A Lighthouse

Lamentations Will Not Save Us

Ariel Beery — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 23:42:26 GMT

Congregation Beth Israel in Vancouver, Canada, asked me to share a Dvar Torah on Parashat Devarim, to help introduce myself and the topic of my new book before my talk there on July 28, 2026. It is my pleasure to share it here in video and text, below, with thanks to Diane Friedman who made it happen.

If you happen to be in Vancouver, I’d love to see yo…

Goodbye, America. Hello World.

Ariel Beery — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 11:10:30 GMT

US President Donald Trump (left) greets Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a summit to support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal, October 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. (AP/Evan Vucci, Pool)

(First published on the Times of Israel)

U.S. Vice President JD Vance did Israel and the Je…

ישראל הפסידה לאיראן, כי הפסידה את אמריקה

Ariel Beery — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:46:38 GMT

Combo photo: US President Donald Trump (AP Photo/Alex Brandon); Pro-government demonstrators in Tehran, after a ceasefire announcement, early on April 8, 2026 (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi); Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Shalev Shalom/Pool)

(אפשר לקרוא את הכתבה המקורית באנגלית פה Read in the original English)

נניח בצד, לרגע, את פרטי ההסכם שסיכם את המלחמה בי…

Israel lost Iran because it lost America

Ariel Beery — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 02:01:20 GMT

(First published on the Times of Israel and Hebrew translation here)

Putting aside the details of the deal made by th…

The End of Jewish Anti-Zionism

Ariel Beery — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:26:00 GMT

Protesters and members of the Jewish Voice for Peace gather in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil outside the Federal Plaza, Monday, April 14, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

(This article, first published on the Times of Israel, can be thought of as Part II of a series sparked by my conversation with Peter Beinart about my bo…

Why Peter Beinart Doesn't Care About Israelis

Ariel Beery — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:26:57 GMT

(First published on the Times of Israel)

When Peter Beinart reached out to interview me about my new book, Being Israeli After the Destruction of Gaza, I was curious what he would ask. I wrote it, after all, to respond to what I believe is the main failure of his Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: his omission of the Israeli Jewish experience. I…

Real Zionists Recognize the Nakba

Ariel Beery — Wed, 13 May 2026 11:33:24 GMT

[Quick note before the piece: the Kindle discount on my new book, Being Israeli, is about to expire; if you haven’t ordered yours already, please do at this link! And I’d really appreciate you adding a review after you’ve read it.]

Illustrative -- Palestinians cross to the Egyptian side of the border crossing with the Gaza Strip in Rafah, Nov. 1, 2023. (…

ציונים אמיתיים מכירים בנכבה

Ariel Beery — Wed, 13 May 2026 07:02:13 GMT

Illustrative -- Palestinians cross to the Egyptian side of the border crossing with the Gaza Strip in Rafah, Nov. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

(אפשר לקרוא את הכתבה המקורית באנגלית פה Read in the original English)

ישראל לא נולדה מתוך ריק. כמו כל האומות, היא נולדה בדם ובכאב, בתנועות המוניות של אנשים שחיפשו מקלט בין בני מינם. היו כאלה שעברו גבולות בחיפוש אח…

A request: review my book on Amazon

Ariel Beery — Thu, 07 May 2026 10:50:23 GMT

I’m so grateful to hear that hundreds of you are reading Being Israeli After the Destruction of Gaza. Your emails, WhatsApp messages, and voice notes have moved me deeply and strengthened my resolve to share the book and its message with the world.

Most of all, I am grateful to hear that the book gave many of you words to explain something that has been…

Ein Breira: There is no other choice

Ariel Beery — Tue, 05 May 2026 14:33:25 GMT

Palestinian Prime minister Mohammed Mustafa, center, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, right, speak to Saudi's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, during the Cairo Ministerial Conference to Enhance the Humanitarian Response in Gaza, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

(First published on the Times of Israel and…

אין בררה

Ariel Beery — Tue, 05 May 2026 13:34:38 GMT

(אפשר לקרוא את הכתבה המקורית באנגלית פה Read in the original English)

לפני שנה, רובנו לא היינו מדמיינים שטייסים ישראלים יוכלו לטוס בחופשיות בשמי טהראן. ביכולתה לתקוף הכל, ממחסומים צבאיים ועד רכיבים מרכזיים של מערך הצבאי-תעשייתי של מדינת אויב. מעטים הבינו עד כמה גדולות יכולותיה של ישראל, עד כמה ארוך ידה של צבאה.

לפני חצי שנה, רבים מאיתנו האמינו שהכוח הזה ה…

America Is Negotiating with Iran Like a Venture Capitalist

Ariel Beery — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:46:00 GMT

In this photo released by the Pakistan Prime Minister Office, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, shakes hand with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif prior to their meeting, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11, 2026 (Pakistan Prime Minister Office via AP)

(First published in the Times of Israel)

If there is one meme that sums up the mistake ma…

Our Next Independence

Ariel Beery — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:15:20 GMT

A man and his child next to a fragment of a missile fired from Iran toward Israel, intercepted by Israeli air defense systems, seen lodged in the ground in the Golan Heights, April 8, 2026. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

(First published on the Times of Israel and can be read in Hebrew, here)

“This Yom Ha’atzmaut feels so much more hopeless than the last ones,” …

עצמאות עכשיו

Ariel Beery — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:50:15 GMT

(אפשר לקרוא את הכתבה המקורית באנגלית פה Read in the original English)

"השנה אני פשוט לא מצליחה למצוא סיבה לחגוג," אמרה אשתי בבוקר ראשון על כוס …

Why Pre-Ordering This Book Matters

Ariel Beery — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:15:20 GMT

My boys looking at the wall of stickers memorializing Israel’s fallen since October 7th (photo courtesy of Erin Kopelow)

I kept encountering the same argument in the months after it became clear the government of Israel decided to destroy Gaza: that what Israel had done meant the Zionist project was finished.

I did not believe that. But I found myself without the words to explain why.

So I did what I do when I do not yet understand how I feel: I listened. Over three months, I sat with Israelis I trust, with people who had marched in the streets in opposition to the government before October 7th, and who did not stop protesting for democracy and liberalism afterward. I asked each of them the same question: How does it feel to be Israeli after the destruction of Gaza?

My upcoming book, Being Israeli After the Destruction of Gaza, is the record of those conversations – and a collection of the values and visions which keeps Israelis committed to defending liberal democracy and the Zionist project going.

Pre-Order for your Kindle Here

If you have already pre-ordered, thank you. I know this is not a simple book to choose to read, or to share. And if you haven’t, please feel free to check out the first three chapters of the book - and if you like it, I hope you pre-order.

Pre-orders matter more than most people realize. They determine whether a book like this is given space – on shelves, in conversations, in the places where people encounter ideas they were not already seeking out.

Pre-orders help decide whether this remains a private exchange, or becomes part of a broader public discourse. And the goal of this book is to change the discourse. To give a platform to the voices often drowned out by extremists or by Israel’s current government, which has worked ceaselessly to crush dissent at the same time as it conducted callous, vision-less military operations in Gaza.

It’s my aspiration that this book will inspire others to continue our struggle against encroaching authoritarianism in Israel, to explore other ways of thinking about how we can resolve our conflict with the Palestinians. Will help those who felt they too lacked the world find the language in which they can acknowledge what has been done, bear responsibility, and still not walk away. To stay with the complexity, and to return to the task of building a better Israel for the Jewish People and the world.

If you have been searching for language – for a way to describe your own position – I hope this book can offer some of it.

And if you believe these voices should be heard beyond the small circles in which they are usually held, I would ask for your help in bringing them there.

You can pre-order an ebook for Kindle here, or for any other platform (Apple, Kobo, Smashwords) here: https://books2read.com/u/m0yJl0

And if you want to read a sample first, here it is:

Read a Sample of Being Israeli

And for those of you who prefer to read in paperback or hardcover, those editions will be available for order on Amazon (and in Israel, through BookPod) on April 21, 2026.

With great thanks and חזק ואמץ,

Ariel

What Bret Is Missing About Israel’s Wars

Ariel Beery — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:42:14 GMT

Screenshot of Bret Stephens speaking on the Unholy Podcast of 10 April 2026, captured from its Youtube channel

(First published on the Times of Israel)

On April 10, 2026, during the 40th day of the early 2026 Iran War, Bret Stephens – New York Times columnist, Editor-in-Chief of Sapir – was interviewed on the popular podcast Unholy and made the following …

A Winning Israeli Foreign Policy Starts with Ukraine

Ariel Beery — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 15:06:18 GMT

Screenshot of video posted on the Syrian President's X account (5 April 2026)

(First published on the Times of Israel - and can be read in Hebrew, here)

While most of us were focused on the confusing endgame to the latest war with Iran, and on the scapegoating of Israel by American politicians and pundits for its failure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zel…

מדיניות חוץ מנצחת לישראל מתחילה באוקראינה

Ariel Beery — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:49:29 GMT

(אפשר לקרוא את הכתבה המקורית באנגלית פה Read in the original English)

בזמן שרובנו עקבנו אחרי הסיום המבלבל של המלחמה האחרונה עם איראן, ובזמן ההאשמות שהוטחו בישראל על ידי פוליטיקאים ופרשנים אמריקאים, טס נשיא אוקראינה וולודימיר זלנסקי במטוס של הממשלה הטורקית לדמשק, שם קיבלו אותו משמר כבוד של הצבא הסורי. על המסלול, הלך זלנסקי על שטיח אדום לקראת מכונית ממשלתי…

Oil is Indefensible

Ariel Beery — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 15:00:39 GMT

A person points at a page on the Marinetraffic website that shows commercial boats traffic on the edge of the Strait of Hormuz near the Iranian coast, in Paris on March 4, 2026. (JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

(First published on the Times of Israel)

No matter what else happens in the current Iran War, there is one lesson the world should finally and fully learn: …

The War You’re Watching Isn’t Real

Ariel Beery — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 10:41:39 GMT

A roadside billboard shows an illustration of destroyed U.S. and Israeli military aircrafts in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

(First published in the Times of Israel)

“I’m just amazed at what people believe,” told me a friend at the heart of the military effort against Iran. “When I have a break and check my phone, I …