Haaretz Podcast

Haaretz

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – a weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

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S1 · E534
Friday · 33 min
Is Turkey the new Iran?
Israel's controversial strike on an airbase in northern Syria close to Turkey was "first and foremost a message to the United States" that Turkish military penetration deeper into Syrian territory "can be turned into a real and total war," and any U.S. policy that tolerates it is "not sustainable," according to Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast. The attack has been criticized as an election ploy by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. While Yanarocak said such considerations may have played a role in its timing, he stressed that Turkey's ambitions in post-Assad Syria are a legitimate source of deep concern for Israel. Israel's military establishment sees them as a substantial threat and pushed for the attack after Turkey ignored warnings. The past three years of war have shifted the balance of power in Turkey's favor with the weakening of both Iran and the Gulf states, he explained in a conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer. He discussed the bold ambitions of the country led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the key role Syria plays in them. "The public discourse in Turkey is neo-Ottomanism," Yanarocak said. "Putting it more familiar to the American ears: 'Make Turkey Great Again' … Turkey is thinking very big." Read more: From Iran to Turkey, Netanyahu Is on the Hunt for New Fronts to Ignite Netanyahu Warns Turkey's Erdogan Against Military Expansion in Syria, but Hopes a Warning Is Enough Attacking Erdogan or Clinging to the Status Quo? Israel's Turkey Paradox See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E533
Monday · 37 min
A desperate Netanyahu is firing at all fronts to win the election. Even Trump has had enough
The glut of new small parties throwing their hats in the ring is increasing the chances that after the voters have their say, there will not be a decisive win either for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition nor the opposition parties determined to topple him. "All of these new little parties are headed by individuals who are placing their ego above the political outcome. They can't possibly join an existing party – they have to try to start their own," said Haaretz columnist Dahlia Scheindlin on the Haaretz Election Podcast. As a result, the voters may not end up determining who will be prime minister, and instead a “little gang” of “six, seven or eight male party leaders” will meet and decide the make-up of the coalition, Scheindlin said. Scheindlin joined fellow columnist Esther Solomon and host Allison Kaplan Sommer to discuss the results of the Likud primaries, opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot’s declaration that there will be no Palestinian state on his watch, what appears to be a politicized decision by Israel’s internal security service not to officially protect Eisenkot, and how Netanyahu, stuck in the polls, appears to be dangerously “firing in all directions” in order to find a way to victory. "He has the capacity to aggravate, or provoke, or exploit any number of crises that are happening in this region,” Solomon said. Little, however, Scheindlin pointed out, appears to be moving the needle for the prime minister. He has shown that "you can attack Iran and attack Iran again. You can bomb Lebanon. You can kill Hassan Nasrallah, and nothing has changed the polls." Read more: The U.S. Peace Plan Is Grave for Gaza and Great for Netanyahu Netanyahu Rival Eisenkot Vows No Palestinian State: 'Not Now, Not in Next Government' Reality Check: As the Election Nears, Haaretz Debunks Israeli Politicians' Biggest Lies The Petty Politics Destroying Israel's Opposition Likud's Casualty List: The Netanyahu Loyalists Headed Home After a Brutal Primary See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E532
August 21 · 53 min
The New Yorker's David Remnick on Netanyahu, Mamdani, and Israel's 'failure to face' Gaza
Longtime editor-in-chief of The New Yorker David Remnick joins the Haaretz podcast and guest host Joshua Leifer for a wide-ranging conversation about his more than three decades of reporting on Israel and Palestine, the role of the journalist in a populist age, and the future of U.S.-Israel relations. "The only way to tell this story is to try to tell it truthfully and to know that you will fail," Remnick wrote in his report on the aftermath of October 7, 2023, published just two weeks after the attacks. In this episode, Remnick recalls what it was like to walk through the ruins of Kibbutz Be'eri and what was then the great trepidation of the nature of Israel's impending response. Remnick returned to report on Israel and Palestine four more times over the last three years, and in July, The New Yorker published Remnick's profile of Gadi Eisenkot, currently the frontrunner among the candidates challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Remnick and Leifer discuss whether Eisenkot has what it takes, and what an Eisenkot-led government might do differently. Can the damage wrought by the current government be undone? After Israel's destruction of Gaza, and amid spiraling settler violence in the West Bank, what remains of the prospects for a just resolution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians? Read more: Netanyahu's Biggest Challenger: Who Is Gadi Eisenkot and What Does He Stand For? Inside Likud Territory, Eisenkot Is Quietly Gaining Ground. Will It Be Enough to Defeat Netanyahu? The American Jewish Establishment Is Defending an Israel That No Longer Exists Bibi Cried Wolf? Americans' Trust in Israeli Intelligence Is Stooping to Irreparable Lows See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E531
August 17 · 37 min
Israeli election update: Netanyahu's iron grip on the Likud primary
The battle over the Likud Party primaries this week was a clear example of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserting his dominance over his political kingdom, Haaretz senior analyst Esther Solomon told the Haaretz Election Podcast. Netanyahu had unsuccessfully tried to cancel the always robust Likud primaries altogether – ultimately compromising by pushing through a measure where he chose the candidates for nine key spots on the top of the list. He included a spot for Oren Dobronsky, an Israeli high-tech entrepreneur and hummus chain owner in Silicon Valley who has not lived in Israel for years, has no political experience and made headlines recently for calling U.S. President Donald Trump a “morally corrupt piece of shit” in the recent past. The prime minister’s message was clear, Solomon said: "This is no longer about the Likud party. This is about me." Solomon joined Haaretz correspondent Judy Maltz and host Allison Kaplan Sommer to discuss the top stories from the last week week, which included controversy over efforts by expat Israelis to travel en masse to vote to replace the current government, and a proposal by opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot to form a minority government even if he doesn’t have a decisive election victory. Also on the podcast, Maltz described her encounters as she travels across Israeli cities to take their pulse ahead of the election, including Kfar Chabad, where, she quipped “only the Messiah is more popular” than far-right extremist Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Arab city of Umm-al-Fahm, where she said it was “very sad” that many young well-educated Palestinian citizens of Israel said they were so alienated that they were not planning to vote. Read more: Netanyahu's New Election Ploy Smells of Desperation and Elon Musk In Monday's Likud Party Primary, Netanyahu Hopes to Get Rid of Lawmakers Whom He Had Nurtured in the Past Netanyahu Changes Likud Rules to Let Far-right Politician Run in Primary 'People Here Like Ben-Gvir's Tough-guy Approach': Will This Netanyahu Stronghold Near Gaza Go Further Right? 'We Need to Finish the Job': The Israeli Town Where Itamar Ben-Gvir Ranks Second Only to the Messiah See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E530
August 14 · 37 min
What the hell is going on in the West Bank?
Nearly three years since Israel’s war in Gaza began, and despite a lengthy case brought before the High Court of Israel, journalists remain unable to enter the Strip to report independently on the widespread destruction, the ongoing humanitarian crisis and the IDF’s occupation of more than half of the Strip. Histadrut national union official Peter Lerner, who served as the IDF’s Spokesperson to International Media until 2024, says the IDF’s reluctance to allow journalists in is a symptom of the war being drawn out and Israel’s increasing isolation from the global community. “The time passed two years ago,” to let journalists enter Gaza, Lerner said. “I recommended it to my superiors, that holding out this long is not beneficial to Israel; it just superimposes the fact that people will say that you're hiding something. …The fact is that there will be negative stories about the negative consequences of war.” Lerner and host Amir Tibon also discussed the reasons why Israeli soldiers passively watch – or even partake – in settler-led attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, and the ways in which the government fuels the total lack of accountability. “When I watch the attacks of these families in their homes, and they’re so helpless – as someone who experienced October 7 very, very close, it’s traumatic to watch," shared Tibon, a longtime resident of Kibbutz Nahal Oz. State-backed settler violence has also accelerated against journalists in the West Bank, where Haaretz correspondent Matan Golan and photographer Itai Ron were attacked this week by settlers that have besieged homes in Qusra, near Nablus, as IDF soldiers looked on. Abby Seitz, a features editor at Haaretz, joins the podcast to recount the threats, illegal orders from soldiers and right-out lies that she and reporter Nagham Zbeedat encountered in a single day in the southern West Bank last month. Zbeedat and Seitz reported from Umm al-Khair as the community marked one year since Awdah Hathaleen recorded his own death at the hands of internationally sanctioned settler leader Yinon Levi. When asked for comment on why Border Police, with the army, dispersed the village’s memorial ceremony, a police spokesperson told Haaretz that it was an “unlawful gathering, which was intended to serve as a demonstration of support for a terrorist who was neutralized” – a statement that contradicts the state’s own stance, as prosecutors filed reckless manslaughter charges against Levi last week. “This is not uncommon, and it’s increasingly happening against international and Israeli journalists, but it's also been happening against Palestinian journalists for a long time. There are Palestinian journalists right now in administrative detention, held for months and months and months without charges, simply for filming what's been going on” in the West Bank, Seitz said. Read more: Taghreed El-Khodary: International Media Is Failing Palestinian Journalists in Gaza West Bank correspondent Matan Golan: I Was Attacked by Settlers as a Journalist. What the IDF Lets Them Do Will Get Palestinians Killed IDF Removes Palestinian Families in Qusra as Israeli Settlers Resist Army Operation to End Siege 'Lords of the Land': Israeli Soldiers Describe How Settlers Manage Military Reality in the West Bank One Year Later: Israel Issues Rare Indictment Against Settler Who Killed Palestinian Activist A Year After a Settler Shot Awdah Hathaleen, His Village Still Can't Mourn in Peace See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E529
August 10 · 31 min
'Right-wing but not Netanyahu': Will Israel's new mini-parties save Bibi or bury him?
While the polls in Israel have been relatively stagnant, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal standing has faltered. “The minute that Netanyahu's stock seems weak, people will start selling it, and that has begun to happen,” said Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast. Joining Leifer on the podcast, Haaretz correspondent Linda Dayan observed that in her conversations with mainstream Israelis who “don’t identify as leftists,” they see a real alternative leader in challenger Gadi Eisenkot. “People have said of Netanyahu in the past that there's no one who can replace him, who has the experience and the gravitas that we need. Now, for the first time in a very long time, people are saying it looks like there's someone who can actually do it.” The two panelists joined host Allison Kaplan Sommer to discuss the debut of new right-wing parties who eschew Netanyahu and their “machinations” attempting to engineer a government coalition that would include the anti-Netanyahu center-right – while excluding Yair Golan’s Democrats Party, and, of course the Arab parties. "There is maybe a hope or a fantasy of finding some way of creating a government that excludes Yair Golan and the Democrats, and that closes the door definitively on having a potential Arab party in the coalition,” said Leifer, referring to the right’s growing fear of the prospect of an Eisenkot-led government that includes Mansour Abbas’ United Arab List. Read more: How to Actually Read the Israeli Election Polls Israel's Opposition Parties Are Courting New Immigrants With a New Set of Priorities In Haifa, the 'Putin Aliyah' and Despairing Arab Citizens Warn of A Dire Future Analysis by Joshua Leifer | Eisenkot Keeps Running Away From What Everyone Knows He Believes Most Israelis Fear Upcoming Election Could Be Compromised, New Poll Finds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E528
August 7 · 23 min
'Trump started a war with no plan. Now he doesn't know how to end it'
Haaretz senior defense columnist Amos Harel joins the Haaretz Podcast to discuss Trump's latest U-turn on Iran, from threatening to bomb the country's infrastructure to once again negotiating with the Islamic Republic over reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Does the president have a plan, or is he just responding to pressure from different directions? How likely is a resumption of full-scale war between Tehran and Jerusalem? And is there truly a lack of interceptors protecting Israel from Iranian missiles? Amos answers all these questions, as we await the president's next step. Meanwhile in Gaza, a new agreement has been announced by the Board of Peace, the international body overseeing the coastal enclave's painfully slow recovery. On paper, it looks great: Hamas will voluntarily disarm, Israel will then withdraw from the areas it occupied after October 7, and reconstruction will move ahead at a faster pace. There's just one problem: No one believes the deal will actually be implemented, and the two sides are already disagreeing over its content and interpretation. Harel and guest host Amir Tibon will discuss the chances for success there, and also the growing danger of escalation in the West Bank after another wave of violent attacks by extremist settlers against Palestinian villages. At what point will the Palestinian population, and perhaps some of the Palestinian Authority's security forces, respond in kind to those attacks and throw the whole region into another round of fighting? And is such a scenario a foregone conclusion, or can it still be avoided? Read more on Haaretz.com The Art of the Deal – or the Art of Bullshit? Trump's Wariness of Another Iran War Hormuz Deal Would Hand Iran an Unprecedented Geopolitical Victory How Much Longer Can Lebanon Withstand Israeli and Hezbollah Obstruction? How Netanyahu Convinced Trump's Board of Peace to Rewrite Its Gaza Deal With Hamas See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E527
August 2 · 37 min
Could a Jewish politician joining an Islamist party shake up Israel's elections?
Gadi Eisenkot "hasn't finished his rise" in the polls after his party, Yashar, has overtaken Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party for several weeks in a row, while the potential coalition of opposition parties is soaring past that of the current government, said Haaretz columnist Dahlia Scheindlin, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast. Scheindlin, a veteran political strategist and analyst, noted that even the right-wing pollsters, who are heavily biased in favor of Netanyahu's coalition, are showing numbers that point to "a decline ever since the ceasefire and the war with Iran," reflecting perceptions among supporters who once "saw him as a great global statesperson." The podcast panel, including Haaretz correspondent Nagham Zbeedat and host Allison Kaplan Sommer, reviewed the noteworthy political events of the past week, most prominently the intriguing news that could shake up the coalition mathematics: the Arab Islamist Ra'am Party's plans to invite a former senior police officer and centrist Jewish politician to claim the number two position on its list. "Having a Jewish Israeli politician join an Arab party, especially an Islamist political party," would represent a "significant milestone," Zbeedat said, predicting that the move would boost support for Ra'am and increase the chances that an anti-Netanyahu coalition would invite the party into a coalition, which could well be its key to winning power. Zbeedat herself, however, is not lending her vote to Ra'am or any other political party. She explained on the podcast why, like many other Palestinian citizens of Israel, she chooses not to participate in elections. She does not believe, she said, in taking part in a "performance" of democracy and granting "legitimacy" to a government that "enables the daily occupation struggles" and "doesn't accept my existence." Read more: Game Changer? What if This Jewish Lawmaker Joins an Israeli Arab Party Why I, a Palestinian Citizen, Don't Vote in Israeli Elections Arab Parties Are Talking Unity. Their Voters Have Much Bigger Issues With Confidence, Conviction and Even Talking Occupation: The Democrats Are a New Sight in Israeli Politics How Arab Party Leader Mansour Abbas Changed Israel's Political Game See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E526
July 29 · 36 min
This Israeli ultra-Orthodox feminist activist has a warning for U.S. Jews
On this week’s Haaretz Podcast, guest host Joshua Leifer talks to Pnina Pfeuffer, a liberal, feminist ultra-Orthodox social activist. The Jerusalem-based Pfeuffer, CEO of the New Haredim, recently petitioned against a Knesset bill that would permit gender-segregated study tracks for master's and doctoral degrees in Israeli academic institutions. Pfeuffer represents a growing minority inside the Israeli ultra-Orthodox public that is interested in “full citizenship, with full obligations and rights” in the Jewish State. This is a public that wants the Israeli government to enforce the military draft on Haredim and teach math and English in Haredi schools, instead of continuing the de facto Haredi autonomy in which many Israeli rules and norms are absent. According to Pfeuffer, the Haredi community reflects Israel as a whole, and younger Haredim - like their secular and religious Zionist counterparts - are radicalizing, and are more right wing than their parents. Some, as Leifer notes, are part of a “far-right Haredi street movement that is in the Ben-Gvir camp or even more right wing.” Addressing the American Jewish community, Pfeuffer asks that those giving money to Israeli causes “educate themselves” about who they are supporting, “because a lot of liberal funding and good intentions” end up promoting gender segregation and far-right politics. Read more: Can Israel's New One-line Law Shield Haredim From IDF Service? Israel Advances Bill Legalizing Gender Segregation in Universities Gender Segregation in Academia Is the Government's Divide and Conquer Strategy The Israeli Town Where Itamar Ben-Gvir Ranks Second Only to the Messiah See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E525
July 27 · 34 min
Three months to Israel's election: Why is Netanyahu really going to Washington?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on traveling to the White House three months before the Israeli election signals his desperation to boost his sinking fortunes at the polls, Haaretz senior columnist Esther Solomon told the Haaretz Election Podcast. Despite his unpopularity with major portions of both American political parties and his turbulent relationship with President Donald Trump regarding the ongoing conflict with Iran, the Israeli leader “does still think that a photo op with Trump is going to play well for him, even though it's not entirely clear if Trump is going to provide exactly the kind of celebratory hugs” he wishes for, Solomon said. But in his current political situation, the Israeli leader “has to pull out every single stop, and he is doing that across the board. Whether it's in terms of military operations, every kind of political manipulation or strategy that he has, in order to pull every last possible vote for the bloc of parties that would support him to be prime minister.” Fellow Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer added that over the past year, “when Netanyahu flies to the United States, it has been to convince President Trump to jump back into the war, and I think that that's probably what he wants to do under the pretense of going to mourn the late Senator Lindsey Graham." On the podcast, Solomon and Leifer joined host Allison Kaplan Sommer to discuss the rising fortunes of Netanyahu’s opposition and the growing signs of concern in the ruling coalition camp, illustrated by an AI-generated video of rival Gadi Eisenkot featuring an image of his slain son, that was widely condemned as offensive. The panelists also discussed how escalating settler violence in the West Bank is making the months until the election more volatile and dangerous. Leifer said that Israelis must “take seriously” statements by Netanyahu’s extremist right-wing partners that “this is the last chance that the settler right is going to have for a long time to stake its claim in the ground and end the possibility of a two-state solution. We should not be naïve about the lengths to which they are willing to go to prevent that possibility from happening." Read more: In D.C., Netanyahu Will Bid Farewell Both to Lindsey Graham and Unconditional U.S. Support Analysis by Joshua Leifer | Will Israel's Opposition Be Able to Undo Netanyahu's Damage? 'People Here Like Ben-Gvir's Tough-guy Approach': Will This Netanyahu Stronghold Near Gaza Go Further Right? 'Not a One-man Party': Likud Blocks Netanyahu Bid to Scrap Primaries 'The Israeli Government Has an Interest in Disrupting the Elections, Giving Free Rein to Thugs' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E524
July 23 · 33 min
'An extreme right-wing Israel can't just pour billions into PR and expect its U.S. image to improve'
Both Israeli leaders and the Israeli public – lulled by both President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden’s backing of Israel – are utterly unprepared for the generational tsunami taking place when it comes to American support for the Jewish state, Haaretz’s opinions editor Amir Tibon told the Haaretz Podcast "Approximately 60 percent of Americans have a negative view of Israel, and the younger you go, the worse it gets – we're close to 80 percent," said Tibon, who previously served as Haaretz’s Washington and diplomatic correspondent. "Israelis are looking at the top line, which is what does Trump have to say about us? And they're ignoring the iceberg, which is hidden underneath the daily Trump noise, of negative views of the country." "We’re going to have a lot of problems once this older generation leaves the American political scene, and most Israelis don't understand it yet," he said. In his conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Tibon also addressed the topic engaging most Israelis: whether or not Israel will be pulled into the continuing military confrontation between Iran and the United States, either at the request of the U.S. president or in response to a potential strike by the Iranians. He also addressed Gaza, both as a journalist and as a Gaza border resident. If Trump’s plan for rebuilding Gaza remains stagnant, he said, the situation is a “ticking-time bomb” with the “continuation of war” being inevitable. Tibon, who survived the October 7 attack on Kibbutz Nahal Oz, as detailed in his book, said that the ghosts of that day are ever present in daily life. "The memory is still there, and the fear is still there, and the trauma. And I think what is most lacking is a sense of optimism that we will have a better reality a year from today." Read more: Americans Souring on Israel – but Not Warming to Palestinians, Pew Poll Finds Haaretz Found Israel's U.S. Influence-op Accounts. No One Actually Follows Them Half of Jewish Americans Don't Think Protesting Israel Is Antisemitic, Poll Finds 103 House Democrats Vote to Cut U.S. Aid to Israel in Landmark Symbolic Vote The Constant Campaigner: Netanyahu Has Been Running for Reelection Since October 7 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E523
July 20 · 40 min
‘What if there aren't free and fair elections in Israel in October? What are we going to do?’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be even more unpopular than the current polling demonstrates, Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer said on this week’s edition of the Haaretz Election Podcast. “I have begun to think the polling is not telling the whole story,” he said, in a discussion on how voters who believe Netanyahu is causing irreversible damage to Israeli democracy and want him removed are currently ping-ponging between “optimism and apocalyptic thinking.” The “apocalyptic thinking,” Leifer said, involves speculation as to whether Netanyahu, anticipating defeat, somehow uses the precarious security situation to prevent free and fair elections on the scheduled date. "After everything we've experienced over the last four years, can we rule out that apocalyptic scenario? We can't rule it out, sadly," he said. Haaretz correspondent Judy Maltz, who joined Leifer and host Allison Kaplan Sommer on the weekly podcast panel, said she observed much of this disquiet with the country’s leader as she travels the country to speak with voters ahead of the October 27 election, from Arab cities to upscale suburbs to West Bank settlements where the most extreme elements of the government draw their support. In the settlement of Alon Shvut, she met people “conflicted” over whether to support Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. “On the one hand, they're very angry at Bezalel Smotrich and his party for supporting [Netanyahu’s] draft exemption bill for the ultra-Orthodox,” she said. “It really, really bothers them and angers them that the party that is supposed to represent this community voted in favor of this bill.” At the same time, “they tell you there has been nobody in history who has done more for us in preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state than Smotrich. He’s given them more than any other minister. So they don't know whether they should or shouldn’t vote for him.” Read more: Haaretz's 2026 Election Poll Tracker: The Latest Projections Analysis by Joshua Leifer: If Netanyahu Loses the Election, Will He Go Full Trump? Who Is Gadi Eisenkot, and What Does He Stand For? Read Judy Maltz's election dispatches from across Israel and the West Bank: 'The Jews Turned Against Us, Even the Leftists': The Bedouin City Poised to Play Kingmaker in Israel's Election In Haifa, the 'Putin Aliyah' and Despairing Arab Citizens Warn of A Dire Future Many of the Voters Who Could Swing Israel's Next Election Are Naftali Bennett's Neighbors 'My Party Has Been Stolen': The West Bank Settlers Drifting Away From Israel's Far Right Why Umm al-Fahm Is Drawing Attention From Both Ends of Israel's Political Spectrum See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E522
July 15 · 29 min
Rep. Ro Khanna to Haaretz: ‘I’m more disturbed by Israel’s lies’ than being detained in West Bank
In his first interview with an Israeli media outlet since his confrontation with armed settlers and Israeli soldiers in the southern West Bank last week, Representative Ro Khanna spoke with Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer in a wide-ranging conversation about the now-famous incident, the “cruelty” he witnessed in his visit to the West Bank, and how Israel’s “disproportionate and inhumane” behavior in the Gaza war has changed his policy positions and the way that both he – and Americans at large – view the Jewish state. "Israel has lost Americans under 50 – not just Democrats but Republicans," he said. “It is one of the most foolish strategies to have antagonized an entire American generation, and that's what Bibi Netanyahu has accomplished." In the interview, Khanna recounted how Israeli settlers mocked and antagonized his delegation, and parked their vehicle in front of his to block the road to Khirbet Zanuta, a Bedouin village in the South Hebron Hills that has been forcibly displaced by settler violence twice since 2023, despite a High Court ruling that requires Israeli authorities to safeguard the Palestinians’ return. "We were quickly told to get into our van, and they blocked our van from exiting,” he said, saying that the settlers and the IDF forces who “took their side” should be investigated and prosecuted. “You can't do that. I've called it detainment. You could call it false imprisonment." In reaction to subsequent statements on the incident issued by the Israeli military and top officials, he said that he was “more disturbed” by their “lies” than by “the incident itself.” Khanna, a California Democrat who has made it clear that he is interested in a presidential run in 2028 and that he plans to make Palestinian rights a central issue on his platform, added, “the next American president will demand the arrest of violent settlers.” Reiterating his belief that “Gaza was a genocide,” Khanna also said that anyone who “wants to see the cruelty of humanity” should “spend a day in the occupied West Bank." He said he had visited Israel three times in the past – including trips with Jewish groups – and today, he is “saddened” and “pained” that Israel’s “contribution to human civilization is being corrupted because of an ugly occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, because of extreme elements that want to see the aspirations for a greater Israel, and because of an unwillingness to recognize the humanity and dignity of the Palestinian people.” Read more: Op-ed by Breaking the Silence's Nadav Weiman: I Joined Rep. Ro Khanna on His West Bank Visit. Here's What I Saw Israel's Response to Settlers Detaining Ro Khanna? Call J Street's Judaism Into Question West Bank Palestinians Flee Homes in Zanuta Amid Settler Violence, Failed IDF Protection Erased: Israeli Settlers' Brutal War on Palestinian Communities in the West Bank Israel to Fund Settler Group Sanctioned by U.K., France and Canada, Claiming Grant Will 'Reduce Youth Violence' Israel Pushes Regulations to Legalize West Bank Farm Outposts An Israeli Shooter Goes Free – and Returns to Terrorize a Grieving Palestinian Village See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E521
July 13 · 36 min
A digital 'forever war' on democracy: Iran and Netanyahu both sow chaos online ahead of Israeli elections
With Israeli elections set for October 27, Iran is increasingly pairing its military actions with aggressive online campaigns designed to sow chaos and conflict – alongside ongoing efforts to recruit Israelis as spies, Haaretz cyber and disinformation correspondent Omer Benjakob warned on the Haaretz Election Podcast, in a roundtable with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer and correspondent Linda Dayan. “We’ve let the digital arena fester,” Benjakob said, in a stinging critique of the way in which Israel’s vaunted security services have dropped the ball in online foreign influence that has now been “supercharged” by AI. One of the reasons the phenomenon has been difficult to combat is because “nine times out of 10, you can’t differentiate between a pro‑Iranian campaign and a pro‑Netanyahu campaign,” he added, noting that Israel’s prime minister and his far-right ruling coalition and the country’s enemies, he noted, have a stake in maximizing extremism and division in the months leading up to Election Day. In their review of the week’s political headlines, the Election Podcast panel also discussed U.S. Democratic presidential hopefuls Rahm Emanuel, who addressed Israelis in Tel Aviv last week, and Ro Khanna, who was detained by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the southern West Bank – and the rise of former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot in the polls and the nature of the threat he poses to Netanyahu. Eisenkot appeals to voters who identify as right-wing and voted Likud in the past, but are seeking a “sane right” this time around, Dayan observed. “He offers a security‑heavy, ‘big Z’ Zionist party” that, unlike Likud, “isn’t embarrassing itself by unleashing very loud but not very content‑rich people onto the public.” Read more: Iran's Other Weapon: How Israel Woke Up Late to the Threat of Election Interference Gadi Eisenkot Is Quietly Gaining Ground Inside Likud Territory. Will It Be Enough to Defeat Netanyahu? Latest Poll Shows ex-IDF Chief Eisenkot's Party Maintaining Lead Over Netanyahu's Likud 'The IDF Is Lying': Rep. Ro Khanna Calls for Arrest of IDF Soldiers He Says Were Involved in His West Bank Detention Op-ed by Nadav Weiman: I Joined Rep. Ro Khanna on His West Bank Visit. Here's What I Saw Rahm Emanuel's Tough Love Wins Warm Welcome in Tel Aviv See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E520
July 7 · 39 min
'We need allies, not just more security cameras': Reform movement head Rick Jacobs on the growing ‘isolation’ of U.S. Jews
The far-right religious Netanyahu government is doing its best to “push away” liberal non-Orthodox American Jews from Israel, said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, leader of the U.S. Reform movement, on the Haaretz Podcast. “We’re not going away. We’re actually leaning in,” he said. “You can’t trade in non‑Orthodox Jews for evangelical Christians. We’re stuck, you’re stuck with us, we’re stuck with you – we’re the Jewish people.” During the era of negotiations over the 2016 historic compromise between non-Orthodox movements and the Israeli government over an egalitarian plaza at the Western Wall for mixed-gender prayer, Jacobs said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – and the premier’s close advisers – were in regular contact. Today, he said, “it has been years” since there has been a phone call – let alone a meeting – between the leader of the largest American Jewish membership organization and the Israeli leader – and, nearly a decade after the collapse of the compromise effort, the government is moving legislation through the Knesset that would not only forbid but criminalize egalitarian prayer, as well as women reading Torah and wearing traditionally masculine ritual garments, at the Western Wall. “It’s not just that you’re going to get hassled: You could literally spend seven years in jail,” said Jacobs, noting that additional proposed laws regarding the Law of Return and conversion, together with the Western Wall bill, “reflects a demonization – not just a difference, but a demonization – of non-Orthodox Jewry.” On the podcast, Jacobs confronted the deep political challenges facing liberal and progressive American Jews regarding the “shockwaves” in the U.S.-Israel relationship, the spike in antisemitism since October 7 and Israel’s reaction to it. “There's this notion I hear it all the time, particularly from officials of the Israeli government, which is: ‘They all hate us … Everybody hates Israel. Everybody hates the Jews. So it doesn't matter what we do here, [with] settler violence in the West Bank – if we eradicate that, they'd still hate us. And issues around pluralism and democracy don’t matter, because they'll always hate us.’ “I just would like to bring the view that says actually, it does matter.” Read more: Bill Banning Egalitarian Prayer at Western Wall Bound to Face Serious Legal Challenges, Warns Gov't Lawyer Op-ed by Women of the Wall's Anat Hoffman: Israeli MKs Mull an Evil and Absurd Bill That Promises More Jail Time for Worshippers Than Rapists Rahm Emanuel's Tough Love Wins Warm Welcome in Tel Aviv 30 Percent of Jewish American Adults Say Israel Committed Genocide in Gaza Israel's U.S. Envoy Says Minister's Verbal Attack on Reform MK in Knesset Was 'Disgusting' The Raucous and Roundabout History of Reform Judaism See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E519
July 6 · 32 min
'Israel’s opposition must join with Arab parties to beat Netanyahu. It's the right thing to do'
Unless something dramatic changes, the upcoming Israeli election will either end in a deadlock or a bold move to “get rid of the foolish self‑imposed arbitrary constraint of not forming coalitions with Arab parties,” political strategist and Haaretz columnist Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin said on the Haaretz Podcast. With neither the pro-Netanyahu bloc nor the opposition parties coming close to the 61 Knesset seats they would need to take power, Scheindlin said that the Jewish Zionist Israeli parties – likely in the opposition – will be pushed to do what she believes is the right thing. "Of course, there should be Arab parties in a governing coalition. They are 20 percent of the population. There should be no ban on parties that represent citizens of this country," Scheindlin said. In the roundtable discussion with Haaretz correspondent Linda Dayan and host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Scheindlin discussed the new iterations of veteran parties on the center right and the left, vying for the voters who would like to see Netanyahu replaced – including those who previously voted for the prime minister and hold center-right views These parties, Dayan said, are branding themselves as the “sane right” or the “non-schmuck right.” Their main differences with Netanyahu and his ruling coalition come down to drafting ultra-Orthodox young men to the army – and the government’s refusal to create a commission of inquiry on the events of October 7. Dayan also discussed the phenomenon of family members of former hostages throwing their hats in the ring on “every side of the political spectrum.” Read more: How Israel's Soft Right Could Undo the anti-Netanyahu Opposition Analysis by Dahlia Scheindlin: Can the Most Right-wing Government in Israel's History Lose an Election Over Security? Analysis by Dahlia Scheindlin: In His Own Words: Naftali Bennett Is Committed to Annexing the West Bank Arab Israelis Aren't Looking for Token MKs. They're Looking for Genuine Change In Haifa, the 'Putin Aliyah' and Despairing Arab Citizens Warn of A Dire Future See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E518
July 3 · 34 min
‘I promise I haven’t joined the Israel haters’: Brad Lander sits down with Haaretz
Brad Lander said on the Haaretz Podcast that his resounding victory in the race for the Democratic nomination for Congress in a New York City district reflected a desire for a "reset in the U.S. relationship with Israel in the Democratic Party voting base – including in one of the most Jewish districts in the country." Lander won by more than 30 points in New York's 10th District, covering downtown Manhattan and western Brooklyn. His win over AIPAC-endorsed incumbent Dan Goldman was part of the primaries sweep by candidates backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Like the other Mamdani-backed candidates, Lander campaigned on a platform opposing additional U.S. military aid to Israel and condemning AIPAC as being "dangerous." Lander said on the podcast that, once he is in Congress, he will support "steps I think will help shift away from what I see as a catastrophic 'hug Bibi' policy, which both Joe Biden and Donald Trump essentially adopted." At the same time, he told podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer that he still considers himself a "liberal Zionist" with ties to Israeli peace groups, and that he opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The former NYC comptroller differentiated himself from Mamdani and other members of his progressive camp who do not recognize Israel as a Jewish state and oppose nearly all 'normalized' contact with Israeli representatives. "When people hear I will sign on to the Block the Bombs Act, and that I won't vote in favor of additional U.S. military aid to Israel while it is violating Palestinian human rights and international law, people think that's someone who has joined the 'Israel haters.' But I promise you I haven't. "What I want is a path toward rebuilding Gaza under Palestinian leadership, an end to settler violence and meaningful negotiations toward mutual recognition," he said. "I'm very clear about my politics. You can check my mentions – I get called a 'Zionist baby killer' in my mentions as often as I get called a 'kapo.' So people know who I am." Read more: Why Israelis Should Stop Being Afraid of Mamdani-backed Brad Lander Mamdani-backed Candidates Sweep New York Democratic Primary, With Israel as Fault Line New York's Primaries Send a Clear Message: Democrats Must Reckon With Israel and AIPAC Dan Goldman Says Support for Israel Cost Him New York Democratic Primary Israel Critic Scores Major Democratic Primary Upset as Progressive Wave Reaches Colorado See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E517
June 29 · 34 min
Haaretz Election Podcast Kickoff: How far will Netanyahu go to stay in power?
In the inaugural episode of Haaretz’s new Election Podcast, host Allison Kaplan Sommer welcomes the first weekly panel of Haaretz analysts who will be examining and explaining developments in the intensifying countdown to the fateful elections this fall. This week, senior analyst Esther Solomon and Palestinian affairs correspondent Nagham Zbeedat assess the state of a race in which neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his opposition currently have a path to victory according to the polls. At the moment, “Netanyahu is more or less maxed out on however many people will still be loyal to him,” Solomon said. “He cannot crack the numbers to get anywhere near a majority to form a coalition.” She discussed the ways in which Netanyahu visibly battled for political survival in a hastily called press conference Saturday night – from his reframing of the ongoing bloodshed in Lebanon to an invitation to his opponents to join him in a unity government. Netanyahu’s call for unity and vow to do “everything to diffuse” a “civil war,” Solomon said, showed an extraordinary “degree of chutzpah” given that “there has been no issue he hasn’t tried to divide and inflame and incite within Israeli society.” Zbeedat provided an update on ongoing negotiations between Hadash, Ta’al, Balad and United Arab List to run together as the Joint List, as the Arab parties did in previous elections. The four parties – which have the power to tip the balance when it comes to building a government coalition – remain divided over whether they would be willing to join a coalition led by the winning Jewish Zionist party. The Gaza war and the lack of action to tackle the organized crime and gun violence tearing apart Arab society, Zbeedat noted, is likely to drive more Palestinian citizens of Israel to the polls than in years past. In her reporting, she said, she has spoken to Arab Israelis who have ideologically boycotted elections in the past and “now want to vote – but more out of desperation, out of despair and out of fear, rather than faith in the election and democracy.” Find the latest projections from Haaretz's 2026 election poll tracker Read more: Analysis: A Reality Check for Netanyahu's Delusional Post-Election Unity Ploy Analysis: For Arabs, the Ballot Box Is the Last Resort to Tackle Israel's Crime Epidemic Majority of Israel's First-time Voters Believe Their Ballot Can Change the Country, Poll Shows Arab Parties Mull Partial Joint List as Rifts Over Joining anti-Netanyahu Coalition Continue Jewish-Arab Movement Standing Together Launches Knesset Run With Party Built on 'Politics of Hope' 'The Jews Turned Against Us, Even the Leftists': The Bedouin City Poised to Play Kingmaker in Israel's Election See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E516
June 25 · 30 min
'December 14 was our October 7': How the Bondi massacre destroyed the Australian safe haven for Jews
For the Australian Jewish community, the date of December 14 carries as much gut-wrenching trauma as October 7 and September 11 does for Israelis and Americans, Daniel Hochberg, co-chair of the Union for Progressive Judaism's board, told the Haaretz Podcast. On the six-month anniversary of the terrorist shooting attack on 1,000 Jews celebrating Hanukkah on Bondi Beach that killed 15 members of the tight-knit community, Hochberg and Haaretz editor Noa Levin reviewed the aftermath of the second most deadly attack in Australian history and its ongoing effect on the country’s politics and daily life for Australian Jews. “We don't feel safe as we did before,” Hochberg said, describing an increased “closing of spaces” to Jews who once felt part of progressive circles. “It has affected our sense of self-worth, our belief in our contribution to Australia is in question, and we are struggling with that. Our walls are being built higher and higher, so there's this feeling that the Jewish community, by almost default, is being isolated from the rest of Australian society.” On the podcast, Hochberg and Levin discussed the controversial formation and the ongoing testimony of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, the national inquiry of the Bondi attacks which is focusing on growing antisemitic discourse in Australia, and the political impact of the attack inside and outside the Jewish community. The “totally unimaginable” violent attack and the Jewish community’s reaction, Levin noted, has sparked a conversation among young Jews regarding “who gets to speak for us at a national and international level, and what recommendations would all kinds of Jews like to see to ensure their safety in Australia,” while “touching on the intersection between criticism of Israel and antisemitism.” The Bondi attack, she said “has made the community incredibly sensitive to anything that looked, felt or smelt like something that could harm us, and that they have a right to do that, but I think it created something quite challenging in terms of discourse about Israel.” Read more: 'Reckoning Without Consequence Is Performance': Australian Jews Cautiously Welcome Antisemitism Inquiry Findings Australia's Historic National Inquiry Into Antisemitism, Explained How a Portrait of an Australian Jewish Leader Humanizes an Anguished Community The Australian Film About Jewish Fear and Unease Shot in Bondi Before the Massacre Despite a Moderate Downturn, Antisemitic Incidents in Australia Remained High for Second Year Running See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 · E515
June 23 · 34 min
Haaretz investigation: The Israeli far-right’s West Bank land grab and why it's a ticking time bomb
In a special investigation on a "revolution" that has taken place over the past three years, Haaretz reporters Yarden Michaeli, Matan Golan and Yaniv Kubovich detailed the push to restore and drastically expand Israeli presence in the northern West Bank that was part of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan in 2005. On the Haaretz Podcast, Michaeli discusses how the settler movement and far-right politicians have spent the 20 years since the disengagement took place planning how to execute their "return" to four West Bank settlements located in the largest contiguous area of Palestinian population in the area. With the ascent of the most far-right government in history in 2022, members of the movement have used their power and influence in what is essentially "the settlers' government" to "return big time," Michaeli said. In the newly published Haaretz investigation, "Undoing History," Michaeli and his team reveal how 18 new settlements and eight new army bases are cutting through the largest contiguous Palestinian population in the West Bank. The comprehensive effort includes military deployments, new bases and checkpoints, road construction, land expropriations, the displacement of more than 32,000 residents from three refugee camps and the terrorizing of daily Palestinian life in what senior military officials warn could destabilize an already volatile region. Every aspect of the plan, Michaeli warned, is "bad news" and "harmful" to the Palestinians living there, and that the infrastructure in place "will be very hard to remove" – undermining the Oslo Accords and the possibility of a two-state solution. Read more: Undoing History: As the World Watched Gaza, Settlers Charged Ahead in the West Bank. A Clash Is Imminent Foreign Ministry Rejects Smotrich's Claim He Axed 1997 Hebron Accord With PA, as Israel Takes Municipal Powers From Palestinians How Israel Is Using Archaeology to Advance West Bank Annexation Former PM Ehud Olmert: Israel Is Conducting a Systematic Campaign of Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity in the West Bank 'Nobody's Born a Soldier': The Israeli Teens Refusing the Military Draft Say They Can Take the Backlash See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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