Benjamin Netanyahu's government may have announced plans to intensify its Gaza offensive and call up thousands of reservists – but "many Israelis, and especially the IDF top brass, are actually hoping that President [Donald] Trump will again intervene and reach some kind of deal," Haaretz senior security analyst Amos Harel said on the Haaretz Podcast. Pressure from the American president will be the only way Netanyahu can resist the "huge political pressure to proceed" with the escal...
May 08, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 398
Orly Erez-Likhovski was worried when she heard about the threats against attendees of a screening of the annual alternative Israeli-Palestinian Joint Memorial Ceremony in the city of Ra'anana set to be held at a Reform synagogue on the eve of Israel's Memorial Day. Erez-Likhovski, Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), told Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer how the "emotional and moving" ceremony was disrupted by hundreds of opponents chanting outside, throwing...
May 06, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 397
This Wednesday, Israelis will mark Yom HaZikaron, the Memorial Day for Israel's Fallen Soldiers. As of last count, there were more than 25,000 of them. Although Israel has a highly developed culture of grieving and mourning, as a country that has suffered war and bloodshed since its first days, an unusual commemoration project has literally taken over the public sphere this year. It began on a small scale, with friends and relative of soldiers killed in action since October 7 hanging up st...
Apr 28, 2025•18 min•Season 1Ep. 396
Ittay Flescher , like most peace activists who devote their lives to cultivating Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, has gotten used to being called dangerously deluded and naive. “I hear it at least five or six days a week. Recently, there have been thousands of online comments saying that I am naive,” he told host Allison Kaplan Sommer on the Haaretz Podcast, in a conversation about his newly published book “The Holy and the Broken: a cry for Israeli-Palestinian peace from a ...
Apr 21, 2025•31 min•Season 1Ep. 395
Israel and Ireland are in the midst of a diplomatic crisis – with the Israeli embassy in Dublin closed in protest of Ireland’s decision to join South Africa’s genocide lawsuit at the International Court of Justice and its recognition of a Palestinian state. But that didn’t stop the Irish embassy in Tel Aviv from inviting peace activist Bronagh Hinds to meet with Jewish and Palestinian civil society organizations and women’s groups to share the lessons learned in Nor...
Apr 15, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 394
With 59 hostages still in Gaza, both dead and alive, Jon Polin , the father of slain Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, doesn’t believe it’s appropriate for any Jew to have a festive Passover celebrating freedom this year. "The point," he says, "is let's lean into the pain this year, and not even try to sugarcoat it for our kids" Polin and his wife Rachel became prominent international advocates for their son Hersh’s release until the tragic news of his murder...
Apr 10, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 393
Haaretz journalist Nir Hasson has been covering the war in Gaza for months. He has seen so many horrifying acts of war go unpunished and uninvestigated, that he was hardly surprised by the killing of 15 aid workers at the end of March that shocked the world. The IDF first said the paramedics who were killed were suspicious, and claimed the vehicles they were in did not have their emergency lights on. Then a video of the incident was exposed to the world in the New York Times, showing clearly mar...
Apr 07, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 392
For Haaretz columnist Amir Tibon , the renewed fighting in Israel with hostages still in captivity, as scandal unfolds around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, represents a “nightmare scenario.” Speaking on the Haaretz Podcast, Tibon reviewed the turbulent events of the past week with host Allison Kaplan Sommer – from the arrest of two of Netanyahu’s top aides in the deepening Qatargate affair and the questioning of the prime minister himself, to the botched attemp...
Apr 03, 2025•27 min•Season 1Ep. 391
Alongside the threats of the Gaza war and the troubling Qatargate scandal, Israelis should be paying attention to a renewed direct threat to their democracy, according to law professor Meital Pinto . Speaking on the Haaretz Podcast, Pinto explains the implications of the newly passed law politicizing the Judicial Appointments Committee, compromising judicial independence and removing the most powerful check on the ruling coalition. But her greatest worry regarding the new push ...
Apr 01, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 390
Like the Watergate affair that brought down President Richard Nixon, the details of the latest scandal to rock the Prime Minister’s Office and the whole of the Netanyahu government have emerged gradually over the past six months. Mounting evidence shows that close aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have, unbeknownst to the Israeli public, been working directly or indirectly for Qatar, the country that funded Hamas as it was planning the murderous rampage of October 7. Bar Pel...
Mar 28, 2025•32 min•Season 1Ep. 389
It was supposed to be a “coming out party” for the newly cozy relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and Europe’s burgeoning far-right politicians. But the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem, planned for Thursday, turned into a “fiasco” and an “embarrassment” due to its controversial guest list, Haaretz English Editor-in-Chief Esther Solomon said on the Haaretz Podcast. The invitations to nu...
Mar 26, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 388
Israel’s decision to return to full-scale war in Gaza was a devastating and tragic turn of events for the families of hostages still being held there, Ruby Chen , father of Itay Chen, an Israeli-American IDF soldier, said on the Haaretz Podcast. “It feels as if the hostages and their families are being viewed now as collateral damage,” said Chen, who has not taken a day off from the families’ struggle in over 530 days. “The current government has not done ever...
Mar 22, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 387
Haaretz Jewish World editor Judy Maltz joins this episode of the Haaretz Podcast to discuss the crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists in America. According to Maltz, the Trump administration’s targeting of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil for deportation as punishment for leading disruptive anti-Israel protests is “pulling the American Jewish community apart.” Khalil is “no Mother Teresa or Righteous Among the Nations” and is “probably pro-Hamas,&r...
Mar 18, 2025•26 min•Season 1Ep. 386
Ruth Patir had been, in her own words, an “artist without art” over the past year. Until this week. Patir’s inventive feminist video installation "(M)otherland" was set to debut in the Israel Pavilion at the Venice Biennale last April - under the shadow of protests against the Gaza War and efforts to oust her from the festival. Ultimately, she made a controversial decision to keep the exhibit intact but shuttered behind closed doors, with a note on the door sa...
Mar 16, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 385
What if former U.S. President Joe Biden’s envoys had negotiated directly with Hamas behind Israel’s back? Haaretz military analyst Amos Harel says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would surely have cried betrayal and called it de facto recognition of a terrorist group. But it was President Donald Trump’s White House that made such a move, and therefore no criticism or condemnation was uttered from Jerusalem after it was revealed that the direct talks were taking place. T...
Mar 10, 2025•32 min•Season 1Ep. 384
Peter Beinart’s new book, “Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning” confronts his “horror” - even as a long-time harsh critic of Israeli policies - at the devastation that has taken place over the past 15 months. “In 2023, I wrote about my concerns about the possibility of ethnic cleansing on a large scale, as opposed to the small scale ethnic cleansing that has been going on for years,” Beinart said, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast...
Mar 05, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 383
On this episode of the Haaretz Podcast, host Allison Kaplan Sommer speaks to two journalists who covered last week’s German election, which concluded with a historically strong showing by Germany’s far-right AfD party. German journalist Vera Weidenbach said the popularity of the AfD, which is “a direct successor of the Nazis, and, especially in the East, deeply rooted in neo-Nazi culture,” is a troubling and dangerous development, even though it did not get as many ...
Mar 02, 2025•23 min•Season 1Ep. 382
The death and devastation on October 7 was "the end result of antisemitism unchecked," Jonathan Greenblatt , CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said on the Haaretz Podcast. “Dehumanizing Israelis or Zionists or Jews - leads to inhuman acts.” Greenblatt said that the traumatic events also reinforced for him the “reality that anti-Zionism is‌ a form of antisemitism.” “The crisis is real,” he said. “The danger is here and now. And yet the challenge for...
Feb 26, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 381
Daniel Shapiro , former U.S. ambassador to Israel and a key architect of the cease-fire-for-hostages deal underway between Israel and Hamas, said on the Haaretz Podcast that the "ultimate condition" of any post-war settlement for Gaza must be the removal of Hamas from power. Shapiro, speaking to host Allison Kaplan Sommer on the week Israel received the bodies of the murdered Bibas family, said the "terrible and heartbreaking" event revived memories of the days following October 7, when "there w...
Feb 23, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 380
At a time when most Israelis, across the political spectrum, have expressed appreciation and gratitude towards the Trump White House for pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to implement the Gaza cease-fire and hostage release agreement, Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), says the "vast majority" of U.S. Jews strongly oppose President Donald Trump's policies. Spitalnick, who spoke to Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer while on a visit t...
Feb 17, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 379
The enthusiastic reception among the Israeli public for Donald Trump's Gaza takeover plan - that includes emptying the Strip of almost 2 million Palestinians - has offered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost that he is likely to take full advantage of. Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn said on the Haaretz Podcast that "very sadly, the transfer idea is extremely popular within Israeli Jewish society," though the fear of international condemnation was always there. Now, the fact th...
Feb 13, 2025•32 min•Season 1Ep. 378
Moshe Lavi , the brother-in-law of Israeli hostage Omri Miran, was one of the activists for the release of the hostages who traveled to Washington D.C. last week during the visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In conversation with Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, he says he was disappointed by Netanyahu's refusal to meet with the families in the U.S. capital. Netanyahu extended his stay in Washington, enjoying his time alongside Donald Trump as the U.S. president announced a pl...
Feb 10, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 377
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's supporters on the Israeli right may be celebrating after President Donald Trump unveiled his "Mar-a-Gaza" vision following the two leaders White House meeting. But Haaretz columnist Alon Pinkas , analyzing the meeting behind the optics, believes Netanyahu has little to celebrate. Speaking on the Haaretz Podcast following the meeting, Pinkas told host Allison Kaplan Sommer that the firestorm over Trump's desire to "own" and "take control" of Gaza and relocate i...
Feb 05, 2025•26 min•Season 1Ep. 376
The lives of Palestinians in West Bank refugee camps and surrounding villages have become a "nightmare" as a result of the intensified military campaigns by the IDF against militant groups operating there, says Haaretz West Bank correspondent Hagar Shezaf on the Haaretz Podcast. Two days after the Gaza cease-fire went into effect, Israel began operation "Iron Wall" - an aggressive campaign targeting Palestinian militant groups. It is focused on the Jenin refugee camp, and includes air stri...
Feb 04, 2025•32 min•Season 1Ep. 375
After months in Hamas captivity, the release of some Israeli hostages has brought moments of relief - but also difficult questions. While the public sees smiling faces and embraces, the reality behind the scenes is far more complex. In this episode, Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer speaks with Professor Hagai Levine , head of the health team for the Hostages Family Forum and chairman of the Israeli Association of Public Health Physician. What happens to a person’s body and mind a...
Jan 31, 2025•31 min•Season 1Ep. 374
At the moment, Israelis may think they have U.S. President Donald Trump's unconditional support when it comes to the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon - but that is not the case, according to Haaretz Washington correspondent Ben Samuels . Reviewing Trump’s first weeks in office and their impact on the Middle East, amid reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be visiting the White House in coming days, Samuels noted on the Haaretz Podcast that Trump took dramatic steps with executive...
Jan 28, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 373
This week, phase one of the long-awaited cease-fire between Israel and Hamas went into effect. As part of the deal, three Israeli hostages - Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher – were freed from Hamas captivity after 471 days. Israelis were glued to their televisions, and thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv's Hostage Square, to watch as the women finally came home. But there are 94 more hostages in Hamas' hands, to be released in phases as part of the deal. Prime Minister...
Jan 22, 2025•19 min•Season 1Ep. 372
For the first time in over a year, a deal to free the Israeli hostages held in Gaza and end the devastating war there seems imminent. The first stage of the deal will reportedly see 33 people held captive by Hamas return to Israel and a temporary cease-fire. But much of it is still up in the air – even after it becomes final. Many factors can sabotage the deal in its planning stages or during its implementation . Haaretz correspondent Linda Dayan spoke to Haaretz's senior security analyst ...
Jan 15, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 371
Israelis have long prided themselves on their ability to face war and conflict with strength and resilience. But the tragedy of October 7, and the ongoing war in Gaza and attacks by Iranian proxies have challenged this ethos, says Karen Zivan , a psychologist who works in schools alongside her private practice, and the mother of five sons who have served in reserve duty during the current war. On the podcast, Zivan talks to host Allison Kaplan Sommer about the different ways the war has taken it...
Jan 13, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 370
This week, Israel was rocked by the story of a young man who served in Gaza that went on a trip to Brazil – and found himself wanted for questioning for war crimes. He managed to flee the country before he was arrested, but questions remained: What does this mean for soldiers and reservists who fought in the war and want to travel abroad? Is this the new normal? Haaretz correspondent Linda Dayan spoke to Amir Tibon , a senior writer and columnist for the Haaretz English edition, about effo...
Jan 08, 2025•14 min•Season 1Ep. 369
