Israel Update

Jaksot

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  Standing Ovation 15.09.2026 1t 13min

  The creators of the film NAZA, which accuses the IDF of AI-driven genocide, received a standing ovation whose length could rival the standing ovations of the Stalin-era Politburo. Mike and Gadi discuss the film and the way it was received in Israel and abroad. It seems that peddling blood libels against Jews has taken on an entirely different meaning in the post–October 7 world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Haaretz Nonsense and David Remnick’s Toupee 09.09.2026 1t 7min

  The Haaretz “bombshell” story about a warning from MBZ to Netanyahu is not just nonsense — it’s hilarious nonsense. Still The New Yorker swallowed it whole. But precisely because it’s bogus, it actually tells you a lot about the state of Israeli politics - as the country gears up for elections. It’s been a while since Mike and Gadi had this much fun in a single show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Israel Update Special with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 08.09.2026 1t 37min

  Gadi sits down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a long conversation in Hebrew. To watch with English subtitles, please visit tabletmag.com/israelupdate, or you can access the video on Spotify, YouTube, or Rumble. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Is Winter Coming for Netanyahu? 01.09.2026 1t 21min

  Former IDF general Ofer Winter has launched Amcha Yisrael (“People of Israel”), a new right-wing populist party. Gadi explains why Netanyahu’s camp sees Winter as a threat. In Israel’s fragmented electoral system, small parties can end up wasting votes by drawing support away from other right-wing parties that then fail to cross the threshold for entering the Knesset. Winter insists that he belongs to the right-wing camp. But he rejected a reserved slot on the Likud list and chose to run on his own. His move could cost the right its majority and, ultimately, Netanyahu his hold on power. Mike and Gadi also discuss the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz, where a “no war, no peace” deadlock drags on. And they revisit last week’s conversation with Dan Schueftan, who, apparently with his ears burning, called in just as they were criticizing him. Mike reminded everyone that literally the funniest thing in the world is the recording of LBJ ordering Haggar slacks from the Oval Office, which is available at the following link: https://millercenter.org/listening-to-the-presidency/lbj-orders-some-new-haggar-pants Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  There Are No Solutions 26.08.2026 1t 21min

  In the Middle East, argues Dan Schueftan, there are no solutions—only threats to contain, opportunities to exploit, and problems to manage. He joins Mike to explain why Gaza will require “violent maintenance,” why Turkey poses an immediate strategic challenge, and why economic pressure remains the best weapon against Iran. Plus: Israel’s resilient society, its failing political class, and the hard strategic lessons Americans still refuse to learn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Israel’s Wartime Boom 10.08.2026 1t 17min

  Strangely, almost unbelievably, Israel’s economy is booming, even after three difficult years of war. The Tel Aviv 35 Index is up 130% since this government took office. Mike and Gadi try to explain how this has come to pass. Also on this episode: the plague of selective enforcement against the Israeli right in the showdown ahead of the coming elections, and our usual assessment of the state of the war—in the Gulf and here at home, in Gaza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Israel Will Not Yield 04.08.2026 1t 11min

  Dr. Einat Wilf sometimes sounds like the right, and sometimes like the left. Which is, perhaps, the point of the new political party she founded. It’s named courage (Oz, in Hebrew). We asked her what the party’s agenda would be. We also discussed the suggested changes to the Gaza deal - which we agreed will not come to pass. Gadi’s long interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly confirmed this view. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  What Did Netanyahu Get From Trump? 29.07.2026 1t 14min

  This is the 8th time that Netanyahu is invited to the White House since Trump returned to power. The stalemate in the Gulf was probably the main subject of their one and a half hour discussion. Mike surveys the possible plans they may have agreed or disagreed on.Meanwhile, the “Settler Violence” campaign is coming to a head as Palestian terrorism escalates. Are Israelis realizing they are being manipulated by the media, at home and abroad? And here is Melanie Phillips’s brilliant piece on the “Settler Violence” canard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Escalation in the Gulf 21.07.2026 1t

  Mike lays out the four possible scenarios in which the current escalation in the Straits of Hormuz can develop. Gadi revisits the “settler violence” canard, in light of the devastating arson attack perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists against the settlement of Havat Gilad. Also in this episode: J. D. Vance and Gadi Eisenkot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Election Season - Beware! 14.07.2026 1t 25min

  Mike thinks there’s a clear limit to how far Trump will escalate hostilities with Iran before the midterms, and Gadi explains the recent legislation blitz and why the ultra-orthodox draft has become such a hot button issue and why it's such an effective weapon for the left. It may well carry the day for them at the ballot box. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Tempest in a Constitutional Tea Pot 07.07.2026 1t 22min

  The left-wing media is in full hysteria over the government’s refusal to accept a Supreme Court injunction that directly contradicts the letter of the law. The issue is media regulation — and, as Gadi explains, it is political, not legal. It is high time the cabinet stopped letting itself be bullied by a full-blown progressive court. Also in this episode: Is Mike’s interpretation of the MOU turning out to be more accurate than Gadi’s — and Dan Shueftan’s? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Can Israel save the us from its mistake? With guest Dan Schueftan 30.06.2026 50min

  Trump’s MOU repeats a very American mistake, says guest Prof. Dan Schueftan: like many presidents before him he does not understand radicalism. But the Lebanon Deal may be able to rectify some of the damage. In which case, says Schueftan, it would not be the first time that Israel saves the US from its own mistakes. Also in this episode: judges declare the bribery case against Netanyahu groundless. The book Dan Referred to turned out to be A World Restored, by HK, which, incidentally, Gadi only read on kindle and had a hard copy sent to Mike a few weeks back, because Amazon won't ship it to Israel. Highly recommended. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Netanyahu Won’t Back Down 24.06.2026 54min

  Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again affirmed that Israel will maintain its security zone in Lebanon – for as long as needed, regardless of any outside pressure. Mike and Gadi explain why yielding on this issue will cost Netanyahu the elections. Batya Ungar-Sargon was our special guest on this episode. She joined us to discuss her new book The Jews and the Left. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Is It Really So Bad? 16.06.2026 1t 6min

  Gadi thinks it is. The US has demonstrated that it will not really fight – unless it’s easy, can be done from the air, and includes very few casualties. That is a bad signal for every rogue regime the world over. Mike thinks the MOU is just a tactical retreat, and that hostilities will resume, eventually. Both, however, agree that it’s a blow for Israel in general and for Netanyahu’s election bid in particular. Then there is also the joke about the skeleton who orders beer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Trump and Netanyahu: A Lovers' Spat 10.06.2026 1t 12min

  TRUMP AND NETANYAHU: A LOVERS' SPAT Contrary to the media’s rendering, no great rift has opened between Trump and Netanyahu. Rest assured that the Israeli attack on Iran was fully coordinated with the Americans. Trump, though, would do well to insist that Lebanon should have no relation to the negotiations with the Islamic Republic. Also on this episode: how rouge former head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, conspired with Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara to undermine an elected government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Rift Over Lebanon? 02.06.2026 1t 25min

  ent Trump tweeted out Mike’s piece on how this war will end, which means Mike just may have been on to something. And on that view, things are not as grim as many – on the left and as well as the right – seem to think. Mike explains. Meanwhile, the Iranians are playing the Lebanon card to sow discord between the US and Israel. The episode opens, though, with one more hair-raising story in the never-ending saga of Israel’s deep state trying to take down Israel’s elected government. Mike's piece: https://www.thefp.com/p/iran-war-end-trump-peace-deal-israel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  What Should Israel Do? 26.05.2026 1t 23min

  Calibrate your expectations to reality not to the media frenzy. This is the Middle East. Things are never as bad as the alarmists say and they are never as good as we would like. Mike, Gadi and guest analyst, Channel 14’s Tamir Morag, look at the pros and cons of the emerging deal, and ask how Israel should conduct itself vis-à-vis the American interests. Also in this episode: the skit about “Bibists” that created a cultural storm in Israel, and how the deep state operatives tried (and probably failed) to block Netanyahu’s candidate for Head of the Mossad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Iran Buckles Under Blockade 12.05.2026 1t 20min

  Iran is bleeding out under the naval blockade, suffering more pain than most reporters allow. Mike and guest host Tamir Morag, diplomatic correspondent for Israel’s Channel 14, discuss the real options on the table. Also in this episode: what a deal should cover, why the war is reshuffling alliances, and, naturally, the case for Azerbaijan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Make No Mistake: Iran Is Feeling the Pain 05.05.2026 1t 6min

  Don’t let the press fool you: the massive economic pressure is having a huge effect, and it will continue. Mike and Gadi discuss – and rank by likelihood – the different possible outcomes. Meanwhile high-ranking Israeli officials have been taunting Mike over and over again, about his opinions on Turkey – which are (finally!) shifting. Slightly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  The Looming Israeli Elections 27.04.2026 1t 12min

  It’s that time of the cycle when everything is judged by its possible influence on the coming October 2026 elections. Mike and Gadi discuss Netanyahu’s health, the Oct. 7 not-yet-appointed Commission of Inquiry, and the new political party formed by the merging of Bennett 2026 with Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid. Also in this episode: how the war is going. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices