Israel Update

Epizódy

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  Israel’s Wartime Boom 10.08.2026 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h

  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 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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
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  The Likely Scenarios 21.04.2026 59min

  There are several possible developments moving forward on Iran: an improved version of a JCPOA; a resumption of hostilities; or a continuation of the current situation with economic pressure grinding down the Islamic Republic. The US can afford to wait longer than Iran can. Trump is likely to choose between those options based on how he views the impact on China. Also in this episode: Israel’s imperial Supreme Court thinks it has the authority to remove an elected minister. Read Mike's piece in Tablet here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  It's the Economy, Habibi! 14.04.2026 56min

  It is clear at this point who has the leverage: we—the U.S. and Israel—are winning this war. Rather than opening the Strait of Hormuz, Trump is closing it to Iranian shipping. It is unlikely that the Islamic Republic’s military dictatorship can survive this for long. Also in this episode: the China angle of the war, with our guest, the Hudson Institute’s Zineb Riboua. And finally, why Viktor Orbán’s defeat in Hungary matters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  A Messy Victory 08.04.2026 1h 8min

  Mike thinks the achievements of this war are important enough to declare it a victory, though by no means a knock out. Mike and Gadi discuss the pros and cons of the ceasefire, the feasibility of an agreement, and the not unlikely return to military operations two weeks from now. Also in this episode: What are the reactions in Israel, what effects will the ceasefire have on the ongoing war in Lebanon, and what is “gleeful defeatism?” – All this and more on the new episode of Israel Update. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  The Politics Behind the "Settler Violence" Campaign 31.03.2026 1h 12min

  The orchestrated campaign to create alarm about “Settler Violence” magnifies a very marginal phenomena as part of a well thought out long game. Mike and Gadi explain how it works, and what its purpose is. We also have a guest on this show: Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili. She’s an academic, but she won’t bow down to the lies about the war. Read her op-ed in the Washington Post here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/03/27/israel-iran-war-propaganda-disinformation/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  The Global Implications of This Conflict Are Vast 24.03.2026 1h

  What’s at stake is the American-led international order. If the regime in Iran remains standing, it will have shown that the US can no longer guarantee that order. The good news, Mike and Gadi think, is that Trump fully understands this. This is not to say, however, that all the challenges can easily be overcome. Plus, Israel’s deep-state is reaching new level of legal surrealism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices