Episode 98: What Israel’s founding fathers knew about terrorism, with Dr. Bruce Hoffman

March 15, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Dr. Bruce Hoffman, a leading terrorism scholar, joins host Aviv to unpack the British Mandate era in Palestine (1917-1948), drawing from his book Anonymous Soldiers. The discussion traces how Jewish underground groups like the Irgun and Lehi used calculated violence against British rule, amid Arab riots and revolts, to hasten independence. Hoffman emphasizes British archival evidence showing how these actions shifted policy and public opinion, while debating terrorism's definitions, efficacy, and moral ambiguities in context.

Mandate's Optimistic Start and Early Violence

Britain conquered Palestine from the Ottomans in 1917 under General Allenby, entering Jerusalem as liberators amid World War I morale needs. The Balfour Declaration that year committed Britain to a Jewish national home without prejudicing non-Jewish communities. Initial optimism faded quickly: Palestine was devastated by Ottoman rule, but Jewish immigration sparked Arab fears.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:04) **Episode Intro and Guest Background** - Host introduces British Mandate era (1917-1948) and Dr. Bruce Hoffman, author of *Anonymous Soldiers*.
2 (04:17) **British Conquest and Mandate Optimism** - Allenby's 1917 Jerusalem capture, Balfour Declaration, and early post-WWI hopes for Palestine.
3 (08:24) **1929 Riots and Irgun Emergence** - Countrywide Arab violence against defenseless Jewish communities prompts offensive shift from Haganah to Irgun.
4 (14:18) **1936 Arab Revolt and Jewish Responses** - Revolt against British amid rising Nazi immigration; Irgun launches retaliatory bombings.
5 (17:18) **Irgun and Lehi Strategies** - Menachem Begin leads Irgun's symbolic attacks on British rule; Lehi's assassinations, including Lord Moyne (1944).
6 (24:14) **Key Operations and Internal Tensions** - King David Hotel bombing (1946) as Haganah-Irgun joint action; Saison suppression of Irgun/Lehi by mainstream Zionists.
7 (33:32) **Defining Terrorism in Context** - Historical vs. modern views: violence by non-state actors for political ends; ambiguities in Mandate-era acts.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Terrorism scholar Dr. Bruce Hoffman joins the podcast to guide us through one of the most morally explosive chapters in Zionist and Israeli history: the Irgun, Lehi, the British Mandate, and the violent campaign that helped force Britain out of Palestine. Moving from Allenby’s conquest of Jerusalem to the King David Hotel bombing, the Lord Moyne assassination, the hanging of the British sergeants, and the bitter intra-Jewish “Saison,” the conversation refuses easy answers and asks the hardest questions head-on: When is political violence terrorism, when is it insurgency, and why does terrorism so often work? The conversation is surprisingly urgent and immediate, as we connect Menachem Begin’s mastery of narrative and information warfare to Hamas, October 7, and Israel’s catastrophic failures in the information war. The parallels and lessons are haunting. Join us for this journey into history, ethics, propaganda, the necessity of statehood, and the frightening power of violence to change the course of history.

This episode is sponsored by Carmela and Uzi Levin of San Francisco who asked to dedicate it to the memory of Niv Raviv and Nirel Zini, a young couple who were brutally murdered by Hamas near their home in Kfar Aza on October 7 2023. Sadly, the Levins never met Niv or Nirel. They heard of their tragic story from Tami Raviv, Niv’s mom.

Niv and Nirel met during their army service and moved to Kfar Aza in early 2023. On October 10, 2015, while serving in the IDF, Nirel was severely wounded during an operation. From then on, every 10th of October became a special day of celebration marking Nirel’s survival and rehabilitation. On October 10th, 2023, Nirel was planning to celebrate by proposing to Niv. But he never got the chance.

Niv was pursuing a master’s degree in psychology and hoped to become a therapist.

In their memory, Niv’s mother Tami founded the Niv Nirel Center in Beit Yannai, in collaboration with Dr. Kfir Feffer. The center is a tranquil sanctuary, overlooking the Mediterranean sea north of the city of Netanya. It offers world-class post-trauma treatment to combatants and survivors who so desperately need it. The Niv Nirel Center is the only place in Israel that operates an intensive day-care program, as well as a research unit that hopes to create a protocol that will allow the center’s successes in post-trauma rehabilitation to be replicated.

It is truly moving and inspiring to see how Tami has been able to channel this bottomless sadness into a project of care, hope and love. A ray of light for a nation in search of healing.

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