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.
'Trump is frustrated with Netanyahu so he pushed through a back channel with Hamas'
What if former U.S. President Joe Biden’s envoys had negotiated directly with Hamas behind Israel’s back? Haaretz military analyst Amos Harel says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would surely have cried betrayal and called it de facto recognition of a terrorist group. But it was President Donald Trump’s White House that made such a move, and therefore no criticism or condemnation was uttered from Jerusalem after it was revealed that the direct talks were taking place. The fact that the U.S. president took that step, Harel noted, points to the fact that “Trump is quite frustrated” with the “never-ending” talks to move the hostage release and cease-fire deal into its second stage, which is why “the Trump administration took matters into its own hands and decided to push forward through a back channel with Hamas.” As both Israel and Hamas prepare for a possible return to war, Harel told podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, it appears that Trump’s “instinct is to reach for a deal and not another war.” On the podcast, Harel also discussed the resignation last week of IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari, probably the most popular high-ranking officer among Israelis, but not so much among Netanyahu’s government ministers; the findings of the official IDF probe into the failures of October 7, and the growing fury of hostage families.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
--------
32:01
Peter Beinart: 'I feared ethnic cleansing on a large scale, but I couldn't imagine Gaza'
Peter Beinart’s new book, “Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning” confronts his “horror” - even as a long-time harsh critic of Israeli policies - at the devastation that has taken place over the past 15 months. “In 2023, I wrote about my concerns about the possibility of ethnic cleansing on a large scale, as opposed to the small scale ethnic cleansing that has been going on for years,” Beinart said, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast. “But I really could not imagine what we've seen in Gaza - which is basically the destruction of an entire society, most of the buildings destroyed, most of the hospitals, schools, universities, agriculture, the necessities of life.” But even worse, he explained, was the “widespread embrace of mass expulsion, not just by people on the Israeli and American right, but by people who were considered moderate, centrist, reasonable, and thoughtful. That's the catastrophe, the horror - and I would even say the evil - that I could not imagine.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
--------
37:09
'Ironically, Israel's far-right extremists are more normalized than Germany's far right'
On this episode of the Haaretz Podcast, host Allison Kaplan Sommer speaks to two journalists who covered last week’s German election, which concluded with a historically strong showing by Germany’s far-right AfD party. German journalist Vera Weidenbach said the popularity of the AfD, which is “a direct successor of the Nazis, and, especially in the East, deeply rooted in neo-Nazi culture,” is a troubling and dangerous development, even though it did not get as many votes as its leaders had hoped. Haaretz’s David Issacharoff discussed the view from Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was applauding the win for the mainstream conservative Christian Democratic Union Party led by Friedrich Merz, “the most pro-Israel politician in Germany.” Although, he noted, “some progressive Jews are trying to warn of this blind support to Israel, or the possible blank check that Merz could give Netanyahu to allow him to continue the war in Gaza.” Background reading: The Real Winners of Germany's Elections? The Far Right – and Israel's Netanyahu Government Only One Political Leader Can Save Germany From the Far Right Subscribe to Haaretz! Go to Haaretz.com and use the code HAARETZ10 for ten percent off an annual subscription.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
--------
23:07
ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt: ‘I should have framed my tweet about Elon Musk’s salute differently’
The death and devastation on October 7 was "the end result of antisemitism unchecked," Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said on the Haaretz Podcast. “Dehumanizing Israelis or Zionists or Jews - leads to inhuman acts.” Greenblatt said that the traumatic events also reinforced for him the “reality that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism.” “The crisis is real,” he said. “The danger is here and now. And yet the challenge for all of us is not to lose our humanity in this moment,” adding that “the inhumanity of Hamas doesn't diminish the humanity of Palestinians.” In his conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer about countering antisemitism during the Gaza War and pitched partisan tension in Washington D.C., Greenblatt also addressed the controversy surrounding his forgiving reaction on social media to Elon Musk’s apparent “Sieg Heil” gesture on President Donald Trump’s inauguration day. Greenblatt expressed regret that he had not “framed” his tweet differently, given “the impact that it had.” Subscribe to Haaretz! Go to Haaretz.com and use the code HAARETZ10 for ten percent off an annual subscription.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
--------
33:23
Former U.S. ambassador Dan Shapiro: ‘Trump’s Gaza plan is not serious and it’s not going to happen’
Daniel Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel and a key architect of the cease-fire-for-hostages deal underway between Israel and Hamas, said on the Haaretz Podcast that the "ultimate condition" of any post-war settlement for Gaza must be the removal of Hamas from power. Shapiro, speaking to host Allison Kaplan Sommer on the week Israel received the bodies of the murdered Bibas family, said the "terrible and heartbreaking" event revived memories of the days following October 7, when "there were many, many people in the U.S. administration who, in addition to doing the focused, hard work of trying to figure out what the right policies were and prepare for the military and the diplomatic decisions, also had to stop in the middle of the day sometimes and just weep a bit because the brutality was so profound." Discussing President Donald Trump's plan to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian residents, Shapiro advised those welcoming the plan not to get their hopes up. "I can understand the appeal of it to some Israelis who might say, 'well, yeah, it might make our problem of 2 million Palestinians disappear and make the United States own this problem so we don't have to worry about it,' he said, "but that doesn't make it any more serious. It's not going to happen." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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.
Brasil