Haaretz Podcast

Rabbi Yosef Blau has been the focus of both fury and admiration over the past week, called both a hero and a traitor, and garnered attention at a level that has astonished him, he said on the Haaretz Podcast.  The pushback comes after Blau spearheaded an open letter signed by 80 Orthodox rabbis that called the humanitarian crisis in Gaza “one of the most severe in recent history” and called on Israel to assume “its share of the responsibility” for Palestinian civilians in Gaza. The letter also condemned settler violence in the West Bank. As a pillar of the mainstream modern Orthodox world, Blau is an unlikely political maverick. The 86-year-old was a leader at Yeshiva University for 48 years and led the Religious Zionists of America for more than a decade.  On the podcast, Blau – who moved from New York to Israel five months ago – describes a "shift in the world of religious Zionism” – a change he describes as transforming from “the most moderate force in the Israeli government that reflected a large variety of views on pretty much every issue outside of religion, to become more and more associated with the extreme right.”  Addressing critics who say the letter he wrote could fuel antisemitism outside Israel, Blau says such thinking is “a mistake in judgment,” adding “I think not taking a stand increases antisemitism.” Read more: Over 80 Orthodox Rabbis Urge Israel to Address Gaza Humanitarian Situation, Condemn Settler Violence Leftist? This U.S. Orthodox Rabbi Speaking Against the Israeli Government Prefers 'Realist' Explore Haaretz's coverage of the humanitarian crisis in GazaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While the world has been focused on the devastation in Gaza, "the annexation of the West Bank has become reality," Hagar Shezaf, Haaretz's West Bank correspondent, said on the Haaretz Podcast. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Shezaf explained, has created a system "that is accelerating" the process of integrating the West Bank into state institutions "while keeping the empty shell of the Civil Administration that represents military rule." Shezaf is stepping down from her beat for a year of studies after six years of covering what she describes as a "deteriorating" situation in the territories, that is generally neglected by the Israeli media. Despite settlement expansion continuing apace, violent extremist settlers becoming increasingly bold, and the direct and indirect displacement of Palestinian civilians from their homes by the Israeli military, "the West Bank is totally uncovered by Israeli news journalists," Shezaf said. Most recently, her reporting called attention to the uprooting of 3,100 trees by the IDF alongside a village after an attempted terror attack by one of its residents. Shezaf described it as an "outrageous" act, and the army's attempts to justify it, she said, "cannot convince me that this is not collective punishment."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly challenged the assertion that starvation is rampant in Gaza, most recently when he slammed a UN report on famine as “blood libel.”  On the Haaretz Podcast, Yarden Michaeli takes listeners behind the scenes of his in-depth reporting with Nir Hasson on the scale of severe acute malnutrition in Gaza. As Israel continues to bar journalists from entering the Strip, Michaeli and Hasson virtually “toured” clinics and hospitals in Gaza – including the pediatric ward of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. Israel struck the hospital on Monday, killing multiple healthcare and media workers, including Moaz Abu Taha, the photographer who guided the Haaretz reporters through Nasser. As Michaeli “toured” the wards of Nasser, he saw children who were “very thin, with weak, glazed eyes, clearly severely malnourished with markers of starvation, like changes to their hair color, missing spots of hair on their head, missing teeth and rashes on their skin.”  The condition of children, he was told by experts, are the earliest signs of large-scale famine in a population.  “The fact that the marks of starvation are already visible on adults in Gaza shows that this whole situation is in an advanced stage,” said Michaeli. “We're not at the beginning. We're far and deep into the process.” Read more: 'Starvation Is Everywhere': Virtual Tours of Gaza Clinics Expose the Scale of the Horror UN Says Over Half a Million Palestinians in Gaza Suffering From Famine; Netanyahu: 'Outright Lie' Alex de Waal: 'Pasta Won't Help. Gaza Is on the Brink of an Exponential Surge in Starvation Deaths'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Israel is approaching the “horrifying” position of becoming a pariah state due to the Gaza war, former MK and Middle East expert Ksenia Svetlova said on the Haaretz Podcast, expressing deep worry that it was dangerously close to following in the footsteps of her native Russia.  Western nations' refusal to cooperate with Russia due to its aggression in Ukraine, she noted, means Moscow is now lagging behind in the fields of technology, science and beyond “by decades” –  and Israel could easily share that status soon. “A crackdown on civil society in a way that it happened in Russia will indeed deem Israel to the same level, and will impose on it the very unwanted and frankly horrifying status of a pariah," she said. Svetlova believes that without any “real pressure” from U.S. President Donald Trump’s White House, she is doubtful Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will reject any agreement that would end the conflict and halt the current Gaza City offensive.  Ongoing war, she noted, “is in the classic authoritarian playbook.”  Before that conversation, Haaretz’s Linda Dayan reports on last Sunday’s massive anti-war strike and demonstrations in support of a hostage deal/cease-fire.  Although the protest had no apparent effect on the Netanyahu government’s policies, she said, organizers “felt it was successful in that it showed that no matter what the country’s leadership says, the people are behind them, the people are united in what they want. To see a literal big percentage of the national population come out to make sure that people here and abroad know that this is what they believe – that really bolstered people.” Read more: Analysis by Ksenia Svetlova | Beyond Trump-Putin Optics, Zelenskyy Finds Ukraine's Opportunity in What Went Awry in Alaska Hundreds of Thousands of Israelis Flood Tel Aviv Demanding a Hostage Deal to End Gaza War Marching on the Gaza Border, Hostage Families Say: Gaza Takeover Plan Is a Death SentenceSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Israeli musicians are learning the hard way that speaking out against the war in Gaza comes at a price, Haaretz culture reporter Shay Ringel explained on the Haaretz Podcast. The letter, signed by 1,200 members of the cultural and artistic community, was unusually outspoken regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling on Israeli soldiers to disobey "unlawful orders" and to refrain from "committing war crimes." "Talking about the horrific things that are happening in Gaza – the killing of children, the expulsion of population – this is something new," Ringel explains. Ringel recounted how at least one artist had a concert cancelled as a result of signing the letter. He retracted his signature, and his concert was restored "all within the course of two hours." Other artists took their name off the petition due to pressure by right-wing activists. In his conversation with host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Ringel noted that most of the signatories are older and more established musicians, while younger artists are "completely absent" from the petition. Read more: Israeli Mayors Ban Artists Who Signed 'Criminal' anti-Gaza War Petition as Some Retract Signatures 'Fake News': Israeli Singer and 'Fauda' Star Idan Amedi Slams Artists Petitioning Against Gaza War Unthinkable Today – but in 1988, Israel's Biggest Singers United Against the OccupationSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Israeli public is “exhausted” by the nearly two-year conflict in Gaza, and the vast majority of IDF military leaders believe it should end.  Yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is forging ahead with his plan to invade Gaza City and expand the war because “he will do whatever he can to stay in power,” said Haaretz senior security analyst Amos Harel, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast.  IDF brass, led by chief of staff Eyal Zamir, is attempting to convince Netanyahu for a more limited siege on Gaza City. Still, the message from Netanyahu has been that “he is calling the shots, and the army’s job is to follow orders and prepare to invade Gaza City,” despite the danger that would pose to Israeli hostages being held in the area.  Whether or not a full-on operation will eventually happen primarily depends on U.S. President Donald Trump, who, Harel says, is the only one who could push Netanyahu off course, but does not appear to be doing so – for now. “At one point or another, I think the president will be fed up, because there's no victory in sight in Gaza. The suffering continues, and he keeps facing questions from within, including from Republicans, regarding where this is going and why Americans are contributing to this suffering. I don't think that Netanyahu has all the time in the world.”  Regarding the hostages, Harel confessed that he struggles to believe that “an Israeli prime minister would just desert them to their death and leave them to die in the tunnels. And yet the signs are there.”  Read more from Amos Harel: First Eyal Zamir, Then Gaza City: Defense Minister Katz Targets IDF Chief of Staff Amid Unpopular Offensive Netanyahu Struggles to Sell His Plan to Conquer Gaza as Allies Openly Call for Sacrificing Hostages Despite What Netanyahu Wants You to Think, an Israeli Conquest of Gaza Remains Far OffSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Israel is swimming in unprecedented diplomatic waters. Last week, Germany announced it will restrict arms exports to Israel, and a growing number of world leaders – led by France and the U.K. – are declaring their intention to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.  “We are hearing things that we never heard from great friends of Israel,” said Nadav Tamir, the executive director of J Street Israel, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast.  Tamir, a former Israeli consul-general in Boston and aide to Israel’s late president Shimon Peres, noted that these allies “were working tirelessly for the release of hostages” and continue to declare “time and time again that Israel has a full right to protect itself after the horrible massacre of October 7 and against Iran and Hezbollah. But they cannot support this war any longer, because it is so clear to them, just like it's clear to most Israelis, that this war has no purpose and is only continuing for political reasons.”  Tamir says that recognizing a Palestinian state nor limiting arms exports is not a punishment against the Israeli people. “Maybe they see it as punishment for Netanyahu, but as a Zionist Israeli, I see it as a big prize for us,” Tamir said. “I think that a Palestinian state is first and foremost an Israeli interest. There is no way Israel could remain the homeland of the Jewish people and a democracy if there will be no Palestinian state." In his conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Tamir also discussed the controversial remarks by J Street President Jeremy Ben Ami regarding the use of the term genocide, whether Israelis should give up on the idea of President Donald Trump restraining Netanyahu, and what Tamir’s former boss Shimon Peres would think of Israel’s current predicament. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is often portrayed as a political improviser who seizes opportunities and dodges land mines as they occur to preserve his hold on power, he is in fact guided by a clear and consistent mission, Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn tells the Haaretz Podcast.  “Netanyahu’s strategy, since the inception of his career, and even before he became a professional politician, has been to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and diminish the Palestinian national movement,” said Benn. As the war has worn on and with Netanyahu’s latest decision to escalate the conflict in Gaza instead of working to end it, Benn says the contention that the argument that Netanyahu does not really share the ideology of his farthest-right coalition partners – National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – does not hold up.  “I've yet to see one area of disagreement between Netanyahu and Smotrich and Ben-Gvir,” Benn said.  While the premier may “hide behind” excuses of being pushed and pulled by outside forces, Benn believes he has a firm grip on power and knows exactly what he is doing.  In his wide-ranging conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Benn also discusses the 20th anniversary of the Gaza disengagement – which Israel’s right blames for the events of October 7, his brewing confrontation with the IDF Chief of Staff over Gaza, and whether Netanyahu can face the voters after essentially abandoning the remaining Gaza hostages. Read more from Aluf Benn: Opinion | Why Did the Self-righteous Opponents of Israel's Gaza Disengagement Ignore Security Warnings Before October 7? Opinion | Don't Give Netanyahu a Free Pass. He Knows Exactly What He Is Doing in Gaza Opinion | Can You Fight for Israel's Democracy but Collaborate With Its Persecution of Palestinians?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The "last thing" Rabbi Rachel Timoner says she wanted to do was block the street in front of New York's Israeli consulate as part of a protest calling on Israel to increase the flow of humanitarian aid in Gaza – let alone get arrested for doing so. The Brooklyn rabbi said on the Haaretz Podcast that when she was asked to take part in the demonstration, she found it impossible to say no. "As a leader of the Jewish community here, as a rabbi, I feel that when Israel is acting in a way that they are claiming is representing Judaism, it's part of my job to show my understanding of what Judaism stands for. We feed the hungry, and we care for the sick, and we free the captives, and we care for the human dignity of every life, of every human life." Timoner, the senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, spoke on the podcast about the unease among New York Jews since October 7, and the crisis ignited by Zohran Mamdani's victory in the city's Democratic primary. Mamdani, who will once again face voters in the November general election, has been embroiled in controversy over his support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and his shifting stance on others on the left calling to “globalize the intifada.”  While the city of New York "does not have a foreign policy," Timoner said, it is a "big deal symbolically and in terms of identity to think about the mayor being an anti-Zionist." Timoner says Mamdani must address the question of "how will Zionist New Yorkers know that they are welcome in this city, safe in this city, and know that they are part of his vision for this city." The fact that despite his views, Mamdani received the most primary votes of any candidate, she added, points to the fact "a lot of Jews are feeling profoundly alienated from the behavior and the speech of this Israeli government, feel that it does not represent our values at all, and that it is a shameful degradation of Judaism. I don't know that you could explain the Jewish support for Mamdani without that factor." Read more: 'It Is Impossible to Watch and Stay Silent' | Dozens Arrested as U.S. Jews Ramp Up Protests Against Gaza Starvation Zohran Mamdani Officially Wins Democratic Primary for New York City Mayor Mamdani Distances Himself From 'Globalize the Intifada' Slogan in Closed-door Meeting With Business LeadersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The foreign press corps in Israel has been battling – unsuccessfully – since the Gaza war began in October 2023 to be permitted access to the Strip in order to report on the conflict and the humanitarian situation there from the ground.  Appearing on the Haaretz Podcast, CNN’s Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond breaks down the status of the legal and public fight by international journalists to enter Gaza, noting that “never before in Israel's history has the Israeli government blocked access to Gaza for this amount of time. We reached that milestone months and months ago, and we have been calling on the Israeli government to allow us into Gaza to be able to do our jobs.” The issue has taken on a new urgency, he added, as starvation in Gaza worsens, and he, his fellow journalists and news organizations feel the immediate need to assist and relieve the Palestinian journalists who have been doing “heroic work under extraordinarily difficult circumstances” reporting until now.  “The primary motivation for our call is not that they aren’t presenting a fair and accurate picture of what's happening. It's because they shouldn't have to shoulder that burden on their own. We have watched as every single person in Gaza has been impacted by the starvation of this man-made crisis that is happening inside the Gaza Strip, and that includes our fellow journalists inside of Gaza,” Diamond said.  In his conversation with host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Diamond also discussed a recent harrowing experience under threat from settlers in the West Bank, as well as his experience transitioning to his post in Jerusalem after covering Donald Trump as CNN's White House correspondent. Read more:  Why Israel Is So Determined to Keep the World's Media Out of Gaza Israel's High Court Blocks All Foreign Journalists From Gaza, Delays Ruling on Appeal for Access 'Unable to Feed Themselves': Four Major Media Outlets Say Gaza Staff Face StarvationSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest crisis of mass starvation and death in Gaza seems to have finally cut through the layers of denial and media self-censorship in Israel – and in both Arab and mixed cities, demonstrations against the horrifying humanitarian situation are drawing tens of thousands of protesters.  This week, the Haaretz Podcast includes two firsthand accounts of survival from Gaza: 32-year-old Hana and 24-year-old Abdel Halim. Speaking on the podcast, Haaretz journalist Nagham Zbeedat told host Allison Kaplan Sommer that the situation in Gaza has “gone from bad to unbearable” and it has become “fight to simply remain a human being in Gaza, through all of the starvation, bombing and endless loss.” She also reports on the new wave of protests led by Palestinian citizens of Israel, who have overcome fear of government retribution and taken to the streets en masse to protest the war and government policies that have led to the current dire situation. “I dare say it's the first time in history that we witness a livestreamed starvation war committed against unarmed people,” said Zbeedat.  Also on the podcast: Linda Dayan, a reporter who covers the anti-war protest movement for Haaretz, discusses how demonstrations against the humanitarian disaster in Gaza are becoming more mainstream.  After nearly two years of focusing sharply on the hostages and calling for a cease-fire deal, Dayan said, Jewish Israelis are “putting themselves on the line and countering what was kind of a very well accepted talking point until fairly recently: that the Gazans aren't starving, that there's a lot of aid, and Hamas is just stealing it.” From what she’s seen and heard, Dayan expects the protests focused on hunger and death in Gaza to grow.  “I have a feeling there's going to be more and more of these until something changes,” she said, adding that she believes that the Netanyahu government’s decision to allow “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting “is partially because some people are listening to the street.” Subscribe to Haaretz.com for up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Israel and the Middle East in English.  Read more: 'We and Our People in Gaza Are One': Over 10,000 Protest Gaza War and Hunger Crisis in Major Arab Israeli City 'We're Feeling Their Pain': Arab Israeli Leaders Declare Three-day Hunger Strike Over Gaza Starvation Experts Warn: Gaza Children Facing Acute Malnutrition, Long-term Medical Support NeededSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decisively lost his Knesset majority following the exit of the two major ultra-Orthodox parties that were pillars of his coalition, which now holds only 49 seats in the 120-member parliament.  But celebration is premature for those hoping for swift elections that could lead to the end of his rule, warns Haaretz columnist and political strategist Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin on the Haaretz Podcast.  The ultra-Orthodox may have left the government in a “very demonstrative way, but if they don't actually join a vote that would bring down the government and launch early elections, it doesn't really matter,” Scheindlin said.  As the Knesset enters its summer recess with a minority in power, only reconvening in October, “their exit from the coalition is essentially a matter of holding a political sword over the head of Netanyahu, over the government's head, saying ‘we are poised to bring down this government now and launch early elections’“ – but elections are far from a certainty.  What is becoming increasingly certain for most Israelis, Scheindlin told podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, is the fact that the government has “made it extremely clear that its political interests override the good of the state” by doing everything in its power to advance the law the ultra-Orthodox are pressuring them to pass, exempting Haredi men from military service at a time when the country needs manpower more desperately than ever.  Subscribe to Haaretz.com for up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Israel and the Middle East in English.  Read more from Dahlia Schiendlin in Haaretz: Bolting Parties, Baffling Polls: Are Elections in Israel Imminent? What Are Netanyahu's Chances of Winning? Netanyahu's Trial Is a Seductive Spectacle. But Dead Gazan Children Matter Far More Netanyahu Should End the Gaza War Now – for His Own Sake, if Not for Israel'sSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If it weren’t for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial and the multiple investigations into payments made by Qatar to his closest aides, the Gaza war could have been over, Bar Peleg, who has been covering Netanyahu’s legal woes, said on the Haaretz Podcast. In his conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Peleg laid out the details of the multiple investigations, including BibiLeaks and Qatargate, against the Israeli premier in light of the calls by President Donald Trump that his trial be “cancelled.” Trump has also suggested that Netanyahu should be given a pardon, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee’s appearance at his trial in a show of support.  A recent exposé by Peleg and Gidi Weitz revealed that the Trump administration is actively intervening in the Qatargate investigation by preventing a key U.S. witness, Qatar lobbyist Jay Footlik, from being questioned by Israel Police. Without Footlik’s testimony, which has now been postponed three times, “the case may well be stuck.” The active crusade by the Trump administration to “save Bibi Netanyahu,” as the president put it on social media, “is the most interference that we have seen from the United States in Israel in internal matters.”  Peleg said that all evidence points to the fact that Netanyahu’s legal woes have impacted his policy decisions over the past five years, with particularly fateful consequences over the course of the Gaza war.  Israelis “need to know that what their prime minister is doing is what is important for the state – and when we see how Netanyahu is acting regarding the war, we don’t believe fully that he is doing what is good for Israel,” Peleg said.  If Netanyahu was not on trial and facing other potential criminal charges, Peleg said, “maybe this war would have ended.” Subscribe to Haaretz.com for up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Israel and the Middle East in English.  Read more: Haaretz Exposé | U.S. Officials: Order to Prevent Israeli Investigation of Key Qatargate Figure Jay Footlik 'Came From Above' How Jay Footlik Went From Democratic Insider to Player in Netanyahu's Dirty Wartime Scandal Following the Money: Where Does Qatargate Scandal Involving Netanyahu's Closest Aides and Gulf State Stand?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Israeli military strike on southern Syria this week is “concerning” in view of the “unexpected opportunity” for a potential peace agreement with the new government there, Israel’s former deputy security adviser Chuck Freilich said on the Haaretz Podcast.  On Tuesday, the IDF struck Syrian army forces that had entered the city of Sweida to prevent harm to Druze communities and ensure the demilitarization of the area. The action was strongly denounced by the Syrian government.  While Freilich said he understands that it was “part of the post-October 7 policy of not allowing potential threats to evolve on any of Israel's borders,” he believed the limited nature of the Syrian military intervention and the “channels of communication” that now exist could have been “used to reach some understanding.” Instead, he said, the Netanyahu government “seems to be taking a really absolutist approach.” Freilich told podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer in their conversation that in his view, the government headed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa is “saying the right things” regarding Israel and, more importantly, backing up their words with actions.  “They’re talking to us, and they seem to be willing to reach some sort of agreement,” he said, noting that they refrained from condemning Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and “has thrown the Iranians and Hezbollah out of Syria. They are strongly anti-Iranian, probably as much as we are. So there’s a meeting of interests here that we should be really working to take advantage of.” “The fact that this is going on is absolutely mind-boggling, if one considers the history between Israel and Syria.” Freilich said that he would be “thrilled” to see U.S. President Donald Trump’s vision of Syria joining the Abraham Accords manifest in the near future, but he cautioned that it may be “a bridge too far” at the moment, and a more limited non-belligerence treaty is more realistic in the short-term.  Freilich also discussed the aftermath of the 12-day Israel-Iran war on the podcast, explaining that the most conservative estimates establish that the attack on Iranian nuclear sites set the country’s nuclearization program back by several years. The only way to ensure long-term protection from a nuclear Iran, he emphasized, is diplomacy. “A nuclear deal is the only way that we can ensure that they don't cross the threshold for the long-term. Military action has now gained up to four years, but if they want to reconstitute they can because they have the know-how. The only way to achieve an indefinite freeze on the program is a deal.” Subscribe to Haaretz.com for up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Israel and the Middle East in English.  Read more:  Opinion | Israel Should Help Shape a New Syria. But It Must Do So Carefully, Quietly and Quickly Analysis | Fresh Syria Violence Undercuts the Optimism Over Ties Between Israel and the New Regime Syrians Abroad Dismiss Talk of Normalization With Israel: 'We Fear the Consequences, Especially for Palestinians'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A crisis-level shortage of clergy in North American Reform and Conservative synagogues has led to a fascinating new phenomenon – an exodus of Israeli-born rabbis moving to the United States and Canada to serve as spiritual leaders.  On the Haaretz Podcast, Judy Maltz, Haaretz’s Jewish world editor who has reported on the trend, explains how these Israelis are filling an ever-growing need as fewer and fewer young North American Jews are training to be rabbis in non-Orthodox movements. Meanwhile, the number of Israelis receiving rabbinic ordination has grown.  “I think what's luring them abroad primarily is the salaries and the conditions,” Maltz told podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, adding there was another extremely appealing factor: respect.  “A woman rabbi who had recently taken a job in New York said to me ‘I no longer have to prove I'm a rabbi here.’ That is a very appealing factor: being admired and accepted for what you are and your profession, and that you don't have to constantly fight for recognition and legitimacy.” By contrast, in Israel, they are still battling for that legitimacy and even face mockery.  The Israeli imports are helping to solve the “very huge shortage of rabbis” to serve U.S. congregations in the non-Orthodox Jewish community “because nobody really wants to go to rabbinical school anymore and the whole business of organized synagogue life has become less appealing,” Maltz explained. With liberal Jews affiliated with Jewish organizations (like synagogues) are having fewer and fewer children, she said, it has also been more difficult for Reform and Conservative congregations to  sustain their traditionally strong youth movements “which have been the pipeline tor rabbinical school.” The new imports, Maltz noted, are not only breathing new spiritual life into their new congregations “but since October 7, these Israeli rabbis find themselves serving as a kind of bridge between their congregations and Israel – and as an important resource on information about what's happening in Israel where the news changes so quickly. They are finding themselves in this new and rather unexpected role of explaining what's happening.” Subscribe to Haaretz.com for up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Israel and the Middle East in English.  Read more:  Israel's Hottest New Export: Reform and Conservative Rabbis Far-right Mob Storms Reform Synagogue in Ra'anana Screening Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony Beyond Netflix's Hot Rabbi: Progressive Judaism Is Having a Moment on Screen 'Proof of a Thirst': Percentage of Reform Jews in Israel Doubles in Recent YearsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Israel, it seems, is once again on the brink of a cease-fire deal with Hamas – one that would see hostilities halted for at least two months, and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages. But as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump talk particulars in Washington, the families of the 50 remaining hostages are far from relieved. The deal on the table would only bring home 10 of the living hostages, and the remains of 18 of the deceased – leaving the fate of the 22 others in question. Aviva Siegel was kidnapped on October 7 from Kibbutz Kfar Azza along with her husband, Keith. She was released after 51 days, and campaigned tirelessly for Keith's release. After he came home in February, the reunited couple have fought for the return of the remaining hostages in Gaza. Siegel joins Haaretz reporter Linda Dayan to talk about this deal, captivity, adjusting to freedom and the urgency of bringing every hostage home. "Nobody's really talking about what's going to happen after the 10 [living hostages] come home, and half the hostages that aren't alive," Siegel says. "I've asked important people if they can answer that, because it's a question that I think about all the time, and I'm very, very worried." On what may be the eve of a historic decision, she says that she would tell decision-makers – at home and abroad – her own story, and ask them how they can abandon the hostages who remain there, like 27-year-old twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman. "I was there for the 51 days. I felt that I was left behind," she recounted. "And there were so many moments that I lost hope and I just wanted to die. What I saw in Gaza and what I felt was so much for a human being to go through. I just wanted to die. So I want the leaders to understand that they have to take responsibility – I'm just an ordinary person, and I just want my life back." Subscribe to Haaretz.com for up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Israel and the Middle East in English.  Read more:  'I Still Can't Believe It When I See My Father Eating, Sleeping, and Wearing Warm Clothes' 'A Little More and You're Home': Kfar Azza's Fight for Its Last Hostages in Gaza What Exactly Is In the Cease-fire/Hostage Deal On the Table?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Religious extremism and intolerance of liberal Judaism has spread from the ultra-Orthodox and ultra-nationalist parties into the mainstream of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, MK Gilad Kariv said on the Haaretz Podcast. “This is not the Likud that we knew 10 or 20 years ago,” he said. “Any attempt to differentiate the Likud from the Israeli extreme religious right is a false attempt.” Kariv, a rabbi and former leader of Israel’s Reform movement, is a member of the Democrats Party. He spoke to podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer shortly after he was ejected from a Knesset committee when he dared to mention that his daughter prays with tefillin –  the leather scrolls and straps that Jews wrap around themselves in prayer. Galit Distel Atbaryan, the Likud member presiding over the session told Kariv, “If you conduct a bar mitzvah for a dog, I will come and celebrate.” She then ordered that the “Reform man” be removed because “The Jews here want to continue.” Kariv also discussed growing concerns that Israel’s next election may not be fully democratic, pointing to calls in Netanyahu’s camp to disqualify Arab parties and weaken judicial oversight.  “We have real reasons to suspect that they may not cancel the elections or physically prevent people from voting, but they have many other tools. The only solution to this danger is to make sure that our political camp is extremely proactive in preventing the use of these tactics.” Kariv rejected the idea that it was Netanyahu’s political skills that had helped him stave off threats by the ultra-Orthodox parties – namely, that they would dissolve his coalition if Netanyahu did not pass legislation exempting them from military service.  “If you don't have principles and you're willing to do whatever it takes in order to survive, it doesn't demand political wisdom.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An explosive expose by Haaretz featured testimonies from IDF soldiers and officers that they were ordered to use live fire to disperse thousands of unarmed Palestinians in Gaza who had crowded the handful of stations set up to distribute humanitarian aid. The story grabbed international attention, and sparked fury among top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, who both called the article a “blood libel.” On the Haaretz Podcast, one of the three journalists who wrote the story, Nir Hasson, takes listeners behind the scenes of his reporting, explaining the reasons soldiers decided to speak to him and his fellow journalists. The soldiers’ motivations, he said, were two-fold. First the “moral issue” of being put in the position to use deadly force to stop “hungry people trying to get some food for their family” bothered them.   “The second thing they spoke about was the fact that this was not the IDF that they used to know. These were not values of the army that these reservists used to serve in,” Hasson added. “They told me, this is not the way a professional army deals with a civil population. They were very angry at their commanders for telling them to use this kind of tool to control a crowd,” and even refused to employ non-lethal methods like tear gas.  Also appearing on the podcast: Haaretz columnist Amir Tibon, who pointed out that the formation of these distribution centers appeared to be aimed at creating such intolerable conditions that Gazans seek to leave, while "doing nothing" to serve Israel's proclaimed war goals – returning the hostages and ridding Gaza of Hamas. The current operation, Tibon said, “is not serving real security interests of Israel, is not helping us get back the hostages, and it is part of a dangerous fantasy that is leading us into a ‘forever war’ in Gaza.” Read more: 'It's a Killing Field': IDF Soldiers Ordered to Shoot Deliberately at Unarmed Gazans Waiting for Humanitarian Aid Israeli Army Says 'Lessons Learned' From Army Fire Incidents on Gaza Aid-Seekers After Haaretz Exposé A Fatal Failure: Israel's Gaza Aid Policy Leaves Dozens Killed Daily as They Seek FoodSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Destructive attacks on Palestinian communities by West Bank settlers “emboldened” by support from powerful far right-wing figures in the Netanyahu government have received little attention as the country has focused on the war in Gaza and the recent clash with Iran. Last week, dozens of settlers descended upon Kafr Malik, a Palestinian town north of Ramallah, attacking residents and their property, as well as IDF soldiers who arrived at the scene. The outpost – illegal even under Israeli law – was dismantled by the Israeli army later that night, triggering multiple riots at a nearby army base and police station. The settlers’ attacks on Israeli soldiers sparked widespread public outrage and even condemnation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.  Haaretz West Bank correspondent Hagar Shezaf joined host Allison Kaplan Sommer this week for a behind-the-scenes look at the ongoing tension and the “Jewish terrorists” so dedicated to driving Palestinians off of their land that they are willing to attack IDF soldiers when they stand in their way.  Noting that Israelis generally “support the soldiers over the settlers,” she shared insights about the evolving political climate toward violent extremists in the West Bank. “I think in settler society – and to an extent, broader Israeli society, it has become much, much, much more normalized post October 7 –  the sense that these people are guarding the land.” Attacks on IDF soldiers, she said, are “obviously always controversial in Israeli society – but attacking Palestinians? Not so controversial anymore.” Subscribe to Haaretz.com for up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Israel and the Middle East in English.  Read more: Dozens of Israeli Settlers Attempt to Break Into West Bank IDF Base, Army Source Says Six Settlers Arrested for Assaulting IDF Troops in West Bank; Netanyahu: Bring Them to Justice Five Days After Building an Outpost on the Edge of a West Bank Palestinian Village, Israeli Settlers Drove Locals OutSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Israel’s military achievements in its war with Iran will mean little if they are not “anchored to a diplomatic agreement that will ensure that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons,” Shira Efron, research director of the Israel Policy Forum, said on the Haaretz Podcast.  Without such a guarantee, she fears, the “fragile cease-fire” in place will not hold and there will be a regression into the “tit-for-tat war of attrition” that the Trump-imposed cease-fire managed to halt.  Bringing the Iranians back to the negotiating table in good faith, however, she said, will be challenging. From their perspective, after they showed willingness to negotiate, Israel and the United States struck militarily.  “What incentivizes them to trust the negotiation process again? How do you bring them to the negotiation table and make it clear to them that their situation without a nuclear weapon would be better than having a nuclear weapon? Because they can choose, theoretically, the path of North Korea and say ‘If we had a nuclear weapon, no one would have struck us, so getting one is what we should be doing.’ Our challenge is to make sure that this doesn't happen. And I think it's not going to come only from kinetic strikes. It also has to come from diplomacy.” The quick resolution to the Iran conflict highlighted the depth of the quagmire of the Gaza war, she noted.  “The juxtaposition of Gaza and Iran couldn't be more pronounced. You see an adversary that Israel actually feared and prepared for. There were actual goals of war that were defined and articulated, and we knew when to leave on time. In Gaza, we have very unclear objectives of the war like ‘total victory’ and ‘complete elimination’ of Hamas.” Efron admitted that she had held out a “fantasy” scenario in which there had been a backroom deal that when Donald Trump committed to attacking Iran, he had conditioned it on Israel agreeing to end the Gaza conflict.  However, she said, based on conversations with Israeli officials, “There are no indications that this condition was there. But there's no question that the president does want to end the war in Gaza. He wants to bring back the hostages.”  Subscribe to Haaretz.com for up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Israel and the Middle East in English. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.