On “I watched NAZA and it is neither deserving of praise or denunciation,” by Gabi Mitchell Oded Balaban — University of Haifa — balaban@research.haifa.ac.il Gabi Mitchell watched “Naza” in a European cinema and published in Invisible Boundaries (Issue 108, https://gabimitchell.substack.com/p/issue-108-i-watched-naza) a review that offers itself as the middle ground, “neither deserving of praise or denunciation.”…

The Bild case: what an Israeli classified document was doing in a German newspaper four days after six funerals Oded Balaban — University of Haifa — balaban@research.haifa.ac.il October 2026 Two hundred and fifty-one people were abducted on October 7, 2023. Of those taken alive, more than forty died in captivity: the Israeli press counts forty-six,…

Oops, He Did It Again On Ari Shavit’s column “Oops, We Did It Again” (ynet, September 22, 2026) and its recorded version, “Oops, the Liberals Did It Again,” of September 26 Oded Balaban — University of Haifa — balaban@research.haifa.ac.il September 2026 Five weeks before the October 27 election, Ari Shavit published a column in ynet…

Every time we say “the algorithm decided,” a human decision—and whoever made it—vanishes. Oded Balaban — University of Haifa — balaban@research.haifa.ac.il There is a phrase heard in more and more places, and it always performs the same magic trick: “the algorithm decided.” We hear it when a bank denies a loan, when a program discards…

On a conversation of Yuval Noah Harari about artificial intelligence Oded Balaban — University of Haifa — balaban@research.haifa.ac.il On Yuval Noah Harari, “The next 50 years: humanity, AI, power”, in conversation with Tom Parker, journalist at the Financial Times, at the fiftieth anniversary dinner of the EDP group, Portugal, July 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V_ed5fuexA In July 2026,…

When politics can hear only calculation, moral objection becomes an accounting error —and the reply, a threat. Oded Balaban — University of Haifa — balaban@research.haifa.ac.il There is a word that, all at once, is everywhere. When the British government banned trade with the settlements —speaking, without euphemism, of “ethnic cleansing”—⁠, President Isaac Herzog did not…

A Confrontation from The Fear and the Mirror Oded Balaban — University of Haifa — balaban@research.haifa.ac.il By Way of Exordium I begin at the end—Miguel de Unamuno’s end. What he saved for the last page of The Tragic Sense of Life, I hoist onto the first, like a flag: it is the first thing I want you…

The presuppositions of an interview on artificial intelligence Oded Balaban — University of Haifa — balaban@research.haifa.ac.il On Yuval Noah Harari’s interview in The Economist, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNZhxTtOL-I, 20 August 2026. I do not discuss his political conclusions here, several of which I share, nor do I attribute intentions to him. I am after something else: what he maintains…

Ten objections to “Fear and the Mirror,” and their answers Oded Balaban — University of Haifa — balaban@research.haifa.ac.il These pages set out the ideas of a book I am writing, “Fear and the Mirror,” by putting them against an interlocutor who seriously believes in the danger of artificial intelligence. The friend is imaginary; his arguments are…