Haaretz Podcast

The Gulf countries are spending “enormous amounts of money to try to mask the economic consequences of the Iran war from their population,” Gregg Carlstrom, The Economist’s Middle East correspondent, said on the Haaretz Podcast. Carlstrom, speaking from Dubai, explained that with the Strait of Hormuz blocked by Iran, Gulf states are flying in consumer goods, food and medicine normally imported by ship “at a huge expense” so their citizens don’t experience shortages or empty shelves in stores.  However, he warned, by the end of the summer, if the security situation remains precarious and the Strait remains blocked – and especially if active warfare with Iran is renewed – the economic toll will be impossible to avoid, and these countries will worry about their many expat residents packing up and leaving.  In a conversation with Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Carlstrom described a “roller coaster” of changing attitudes in the Gulf States regarding the ongoing U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict.  Initially, in March, he said, when the fighting was at its peak, leaders of most of the Gulf countries were “quietly urging the Trump administration to keep fighting until the Iranian regime was overthrown or severely weakened.” By now, he said, the U.S. president “really has lost the support he had in the Gulf,” as leaders unanimously tell Trump that “this needs to end.”   The same leaders, he said, are harboring “anger at Israel” for what they see as its “major role in pushing America into this war.” As a result, he said, he is skeptical of an expansion of the Abraham Accords, as promised by Trump, in the near future.  On the podcast, Carlstrom also discusses the expanding confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the failed negotiations to end it due to what he sees as the “poor job” Lebanon is doing managing its relationship with the United States. Read more: Israeli Plans for Beirut Strike Place Strain on U.S.-Iran Diplomacy How Israel's Adventures in Lebanon Are Giving Iran a Second Chance Report: Satellite Images Show Iran Clearing Entrances to Missile Facilities Buried in Strikes <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-security/2026-06-01/ty-article-magazine/.premium/the-empty-triumph-of-israels-latest-conquest-in-lebanon/0000019e-

Both of Israel’s wars in Iran have been “strategic failures” and critically damaged the country’s deterrence, Danny Citrinowicz, a former top Iran expert in Israeli military intelligence, told the Haaretz Podcast.  He cited a long list of missteps and misguided assumptions that led to the failure of the solo military operation in 2025 and the joint U.S. attack in February. “We overestimated air power and underestimated Iranian resilience,” Citrinowicz said, resulting in the “worst possible strategic reality, with a more extreme, decentralized regime in Tehran,” and heightened tensions with the U.S. – all while highlighting Israel’s dependence on the U.S. as a weakness. While Iran once feared an attack by Israel, he noted, its leaders have now learned that they can be attacked by the two strongest air forces in the world and emerge with its regime intact, as well as “the capacity to launch missiles and drones, and theoretically has the potential to move to a nuclear bomb.” Moreover, in a boomerang effect, he noted, wars launched to deter Iran’s nuclear program have likely intensified Tehran’s motivation to acquire nuclear capacity in order to prevent future attacks.  In his conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Citrinowicz – a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies – also discussed the intensifying conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s continued belief that Saudi Arabia will soon join the Abraham Accords, which he called a hope “detached from reality.”  Read more:  Iran and U.S. Trade Air Strikes After Trump Dismisses Report of Hormuz Deal Trump's Iran Deal: Netanyahu's 2018 Dream Is The World's 2026 Nightmare Analysis | Israel Demands to Disarm Its Regional Enemies, but Refuses to Pay the Price Trump: Not Sure Iran Deal Possible Unless Saudis, Qatar Join Abraham Accords U.S. May Need

The first major primary battle in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections resulted in a significant victory for AIPAC and other pro-Israel megadonors, but Haaretz's Washington correspondent Ben Samuels warned that their celebrations could be premature. The defeat of Representative Thomas Massie – a rare Republican antagonist of U.S. President Donald Trump and harsh critic of Israel whom AIPAC "has wanted to take down for years" – happened after more than $30 million was spent to defeat him in what was the most expensive Congressional primary in American history. Massie was targeted by Trump and his supporters for his disloyalty to the U.S. leader. "They may have won the battle with Thomas Massie, but it's very clear that the ideology and the agenda and the vision that Thomas Massie embodies is not going anywhere – especially with younger voters and also with voters on the progressive left flank that found themselves to be weird ideological allies with this guy," Samuels told the Haaretz Podcast. Samuels also discussed the role that Israel and Iran are playing on the campaign trail, and the contradictory messages from the Trump White House on the drawn-out negotiations toward a potential agreement with Iran. "So little was actually accomplished from the kinetic military campaign that the United States and Israel launched, that any sort of negotiation that Trump is trying to eventually spin as a win wouldn't actually be that much of a win," Samuels said. It would just be moving the goalposts back." Samuels was skeptical regarding reports that Trump is blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dragging him into the Iran war – and that the U.S. is subsequently not keeping Israel in the loop regarding negotiations – as well as theories that the U.S. leader has soured on Netanyahu after singing his praises early in the war. "If anything, Trump defies the odds and brings himself closer to Bibi. That being said, there is no doubt that Israel is effectively being sidelined in these current negotiations." Read more: GOP Rebel Thomas Massie Loses Kentucky Primary After Record-high Spending From pro-Israel Foes Vocal Israel Critic Chris Rabb Wins Pennsylvania Primary, a Victory for Progressive Democrats Analysis by Ben Samuels | Rec

As Israel is fighting enemies on multiple fronts, it can't afford to lose any of its vital strategic assets. And according to Dr. Avishay Ben Sasson-Gordis, a researcher at Tel Aviv's Institute for National Security Studies, it is in danger of losing one of those assets: the support of American Jews. "The loss of the special relationship between Israel and the US will force Israel to reconsider its security priorities and matter greatly to the security and foreign policy of the State of Israel," Sasson-Gordis told the Haaretz Podcast. "Within that, the Jewish community over the decades has been a major pillar of that support." A new report co-authored by Sasson-Gordis details the data behind the deterioration of support and explains the reasons for the dramatic drop – even as the Trump White House is offering "unprecedented levels of support" for Israel. The report is intended as a wake-up call for Israeli leaders and offers a list of policy recommendations designed to stave off the deterioration. Polls show that among the U.S. public at large, "Israel is in the red in terms of net public support in every audience except older Republicans – even traditional groups that the current government and previous Israeli governments have seen as stalwart supporters of Israel." The Jewish community faces a "generational cliff," he said, as American Jews, particularly young Jews, are deeply influenced by the multi-front wars waged by Israel. "If you're today a young American Jew who is not very strongly affiliated with Israel to begin with, then the experiences that you've had – either on campus or where you work or on social media – cause you to wonder whether supporting Israel is worth it for you socially and morally." But even older members of the U.S. Jewish establishment, including institutional leaders, he said, "feel like Israel is not listening to them and is not interested in their opinions, even as they are increasingly affected by Israeli actions on the ground." Read more: Most U.S. Jews Do Not Identify as 'Zionists,' Even When They Support Israel, JFNA Survey Finds Netanyahu Minister to Reform Rabbi MK Kariv: 'You're Marrying Dogs in Your Delusional Synagogues' Analysis by Joshua Leifer: J Street Isn't Out of Touch With American Jews, but Israel's Settler Right I

U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his desire not to "get stuck" in Middle East conflict and clearly wants to avoid a renewal of full-on war with Iran – but he may not have a choice, Haaretz senior analyst Amos Harel told the Haaretz Podcast. "The Iranians are not playing ball. They're not willing to make the concessions he's demanding," Harel said. "Under these circumstances, he may be pushed into a corner" and resume strikes on Iranian targets. It is a scenario that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly desires, Harel said, but it isn't clear whether Trump will include Israel directly in the offensive if it returns to striking Iran. The Israeli military is, he notes, on "high alert." On the podcast, Harel speaks to host Allison Kaplan Sommer about the "fake cease-fires" in Israel's multiple fronts – where agreements exist on paper, but attacks and drone strikes continue – in Gaza, between Iran and the Gulf states, and between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. In Lebanon, he noted, the number of IDF and Lebanese casualties – the latter of which recently passed 3,000 – are "massive" considering that there is no full-scale war officially raging and a recently renewed cease-fire agreement is supposed to be in place. "We're shedding blood there, and this is not going anywhere positive soon," Harel said. "It all goes back to the fact that Netanyahu time and time again insists on not initiating any kind of diplomatic solution after the guns go silent." "After operational success is achieved, he always refuses because of his political situation and refuses to undertake any kind of serious negotiations with the other side." Read more: Trump Says He Paused Attack on Iran, Signals Nuclear Deal May Be Possible Analysis by Amos Harel: As Trump Hesitates With Iran, Israel Acts as if Return of War Inevitable Unmoved by Trump's Ticking Clock, Iran Forms a New Reality in the Persian Gulf Israeli Soldiers in Lebanon Complain of Risky, Pointless Missions in Broad Daylight <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/lebanonnews/2026-05-17/ty-articl

On a special edition of the Haaretz Podcast celebrating its 500th episode, host Allison Kaplan Sommer speaks to iconic Israeli musician David Broza – the composer of "Things Will Be Better," one of Israel’s best-known peace anthems – on performing in a time of war, chaos and despair in his country. “There’s no rationale to being Israeli,” Broza, 70, said on the podcast. "My mission is to exist as an artist and to be very much aware of where I come from and not just leave it behind and shy away from it." Broza describes himself as being “sad but hopeful,” adding that he “would have to stop singing if I wasn’t hopeful.” Having lived in Francoist Spain in his youth, he observed that how "in fascist governments, the artists are the first ones to be burnt, banned, thrown out... And yet you can't erase the art. We need strength now. We need songs. We need art." Broza’s music crosses cultures and genres – fusing Spanish guitar with contemporary rock and folk music, and emphasizing themes of peace and social justice. He has collaborated widely with top artists including Paul Simon, Sting, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan – and with Palestinian artists. His belief in art to overcome conflict puts him at odds with advocates of boycotts. "I am so adamantly anti-boycott that you can't even believe it. BDS is such a lie. It's bullshit," he declared on the podcast. "Boycott will put an end to any hope for future collaboration. If we stop talking to each other, if we do not communicate with each other, we will never step over the threshold." At the same time, he added, "I don't disregard what's going on. I don't disregard the ultra right-wing government we have here, or the crazy government in America." But his role, he said, is clear – to play the role of the troubadour and sing “to anyone, settlers or leftists.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jews in the United Kingdom watched voters in their country gravitate to parties on the extreme right and left in the country’s local elections – following a campaign where antisemitism was used as a political football, and controversies over the government’s relationship with Israel, pro-Palestinian protests and free speech factored into voting.  On the Haaretz Podcast, London-based correspondent Hagar Shezaf and senior analyst Esther Solomon discuss the impact of the results, which have been described as an “earthquake” for its rejection of the Labour Party led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer. While covering the campaign, Shezaf said, she encountered a voter who told her “I voted for Labour my whole life. I won't be doing that anymore because of Gaza and Iran.” The surge in support for the far-right anti-immigrant Reform U.K. party, Solomon observed, “leaves Jews in a very, very difficult position” as the party and its leader, Brexit architect Nigel Farage, made multiple bids for Jewish support during the campaign – including in the aftermath of the stabbing attacks in the Jewish neighborhood of Golders Green on April 29. “Reform really wanted to put over the message that it was there to ‘look after’ the Jews – by cracking down on what it calls an invasion of migrants … and on the Muslim community of the U.K. … but it’s not just about protecting the Jews. It's putting them up on a pedestal in order to stamp on all sorts of other minorities.”  On the left, Solomon said the newly resurgent Green Party – led by leader Zack Polanski – “were not willing to really confront the issue of antisemitism, and constantly tried and deflect to the idea that is all about their criticism of Israel, and that they refuse to be silenced.” Read more: Analysis by Esther Solomon on Britain's Nationalist Surge: It's Not Only Reform's Farage That Disunites the Kingdom How Antisemitism Can Push British Jews Into the Arms of Farage and the Far Right Cheers for Reform, Boos for Labour: 5,000 U.K. Jews and Allies Rally in London Against 'Poisonous' Antisemitism 'No Longer Sa

October 7 and the Gaza war radically changed the way many people around the world, including Diaspora Jews, viewed Israel.  For Toronto-based journalist Jesse Brown, the turning point came not with Hamas' massacre itself, but with the domestic backlash that followed. “Canadians got angry with Jews after October 7, and the entire national discourse seemed to just turn against Jews in a way that I wouldn’t have imagined possible,” he told the Haaretz Podcast.  Using police-reported hate crime statistics from Canada and the United States, Brown argues that a Jew in Canada is now about nine times more likely to be the victim of a hate crime than a Jew in the United States. Ironically, he explained to podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, the progressive political atmosphere in Canada has made things worse for Jews, not better.  Brown’s podcast series “What is Happening Here” documents the skyrocketing antisemitism targeting Jewish institutions and neighborhoods in Canada, including synagogues being shot at, firebombed or vandalized, and Jewish-owned businesses and individuals singled out for harassment campaigns. Brown contends that debates over whether specific chants or actions are “anti-Israel,” “anti-Zionist” or “antisemitic” obscure the practical impact on Jewish communities. While he stops short of equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, Brown said that contemporary anti-Zionism is “just as dangerous to Jews.”  Read more: Canadian Watchdog Reports Record Number of Antisemitic Incidents in 2025 Canadian-Jewish Groups Decry Efforts by pro-Palestinian Groups to Strip Jewish Schools of Their Charity Status Toronto Police Arrest Suspect in Passover Shooting at Jewish-owned Restaurant Campaign Targeting Jewish Children's Summer Camps in Canada Condemned as AntisemiticSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

War-weary Israelis have clearly tired of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership, but it is still uncertain as to whether opposition forces will be able to put aside their wide ideological differences to defeat him in the October election, Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin told the Haaretz Podcast.  Scheindlin, a veteran political analyst and strategist, said the recent announcement that Netanyahu challenger and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will join with Yair Lapid – also a former prime minister – is a harbinger of an opposition seeking to run in a united bloc.  What is unclear is whether this push for a united opposition is “an extremely sophisticated political strategy based on mathematical calculations, or it's absolutely an arbitrary guess – a finger in the wind.” Lapid and Bennett are joining forces despite the fact that Bennett’s right-wing pro-occupation positions are firmly in line with Netanyahu’s, “minus the corruption and populism,” said Scheindlin, while Lapid supports a two-state solution.  Asked if this election is indeed as fateful as it is being framed, Scheindlin replied that in her experience, every election in Israel’s history is expected to “change the course of the country. And every time it was true.” The difference is, she said, that even if Netanyahu is defeated, “Israel has gone so far in the direction of an undemocratic transformation and becoming a permanent expansionist, occupying undemocratic state – it will be much harder to turn the clock back.” Read more: Explained | What to Know About Israel's 2026 Election Analysis by Dahlia Scheindlin | The Problem With Naftali Bennett Far-right Minister Smotrich Says Forming Government With Arab Party Chairman 'Worse Than October 7' Top Israeli Elections Official Resigns, Risking Electoral Integrity Despite the Cascade of Crises, Israeli Politics Remains Stuck <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-politi

A diplomatic crisis over Israeli import of stolen grain from occupied Ukraine exploded this week following the publication of a Haaretz investigation that documents Ukrainian allegations that Russian ships were bringing the wheat and barley to Israeli ports.  National Security and Cyber editor Avi Scharf and diplomatic correspondent Liza Rozovsky explain on the Haaretz Podcast how the investigation unfolded, the international fallout, its effect on Israel-Ukraine relations and the harsh war of words between the two countries.  The story began in mid-April with Ukraine’s announcement that “they had warned the Israeli authorities about a ship arriving with stolen Ukrainian grain, and that they had asked Israel to take necessary actions to seize the ship,” Scharf said. “To their dismay, Israel did not adhere to the warnings and let the ship unload and leave Israel.” The incident led Scharf to revive an investigation into the import of stolen Ukrainian grain that he had begun in late 2023, but was put on hold after October 7 and the all-encompassing Gaza war.  His story, documenting the systematic importation of wheat, sparked strong reactions both from Ukraine and the European Union, which threatened sanctions against Israel if such imports continue.  Rozovsky noted that the Ukrainian reaction was “the most straightforward attack on Israeli policy than we’ve seen since the beginning of the war” between Russian and Ukraine.  After the story was published – and Haaretz revealed the name of the company importing the grain – the company announced that it was cancelling the purchase. Read more: Haaretz investigation: How Ukrainian Wheat Stolen by Russia Is Smuggled to Israel Zelenskyy Says Israel Broke Own Law by Buying Stolen Ukrainian Wheat From Russia, Vows Sanctions EU Mulls Sanctions on Israelis Over Stolen Ukrainian Wheat Smuggled by Russia Israeli Importer Drops Shipment of Allegedly Russian-stolen Ukrainian GrainSee omnystudio.com/listener</

The average American watched the Gaza war from afar as a "dramatic and gruesome humanitarian crisis that Israel was responsible for" – but the U.S.-Israel war in Iran is having a far greater impact on U.S. voters and politicians, Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer said, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast.  "The perception is that this was a war that no one in America wanted," and "that America has been tricked into a war of choice, and that this is Israel’s fault." This, he said, has fueled the erosion of congressional support for continuing massive military aid to Israel – and in the Democratic Party, growing support for refusing to sell arms to Israel entirely.  On the podcast, Leifer also discusses the state of the fragile cease-fire with Iran, and the "nightmare scenario" possibility of a prolonged period in which there will be no renewed fighting nor an agreement, leaving the region in dangerous limbo.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to suffer domestic political consequences for a failure to achieve the promised victory in Iran, Leifer added, noting that prior to October 7, Netanyahu had been positively perceived by voters as "a relatively cautious and conflict averse prime minister who chose not to get Israel involved in protracted wars. Here, he has really plunged Israel into quite a mess." Read more: Analysis by Joshua Leifer: Presidential Hopeful Rahm Emanuel Made Surprising Remarks on Israel. What He Left Unsaid Is Just as Big Analysis by Joshua Leifer: Opposing Weapons Sales to Israel is the New Democratic Norm Trump Not Happy With Latest Iran Proposal to End the War, U.S. Official Says Former Top Biden Official Says Netanyahu Helped Create a 'Genocide in Gaza' Iran War Has Depleted U.S. Ammunition Stockpile Significantly, Report Says <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-security/2026-04-24/ty-article/.premium/source-israel-agreed-but-did-not-comply-with-u-s-request-to-

Fighting antisemitism online was meant to be the focus of the Israeli government’s multimillion-dollar digital PR campaign run by President Donald Trump’s former digital guru, Brad Parscale. But instead, Haaretz disinformation and cyber correspondent Omer Benjakob said on the Haaretz Podcast, Parscale’s firm has built a network of pro-Israel websites targeting the U.S. evangelical right, stressing the contrast between Western and “Judeo-Christian” values while promoting negative messages regarding Palestinians and Islam. Among them is “praise for international calls to recognize settlements,” and “articles dedicated to why giving the Palestinian Authority control of Gaza is a terrible idea, and almost worse than letting Hamas take control." Repeatedly, he added, the websites reflect a “compulsive obsession with perception and narrative,” insisting that all negative content about Israel online is false and manipulated. On the podcast, Benjakob explained that the multiple new websites created by Parscale's consulting firm are designed to look like research institutes and think tanks in order to optimize them for ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and other AI chatbots. He questioned both their efficacy and value.  “They seem to be fueling a lot of the issues that, you know, led us here – for example, demonizing the Palestinians instead of solving our conflict.” Read more:  Fighting the 'Jesus Was a Palestinian Lie': Inside Israel's MAGA Influence Campaigns Losing the Republican Base, Israel Pours Millions to Target Evangelicals and Churchgoers Your Car Is Spying on You – and Israeli Firms Are Leading the Surveillance Race Spyware Firm NSO's Chief Steps Down as U.S. Lifts Sanctions on Intellexa ExecutivesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The final moments of Vivian Silver’s life were a “pivotal turning point” for her son Yonatan Zeigen, who now dedicates his life to Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation, following in the footsteps of his peace activist mother, who was slain in her home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7. Speaking on the eve of Israel’s Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers and terror victims, Zeigen recalled his final goodbyes with his mother with the gunshots of Hamas terrorists at her doorstep in the background, and the loss that he described as jolting him out of what he calls a “political coma” and moved him into full-time activism.  Zeigen is a board member of The Parents Circle-Families Forum that co-sponsors the annual  alternative joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony.  He attended the ceremony in his youth together with his mother and immediately after her death, he knew that this would be the appropriate place to mourn her and continue her mission.  He said on the podcast that the alternative ceremony represented “how two peoples share a land: They don't share a land by creating artificial divisions and dehumanizing each other. They do it by looking each other in the eye by celebrating together and also crying together, mourning together.” Zeigen said he was not comfortable being part of the government-sponsored ceremonies memorializing terror victims like his mother. “Bereavement is framed in a political manner in Israel. It is utilized to boost morale by diving into our narrative of victimhood and rallying around and making heroes of those who die in the conflict. It’s not the way that I feel comfortable commemorating my mother.” Read more: 'Swimming Against the Tide, but Swimming': More Israelis and Palestinians Now Choose to Grieve Together Op-ed by Yonatan Zeigen: Most Israelis Are Willfully Ignorant, Opting to Deny or Justify. But There's an Alternative Thousands of Israelis Sign Petition Urging TV Networks Not to Broadcast State Independence Day Ceremony Op-ed by Yonatan Zeigen: When Justice Means Revenge, the Open Wounds of

The dramatic landslide election in Hungary toppling authoritarian populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, resonated deeply for Israel in diverse ways, explained Haaretz’s David Issacharoff, who covered the election from Budapest, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast.  For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters, it meant the loss of his “closest ally” in Europe who would no longer stand up for Israel by pulling out of the International Criminal Court when it issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders – and bucking the European Union in defense of the Jewish state.  For Israelis desperate to rid themselves of Netanyahu’s leadership, the end of Orbán’s 16-year reign offers inspiration. Issacharoff noted that young anti-Orbán voters he interviewed “said exactly the same things that many young Israelis believe too: that he’s been making their country a pariah, and they don’t feel part of the wider world anymore.”  Although the two countries are very different, there are lessons from the Hungarian campaign of Péter Magyar, and Netanyahu’s opponents must learn them. The biggest lesson? "Turning the anxiety into hope."  Read more: Hungary's PM-elect Magyar Signals Shift in Israel Policy With Return to International Criminal Court 'It Won't Get Worse': After 16-years Under Orbán, Hungary's Jews Are Split Over What Comes Next 'We Hope You Can Do It Too': How Israel Echoed in Hungary's Election Hungry for Hungary: Why Are Netanyahu's Ministers Flocking to Budapest? Could Orbán's Crushing Defeat Be a Blueprint for Netanyahu's Opponents?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As diplomatic talks between Iran and the United States continue in an effort to extend the temporary cease-fire due to expire on April 22, public opinion surveys show that while a majority of Israelis oppose the cease-fire, support for the Iran war is declining.  Alon-Lee Green, the national co-director of Standing Together and one of the main organizers of demonstrations against the joint U.S.-Israel offensive in Iran, told the Haaretz Podcast that he is “encouraged” by the decrease in support among Israelis.  “I think a lot of people are waking up and joining this protest,” Green said. “It's delusional to believe that the promises that have been made to us at the beginning of the war are still valid somehow, and that we're still fighting to change the regime in Iran or to save Iranians while we're killing them and making them refugees.” Through the protests, Standing Together “tried to remind the Israeli public that just eight months ago, we ended the first Iran war with big promises, with Netanyahu saying that we scored a historic win, that we annihilated the ballistic missile program of Iran, that we annihilated the nuclear threat of Iran,” Green said. “ Green was among the protesters who, after being detained by police at the April 4 antiwar protest in Tel Aviv, were not permitted to enter a shelter during a missile barrage. Police instead took detainees to the lobby of a nearby building that was enclosed entirely in glass. On the podcast, he also recounts being targeted by right-wing activists who have poured chemicals outside his door and repeatedly tried to break into his private residence. Op-ed by Alon-Lee Green | I Trusted Israel Police to Protect Me at the anti-Iran War Protest. I Was Wrong Israel's Top Court Orders Police to Allow Tel Aviv Anti-gov't Protests Despite IDF Gathering Limit Most Israelis Disapprove of Government's Handling of Iran War, Survey Shows Analysis by Dahlia Scheindlin | Chained to Netanyahu's Wars, Israelis Don't Know What to Do When They Are Over <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/haaretz-today/2026-04-05/ty-article

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "extremely disappointed" by the terms of the temporary cease-fire hammered out between Donald Trump's White House and Iran, but has little choice but to accept it and try to spin it as a victory, said Haaretz senior defense analyst Amos Harel, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast. With none of Israel's declared goals of the war achieved - defeat of the regime and elimination of Iran's missile and nuclear threat, Netanyahu still "has to keep up appearances," said Harel. "He has to tell his public, his voters, that this was an enormous success. But this is not the way things actually happened. What we have is massive operational success, which - as we knew in advance - did not translate into a strategic victory." Israel's leadership is concerned the clock may be ticking, Harel predicted, on Trump's position allowing Israel to continue fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is why Israel hit targets intensively immediately following the cease-fire announcement. "It's quite clear that Netanyahu wants to keep the Lebanon front open," he noted. "It's beneficial for him to keep striking Hezbollah, to hit them and do damage, and also create the notion among Israelis that the war still goes on." Read more:  Israel Botched the Iran War – and Shattered Its Standing in the U.S. Fragile U.S.–Iran Cease-fire May Collapse Within Days, Even as Tehran Pushes to End War, Israeli Officials Say As U.S. Retreats, Iran Seeks to Sway Cease-fire to Establish New Regional Order Iran: Sanctions Relief, Reparation, Control of Hormuz to Be Discussed in Talks With U.S.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy

As the war with Iran drags on and the conflict with Hezbollah intensifies, a growing number of Israelis are “losing faith” in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promises of a decisive victory, Haaretz senior defense analyst Amos Harel said on the Haaretz Podcast.  IDF senior officers admitted this week that Israel underestimated Hezbollah’s remaining capabilities following the November 2024 cease-fire, Harel said. At the moment, he said, “It's clear to anybody watching this carefully that it's hard to reach a final victory again against Hezbollah. Hezbollah may no longer be the army of terror that it was in 2023, but it is capable of launching 100 rockets a day,” while coordinating their attacks with their Iranian sponsors, in a conflict that has now surpassed the length of the second Lebanon war.  In his conversation on the podcast, Harel noted that Israel’s enemies – Iran, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon – now share a common war philosophy: “You win by not losing.”  “At one point, Hamas assumed that it could defeat Israel. So did Iran. Now, after getting knocked so hard by Israel and the U.S., Iranian ambitions are different. What they're talking about is surviving, suffering blows and remaining on their feet.” U.S. President Donald Trump fails to understand this, Harel said, which is why he continues to fail to get the deal he seeks to end the conflict. “They're not interested in long-term deals. It's about surviving through chaos; surviving through resistance.” Read more: Analysis by Amos Harel: Trump Ramps Up Threats Against Iran, and Braces for Longer War Than Planned Despite the Netanyahu Government's Promises, the IDF Admits It Can't Disarm Hezbollah How Hezbollah Turned Into Israel's Main Front in Its War With Iran Without Evidence, IDF Claims Again That Hezbollah Is Extensively Using Ambulances for Military Purposes Why Israelis Are Losing Faith i

With a high-profile conflict between IDF soldiers and a CNN crew, the establishment of five new Israeli settler outposts on territory meant to be under Palestinian Authority control in a single night, and skyrocketing settler violence aimed at erasing Palestinians from their land, the situation in the West Bank has “definitely worsened” during the Iran war, Haaretz West Bank correspondent Matan Golan told the Haaretz Podcast. Golan joined her colleague, Yarden Michaeli, for a podcast conversation focused on what is unfolding in the West Bank and Gaza while the world’s attention is diverted to the major regional conflict between Iran, Israel and the United States.  “It’s hard to count how many incidents of cars set on fire, and raids of settlers on Palestinian villages” have occurred over the past month, Golan said.  What the West Bank and Gaza have in common, Michaeli noted, is a situation in which steps designed to be interim measures – such as the Yellow Line separating Gaza – don’t appear to be temporary.  Since last autumn’s cease-fire, the IDF has maintained control of more than half of the Gaza Strip, and, as Michaeli explained, a Haaretz investigation has revealed the construction of military outposts and infrastructure that point to plans for an entrenched long-term presence.  “All of this is happening in the context of the government pushing in a certain direction,” he explained, “and what makes us so concerned about it is the experience we have from the West Bank.” In the rest of the Strip, which remains under Hamas’ control, he said, the humanitarian crisis continues.  “We have 2.1 million people now in Gaza that are crammed to less than half the size of the land that they had prior to the war” with hundreds of thousands living in tents or makeshift shelters amid destroyed buildings with no access to power, fuel or running water – and over 18,000 severely ill people who have been denied entry to the West Bank and Jerusalem to receive medical care by Israeli authorities, Michaeli explained.  Read more: 32 Outposts, 10 Miles of Ground Barrier: IDF Builds New Border Line Inside Gaza. Here's How It Looks Gaza Aid Reduced by 80 Percent Since Start of Iran War as Food Prices Surge IDF Suspends Reserve Battalion Whose

As Israelis continue to run to bomb shelters for protection from deadly Iranian missile attacks, the prospect of hosting Passover meals has felt overwhelming. On the Haaretz Podcast, acclaimed food writer and cookbook author Adeena Sussman offers her best advice and coping tips and shares recipes that are easy and fun to execute, even in wartime. Cooking for the holidays can be stressful, she said, but in challenging times, becoming immersed in what is happening in the kitchen “can be a little bit of an escape” “This year, let’s focus on what is meaningful and what will keep us sane,” she suggested. Sussman is the author of three cookbooks – the first was published as the COVID-19 epidemic was sweeping the world, the second on the eve of October 7. Now her upcoming cookbook is due to be published this month in the shadow of the war with Iran.  This makes her, she says, experienced with “simple cooking for complicated times,” which is the theme of her new book, "Zariz," the Hebrew word for “speedy.”  Also complicated: being one of the most prominent representatives of Israeli cuisine in the U.S. at a time when Israel is such a hot-button issue that mainstream media outlets balk at writing about her work. Despite that, she said, her audience continues to grow, particularly online. As she prepares to tour to promote her new book, she said, “I'm not trying to hide where I live or who I am, and I'm neither trying to defend nor indict a political situation for which I personally have no control.”  On the podcast, Sussman shares her tales of running an informal “WarBnB” where she cooks for friends and family camped out at their home because of the lack of a bomb shelter where they live, plus the most popular bomb shelter snacks, and how the war has transformed the atmosphere of Tel Aviv's Carmel Market near her home. Read more: Adeena Sussman Offers You Something for the Weekend in Her New ‘Shabbat’ CookbookThis Love Letter to a Tel Aviv Food Market Is Getting a Lot of Love in America Only the Shelves Remain: Inside Tel Aviv Wine Bar Shattered by Missiles Tel Aviv-born Top Chef in London: 'It's Bes

While at war with Iran and a civilian population under missile attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “has been working relentlessly towards the goal of making the public sphere of Israel more religious, its governance more autocratic, and the chances of replacing its leader slimmer,” Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn said on the Haaretz Podcast.  The push for the anti-democratic judicial coup and empowerment of ultra-Orthodox autonomy “hasn't changed despite October 7,” Benn said. He observed that it had slowed significantly on that date, but today, the massacre and ensuing war has given Netanyahu “even more motivation” to “escape any responsibility and accountability for October” as he looks ahead to the election scheduled for this fall.  In Benn’s wide-ranging conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer on the four-week-old war and its impact on Israeli politics and society, Benn pointed out that the effort was not unusual, with many examples of wartime leaders taking advantage of “less public resistance” to consolidate their power.  “Governments at war use it to limit civil liberties. We see it in Russia in the past four years, very visibly, where the last remaining bastions of some sort of opposition to President Putin have been wiped out.”  Read more: Netanyahu Says Israel 'Expanding' Lebanon Buffer Zone as Country's Death Toll Crosses 1,000 Stand-in Justice Minister Formally Recommends That President Herzog Pardon Netanyahu Israel Preparing to Shift Pace, Targets of Iran Strikes if Trump Announces Cease-fire Op-ed by Aluf Benn: The Strange Case of Dr. Bibi and Mr. Benjamin Analysis by Anshel Pfeffer: In Iran, the Netanyahu Doctrine Is Now Facing Its Ultimate Test  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The U.S.-Israeli goal of initiating war in order to prevent Iran from going nuclear may result in a boomerang effect, according to former senior Mossad official Sima Shine, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast.  After the war, “if the regime stays in power, and there are good chances that it will,” Shine said, it will be far weaker, but it will possess “high emotional revenge” for what it has suffered and reinforce a belief that “only nuclear capability will deter future attacks, and I think they will do anything they can do to get to a nuclear bomb.” Shine says that Western countries and Israel both fail to understand that “Iran is a system” – not driven by individual leaders, which is why the targeted assassinations of the country’s top officials have not harmed the country as much as expected.  While Iran would surely like the war to end sooner or later, she said, they have staying power and will only do so if they can exact a “high price,” and Tehran’s threats to disrupt world energy markets must be taken seriously. In her conversation on the podcast, Shine categorized Iran’s hold on Lebanon through Hezbollah as a “tragedy” for Israel’s neighbor. She said it appeared that the strength of Hezbollah when it joined the war in Iran came as a “surprise to Israel. They have more capabilities than we saw before.” The group, she said, will fight with all they have to preserve their political and military position in Lebanon. A buffer zone in southern Lebanon may be the only way to keep residents of northern Israel safe, “not from rockets and missiles, but from special forces of Hezbollah invading kibbutzim and cities” as Hamas did on October 7.  Read more: Trump: U.S. in Truce Talks With Iran Aimed at 'Long-term, Guaranteed Peace for Israel' Tehran's Next Top Leader? The Rise of Iran's Hardline Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf Despite Iran's Denials, Israeli Officials Believe the U.S. Is Talking to Tehran Directly Survivors of the Iranian strike in Arad: 'We Came Out of the Shelter and Saw Everything Destroyed. Like What We Do in Lebanon' <a href="https:/

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is getting high marks from the Israeli public regarding his performance leading the country in its war against Iran – but for now, these sentiments are not giving his coalition a significant boost in political polling, according to Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast.  Scheindlin, a Haaretz columnist and political analyst, noted the war’s “overwhelming support” among Israeli Jews – reaching over 92 percent.  Despite the “near consensus” supporting the war and high personal approval of Netanyahu as a war leader, she points out, “poll ratings for the Likud and for the coalition government have been flat and stuck at 40 percent, and Netanyahu does not have a majority,” which does not bode well for the election scheduled for October.  While support for the war cuts across partisan lines in Israel, despite attitudes towards Netanyahu, Scheindlin says that surveys in the United States paint a different picture. "If you look at the results of the question: ‘Do you approve or disapprove of Trump's handling of Iran?’ Scheindlin said, “it basically mirrors his approval ratings in general.” She added that poll numbers point to the fact that the talk of a split among Trump’s base – especially “America First” Republicans – may be overly “hyped.” Instead, she observed that U.S. opinion surveys reflected “overwhelming support from Republican voters… close to 80 percent." Read more: Analysis by Dahlia Scheindlin: Why Israelis Aren't Giving Netanyahu an Iran Bump in the Polls Most Israelis Back Iran War but Support Low Among Arab Citizens, Poll Shows Just One in Four Americans Supports U.S. Strikes on Iran, Poll Finds Analysis by Joshua Leifer: The post-October 7 Wars in Iran and Lebanon Are Turning Into Netanyahu's Vietnam Netanyahu's Likud Party Makes No Gains Amid Iran War, Poll Finds <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-

U.S. President Donald Trump “needs to find an off ramp” from the war with Iran as soon as possible, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said on the Haaretz Podcast. While Shapiro said the military results of the war – the decimation of Iranian military assets and elimination of top leaders – are “incredibly impressive,” the United States must recognize that “the weaker party has cards to play, and their cards grow more influential as this conflict drags on,” pointing to the choking of world oil supply in the Strait of Hormuz, draining of U.S. and Israeli anti-missile resources, and attacks by proxies and terrorist groups.  Shapiro, who was ambassador from 2011–2017, said he wants regime change in Iran, but “not through a military campaign. That's not really something we're capable of at any acceptable cost.” Additionally, he warns, a fall of the Iranian regime will spark “a great deal of chaos, a great deal of spillover of instability to neighboring countries, perhaps a civil war, waves of terror outside of Iran” and more. “All of that has the potential to suck the United States in much further to the whole region. I could imagine that this is not a high concern for Israelis. Israelis could live with that set of concerns in ways that the United States and the American people will maybe feel differently about and certainly have not been prepared for.”  Read more: What a Difference 12 Days Make: Why This Israel-Iran War Is Different From the Last One Trump 'Shocked' That Iran Attacked Gulf Neighbors in Retaliatory Strikes House Democrats Urge Congressional Testimony by Trump Administration Officials on Iran War Analysis by Amos Harel | IDF's Grandiose Plans for South Lebanon Ground Offensive Won't Topple Hezbollah Netanyahu Isn't Dead. But Even His 'Proof of Life' Video Is Being Derided as AISee omnystudio.com/listener<

Under the shadow of the Gaza war, even before the current conflict with Iran, Israeli filmmaker Hilla Medalia found it “very surprising” that her short film “Children No More: Were and Are Gone” was nominated for an Academy Award – but she was thrilled.  Despite the atmosphere in Hollywood even before the U.S.-Israel military attack in Iran, with petitions to boycott Israeli filmmakers circulated, two Israelis are nominated to take home golden statues at the March 16 ceremony: Medalia's film, in the category of Best Documentary Short, along with Meyer Levinson-Blount’s “Butcher’s Stain,” which is nominated for Best Live Action Short Film.  The nominations are “an incredible achievement of course for both Meyer and I, but also for the entire Israeli film community,” she said, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast.  Medalia’s film follows a group of Israeli activists who in March 2025, after the second cease-fire between Israel and Hamas collapsed, learned that 139 Palestinian children had been killed in a single day by IDF attacks in Gaza.  The small group decided to print out photographs of the children, and stand holding the images silently as an accompaniment to the raucous demonstrations taking place in Tel Aviv calling for a cease-fire that would bring back the Israeli hostages.  Over time their action, Medalia explained, “slowly grew into this bigger vigil that had more than 1,000 people. On each poster there is a picture of a child, their name, their age, where they're from, the day that they were killed. That's it. No political slogans. And they stood in silence.” She was inspired and impressed by the group’s commitment to remaining silent – even as passersby insulted and cursed them.  Unlike the other films Medalia is competing against, “Children No More” did not make the rounds of the prestigious film festivals to increase its Oscar chances – its path from conception to filming to release was unusually rapid.   “We felt that we could not wait to share with the local Israeli audience and the world.”   Read more: Oscar-nominated Israeli Filmmaker on Gaza: 'Focusing on Dead Children Does Not Diminish Our Pain' Why Israel Fears the Faces of Dead Palestinian Children on Its Streets It Looks Like a Memorial Day Ceremony: The Isr

Reports of U.S. anger with Israel for targeting Iran’s oil fields in the intensifying conflict have been “massively exaggerated,” said Haaretz senior defense analyst Amos Harel on the Haaretz Podcast. While the American president “probably felt that Israel took this a step too far,” Harel said, “the truth of the matter is that the Israelis and the U.S. military are deeply coordinated.” Regarding the entrance of Hezbollah into the expanding war, Harel said that the Lebanese group is “still quite capable of creating damage” to Israel, which is why the IDF has deployed large-scale force against them with airstrikes across Lebanon. Still, he said, “most of the effort and most of the focus remains on Iran.” Despite the disruption to life in Israel, he pointed out that in the first 12 days of this war, there has been far less actual damage and loss of life in Israel during the two weeks of war last June. Also on the podcast, Haaretz Jewish World Editor Judy Maltz visits an underground parking lot tent city populated by Tel Aviv residents without adequate overnight protection from missiles - many of whom were second-time refugees. “Most of the people I met had been there in June” she said. “When Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran, they just packed their bags and came back. They knew the drill already.”    Read more: Israel Focuses on Hitting Iran's Regime After Exceeding Military Target Expectations Trump Signals Iran War Nearing End Amid Oil Fears as Hezbollah Surprises Israel 'Priciest Real Estate in Town': Tel Avivians Ride Out the War Deep UndergroundSleepless in Tel Aviv: Iranian Missile Barrages Trigger All-night Sirens in Central IsraelSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recalling the first day of the war with Iran is still traumatic for journalist and activist Anat Saragusti, whose apartment building in central Tel Aviv began to shake as she ran to seek shelter from Iranian missiles targeting the city following the U.S.-Israel attack that morning.  "I didn't believe my eyes," she says of what awaited her when she returned. "The whole living room was covered with broken glass - the carpets, the sofa, the chairs - all over. It was really so scary." Matching the shattering of the glass in her home, said Saragusti, who monitors press freedom at the Union of Journalists in Israel, is the ongoing shattering of her trust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government as the war continues, and her dissatisfaction with what she views as an overly-compliant media.  Most Israelis, Saragusti said on the Haaretz Podcast, are "glued to television screens" where retired IDF generals spout military facts and statistics. "There is no room for alternative voices, questions or doubts" regarding the war and "what the end game will be." "They promised us in the last war in Iran in June that we destroyed the majority of the infrastructure for the ballistic missiles and the nuclear plan of Iran. Then in nine months, [Iran rebuilt] everything from scratch? I don't understand that. I feel that they are lying to us." Read more: Op-ed by Anat Sargusti: Israeli Broadcasters Don Uniforms as the Media Becomes an Arm of the Military Follow the latest updates from Haaretz on the U.S.-Israel war on Iran One Killed, Two Wounded in Central Israel Following Iranian Missile Barrage, Emergency Services Say 'You Can't Live by the Sword': Israeli TV's Tel Aviv Street Interview Backfires Iran's Cluster Missiles: What You Need to Know About the Controversial Weapon Targeting IsraelSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While the Iranian regime “by and large, needed to be punished” and “did not deserve any mercy,” according to former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, it is possible that “a little bit more flexibility” in the negotiations for a nuclear agreement leading up to the U.S.-Israel assault might have meant they “would have resulted in a different way.”  Olmert made his remarks in a dialogue with Haaretz Global Editor Noa Landau, featured in a plenary at the J Street Convention in Washington D.C. – and coinciding with the initial days of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.  Olmert expressed satisfaction that U.S. President Donald Trump pushed back on remarks from prominent Republicans that Israel pushed the US into the war and “did not pretend to say that he was fighting for us. He said in the most explicit manner: ‘They are American enemies. This is an American war. I'm fighting for America, and I had to do it for America.’ No one saved Israel, or no one got mixed up in a war in order to save Israel.” In his dialogue with Landau, Olmert also discussed the Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative he is pursuing with former Palestinian Authority foreign minister Dr. Nasser al-Kidwa to “move forward into entirely new realities on the basis of cooperation and mutual respect and compromise and compassion.” He harshly condemned the ongoing and record-setting settler violence in the West Bank as “obnoxious” and “heartbreaking.”  Speaking out against such actions, he added, "is essential if you want, as a Jew, not to be linked to these actions. You have to speak up.” Read more: 'I Might Have Forced Israel's Hand': Trump Denies Israel Dragged U.S. Into Iran War After Rubio Comments Draw Ire As Israeli Defense Officials Push for a Long Offensive, Trump Still Has Doubts 'Both Sides Are Tired of War': Former PM Ehud Olmert Makes Two-state Proposal With Former Palestinian Minister Police Report Average of Four Daily Incidents of West Bank Settler Violence in Early 2026 The latest reporting on West Bank settler violence<

“It is a time of fear and worry, but also a time of hope” in Iran after the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the early days of the U.S.-Israel assault on the regime in Tehran, said Iranian-American scholar and journalist Arash Azizi. “The first thing [my family in Iran] told me was that they called me to say they were alive after Tehran was hit, and there are hundreds of civilian casualties,” said Azizi, speaking on a wartime edition of the Haaretz Podcast. Of Khamenei, he said “most Iranians are happy to see him gone.”  Azizi was sharply critical of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s calls for Iranian civilians to rise up and overthrow their regime.  “It's absolutely bonkers,” he said. “If you had a population that had organized networks ready to take over, you could imagine perhaps something like that happening. But we don’t. So both Trump and Netanyahu keep saying this, and it makes me wonder, do they really believe it?” He also had harsh words for Iranian exiles like himself, who he said were unprepared for this moment. “We have not done the work, we have not built organizations, we did not get our act together in a way that would be ready to make a successful transition to democracy.”  Also on the podcast: Gregg Carlstrom, The Economist’s Dubai-based Middle East correspondent, reports on the growing anger in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sparked by the intensity of the Iranian assault that could fuel support among everyday people to pick sides in this conflict.   “The question is, what does that mean? Is it allowing America to use bases and Gulf countries to carry out attacks against Iran, or is it going a step further and militarily getting involved with their own warplanes and troops? I think it's more likely that they're willing to do the former than the latter.” Read more: Trump: U.S. Ahead of Schedule in Iran but Can Extend Fighting Beyond Projected 4-5 Weeks Three Israeli Teenage Siblings Among Nine Killed in Iranian Missile Strike on Bomb Shelter Analysis by Amos Harel | As Israeli Defense Officials Push for a Long Offensive, Trump Still Has Doubts <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/iran/2026-03-

In this special edition of the Haaretz Podcast, recorded during the first hours of the dramatic joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, and as Tehran began its retaliatory strikes on Israel and on U.S. targets across the Middle East, Haaretz senior analyst Amos Harel joins host Allison Kaplan Sommer for a real-time update and discussion. "The stakes are much higher than last time," Harel said, referring to the 12 day Israel-Iran war in June 2025. For Israelis, "there is a certain amount of danger," although it is impossible to say at this point how hard the country will be hit by Iran and its proxies. For Iranians, "this is going to get messy and bloody," not only because of the military strikes, but also because of growing clashes between government forces and those hoping to throw over the regime.  Read more on the escalating situation: How the First Day of the Israel and U.S. War with Iran Unfolded War for Regime Change in Iran: U.S. and Israel Have Ambitious Aims, but Will Trump Stay the Course? / Amos Harel 'Unnecessary, Idiotic, and Illegal' | After Strikes on Iran: U.S. Lawmakers Split on Party Lines As Congress Left in the Dark Larnaca or Sharm el-Sheikh: Can Israelis Stuck Abroad Amid Iran War Get Back Home?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, the financial support and professional opportunities afforded by her fellowship at the Wexner Foundation, which plugged her into a network of the “the most powerful Jewish professionals in the country,” were substantial.  But as a feminist rabbi whose most recent book is titled “On Repentance and Repair,” she felt she could not ignore the disturbing reality of the close personal and financial ties between Leslie Wexner, the benefactor of the foundation, and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, she tells the Haaretz Podcast. In a personal act of accountability and repentance, in 2019, Ruttenberg – “shocked, disturbed and unsettled” by the early revelations regarding Epstein and Wexner – donated the funds she took from the foundation to an organization confronting sexual violence and challenged others to take similar steps.  There was little reaction to her call at the time. Now, with new details revealed in the Department of Justice release of the Epstein files, she says “my only regret is not speaking out earlier and more forcefully, no matter the cost.”  She warned that “when we try to pretend that none of this is happening, we feed every conspiracy theory. And when we say that who matters are raped children, and when we center the people who are harmed, and when we live the values of our Torah and of every other teaching that we claim is holy, then we dispel those theories, because we become the people who we are supposed to be … the people who are living our values.” Read more:  Island Visit, NYC Flat and 'Belarusian Girls': Ex-Israel PM Ehud Barak Addresses Jeffrey Epstein Ties The Ferrari, the Meetings and 'The Redhead': Latest Jeffrey Epstein Files Reveal Ties With Popular Israeli-American Researcher Dan Ariely Memorializing Jeffrey Epstein? Pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 Confuses Convicted Sex Offender With Beloved Israeli Singer Life After Harvard: What's in Store for Wexner Foundation's Israeli Leaders Program? <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2020-07-19/ty-article/.premium/wexner-foundation-named-after-jewish-philanthropist-distan

When an ultra-Orthodox mob attacked two women soldiers in the city of Bnei Brak earlier this week, Israelis were shocked and horrified.  But for Uri Keidar, CEO of Free Israel, this violent expression of ultra-Orthodox opposition to being drafted into the military did not come as a surprise.  “It’s not the first violent occurrence we have seen, and unfortunately, it probably also won't be the last incident. But it's definitely a sad moment for us as a country,” Keidar said, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast.  As the Netanyahu government continues to seek a way to pass legislation exempting tens of thousands of able-bodied ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service in order to preserve their political coalition, Keidar sees the country at a “historic” crossroads in which Israelis will stand up and refuse to let it happen.  “It's a very basic idea, I think, that the law applies to everyone,” he said on the podcast. In a post-October 7 reality alongside the IDF in a manpower crisis, he said, “the Israeli public just will not accept the fact” that “there are tens of thousands of young haredi men who are totally healthy, who can join the IDF at any given moment, and are refusing to do so.” That refusal, he said, represents the country’s “biggest civil disobedience movement since its history” and Israelis “from the right, left and center” are uniting to oppose it. Read more: Explained: The Military Conscription Bill Driving Riots in Haredi Cities Overturned Cars, Motorcycles on Fire: Police Arrest 26 in Haredi Riot Sparked When Two IDF Soldiers Visit Bnei Brak Bnei Brak Riots Break From Ideology and Become an Outlet for Aimless Rage Israel Police Tells IDF They Will Not Assist in Arrest of ultra-Orthodox Draft DodgersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Even by the most extreme “Romeo and Juliet” standards, Sari Bashi’s romance and marriage to her partner, Osama, has overcome impossible odds.  When the two met in 2006, she related on the Haaretz Podcast, “It was very confusing for both of us, both because of the overwhelming social taboos, and the fact that it was also literally illegal for us to meet up together.” The two met after he had been “trapped” for six years in the city of Ramallah, where he was pursuing a career in academia. Registered as a resident of Gaza, where he was born, travelling elsewhere in the West Bank – or abroad – meant that the authorities would send him back to Gaza. Bashi had recently founded the human rights organization Gisha, and was assisting him gain permission from the Israeli authorities to study for his doctorate abroad.  Bashi’s new book “Upside-Down Love” – written diary-style from both Bashi’s and Osama’s perspective – chronicles the story of the logistics of their courtship, like a date in which they took a hike in a West Bank countryside and “as we encountered more and more settlers with guns, it became apparent that I had an identity and a language that was common with the people who terrified him.” But despite the ongoing identity and security challenges, their love persevered. Bashi, who is also the newly appointed executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, talks about their life as a family in the West Bank – and the evolving complicated identities of their two Palestinian Jewish children, as she watches them “engage more in a process of trying to assert who they are. I think it'll change probably a million times before they become adults.” Read more: A Jewish Mom and a Palestinian Dad Raise a Family Full of Endless Contradictions Browse the Umm Forat column (2019-2022) in Haaretz Israeli Human Rights Groups Tell UN That Israel Increased Use of Torture During Gaza WarSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following the hastily arranged three-hour meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, it still remains unclear whether a military attack on Iran is in the cards, but the two leaders appear “more aligned than not” on their positions, Haaretz’s Washington D.C. correspondent Ben Samuels said on the Haaretz Podcast. “Whether or not that turns into a world war remains to be seen,” he added, in view of the “Armada in the Middle East and more military assets on their way” that the United States has positioned around Iran to keep the option of a military move on the table.  Netanyahu rushed to Washington to lobby Trump to hold firm in his negotiations with Iran to include demands beyond a halt to their nuclear program. The Israeli position is that in order to forestall an attack, Iran must be forced to limit their ballistic missile capabilities and support for regional proxy organizations – in addition to a commitment from Tehran to improve its treatment of protesters, who have been killed in the tens of thousands by the regime in since late December. “What you're seeing from Israel is a very articulated view that any sort of negotiation at any deal has to be all inclusive,” Samuels said. The Trump administration’s position, by contrast, he said, is far from clear.  “Part of this is intentional misdirection on Trump's part, but part of it is also very unintentional. Trump is doing diplomacy by the seat of his pants and by whatever whims are taking over him at that very moment.” Read more: Analysis by Ben Samuels | Trump and Netanyahu Prioritize a United Front Over Rocking the Boat on Iran Trump Says He 'Insisted' That Negotiations With Iran Continue in Meeting With Netanyahu Netanyahu Joins Trump's Board of Peace Set to Discuss Gaza Reconstruction, Hamas Disarmament Sidelined Why This Iranian Revolution Scholar Won't Encourage Iranians to Topple the RegimeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Netanyahu government may not have officially annexed the West Bank, but the ongoing settler violence expelling Palestinian communities from their land – plus the changes in regulation imposing Israeli authority and areas meant for Palestinian self-rule – is driving momentum in that direction, Haaretz West Bank correspondent Matan Golan said on the Haaretz Podcast. Golan described the ongoing ordeal in the Bedouin community of Mukhmas on the podcast, a case study which illustrates the settlers' use of daily harassment and ongoing attacks on both residents and their property to force Palestinians to relocate into an increasingly small portion of the territory. The settler outpost of Kol Mevaser terrorizing Mukhmas "has been depopulated and destroyed at least nine times," by Israeli authorities since its establishment in late October, when the young settlers living there engaged in their first spree of beatings, assaults and arson. "Each time, the settlers just escape to the hills below – and despite the fact that it's a closed military zone," she said, they return – and later brag of their destructive acts against Palestinians on social media. The IDF has consistently failed to provide enough protection for Palestinian residents to remain in their homes, she said. The Israeli and international activists try to provide a protective presence, which helps prolong the Palestinians' struggles to remain, but it has proven unsuccessful: Nearly 50 communities have been forcibly displaced since summer 2023, according to B'Tselem. On the podcast, Golan also discusses the recent announcement by Netanyahu government officials declaring that it is taking authority in areas meant to be controlled by the Palestinian Authority, in violation of the Oslo Accords. The fact that such measures are being taken to weaken the Palestinian Authority and prevent a two-state solution, she said, "are no secret." Read more: Out-of-control Hooded Settlers: Jewish Outpost Was Evacuated 9 Times – and Rebuilt Immediately How Israeli Settlers Destroyed Mukhmas In Four Minutes Israeli Settler Violence Against Palestinians in West Bank Rose 25 Percent in 2025, IDF Finds <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/west-bank/2026-01-19/ty-article-magazine/.premium/how-can

This week, President Isaac Herzog declared that the record-high homicide rate in Israel’s Arab sector constitutes a “national emergency.” But according to Knesset member Aida Touma-Sliman, the organized crime groups behind the violence in Israel thrive because “this is a policy conducted by the government.”  “Crime groups are their subcontractor for the destruction of our society, making us terrorized individuals looking only to live their lives quietly. When you are struggling for the basic right to live, you forget all about struggling for other political, economic and social rights,” Touma-Sliman said. She noted that only 10 percent of the murders of Arabs are solved – down from 40 percent under past governments – and in stark contrast with the Jewish sector, in which a vast majority of cases are closed. “A very bad message is being sent by the police to the murderers and criminals: that you can do whatever you want and nobody will touch you as long as it remains among the Arabs,” she said. Touma-Sliman said she was convinced that if National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir believed that the stashes of deadly weapons in the hands of Arab crime organizations were to be used against Jews, “he would know exactly how to smash them down. But he is not willing to do it, as long as they are only committing crimes among the Arabs. He is enjoying the scene.” Touma-Sliman also discussed the reunion of the Joint List, the reasons behind her decision not to run in the coming election, and her deep disappointment with Israel’s opposition parties and “so-called left.”  Opposition leaders “are not supposed to personally replace Netanyahu,” she said. “If you want to be an alternative, be courageous enough to create a different vision for how the citizens of Israel should be living and how Israel should be as a state.” Read more: Netanyahu Moves to Pass Off Arab Crime Task Force From PM's Office to Ben-Gvir MK Aida Touma-Sliman: 'The Knesset Symbolizes Everything I've Fought Against. I Don't Want to Be There. I Want to Fight It' Analysis: Israeli Arab Leaders at a Crossroads: Will Escalating Protests Fuel Right-wing Incitement? <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-02-01/ty-article-magazine/.premium/what-part-can

With U.S. warships in place positioned around Iran, Israelis are bracing for the regime-toppling attack that U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened against Tehran and the government that cracked down so brutally on protesters last month. In response, Iranian leaders warned they would “hit the heart of Tel Aviv” in retaliation to any American offensive.  However, noted Haaretz senior defense analyst Amos Harel, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast, it seems that Trump “has lost a little bit of his appetite for destruction” in recent days, angling to push a weakened Iran to the negotiating table. Not only is Trump encouraging a diplomatic solution, Harel said, but “when we talk about negotiations, then there's a difference between what was on the table about a month ago, which was an American demand for more or less destroying the regime, or for the regime to step down and for the democracy to be installed in Iran. Now we're talking about something completely different” – a deal limiting Iran’s nuclear capabilities instead.  “What the president is trying to do is to force the Iranians to agree to major concessions regarding their nuclear project. But it doesn't solve the number one issue for most Iranians: getting rid of the regime.” Harel said.  Will the Iranian leadership take the deal? Judging from their statements, Harel said, “they are in panic.”  On the podcast, Harel also assesses the situation in Gaza as the U.S.-brokered Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal enters its second phase, which took a step forward this week with the opening of the Rafah crossing. The real test of the deal, however, depends on whether the international coalition Trump has built is enough to pressure Hamas to lay down its arms.  If Hamas’s military capabilities “aren’t dismantled,” Harel said, “it will be hard to proceed.” Read more: Report: U.S.-Iran Talks Could Begin Soon; Witkoff to Meet With Netanyahu Iran's Supreme Leader Warns of Regional Conflict if U.S. Attacks After IDF Chief Visits Washington Trump 'Hopeful' for Iran Deal, but Warns of 'Very Big, Powerful Ships Heading That Way' Iran-U.S. Negotiations A

For the right-wing populist political leaders who gathered in Jerusalem for the Netanyahu government’s second International Conference on Combating Antisemitism this week, the formula for fighting Jew hatred is simple, according to Haaretz correspondent Linda Dayan, who attended and reported on the two-day event.  Organized by the Diaspora Affairs Ministry led by far-right Likud MK Amichai Chikli, Dayan tells the Haaretz Podcast that the message of the majority of prominent speakers at the conference is that Jews “have one enemy” – radical Islam –  “and that enemy is propped up by the woke left” with a shared agenda of destroying the West.  Later on the podcast, Dayan – who has covered the protest movement in Israel for the return of the hostages led by their families since October 7 – reflected on the end of the struggle following the return of the final hostage’s remains earlier this week and the end of the vigil in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square.  The movement, she said, transcended politics; it was a deeper fight to preserve the national ethos of never leaving anyone behind. Dayan explained: “From the very beginning, you would hear in the speeches in the square that this isn't just a battle to return our daughters and sons and parents and grandparents. This is a battle for the values of the country – a battle for the version of the country we want our children to grow up in and we want the next generation to inherit.”  Read more:  Global Far Right Flocks to Jerusalem to Bash Muslims and Migration at Israel's Antisemitism Confab Netanyahu Claims There Is a Progressive/Muslim Plot to 'Destroy the West' at Israeli Government's Antisemitism Conference Why Charlie Kirk, Fan of Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories, Is Loved by Israel's Government Tel Aviv Clock Counting Hostages' Captivity Stopped Following Retrieval of Ran Gvili's Body <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-security/2026-01-28/ty-article/.premium/ran-gvili-last-hostage-to-be-returned-from-gaza-laid-to-rest-in-is

The brutal crackdown on protesters killing tens of thousands has been a "sledgehammer" to Iranians everywhere, said Dr. Meir Javedanfar, an Israeli-Iranian expert on the government led by Ayatollah Ali Khameini. "The people of Iran have just gone through their own Babi Yar massacre," Javedanfar said on the Haaretz Podcast, referring to the largest single mass-killing during the Holocaust. "The Nazis killed 30,000 people in the space of two days. The Iranian regime – if we accept the 30,000 number – has done the same in less than a month. … The level of cruelty is unlike anything Iranians have seen before. The people of Iran are being massacred in unprecedented and historic numbers." The killings in the decade-long Syrian civil war was a laboratory for Iranian techniques of repression, he said, noting that Iranian leaders were often "disappointed when Bashar al-Assad was not violent enough against the people of Syria when they rose up." In Syria, he said, the Iranians "honed their skills" of deadly repression and are now using them "against their own people on the streets of Iran." On the question of whether a U.S. attack on Iran could be averted by a change of heart by the regime, bringing them to the negotiating table, Javedanfar said he sees no chance of concessions unless Khamenei believes that "the Americans could kill him and his family." If the U.S. attacks and Iran retaliates against Israel, he noted, the Israeli military will quickly join in the attack.  "If the Iranian regime makes a mistake of attacking us, we have very genuine targets in Iran to attack, especially Iran's missile program," Javedanfar said, adding "I also hope Israel targets regime officials who are taking part in the oppression and suppression of the people of Iran in such a violent manner, I think that would hold Israel in very good stead in future history books of Iran." Read more:  Some 30,000 Iranian Protesters May Have Been Killed in Two Days, Officials Reportedly Say U.S. Central Command Head to Coordinate With Israeli Defense Chiefs Ahead of Possible Iran Strike Trump Says 'Armada' Heading Toward Iran: 'Maybe We Won't Have to Use It'; Officials Confirm Warships en Route to Mideast <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/iran/2026-01-23/ty-article/un-probe-

Palestinians in Gaza view a future of rule by U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly inaugurated Board of Peace as representing “another form of occupation” said Haaretz correspondent Nagham Zbeedat, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast. Zbeedat, who covers Palestinian affairs and the Arab world, said that Trump’s vision of an American-led international stabilization force – intended to replace Hamas after it disarms – is likely to be problematic.  American “complicity and cooperation with the Israeli army” during the war means that for Palestinians, “the U.S. is the same as Israel. So any government or group that comes from the U.S. will not be welcomed with open arms.” In the short-term, Zbeedat said, the desperate humanitarian situation means that Gazans will “accept the circumstances that they are put in, as long as there are no more airstrikes, as long as food is on the shelves, and as long as there is water, shelter, clothes coming in, and medical care.”  But overall, Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere are “not excited” about the Trump plan because of the lack of “any Palestinian presence or voice” at the decision-making level.  Also on the podcast: Haaretz diplomatic correspondent Liza Rozovsky discusses the challenges ahead for the new Board of Peace – most prominently, the disinterest of major Western European countries in signing on.  “When you are being squeezed and threatened by the U.S. over Greenland, it is pretty bad timing to be joining a Board of Peace chaired by Trump,” Rozovsky noted. For these countries, “giving up your veto power in the United Nations Security Council and just bowing to Trump is not a very attractive offer.” Read more:  Trump's Board of Peace Finds Few Enthusiasts Among Palestinians in Gaza Israel's Netanyahu to Join Trump's Board of Peace Alongside Saudis, Qatar and Turkey Trump's Board of Peace Has European States Worried, but Most Refrain From Direct Criticism Trump's Gaza Board of Peace Aims to Rival UN, Charter Shows <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/gaza/2026-01-12/ty-article-magazine/.premium/it-neve

California State Senator Scott Wiener, the frontrunner for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat, insisted on the Haaretz Podcast that his change of heart regarding whether Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute a genocide did not represent a political flip-flop. In early January, Wiener faced an angry audience at a candidate’s forum, in which he debated his two rivals in the California Democratic primary to replace retiring Representative Pelosi. In a lightning round question, Wiener was asked to answer “yes” or “no” to the question of whether Israel was "committing genocide in Gaza." His rivals answered “yes” while Wiener refused to respond, prompting boos and jeers. Shortly afterwards, he released a video in which he clarified that he did believe Israel’s actions in Gaza should be defined as genocide.  On the podcast, Wiener said that in the past, “I've used very, very stark language that, frankly, has not been particularly different from genocide. I chose not to use the word genocide for a variety of reasons, because, it has been weaponized against Israel and against Jews over time.” Wiener also responded to the harsh backlash from the Jewish community following the release of the video. Wiener, the co-chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, said he “respects and honors” why the Jewish community feels “hurt and betrayed” by his word choice. “I also believe that we have a responsibility to call this what I believe it is,” he said. He pointed to the Quinnipiac poll published in August in which half of Americans defined Israel’s actions as a genocide and noted that it will likely be officially declared as such by the International Court of Justice. “The institutional Jewish community in this country has not grappled with that reality.” Read more: Jewish California Congressional Hopeful Says Israel Committed Genocide in Gaza, After Earlier Refusal to Do So Half of Registered U.S. Voters Say Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza, Poll Finds California Governor Gavin Newsom Says Israel's War in Gaza Was Not Genocide, but 'Destruction Broke My Heart' Analysis | Is It Importa

Birthright Israel is celebrating 25 years of offering a free 10-day trip to Israel to every young Diaspora Jew with the hope of fighting assimilation. The celebrations include a $900 million fundraising campaign. But, as Haaretz Jewish World editor Judy Maltz told the Haaretz Podcast, their traditional mission and "fun in the sun" marketing campaign have become deeply problematic, given the battering of the image of the Jewish state in the eyes of many young people around the world. Instead of unaffiliated Jews, Maltz said, the programs are increasingly filled with participants who are "presumably already very much in touch with their Jewish identity," begging the question as to whether this is where hundreds of millions in Jewish philanthropic dollars and funding by the state of Israel should be going. On the podcast, Maltz discusses the reasons behind the shift, based on more than 30 interviews with Birthright participants, and those who chose not to go. Many of those interviewees, she reports "feel very distant from Israel. They feel very uncomfortable with its actions, especially over the past two years with what's happened in Gaza." Maltz also discusses a new and different trend she has reported on: trips to Israel by young leftist Jews who choose to spend their time off providing "protective presence" in West Bank Palestinian villages menaced by violent settlers. "Being on the ground is really the only way to bear witness," she was told by the young Americans camping out in the villages.   Read more: Has Birthright Become a Toxic Brand? Not Masada or the Dead Sea: Young Diaspora Jews Provide Protective Presence in the West Bank Birthright Is Resuming Its Free Trips to Israel for the First Time Since October 7 Haaretz Editorial: Birthright Israel: The Problem Is Reality, Not MoneySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dropped a bombshell in a recent interview when he declared he had told U.S. President Donald Trump that Israel no longer needed a long-term commitment from the U.S. for military aid, and that he planned to “taper off” the $3.8 billion Israel now receives to “zero” within ten years.  On the Haaretz Podcast, Washington correspondent Ben Samuels and senior defense analyst Amos Harel discuss the implications of Netanyahu’s announcement and the circumstances behind it.  Both say it is clear that Trump had signaled that aid would be significantly reduced, and that Netanyahu’s announcement was intended to avoid the appearance that the cuts were being forced on Israel.  “Netanyahu did not have much choice. I think this is something that Trump expected him to do,” Harel said. “It was bound to happen, and it was better for Netanyahu to appear as if he's the one who initiated it.”  Samuels noted that both Republicans and Democrats – for different reasons – were questioning the level of aid Israel receives, despite the fact that the majority of the billions in assistance are spent on weapons purchased from U.S. manufacturers. Looking ahead, Samuels discussed potential “cognitive dissonance” for pro-Israel lobbying organizations like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee as they grapple with a future in which substantial military aid will no longer be part of the equation of when it comes to U.S. support for the Jewish state. “Supporters of AIPAC have treated military aid as this sacrosanct thing - saying that if you dare question it, then you are not only in support of endangering Israeli lives, but it makes you borderline antisemitic,” Samuels said. “How are they now going to just turn around and flip the script and say: ‘You know what? You're right. We don't need U.S. military assistance to Israel.’”  Read more:  Top GOP Senator Urges Halt to U.S. Military Aid After Netanyahu Says Israel Aims to End Reliance Within Decade On Ending U.S. Military Aid to Israel, Netanyahu Is Trying to Spin His Failure as Success Today Marks the End of an Era for pro-Israel Democrats – and for AIPAC <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-09-16/ty-article/.premium/it-didnt-end-well-for

Once again, Iranians have taken to the streets. Starting in late December, the plummeting value of the national currency, along with the soaring cost of living, were the catalyst for a fresh wave of protest – and one that soon turned political.  Although the government has been quick to crack down on the demonstrations, the regime has been dealt some heavy blows in the past year, and analysts are pondering whether this could be the movement that ends the ayatollahs’ reign for good.  Haaretz reporter Linda Dayan was joined by Arash Azizi, lecturer at Yale University and author of "What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom" and "The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the U.S., and Iran's Global Ambitions” to talk about these protests, and what they mean for Iran, for Israel, for the region and for the world.  “In some of the previous protests, there was always a mix of hope and anger,” explains Azizi. “This time, there’s a lot more anger, because people know that they want an end to this regime, but they can’t find an easy path… there’s a lot more despondency and desperation.”  Azizi explains that one of the key obstacles in realizing this aspiration is Iran’s fractured would-be opposition, including the ousted Shah’s son Reza Pahlavi, who’s found support from some Israeli lawmakers. The protesters “don’t have a disciplined political leadership that you need to bring about that kind of change,” Azizi says. Iran’s developments will likely “have the color of a coup, perhaps even more than a revolution” – and be led by figures currently inside the regime.  U.S. President Donald Trump has also warned the Iranian regime against violently repressing the protests. The ouster of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela – a key Iranian ally – by U.S. forces “was a reminder to the Iranians that Trump is not bluffing, and that he could take action against them,” notes Azizi.  “The idea that Trump would assassinate Khamenei, let’s say, with the help of Israel would have been unthinkable a few years ago… now, it’s really a possibility.”  Read more: At Least 35 Killed, 1,200 Detained in Iran Protests as Threat of U.S. Intervention Looms Analysis by Zvi Bar'el | Why Trump's Venezuela Playbook Won't Work in Iran Israeli Officials Warn Iran May Strike Across the Middle East to Quell

It was a challenging year to be a Diaspora Jew.  The war in Gaza and growing hostility to Israel had an undeniable impact on Jewish life across the world in 2025. Events in Israel became a focus in local and national politics around the world – and served as a catalyst in a global surge in antisemitism. The year was punctuated by horrific and deadly attacks against Jews from Washington D.C. to Manchester to Australia’s Bondi Beach. On this special episode of the Haaretz Podcast, we revisit episodes from the past year featuring the voices of Diaspora Jews, along with Haaretz journalists covering the Jewish world. The conversations include Brooklyn Rabbi Rachel Timoner on the impact of Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy for New York City mayor, Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur on the complexity of advocating for the hostages and a cease-fire agreement. Also on the podcast: American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutsch following the terror attack at his organization’s event, and Lynda Ben Menashe, a Jewish leader in Sydney Australia after the Bondi Beach massacre, and many more. Among the featured Haaretz journalists: English edition editor-in-chief Esther Solomon, Washington D.C. correspondent Ben Samuels and Jewish world correspondent Judy Maltz. Read more:  How Antisemitism Haunts Jewish Communities Around the World Fire, Fear and Freedom: Israel in 2025, Through the Eyes of Haaretz Photographers From Mamdani to Bondi, Trump to War Crimes: Top Haaretz Opinions of 2025See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For Israel, 2025 was a year in which war turned the unimaginable into reality: from the terrifying exchange of missiles with Iran to the horrors of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to the joy and relief when U.S. President Donald Trump secured a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas to bring the painful hostage ordeal to an end. This special year-end episode highlights the reporting and analysis on the Haaretz Podcast that accompanied the year's dramatic events: from the Gaza war, hostage crisis, the 12-day war with Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial and the emergence of the shocking Qatargate scandal.  The episode features conversations with Israeli and Palestinians who experienced it all, along with the many Haaretz journalists who offered their insights throughout the year, including editor-in-chief Aluf Benn, Amos Harel, Dahlia Scheindlin, Nir Hasson, Bar Peleg and Nagham Zbeedat.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

France’s ambassador to Israel Frédéric Journès said on the Haaretz Podcast that any postwar Gaza plan must acknowledge that completely disarming and ridding the Strip of Hamas militia members is not an achievable goal.  “You're not going to eliminate all of those people, so you basically need to find them a job in local police, find them a little job in society and de-radicalize them to the greatest extent possible,” he contended. This is possible, he said, because over the course of the war, Israel “got rid of the leadership." Journès, who has been France’s envoy to Israel since July 2023, sat down for a wide-ranging interview with host Allison Kaplan Sommer and Haaretz diplomatic correspondent Liza Rozovsky, discussing Gaza, Lebanon, Iran and antisemitism in France. The ambassador also explains why he believes the four countries strengthened by the past two years of war are Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.  Pressed on the podcast as to whether he supports renewing strikes on Iran aimed at its ballistic missile program, which Israel reportedly desires, Journès replied, “I'm not saying that. I will see what will happen.” Read more: Opinion by Frédéric Journès | Declaring a Palestinian State Is a Blow to Terror Opinion by Frédéric Journès | Israel, Help Us Protect Our Seas and Oceans U.S. Leaning Toward Setting Up Palestinian-run Regime for Gaza Before International Forces Saudi, French and U.S. Officials Discuss Hezbollah Disarmament With Lebanese Army Chief France Demands Heightened Security Measures at French Consulate in Jerusalem After Israeli MKs Harass StafferSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before October 7th, Trump’s second term and the election of Zohran Mamdani rocked New York’s Jewish community, Manhattan’s famed 92nd Street Y – like most mainstream Jewish institutions – played it relatively safe when it came to programs about Israel. Susan Engel, executive producer of the 92nd St. Y Talks, tells the Haaretz Podcast that the famed Manhattan cultural center has undergone “a soul-searching since October 7 around our own Jewish identity and around who we are as a Jewish institution. And I think we've had to double down on our values and what it means to present different views, sometimes critical of Israel – because it's important to hear what someone else who thinks differently” has to say. Her audiences – in-person and the millions who watch her events online – she believes, greatly “appreciate” the fact that she can bring together people who “really disagree strongly” yet can “have a conversation and be civil.”  At the same time, she said, the Y – founded as a center for Jewish life and culture in 1874 – experienced a boycott and staff walkouts after October 7 – maintains “red lines.” They will not platform those who have expressed “homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic” views or “if we feel that someone believes that Israel should be destroyed.” On the podcast, Engel also discusses the big-name cultural, political and Hollywood figures who have taken to the 92nd St. Y stage, including a recent appearance by Rob Reiner, who died tragically earlier this month, the art of creating an intimate space for interviews when millions are watching, and her experience as a judge at the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival.  Read more: How October 7 Is Impacting Jewish Cultural Life in America ADL Accuses Mamdani Transition Members of Engaging in 'Antisemitic, anti-Zionist' Activities Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival coverage: From NYC to Jerusalem, This Radical Artist Asks 'After the Revolution, Who's Going to Pick Up the Garbage?'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the past two years, many filmmakers have hesitated or refrained from bringing their films to Israeli film festivals as part of cultural boycott of Israel over the Gaza war. But for Joshua Zeman, the decision to bring his powerful new documentary “Checkpoint Zoo” to the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival was “merely part and parcel of the whole experience of making a film about something that's been politicized that shouldn’t be politicized.” Zeman’s film tells the dramatic story of the 2022 rescue of nearly 5,000 animals from the Feldman Ecopark zoo in Ukraine located on the Russian border outside the city of Kharkiv – on the front lines of the war – lovingly built and maintained by an animal-loving Orthodox Jewish oligarch, Oleksandr Feldman. “There has been a lot of backlash against Ukraine here in the States, even though the film is just about people rescuing animals, so the film was already complicated for me in terms of getting distribution,” Zeman said on the Haaretz Podcast.  “Checkpoint Zoo” chronicles the efforts of Feldman, a handful of zoo workers who did not flee Kharkiv during the war and four idealistic volunteers as they risked their lives under fire from drones and bombs to remove lions, tigers, monkeys, ostriches and other animals out of from harm’s way in a modern-day Noah’s Ark.  “War by definition is brutality created to strip away your humanity. But in rescuing these animals, these volunteers not only refound their humanity, but found this unbelievable well of courage.” Zeman sees Feldman – who allowed his luxurious mansion to be taken over by the rescued animals  – as “a Schindler-esque character.”  After Feldman’s businesses in Kharkiv were destroyed by the war, he was forced to “basically sell everything to care for these animals,” Zeman recounted. “Whenever we talked about the animals, he immediately cried. He's a big crier – he is a fascinating character who espouses a lot of values from the Torah.” Read more: Meet Oleksander Feldman, the Lonely Ukrainian Jew Fighting His Country’s New Fondness for Nazis 'It Is a Fascist Project': The Ukrainian Filmmaker Who Withdrew From a Prestigious Amsterdam Film Festival Because of the Israel Boycott Read all of Haaretz's film coverage <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/2022-03-03/ty-article/.premium/russian-strikes-destroy-centers-of-jewish-life-in-kharkiv-as-community-members-flee/0000017f-dba1-df9c-a17f-ffb98383000

Australian Jews are “shocked but not surprised” by the “horrific” mass shooting on Bondi Beach, which turned a Hanukkah celebration into a tragic massacre, Australian Jewish leader Lynda Ben-Menashe said on the Haaretz Podcast.  In the two years since the October 7 attack in Israel, the Australian Jewish community “begged” their government officials to enforce laws against incitement and hate speech, which has led to an unprecedented spike in antisemitic violence. But, she said, the government’s response has been “lip service” but “no real consequences.” “Our prime minister has said that he was distressed and shocked,” said Ben-Menashe, the head of Australia’s National Council of Jewish Women. “The Jewish community has been distressed for the past two years at the lack of action from the government, and also at the growing lack of safety that we have felt. And so we weren't shocked that this happened.” Also on the podcast, Haaretz senior defense analyst Amos Harel reports on the numerous warnings passed by Israeli intelligence agencies to the Australian government, warning of the growing terrorist threats in their country.  Harel also commented on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s reaction to the Bondi Beach attack – namely blaming Australia’s leaders for their failure to prevent it.  Harel said it was “hard to resist noticing [the] paradox regarding the fact that Israeli ministers were so quick to blame the Australian government for its failures and note their responsibility for what has happened, while they're insisting that Netanyahu holds no blame whatsoever for what happened two years ago” on October 7. Read more: Analysis by Amos Harel | After the Deadly Attack at Bondi Beach, Israel Warns: Sydney Won't Be the Last Target The First Deadly Attack Against Jews in Australia Follows Two Years of Unprecedented Antisemitism Albanese Rejects Netanyahu Linking Palestinian State to Deadly Bondi Beach Attack The Victims of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah Celebration Shooting From March 2025: <a href="http

When it comes to liberal American Jews and President Donald Trump, the “cognitive dissonance is real,” said award-winning journalist Dahlia Lithwick on the Haaretz Podcast.  While Lithwick “doesn’t dispute for a minute" the fact that the U.S. president and his envoys “did yeoman’s work” negotiating a cease-fire deal, it is not enough for her to soften her perception of the level of danger that Trump represents.  With democracy and rule of law being challenged, “You have to ask yourself, am I transactional enough to say that I will subordinate all of that to parochial interests?” she said in her conversation with Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer and podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer.  “If you say you can pick and choose which authoritarian you want to align yourself with, cross your fingers and hope you know this time, being a court Jew is going to work out – history suggests otherwise.” In their in-depth discussion, Lithwick and Leifer also consider the trends in U.S. politics on the right and left, which are upending the long-held assumptions of American Jewish life and the urgent need to confront the new “transactional” reality and abandon “magical thinking.” “American Jewish organizations sold the idea to American Jews that they were more powerful than they were. And I think Israel sold to American Jews – and also Israelis – that Israel is more powerful than it is,” Leifer said.  For U.S. Jews to effectively fight for their interests, including the battle against antisemitism, he said, they must leave behind “the old rhetoric and strategies – because no one cares anymore.” Read more from Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer: In Blood-soaked Israel-Palestine, the Dangerous Status Quo of Before October 7 Has Returned It's Clear What Defendant Netanyahu Gets Out of a Pardon. But What's in It for Trump? The Ultra-hawkish Right and anti-Zionist Left Have Drowned the American Jewish Majority Why Netanyahu Is Sharing Leftist Conspiracy Theories About a Mossad Sex Cabal <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-11-05/ty-