's episode that during the

0:05.2

episode you will be hearing a couple of times the preliminary alert that comes just before a siren.

0:12.0

They caught the Israeli wing of the unholy operation mid-recording. So if you are in Israel,

0:20.2

don't worry, this is just a recorded alert.

0:24.3

And if you live outside Israel, well, then you're going to get a glimpse of the soundtrack of

0:29.5

Israeli life these last four weeks.

0:34.9

The single biggest thing that has changed is Donald Trump has decided that the application of American military power is an intoxicating thing that can generate quick results with relatively little cost.

0:52.3

And first, that was true with respect to the 12-day war last year from his perspective.

0:58.3

This, I think, gave him the confidence to then execute the Maduro operation, a very high-risk

1:04.5

operation that from his perspective also worked out okay.

1:08.3

And then the appetite grew with the eating.

1:10.1

And I think he thought at that point,

1:12.2

hey, we can go back at Iran and they aren't going to fight back very hard because they've been

1:18.2

so badly weakened. And I can rather rapidly and decisively achieve some set of operational

1:24.4

objectives and then declare victory. And it has not turned out that way this time around.

1:29.2

So I think he is stuck here.

1:42.6

It's unholy. I'm Unlevee in Tel Aviv.

1:45.4

And I'm Jonathan Friedland in London.

1:48.5

And this episode, we will bring you a conversation with Jake Sullivan, former US National Security Advisor, the voice you heard at the top of the show.

1:55.3

We have a lot to talk about, Jonathan, it's day 27.

2:07.7

To give you my last couple of days in headlines, a cluster bomb weighing 100 kilograms fell very close to my house.

2:10.1

We had to obviously cancel our vacation plans out of Israel because all flights were canceled.

...

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