The State of Affairs

In this episode of The State of Affairs, Avi Abraham Benlolo speaks with Sarit Zehavi, founder and president of the Alma Research and Education Center, about her rebuttal of allegations in NAZA’s promotional material. Zehavi served for 15 years in the Israeli Defense Forces, specializing in Military Intelligence, and writes numerous position papers and updates focusing on Lebanon, Syria and Israel’s national security challenges. She explains collateral damage assessments, evacuation warnings and strike approvals intended to protect civilians. The discussion examines accountability, Hezbollah, Iran and the lingering dangers facing northern communities, exploring what lasting security requires for families rebuilding their lives.

"If You Lose Hope, You Will Lose Humanity in Us"As we commemorate the third anniversary of October 7, Avi Abraham Benlolo welcomes his good friend Remo Salman El-Hozayel to The State of Affairs. A Bedouin Muslim Israeli police officer, Remo repeatedly returned under fire at the Nova music festival, helping rescue more than 200 young people from Hamas’s massacre. Each journey offered someone another chance to return home.This deeply personal conversation centres on the man behind that extraordinary courage. How does someone carry the memories of such a day? What does life look like three years later? Together, Avi and Remo explore remembrance, the bonds with those he saved, the needs of survivors and rescuers, and the search for hope after unimaginable horror.Remo’s courage gives profound meaning to the idea of shared humanity: a Muslim Israeli risking everything to save young people whose futures were being stolen.In honouring his story, AGPI remembers those murdered, the families still grieving, and everyone who continues to carry October 7 with them. Their pain deserves our attention long after the anniversary passes. Their lives, their testimony and their hopes for the future must never be forgotten.

The Honourable Justice Harry S. LaForme broke new ground as the first Indigenous person appointed to an appellate court in Canada and the Commonwealth. Why does this prominent Indigenous leader stand firmly with Israel, and why does he oppose Canada’s additional $100 million pledge for Palestinian assistance?In this episode of The State of Affairs, Avi Abraham Benlolo explores those convictions with LaForme in a conversation recorded on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The discussion examines Jewish and Indigenous connections to ancestral land, the right to self-determination, and LaForme’s steadfast opposition to antisemitism.It also confronts Canada’s spending priorities: why commit additional funds abroad while First Nations communities continue to need safe drinking water, adequate housing and essential services? A timely conversation about allyship, accountability and what meaningful reconciliation demands.

What does it take to stand with Israel and Jewish Canadians when doing so may carry a political cost?On The State of Affairs, Avi Abraham Benlolo speaks with MP Shuvaloy “Shuv” Majumdar, whom AGPI will honour with The Defender of Israel Award on October 5. In AGPI’s view, Shuv has been one of the few non-Jewish voices in Parliament to speak with such consistent conviction and allyship for the Jewish community and Israel.Shuv explains why he spoke out after October 7 and confronts the fear facing Jewish Canadians—from hostility on campus to the attack outside Belleville’s Sons of Jacob Synagogue. What will it take to protect Jewish institutions before violence occurs? Can Parliament deliver more than statements? And how can Canada rebuild its relationship with Israel?This is a conversation about courage, friendship and the responsibility to act.Learn about us at www.agpiworld.com

On Yom Kippur, worshippers at Belleville’s Sons of Jacob Synagogue dropped to the floor as gunfire tore through its stained-glass windows. Outside, Constable Jeff Smith exchanged fire with a man carrying a shotgun and was seriously wounded. The gunman later died. There is no question, this is antisemitic terrorism. In this urgent conversation, synagogue president Norman Weddum takes Avi Abraham Benlolo inside those terrifying minutes—and speaks about the officer his congregation believes saved their lives. Could Belleville have become another Pittsburgh? What drove the gunman to the synagogue on the holiest night of the Jewish year?Leaders have condemned the shooting. Weddum and Benlolo ask what comes next: who will protect small congregations, who will pay for that protection, and when will governments act? Through the fear and the unanswered questions, Sons of Jacob’s resolve is unmistakable: its members will gather and live openly as Jews.For more information, visit us at www.agpiworld.com