The Charlotte Jewish News- October 2025- Page 4 Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte
Unpacking Israel: A Year of Insight Concludes with Nadav Eyal
By Jessica Goldfarb
Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte will close its Unpacking Israel: Masterclass Series on Thursday, November 20 at 7:00 PM at the Sam Lerner Center for Cultural Arts, featuring Nadav Eyal, one of Israel’ s most respected journalists and a recipient of the Sokolov Award, Israel’ s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize.
Eyal Nadav was originally slated to join the community over the summer, but his visit was postponed when escalating missile attacks from Iran created unsafe travel conditions. Now, his rescheduled appearance feels especially timely, offering an opportunity to hear from a journalist who has spent the past two years reporting directly from the front lines and interpreting Israel’ s challenges for audiences around the world.
Since its launch in 2024, Unpacking Israel has invited the Charlotte community to explore Israel’ s story through the voices of leading thinkers and artists. Haviv Rettig Gur opened the series with a sweeping look
at Israel’ s origins and modern struggles. Erez Kaganovitz, this year’ s Artist-in-Residence and creator of Humans of Tel Aviv, shared powerful human stories that captured the country’ s spirit and diversity. Dr. Einat Wilf, former Knesset member and author, challenged audiences to examine Zionism, democracy, and identity through a modern lens. Together, these conversations helped participants deepen their understanding of Israel’ s complexity and resilience while fostering dialogue rooted in curiosity, empathy, and connection.
Nadav Eyal will bring the series to a fitting close with a masterclass that looks outward at Israel’ s place in an increasingly unstable global order, and inward at the endurance of democracy in moments of crisis. A columnist for Yediot Ahronot and senior commentator for Channel 12, Eyal is widely recognized for his clear analysis and on-the-ground perspective. Eyal is also the author of Revolt: The Worldwide Uprising Against Globalization, which explores how free societies can confront authoritarianism and sustain civic trust. Since October 7, 2023, his work has chronicled both the immediate realities of war and the broader moral and political questions facing Israeli society.
Eyal’ s perspective, both deeply Israeli and expansively international, makes him the ideal voice to close the masterclass series. His talk will offer the community a chance to step back from headlines and reflect on the broader forces shaping Israel’ s future and the world it inhabits.
While this event marks the conclusion of Unpacking Israel, Federation remains committed to bringing inspirational speakers and transformative educational programs to Charlotte. Through dialogue, learning, and shared experience, these initiatives continue to strengthen our collective understanding of Israel and deepen the bonds that unite the greater Charlotte Jewish community.
Jewish Community Relations Council
Nadav Eyal is one of Israel’ s most respected journalists and a recipient of the Sokolov Award, the nation’ s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. He is a senior commentator for Channel 12, one of Israel’ s leading broadcast networks, and a columnist for Yediot Ahronot and Ynet, Israel’ s most widely read newspaper and news site.
Eyal is also a Senior Research Scholar and Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, where his work focuses on global politics and international relations.
He is the author of the bestselling book Revolt: The Worldwide Uprising Against Globalization, which has been translated into multiple languages.
Eyal’ s commentary and reporting have appeared in Haaretz, The Daily Telegraph, Der Spiegel, The Washington Post, and The Daily Beast. Over the course of his career, he has held senior positions in major Israeli media organizations and interviewed four Israeli prime ministers as well as several foreign heads of state.
Education: MSc, Global Politics – London School of Economics and Political Science( Chevening Scholar, with merit) LL. B. – Hebrew University of Jerusalem( magna cum laude)
UNPACKING ISRAEL
MASTERCLASS SERIES
Thursday, Nov. 20, 7 PM Sam Lerner Center for Cultural Arts
Jewish Community Relations Council
www. jewishcharlotte. org