My Brother’s Keeper
Born in America. Raised in the Holy Land. A devoted Jewish father and husband. An IDF veteran. A veteran of Israel’s politics—having served as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Israel, as well as Bureau Chief and Foreign Policy Advisor. And now the author of a book about Israel that directly looks at the events that helped lead up to the ongoing war with Hamas.
This is Ari Harow. Besides all of these accomplishments and experiences, Ari is also part of our Fellowship family—literally. Fellowship President and CEO Yael Eckstein is privileged that Ari is her brother-in-law. And now, having shared Shabbat dinners and family memories with him, Yael welcomes to the podcast this Israeli who has devoted his life to making life better for his country, God’s people, Israel—truly his brothers’ and sisters’ keeper.
Ari shares not only his own life story of making aliyah (immigrating to Israel) as a child from the U.S. to the moment when he knew he would devote his life to serving Israel—while serving as a 20-year-old in the IDF infantry in Lebanon. He also shares about his time serving under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the many situations he navigated in that role—including the 2014 kidnappings of three Israeli boys that led to Israel’s last major war in Gaza.
Listen to this insightful conversation with an Israeli who has devoted his life to serving the people of Israel.
And read Ari Harow’s new book about his life, his career, and how a moment in Israel’s recent history set the course of today’s events, My Brother’s Keeper: Netanyahu, Obama & the Year of Terror & Conflict that Changed the Middle East Forever.
Episode Notes:
Born in California in the 1970s to a Zionist Jewish family, Ari Harow was raised hearing stories of Israel, and then of visiting family who lived there. So, even before his family made aliyah, Ari “grew up believing it was going to happen.” And it did, as Ari was raised from his preteen years in the Holy Land.
But it wasn’t until his time in the IDF’s Golani Infantry unit that Ari knew he would devote his life to serving his adopted and biblical homeland. The IDF, Ari points out, “is the great equalizer in this country,” bringing together Israelis of Ashkenazi and Sephardic backgrounds, those who are religious and those who are not, and even Jews and Gentiles. In the IDF, everyone is equal. Everyone is Israeli. Everyone is your brother or sister. And in the IDF, one of these brothers, Ari’s friend and fellow soldier, was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists. When that happened, and as rockets fell where he was stationed in Lebanon as a 20-year-old soldier, “that moment, that loss, changed my life.”
After his military service, Ari worked as a pro-Israel advocate in the non-profit sector before entering the administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he served as Chief-of-Staff. And that was Harow’s role when, in 2014, three young Israeli boys were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas, plunging Israel into Operation Brother’s Keeper (after which Ari’s new book is titled) and Operation Protective Edge.
Ari recently sat down with Yael Eckstein to share how his life, his career, how that not-so-long-ago summer war in Gaza—and the tragic events leading up to—directly affected today’s Middle East and Israel’s ongoing conflict with Hamas. A veteran of both Israel’s government and military (and the proud father of two current IDF soldiers), Ari brings us all into a conversation about the Jewish state and Jewish people that is especially important for Israel’s Christian friends who he says help the Jewish people stand up to the “diabolical hatred and ignorance” they are currently facing from all sides.
Read Ari Harow’s new book about his life, his career, and his insights into Israel’s conflicts, both recent and current, in My Brother’s Keeper: Netanyahu, Obama & the Year of Terror & Conflict that Changed the Middle East Forever.
