Haaretz Podcast

Throughout the Gaza war, the tremendous difference between international coverage and Israeli media coverage was obvious to anyone exposed to both.  In a new report, media scholar Dr. Ayala Panievsky’s research quantifies precisely how pronounced that difference was. On the Haaretz Podcast, she said the silencing of dissent in Israel’s mainstream media was unprecedented.  “The professional journalists, people who Israelis spend their entire lives trusting to tell them the truth, rallied around the military in many ways – any criticism of what our soldiers were doing was just out of bounds. It wasn't part of the conversation.” In past coverage of war and conflict, she stressed, “there was no such silencing of any criticism and alternative voices,” attributing the difference to the tremendous amount of pressure by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on media outlets in recent years. "The Netanyahu camp declared war on the media a decade ago. And when the war in Gaza broke, the mainstream media was already very much undermined, intimidated and exhausted.”  In her conversation with host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Panievsky, author of “The New Censorship: How the War on the Media is Taking Us Down,” also discussed how the phenomenon of self-censorship is plaguing journalism worldwide. In many countries, she said, authoritarian leaders “claim to speak on behalf of democracy” while “doing everything to undermine journalism and its role in society. … This is something very, very confusing, and difficult to tackle. Join Haaretz and meet our journalists at the Other Israel Film Festival, running from November 6-13 in New York City. Use the code haaretz25 at checkout for 20 percent off admission. View the event schedule and buy tickets here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Is 'A Critical Mass of U.S. Jews Is Now Disgusted With Israel' Analysis by David Rosenberg: The Future of American Jewry Looks Bleak Read the full INSS reportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Israel and Hezbollah Trade Fire Across Lebanon Border Despite Cease-fire ExtensionSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Safe to Be Visibly Jewish': After Stabbing Spree, Some British Jews Say It's a Matter of When They Leave, Not If U.K. Greens' Zack Polanski Discourages 'Globalize the Intifada' Phrase but Opposes Policing It U.K. Greens' Polanski Slams Starmer for 'Weaponizing' Antisemitism After PM's RebukeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Analysis by Dahila Scheindlin | Israel's Biggest Existential Threat Isn't IranSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 for privacy information.

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 U.S. Asked IDF to Curb Gaza Strikes; Source: Israel Agreed, but Failed to ComplySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Israelis and Palestinians Won't Heal 'She Knew Peace Was the Only Way': Thousands Attend Funeral of Slain Canadian-Israeli Peace Activist Vivian SilverSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 At Israel's Anti-war Protests, You're Safer as a Horse Than a Human Majority of Israelis Oppose Iran Cease-fire and Expect War to Resume, Poll ShowsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 information.

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 in the Iran War Haaretz Explains: How Does the Israeli Military Censor Work?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Soldiers Detained CNN Crew in West Bank Palestinian Man Shot Dead, 14 Wounded in West Bank Settler Raids as Five New Outposts Established in One Night Analysis by Dahlia Scheindlin | Don't Buy the Israeli Right's Sudden Concern for Settler Violence Who Gets to Decide What Counts as an Accident in the West Bank?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Best Not to Say the Word 'Israel' Right Now' Sex, Wine and Sacrifice: Jewish Holidays Used to Be Wild, Dramatic AffairsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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' Israel to Hold Southern Lebanon, Block Residents' Return, Defense Minister SaysSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Billion Shekels a Day: The Number That May Decide When Israel's War With Iran EndsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.