Haaretz Podcast

Haaretz.com

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – a weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

  1. 'It’s a disgrace. Israelis have had enough': Amid ultra-Orthodox riots, fury over IDF draft-dodging peaks

    -3 J

    'It’s a disgrace. Israelis have had enough': Amid ultra-Orthodox riots, fury over IDF draft-dodging peaks

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

    28 min
  2. Between Tel Aviv and Ramallah: Sari Bashi on her 'upside down' marriage and raising Jewish Palestinian kids

    -5 J

    Between Tel Aviv and Ramallah: Sari Bashi on her 'upside down' marriage and raising Jewish Palestinian kids

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

    24 min
  3. ‘Trump needs Netanyahu to not mess things up for him in Iran and Gaza’

    13 FÉVR.

    ‘Trump needs Netanyahu to not mess things up for him in Iran and Gaza’

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

    28 min
  4. Entire communities fled: 'The West Bank's Area C is almost completely ethnically cleansed'

    11 FÉVR.

    Entire communities fled: 'The West Bank's Area C is almost completely ethnically cleansed'

    The Netanyahu government may not have officially annexed the West Bank, but the ongoing settler violence expelling Palestinian communities from their land – plus the changes in regulation imposing Israeli authority and areas meant for Palestinian self-rule – is driving momentum in that direction, Haaretz West Bank correspondent Matan Golan said on the Haaretz Podcast. Golan described the ongoing ordeal in the Bedouin community of Mukhmas on the podcast, a case study which illustrates the settlers' use of daily harassment and ongoing attacks on both residents and their property to force Palestinians to relocate into an increasingly small portion of the territory. The settler outpost of Kol Mevaser terrorizing Mukhmas "has been depopulated and destroyed at least nine times," by Israeli authorities since its establishment in late October, when the young settlers living there engaged in their first spree of beatings, assaults and arson. "Each time, the settlers just escape to the hills below – and despite the fact that it's a closed military zone," she said, they return – and later brag of their destructive acts against Palestinians on social media. The IDF has consistently failed to provide enough protection for Palestinian residents to remain in their homes, she said. The Israeli and international activists try to provide a protective presence, which helps prolong the Palestinians' struggles to remain, but it has proven unsuccessful: Nearly 50 communities have been forcibly displaced since summer 2023, according to B'Tselem. On the podcast, Golan also discusses the recent announcement by Netanyahu government officials declaring that it is taking authority in areas meant to be controlled by the Palestinian Authority, in violation of the Oslo Accords. The fact that such measures are being taken to weaken the Palestinian Authority and prevent a two-state solution, she said, "are no secret." Read more: Out-of-control Hooded Settlers: Jewish Outpost Was Evacuated 9 Times – and Rebuilt Immediately How Israeli Settlers Destroyed Mukhmas In Four Minutes Israeli Settler Violence Against Palestinians in West Bank Rose 25 Percent in 2025, IDF Finds 'How Can a Father Tell Their Child That Settlers Burned Down Their House?' Israel to Expand Law Enforcement in Palestinian-controlled West Bank Areas, Defying Oslo Accords Israel Claims It Can't Protect Palestinians From Settler Attacks Due to IDF Personnel Shortage Investigation: Netanyahu's Government Not Only Permits Jewish Terror in the West Bank, but Also Finances It See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    27 min
  5. ‘Organized crime groups are subcontractors for the Netanyahu government’s destruction of Israel’s Arab society’

    6 FÉVR.

    ‘Organized crime groups are subcontractors for the Netanyahu government’s destruction of Israel’s Arab society’

    This week, President Isaac Herzog declared that the record-high homicide rate in Israel’s Arab sector constitutes a “national emergency.” But according to Knesset member Aida Touma-Sliman, the organized crime groups behind the violence in Israel thrive because “this is a policy conducted by the government.”  “Crime groups are their subcontractor for the destruction of our society, making us terrorized individuals looking only to live their lives quietly. When you are struggling for the basic right to live, you forget all about struggling for other political, economic and social rights,” Touma-Sliman said. She noted that only 10 percent of the murders of Arabs are solved – down from 40 percent under past governments – and in stark contrast with the Jewish sector, in which a vast majority of cases are closed. “A very bad message is being sent by the police to the murderers and criminals: that you can do whatever you want and nobody will touch you as long as it remains among the Arabs,” she said. Touma-Sliman said she was convinced that if National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir believed that the stashes of deadly weapons in the hands of Arab crime organizations were to be used against Jews, “he would know exactly how to smash them down. But he is not willing to do it, as long as they are only committing crimes among the Arabs. He is enjoying the scene.” Touma-Sliman also discussed the reunion of the Joint List, the reasons behind her decision not to run in the coming election, and her deep disappointment with Israel’s opposition parties and “so-called left.”  Opposition leaders “are not supposed to personally replace Netanyahu,” she said. “If you want to be an alternative, be courageous enough to create a different vision for how the citizens of Israel should be living and how Israel should be as a state.” Read more: Netanyahu Moves to Pass Off Arab Crime Task Force From PM's Office to Ben-Gvir MK Aida Touma-Sliman: 'The Knesset Symbolizes Everything I've Fought Against. I Don't Want to Be There. I Want to Fight It' Analysis: Israeli Arab Leaders at a Crossroads: Will Escalating Protests Fuel Right-wing Incitement? Explained: What Part Israel's Arab Parties Can Play in Toppling Netanyahu in the 2026 Vote Poll: Coalition Remains Stable at 51 Seats as Reunited Joint Arab List Surges to 12 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    31 min
  6. When will a U.S. attack on Iran happen? Amos Harel on Israel's war jitters

    2 FÉVR.

    When will a U.S. attack on Iran happen? Amos Harel on Israel's war jitters

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

    25 min
  7. 'World War Jew': How Israel's antisemitism conference became a far-right populist rally

    29 JANV.

    'World War Jew': How Israel's antisemitism conference became a far-right populist rally

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

    27 min
  8. 'Iran’s Babi Yar': An Israeli-Iranian expert says 'Iranians are being massacred in historic numbers'

    26 JANV.

    'Iran’s Babi Yar': An Israeli-Iranian expert says 'Iranians are being massacred in historic numbers'

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

    27 min
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From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – a weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

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    Haaretz.com
  • Création
    Haaretz
  • Années d’activité
    2018 - 2026
  • Épisodes
    101
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    © 2026 Haaretz
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    Haaretz Podcast

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