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. How a Haaretz investigation into stolen Ukrainian wheat triggered a diplomatic crisis

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    How a Haaretz investigation into stolen Ukrainian wheat triggered a diplomatic crisis

    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 Grain See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    26 min
  2. 'American Jews really hate Trump. But they hate Netanyahu even more'

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    'American Jews really hate Trump. But they hate Netanyahu even more'

    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 Comply See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    30 min
  3. Making Israel's case to ChatGPT and Grok: Hasbara meets AI in multi-million dollar PR push

    24 APR.

    Making Israel's case to ChatGPT and Grok: Hasbara meets AI in multi-million dollar PR push

    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 Executives See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    29 min
  4. 'You can't heal in a perpetual war': Israeli peace activist Yonatan Zeigen on following in his mother's footsteps

    20 APR.

    'You can't heal in a perpetual war': Israeli peace activist Yonatan Zeigen on following in his mother's footsteps

    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 Silver See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    28 min
  5. 'The Hungarians turned their anxiety into hope, that's the main lesson for Israelis'

    17 APR.

    'The Hungarians turned their anxiety into hope, that's the main lesson for Israelis'

    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.

    26 min
  6. 'We'll kill you, traitor': How far-right thugs and police target Israel's antiwar protest leaders

    14 APR.

    'We'll kill you, traitor': How far-right thugs and police target Israel's antiwar protest leaders

    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 Shows See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    32 min
  7. Iran war cease-fire update with Amos Harel: 'Trump wants out and Netanyahu is extremely disappointed'

    9 APR.

    Iran war cease-fire update with Amos Harel: 'Trump wants out and Netanyahu is extremely disappointed'

    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.

    18 min
  8. What Trump got wrong about Iran, what the IDF got wrong about Hezbollah: Amos Harel on wars with no exit strategy

    6 APR.

    What Trump got wrong about Iran, what the IDF got wrong about Hezbollah: Amos Harel on wars with no exit strategy

    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.

    31 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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  • Kanal
    Haaretz.com
  • Skapad av
    Haaretz
  • Aktiva år
    2018 - 2026
  • Avsnitt
    101
  • Åldersgräns
    Barnvänligt
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Haaretz
  • Programmets webbplats
    Haaretz Podcast
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