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PODCAST

Israel Update

This is the audio version of Israel Update. Israel Update is a video podcast hosted by Israeli historian and political commentator Gadi Taub and Michael Doran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. The show offers news from the ground as well as an unparalleled insider perspective on the war.

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All Episodes

55:44

Consequences of the Attempt on Trump's Life

Israel Update ·

2024/07/17

The failed assassination attempt on the former president will have vast consequences for the Middle East, some of which will be felt immediately. Israel, Mike argues, will have a freer hand to fight Hamas. A Trump victory however, with J.D. Vance as VP, will have far vaster effects on the region. Mike and Gadi discuss. Meanwhile, the incitement against PM Netanyahu crosses the line into a virtual calls for his assassination. Yet Israel's law enforcement seems not to have learned from the American

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63:35

What is Victory?

Israel Update ·

2024/07/10

The question is not just about the day after. It is also about the day before the day after: what should count as victory? Some have declared the return of the hostages to be the only meaning of victory and are willing to push for a deal almost at any price. But that means that in the real world, Hamas would be able to declare victory. This will not fly with the Netanyahu coalition. But even within the coalition, and importantly, between the politicians and the IDF brass, there are very different

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65:05

What is "Right" and what is "Left" in israel?

Israel Update ·

2024/07/03

The American presidential debate was a moment of truth – or lack thereof – for the press. It also has consequences for Israel and the Middle East. Mike and Gadi discuss.This week also saw an Israeli Supreme Court decision ordering the draft of all ultra-orthodox men. The decision is threatening the stability of Netanyahu's coalition. Mike and Gadi explain why this has become such a contested issue, and how religion, nationalism and progressivism define what Left and Right mean in Israel

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66:07

Netanyahu's Gambit Succeeds

Israel Update ·

2024/06/26

Netanyahu's video message that called out the US on withholding arms from Israel succeeded – first the administration denied the facts, but then it opened the bureaucratic bottlenecks (see Mike's piece about this below). Few commentators, however, took note of the fact that there was a warning in that video – one which was later enhanced in Netanyahu's two major public statements this week. The war as the prime minister is now defining it, is a seven-front war with Iran. With a speech before a joint

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63:54

The "Color Revolution" Fails

Israel Update ·

2024/06/19

The repeated attempts of the Biden administration to arrange a color revolution in Israel in order to topple Netanyahu's government are failing – partly because the Israeli "Resistance" is unable to muster more than a few thousand chronic Never-Bibi protestors. Israelis have no patience with people threatening to "paralyze the country" when so many are sending their sons and daughters to risk their lives in Gaza. Also: Gadi and Mike disagreed on whether IDF brass insubordination is becoming a real

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65:44

A whirlwind week in Israel

Israel Update ·

2024/06/14

A bold rescue operation Nuseirat; Benny Gantz quits the war time coalition; a UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire and a hostage deal; steep escalation between Hezbollah and Israel in the north, and – if all this is not enough – a looming crisis for the coalition over drafting of ultra-orthodox men to the IDF. Gadi and Mike untangle these strands and conclude that for now Netanyahu's coalition is not on the verge of collapse, despite the Biden administration's best efforts.

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70:42

Behind the Scenes of Biden's Speech

Israel Update ·

2024/06/05

President Biden made a dramatic speech on Friday announcing an Israeli offer for a far-reaching hostage deal. Prime Minster Netanyahu's response at first made it seem like Biden was distorting Israel's position beyond recognition. It turned out that the truth behind the move was far more complicated. Mike and Gadi unpack the calculations of the different parties.Also in this episode: the North is burning.

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41:45

One Law for the Elites, Another for the Masses

Israel Update ·

2024/05/31

A reservist soldier recorded a video addressing Prime Minister Netanyahu, and telling him that the army is behind him, but also calling on Minister of Security Gallant to resign if he is not determined to win this war, and that if he does not, the army will not follow him. The press filled with outrage against this "sedition." An investigation was promptly launched. Meanwhile, the newly elected leader of the tiny Labor Party, General Yair Golan, called on reservists not to report to duty until the

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55:25

Will Netanyahu Be Arrested?

Israel Update ·

2024/05/23

A whirlwind week in Israeli politics: Ministers Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz delivered two ultimatums to prime minister Netanyahu, threatening to dissolve the cabinet they are both still members of. Both held independent talks with high American officials prior to the move. Did they coordinate with the Americans, or with each other? Is the government about to be dissolved? And how will international arrest warrants from The Hague, against Netanyahu and Gallant, play out in Israeli politics? Mike and

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55:48

The New Battlefield: Star Wars Vs. Mad Max

Israel Update ·

2024/05/15

Israel put its faith in building a small, Star Wars style, technological army. But that army was defeated on Oct. 7, by a Mad Max ragtag band of terrorists.Mike and Gadi discuss the failure of the IDF to adapt to this new Mad Max world. But in light of President Biden's threat to withhold weapons, Israel must not only change its military thinking, it also has to reform its war economics if it is to achieve what Mike and Can Kasapoglu call in a new piece in Tablet, "operational sovereignty." Also

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46:12

The Truth Behind The Hostage Negotiations

Israel Update ·

2024/05/08

The international media – like much of the Never-Bibi Israeli media – told you a story about Hamas greenlighting a hostage deal, only to have their new position met with an Israeli incursion into Rafah. What actually happened is very far from that media tale. The US and Hamas have been negotiating over Israel's head, with the American making promises Israel can't afford to keep. When Prime Minister Netanyahu understood what was going on, he moved to intercept the dangerous move. Here's what happened

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59:19

Maximum Pressure

Israel Update ·

2024/05/01

The Biden administration is pressing for an end to the war in a hostage deal, while working to topple Benjamin Netanyahu's government. It has many allies and tools in this effort: the threat to sanction an IDF unit, the looming specter of international arrest warrants from the Hague, the Israeli anti-Netanyahu press and, from within the cabinet, an attempt by Benny Gantz to push for accepting a near-surrender hostage deal. At the same time, the right flank of Netanyahu's coalition has issued an

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40:09

Iran Just Changed the Rules of the Mid-East...

Israel Update ·

2024/04/18

Though Iran's attack was almost wholly intercepted, by the combined Israeli-American efforts, this was no victory over Iran. Mike explains why a defensive strategy can never defeat an offensive dominant one. Then there is also the high cost of the defense systems relative to cheapness and quantity of Iran's drones and missiles. Iran has also collected a great deal of intelligence about the systems it is facing. But above all it successfully changed the rules of the game - and the US has let it do

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43:54

Withdrawal from Gaza—What to Expect Next?

Israel Update ·

2024/04/10

Last Thursday, President Biden had a very tense conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu, demanding among other things, that the Israelis provide more humanitarian aid to Gazan civilians, and take concrete steps to achieve an immediate ceasefire, including by sending an empowered delegation to Cairo to negotiate a hostages-for-prisoners swap with Hamas. Several days later, the Israeli delegation appeared in Cairo to negotiate and, at the same time, the Israel Defense Forces announced the

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44:44

Is Netanyahu's Life in Danger?

Israel Update ·

2024/04/05

The protest against Netanyahu is reaching a dangerous new level of violence, with a recent attempt to break through the barriers protecting his family’s private residence. Ronen Bar, the director of Israel’s security service, the Shabak, has warned that the protest is spilling over into the danger zone. Mike and Gadi can’t help but wonder, though, why is anyone not charged with a crime here, and how many would have been charged if violent right-wing protesters tried to breach security around a

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43:58

Is the U.S. Stabbing Israel in the Back?

Israel Update ·

2024/03/28

The crisis in relations between Washington and Jerusalem intensified this week, when the Biden Administration refrained from vetoing the United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Although mainstream Israeli columnists, habitual critics of Prime Minister Netanyahu, reflexively blame him for the crisis, it is increasingly clear that the Biden administration opposes the military strategy in Gaza that most Israelis support. Gadi and Mike discuss the

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50:36

How Chuck Schumer's Speech Backfired

Israel Update ·

2024/03/21

The ever more explicit attempts by the Democrats to remove Netanyahu from office repeatedly fail. There's a reason for that. Israelis don't like to feel that their bigger stronger ally is trying to dictate to them who will govern their country. They are even less hospitable to the idea that the US will try to force them into the two-state solution track. But Mike thinks the ongoing effort to oust Netanyahu may actually succeed.Meanwhile, Herzi Halevi, the IDF chief of staff completes a

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54:41

Martyrs: Does the Palestinian Authority Support...

Israel Update ·

2024/03/13

After discussing the growing tensions between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu, Gadi describes for Mike two research reports in Israel in which Palestinian officials brag about the numbers of their security personnel who participate in terror attacks against Israeli Jews. Still there are some veterans of Israel's security establishment who agree with the Biden administration's plan to hand Gaza over to a "reformed and revitalized" Palestinian Authority once the war ends. One such

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