Unexpectedly but, probably, unsurprisingly, this has turned into an Israel-focused week. The combination of the third anniversary on Wednesday of the October 7th massacre and the ticking down each day toward the October 27th Israeli election made today’s essay choices obvious.

The first is an Atlantic essay about the Netflix series Fauda. Interesting to me, prior to reading the essay I had made a similar observation to a friend, which was that, even though years before 2023 I had more than once visited friends who lived in one of the Gaza Envelope kibbutzim and had followed the events of October 7th closely in the news, it was not until I watched Episodes 7-8 of Season 5 that I fully comprehended how native Israelis processed those events. Accordingly, I strongly second the author’s recommendation.

Similarly, the Atlantic essay by Amir Tibon, the journalist whose family was rescued on October 7th by his father, a retired Army General, struck home personally. The candid exploration he describes concerning young people staying or leaving depending on the results of the election is very real.