It would be difficult to exaggerate the influence of the Israeli TV program, Uvdah (which in Hebrew means “fact”). Uvdah (which is sometimes compared to “60 Minutes” due to its prestige) is not only Israel’s longest-running investigative journalism and current affairs program, but in a voraciously news-consuming society, also its most influential. Since its debut in 1993, it has become a staple of Israeli journalistic life, known for high-production-value documentaries, hard-hitting investigations, and exclusive interviews with world leaders and public figures.
Uvdah first aired on Channel 2 during the very first week of Israel’s commercial television in 1993 (before that, Israeli television had been dominated by a single state-run channel). Uvdah is the only Israeli program to have remained on the air continuously for over 30 years (with a brief hiatus in 2001–2002).
Uvdah is hosted by Ilana Dayan, a huge talent. Born in Argentina, she immigrated to Israel as a child and began her media career during her military service as the first female soldier-correspondent for Army Radio (Galei Tzahal). Alongside her journalism, she pursued an extensive legal education, earning a doctorate in law from Yale University. She remains active in academia as a lecturer on constitutional law and freedom of speech at Tel Aviv University. Throughout her career, she has received numerous accolades for her work, including the Sokolov Prize and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Israeli Academy of Film and Television, cementing her status as a leading figure in Israeli public discourse.
Uvdah has recently produced several episodes about former hostages that have stunned the nation; the latest, released on December 25 is a long interview with released hostage, Romi Gonen, who was kidnapped from the Nova.
In this episode, the interview was conducted by Ben Shani. Shani is a documentary filmmaker and a journalist, and a member of the editorial staff of UVDA. As a filmmaker, Shani has won two Israeli Academy Awards, as well as (like Ilana Dayan) the Sokolov Prize.
Shani accompanied Gonen over months, capturing her story from hospital recovery through her return home.
The episode aired on December 25, 2025, detailing Gonen’s 471 days in Hamas captivity, including sexual assaults by four captors. In the last few days, a version of the interview with English subtitles has suddenly made its way around Israeli social media, including (among others) on Facebook and on Substack.
The interview, painful but not in any way graphic, deserves to be closely watched by everyone seeking to understand what the hostages endured, and the nature of the scars Israeli society will carry with it for as long into the future as we can see.
As is evident even in the above brief clip, Romi Gonen’s extraordinary courage, during her captivity and since, speaks for itself. Beyond her interview with Ben Shani, there’s really nothing else that needs to be said.
The full episode is above.
If you would like to share our conversation about what Israelis are feeling and expressing at this unprecedented moment in our history, we invite you to subscribe today.
