Some battles are fought with weapons. Others unfold in courtrooms, on social media, inside a ring — or on a surfboard.
Episode 25 of ALL CAPS, ynet Global’s weekly current affairs show, moved between all of them, as the panel tackled some of the week’s most provocative international stories before turning the spotlight on two Israelis whose determination has taken them onto the world stage.
ALL CAPS Episode 25
(Video: Tal Saar)
The show opened with a discussion of a U.S. Senate hearing led by Sen. Ted Cruz examining the Muslim Brotherhood’s alleged network of influence in the United States. The panel focused in particular on the decision by Democratic senators not to participate in the hearing and debated the wider question of whether political polarization is making Western countries less willing to confront extremist movements.
From Washington, the conversation moved south to Colombia, where the panel discussed the dramatic change in the country’s relationship with Israel under new leadership. The discussion centered on what the shift could mean for Israel’s position in Latin America and whether political changes across the region could produce a broader realignment toward Israel and the West.
For the panel, Colombia offered a reminder that diplomatic relationships are never necessarily permanent: governments change, policies change and countries that once appeared to be moving away from Israel can move back toward it.
The discussion then turned to Hollywood and a campaign by actors calling for the release of imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti.
The panel strongly rejected attempts by supporters to portray Barghouti as a Palestinian equivalent of Nelson Mandela, pointing instead to his convictions in Israel for involvement in attacks that killed civilians. The comparison, they argued, is part of a wider battle over language and historical memory — one in which celebrity campaigns can help transform political narratives regardless of the underlying facts.
“Read the indictment, read the verdict, see who you're dealing with,” host Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said, arguing that presenting Barghouti as a symbol of nonviolent resistance amounted to “whitewash[ing] terrorism with stardust.”
Nili Block: fighting for Israel — and for herself
But one of the episode’s most personal conversations came with Nili Block, the world champion kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter who has spent years carrying the Israeli flag into international competition.
Block began training in martial arts at just 10 years old. Even as a child, she said, she knew she wanted to become a professional athlete — although becoming a world champion was not yet something she imagined.
It happened anyway. More than once.
Her path, however, was never simply about winning fights. Block spoke about competing as a woman in a sport still widely associated with men, dealing with people who underestimated her and learning to turn doubt into motivation.
When people dismissed her or failed to see what she could become, she explained, it only strengthened her determination.
“You say I can't do it, I'm going to prove you wrong,” Block said.
That attitude has followed her beyond the ring.
Representing Israel internationally has taken on a different meaning in recent years, particularly as Israeli athletes have faced hostility and anti-Israel protests abroad. Block recalled meeting French Jews who approached her and thanked her simply for standing publicly and proudly as an Israeli.
For communities confronting antisemitism in their daily lives, she said, seeing an Israeli athlete refuse to hide her identity could itself become a source of strength. “They were scared,” Block recalled. “Me coming out there and just standing strong, I think it gave them a lot of hope.”
For Block, the titles may be important, but they have not changed how she sees herself. Being a champion, she told the panel, is not a reason to stop learning, working or treating other people with respect.
A new battlefield for IDF soldiers
The episode then turned from the sporting arena to a very different kind of fight.
Since October 7, Israeli soldiers and reservists traveling overseas have increasingly found themselves facing legal complaints, investigations and attempts to have them detained under universal-jurisdiction laws.
The show highlighted organizations that track Israeli soldiers through social media, gather information about their movements and seek legal action against them in countries around the world. In response, Shurat HaDin has created Shakpatz — described on the show as a “legal flak jacket” for Israeli soldiers.
The initiative is designed to provide reservists and veterans with information before they travel, including country-specific guidance, legal alerts and instructions on what to do if they encounter problems overseas. A network of lawyers can also be activated when an Israeli faces detention, questioning or possible arrest.
The concept is deliberately simple: soldiers wore physical protection while defending Israel; now, they may need legal protection after returning to civilian life.
“You protected us. Now we are protecting you,” the segment declared. The message reflects what the show described as a new reality for Israeli servicemen and women: leaving the battlefield no longer necessarily means leaving the fight behind.
From Jabalia to the waves
The final story offered perhaps the clearest example of what it means to refuse to be defined by what happened on the battlefield.
Tamir Dudi, 26, was seriously wounded while fighting in Jabalia. He underwent 17 surgeries and ultimately lost his right arm.
For many people, that alone would have been the defining event of a lifetime.
Dudi chose something else. He went back to surfing.
Today, the IDF officer is training for the World Adaptive Surfing Championship in California, with an extraordinarily straightforward ambition: he wants to stand on the podium and win a medal.
His return to the water left the ALL CAPS panel visibly impressed, particularly given the physical demands of surfing and the additional challenge of balancing, paddling and controlling a board with one arm. It was a fitting way to close what the panel called an “episode of champions.”
Because Episode 25 ultimately connected people facing very different kinds of opponents.
For Nili Block, the fight takes place inside the ring — and sometimes outside it, as an Israeli athlete competing around the world. For IDF reservists, a battle they thought had ended can follow them onto an airplane and into a foreign legal system. And for Tamir Dudi, the challenge began after the battlefield, when he had to decide what life after a devastating injury would look like.
His answer was to get back on the board.
And aim for the podium.