After months in Hamas captivity, the release of some Israeli hostages has brought moments of relief - but also difficult questions. While the public sees smiling faces and embraces, the reality behind the scenes is far more complex.

In this episode, Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer speaks with Professor Hagai Levine, head of the health team for the Hostages Family Forum and chairman of the Israeli Association of Public Health Physician.

What happens to a person’s body and mind after being held hostage for over a year? Why is the Israeli government failing to provide proper long-term care for the freed hostages? And what needs to be done - urgently - to rescue those who are still trapped in Gaza?

After months in Hamas captivity, the release of some Israeli hostages has brought moments of relief - but also difficult questions. While the public sees smiling faces and embraces, the reality behind the scenes is far more complex.
In this episode, Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer speaks with Professor Hagai Levine, head of the health team for the Hostages Family Forum and chairman of the Israeli Association of Public Health Physician.
What happens to a person&rsquo;s body and mind after being held hostage for over a year? Why is the Israeli government failing to provide proper long-term care for the freed hostages? And what needs to be done - urgently - to rescue those who are still trapped in Gaza?

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – a weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – a weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

Your audio guide to Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.

Haaretz Podcast

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – the Haaretz weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer. 

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – the Haaretz weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

From Hamas captivity to recovery: the long road ahead for Israel's freed hostages

For Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, the financial support and professional opportunities afforded by her fellowship at the Wexner Foundation, which plugged her into a network of the “the most powerful Jewish professionals in the country,” were substantial. 

But as a feminist rabbi whose most recent book is titled “On Repentance and Repair,” she felt she could not ignore the disturbing reality of the close personal and financial ties between Leslie Wexner, the benefactor of the foundation, and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, she tells the Haaretz Podcast.

In a personal act of accountability and repentance, in 2019, Ruttenberg – “shocked, disturbed and unsettled” by the early revelations regarding Epstein and Wexner – donated the funds she took from the foundation to an organization confronting sexual violence and challenged others to take similar steps. 

There was little reaction to her call at the time. Now, with new details revealed in the Department of Justice release of the Epstein files, she says “my only regret is not speaking out earlier and more forcefully, no matter the cost.” 

She warned that “when we try to pretend that none of this is happening, we feed every conspiracy theory. And when we say that who matters are raped children, and when we center the people who are harmed, and when we live the values of our Torah and of every other teaching that we claim is holy, then we dispel those theories, because we become the people who we are supposed to be … the people who are living our values.”

Read more: 

Island Visit, NYC Flat and 'Belarusian Girls': Ex-Israel PM Ehud Barak Addresses Jeffrey Epstein Ties

The Ferrari, the Meetings and 'The Redhead': Latest Jeffrey Epstein Files Reveal Ties With Popular Israeli-American Researcher Dan Ariely

Memorializing Jeffrey Epstein? Pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 Confuses Convicted Sex Offender With Beloved Israeli Singer

Life After Harvard: What's in Store for Wexner Foundation's Israeli Leaders Program?

From 2020: Wexner Foundation Named After Billionaire Philanthropist Distancing Itself From Founder

For Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, the financial support and professional opportunities afforded by her fellowship at the Wexner Foundation, which plugged her into a network of the &ldquo;the most powerful Jewish professionals in the country,&rdquo; were substantial.&nbsp;
But as a feminist rabbi whose most recent book is titled &ldquo;On Repentance and Repair,&rdquo; she felt she could not ignore the disturbing reality of the close personal and financial ties between Leslie Wexner, the benefactor of the foundation, and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, she tells the Haaretz Podcast.
In a personal act of accountability and repentance, in 2019, Ruttenberg &ndash; &ldquo;shocked, disturbed and unsettled&rdquo; by the early revelations regarding Epstein and Wexner &ndash; donated the funds she took from the foundation to an organization confronting sexual violence and challenged others to take similar steps.&nbsp;
There was little reaction to her call at the time. Now, with new details revealed in the Department of Justice release of the Epstein files, she says &ldquo;my only regret is not speaking out earlier and more forcefully, no matter the cost.&rdquo;&nbsp;
She warned that &ldquo;when we try to pretend that none of this is happening, we feed every conspiracy theory. And when we say that who matters are raped children, and when we center the people who are harmed, and when we live the values of our Torah and of every other teaching that we claim is holy, then we dispel those theories, because we become the people who we are supposed to be &hellip; the people who are living our values.&rdquo;
Read more:&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-politics/2026-02-13/ty-article/ex-israel-pm-ehud-barak-addresses-jeffrey-epstein-ties/0000019c-576c-d5d5-a5fc-ffeeb0af0000">Island Visit, NYC Flat and 'Belarusian Girls': Ex-Israel PM Ehud Barak Addresses Jeffrey Epstein Ties</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2026-02-10/ty-article/.premium/epstein-files-reveal-ties-with-popular-israeli-american-researcher-dan-ariely/0000019c-47f6-d8d9-adfd-4ff65aeb0000">The Ferrari, the Meetings and 'The Redhead':&nbsp;Latest Jeffrey Epstein Files Reveal Ties With Popular Israeli-American Researcher Dan Ariely</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/2026-02-08/ty-article/.premium/pro-netanyahu-channel-14-posts-epstein-mugshot-in-tribute-to-beloved-israeli-singer/0000019c-3d85-dfa4-a5bc-3dd7d2a90000">Memorializing Jeffrey Epstein? Pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 Confuses Convicted Sex Offender With Beloved Israeli Singer</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024-06-13/ty-article/.premium/life-after-harvard-where-is-wexner-foundations-israeli-leaders-program-heading/00000190-113e-db28-a995-55bf25940000">Life After Harvard: What's in Store for Wexner Foundation's Israeli Leaders Program?</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2020-07-19/ty-article/.premium/wexner-foundation-named-after-jewish-philanthropist-distancing-itself-from-founder/0000017f-ef74-d0f7-a9ff-eff509520000">From 2020: Wexner Foundation Named After Billionaire Philanthropist Distancing Itself From Founder</a>

'The Jewish community still thinks there's a technical fix to the Epstein scandal'

When an ultra-Orthodox mob attacked two women soldiers in the city of Bnei Brak earlier this week, Israelis were shocked and horrified. 

But for Uri Keidar, CEO of Free Israel, this violent expression of ultra-Orthodox opposition to being drafted into the military did not come as a surprise. 

“It’s not the first violent occurrence we have seen, and unfortunately, it probably also won't be the last incident. But it's definitely a sad moment for us as a country,” Keidar said, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast. 

As the Netanyahu government continues to seek a way to pass legislation exempting tens of thousands of able-bodied ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service in order to preserve their political coalition, Keidar sees the country at a “historic” crossroads in which Israelis will stand up and refuse to let it happen. 

“It's a very basic idea, I think, that the law applies to everyone,” he said on the podcast. In a post-October 7 reality alongside the IDF in a manpower crisis, he said, “the Israeli public just will not accept the fact” that “there are tens of thousands of young haredi men who are totally healthy, who can join the IDF at any given moment, and are refusing to do so.”

That refusal, he said, represents the country’s “biggest civil disobedience movement since its history” and Israelis “from the right, left and center” are uniting to oppose it.

Read more:

Explained: The Military Conscription Bill Driving Riots in Haredi Cities

Overturned Cars, Motorcycles on Fire: Police Arrest 26 in Haredi Riot Sparked When Two IDF Soldiers Visit Bnei Brak

Bnei Brak Riots Break From Ideology and Become an Outlet for Aimless Rage

Israel Police Tells IDF They Will Not Assist in Arrest of ultra-Orthodox Draft Dodgers

When an ultra-Orthodox mob attacked two women soldiers in the city of Bnei Brak earlier this week, Israelis were shocked and horrified.&nbsp;
But for&nbsp;Uri Keidar, CEO of Free Israel, this violent expression of ultra-Orthodox opposition to being drafted into the military did not come as a surprise.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not the first violent occurrence we have seen, and unfortunately, it probably also won't be the last incident. But it's definitely a sad moment for us as a country,&rdquo; Keidar said, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast.&nbsp;
As the Netanyahu government continues to seek a way to pass legislation exempting tens of thousands of able-bodied ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service in order to preserve their political coalition, Keidar sees the country at a &ldquo;historic&rdquo; crossroads in which Israelis will stand up and refuse to let it happen.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It's a very basic idea, I think, that the law applies to everyone,&rdquo; he said on the podcast. In a post-October 7 reality alongside the IDF in a manpower crisis, he said, &ldquo;the Israeli public just will not accept the fact&rdquo; that &ldquo;there are tens of thousands of young haredi men who are totally healthy, who can join the IDF at any given moment, and are refusing to do so.&rdquo;
That refusal, he said, represents the country&rsquo;s &ldquo;biggest civil disobedience movement since its history&rdquo; and Israelis &ldquo;from the right, left and center&rdquo; are uniting to oppose it.
Read more:
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-politics/2026-02-19/ty-article-magazine/.premium/explained-deserters-and-dodgers-what-led-to-a-violent-haredi-riot-this-week-in-israel/0000019c-6dd8-d759-a7bf-ffdaca610000">Explained:&nbsp;The Military Conscription Bill&nbsp;Driving Riots in Haredi Cities</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-politics/2026-02-15/ty-article/.premium/police-arrest-22-in-haredi-riot-sparked-when-two-idf-soldiers-visit-bnei-brak/0000019c-616b-d468-adbf-e9eb46ac0000">Overturned Cars, Motorcycles on Fire:&nbsp;Police Arrest 26 in Haredi Riot Sparked When Two IDF Soldiers Visit Bnei Brak</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-02-16/ty-article-magazine/.premium/bnei-brak-riots-break-from-ideology-and-become-an-outlet-for-aimless-rage/0000019c-6703-de36-a19f-ef8f468f0000">Bnei Brak Riots&nbsp;Break From Ideology and Become an Outlet for Aimless Rage</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-security/2026-02-01/ty-article/.premium/israel-police-tells-idf-they-will-not-assist-in-arrest-of-ultra-orthodox-draft-dodgers/0000019c-19a7-df12-abdc-3fff589b0000">Israel Police Tells IDF They Will Not Assist in Arrest of ultra-Orthodox Draft Dodgers</a>

'It’s a disgrace. Israelis have had enough': Amid ultra-Orthodox riots, fury over IDF draft-dodging peaks

Even by the most extreme “Romeo and Juliet” standards, Sari Bashi’s romance and marriage to her partner, Osama, has overcome impossible odds. 

When the two met in 2006, she related on the Haaretz Podcast, “It was very confusing for both of us, both because of the overwhelming social taboos, and the fact that it was also literally illegal for us to meet up together.”

The two met after he had been “trapped” for six years in the city of Ramallah, where he was pursuing a career in academia. Registered as a resident of Gaza, where he was born, travelling elsewhere in the West Bank – or abroad – meant that the authorities would send him back to Gaza. Bashi had recently founded the human rights organization Gisha, and was assisting him gain permission from the Israeli authorities to study for his doctorate abroad. 

Bashi’s new book “Upside-Down Love” – written diary-style from both Bashi’s and Osama’s perspective – chronicles the story of the logistics of their courtship, like a date in which they took a hike in a West Bank countryside and “as we encountered more and more settlers with guns, it became apparent that I had an identity and a language that was common with the people who terrified him.”

But despite the ongoing identity and security challenges, their love persevered. Bashi, who is also the newly appointed executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, talks about their life as a family in the West Bank – and the evolving complicated identities of their two Palestinian Jewish children, as she watches them “engage more in a process of trying to assert who they are. I think it'll change probably a million times before they become adults.”

Read more:

A Jewish Mom and a Palestinian Dad Raise a Family Full of Endless Contradictions

Browse the Umm Forat column (2019-2022) in Haaretz

Israeli Human Rights Groups Tell UN That Israel Increased Use of Torture During Gaza War

Even by the most extreme &ldquo;Romeo and Juliet&rdquo; standards, Sari Bashi&rsquo;s romance and marriage to her partner, Osama, has overcome impossible odds.&nbsp;
When the two met in 2006, she related on the Haaretz Podcast, &ldquo;It was very confusing for both of us, both because of the overwhelming social taboos, and the fact that it was also literally illegal for us to meet up together.&rdquo;
The two met after he had been &ldquo;trapped&rdquo; for six years in the city of Ramallah, where he was pursuing a career in academia. Registered as a resident of Gaza, where he was born, travelling elsewhere in the West Bank &ndash; or abroad &ndash; meant that the authorities would send him back to Gaza. Bashi had recently founded the human rights organization Gisha, and was assisting him gain permission from the Israeli authorities to study for his doctorate abroad.&nbsp;
Bashi&rsquo;s new book &ldquo;Upside-Down Love&rdquo; &ndash; written diary-style from both Bashi&rsquo;s and Osama&rsquo;s perspective &ndash; chronicles the story of the logistics of their courtship, like a date in which they took a hike in a West Bank countryside and &ldquo;as we encountered more and more settlers with guns, it became apparent that I had an identity and a language that was common with the people who terrified him.&rdquo;
But despite the ongoing identity and security challenges, their love persevered. Bashi, who is also the newly appointed executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, talks about their life as a family in the West Bank &ndash; and the evolving complicated identities of their two Palestinian Jewish children, as she watches them &ldquo;engage more in a process of trying to assert who they are. I think it'll change probably a million times before they become adults.&rdquo;
Read more:
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2021-06-21/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/a-jewish-mom-and-a-palestinian-dad-raise-a-family-full-of-endless-contradictions/0000017f-e7ce-df2c-a1ff-ffdf4d280000">A Jewish Mom and a Palestinian Dad Raise a Family Full of Endless Contradictions</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/ty-WRITER/0000017f-da5a-d494-a17f-de5b7af20000">Browse the Umm Forat column (2019-2022) in Haaretz</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-11-26/ty-article/.premium/israeli-human-rights-groups-tell-un-that-israel-increased-use-of-torture-during-gaza-war/0000019a-bf63-db55-a7bb-fff7c6d80000">Israeli Human Rights Groups Tell UN That Israel Increased Use of Torture During Gaza War</a>

From Hamas captivity to recovery: the long road ahead for Israel's freed hostages

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