‘I Have No Idea How This Ends. I’ve Never Seen It So Broken.’

It’s been just over 100 days since Hamas’s attack on Israel, and the costs of the war are staggering. In polling from late fall, 64 percent (https://www.pcpsr.org/en/node/961) of Gazans reported that a family member had been killed or injured. Nearly two million Gazans — almost the entire population — have been displaced from their homes, and analysis of satellite imagery reveals that about half the buildings (https://www.conflict-damage.org/) in the Gaza Strip have probably been destroyed or damaged.

Israel believes that more than 100 hostages are being held captive in Gaza, and polling reveals that Hamas has gained popularity among Palestinians while support for Israel has plummeted around the world. When this war ends, will Israel really be safer? Who will govern Gaza? What will be left of Gaza?

Thomas L. Friedman is a New York Times Opinion columnist and the author of “From Beirut to Jerusalem (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250034410/frombeiruttojerusalem) ,” among other books. He has covered the Middle East for decades and won a Pulitzer for his reporting from Israel. And so I wanted to ask him: What does he think of where Israel is now, and what does he imagine comes next?

Mentioned:

Columnist Assistant application (https://nytimes.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/NYT/job/Opinion-Columnist-Assistant_REQ-015936-1)

Thomas L. Friedman’s recent columns (https://www.nytimes.com/column/thomas-l-friedman)

“‘Joe Biden May Be the Last Pro-Israel Democratic’ (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/opinion/israel-biden-tom-friedman.html) ” by Thomas L. Friedman

Book Recommendations:

The Little Drummer Girl (https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Little_Drummer_Girl/rO9_mU0AB3UC?hlen) by John Le Carré

The Splendid and the Vile (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/225405/the-splendid-and-the-vile-by-erik-larson/) by Erik Larson

I’m Your Man (https://www.harpercollins.com/products/im-your-man-sylvie-simmons?variant32974793506850) by Sylvie Simmons

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast (https://www.nytimes.com/column/ezra-klein-podcast) , and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs (https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html) .

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Kate Sinclair. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Efim Shapiro. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Rollin Hu and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. And special thanks to Sonia Herrero.