Haaretz Weekly

Last week, Haaretz reporter Ben Samuels was the only Israeli journalist to fly with the White House press delegation from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – a first-of-its-kind historic flight between two countries that officially still don’t recognize one another. Almost 30 years ago, David Makovsky, then Haaretz’s diplomatic correspondent, also visited Jeddah, accompanying U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as part of the Oslo Accords-era flurry of Middle Eastern negotiations. Two rare visits by Haaretz reporters to the most powerful country in the Arab world, and three decades of historical change in between them. On this week’s episode, Samuels and Makovsky join host Allison Kaplan Sommer to talk about their unique experiences writing for an Israeli newspaper from the kingdom. Makovsky, today a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, shares why he is optimistic about Biden’s Middle East trip, even though the president did not “break ground” on the Palestinian or Iran issues. Samuels, our Washington correspondent, explains why the trip “marked the conscious uncoupling of Israel and the Palestinians in the eyes of U.S. policymakers.” Listen to the full conversation to also hear what they see next for Biden’s Middle East policy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As President Joe Biden takes off from Washington for his long-awaited visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia, The Economist's Middle East correspondent Gregg Carlstrom joins the podcast for a wide-ranging conversation on U.S. policy in the region. Hosts Allison Kaplan Sommer and Amir Tibon ask him what Biden will try to extract from the Saudis; how the Gulf states view the Abraham Accords, almost two years after they were signed; and whether Vladimir Putin is the one who should actually get the credit for this visit. Carlstrom also shares his observations from a visit to Gaza earlier this week and his conversations with senior Hamas officials. Later on the show, Emily Tamkin, U.S. editor for The New Statesman, joins from Washington to discuss the political reality facing Biden at home, and how his trip to the Middle East is viewed inside the Democratic Party. She also comments on Donald Trump's current standing in the Republican Party following the January 6 hearings in Congress, and outl...

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to arrive in Israel next week, and his top diplomat in the country says that the long-expected visit won’t be affected by Israel’s recently-announced election. “The show will go on,” Ambassador Thomas Nides told the Haaretz Weekly podcast in a special July 4th interview. “Joe Biden is coming here for the Israeli people. He's not coming for one political party or another,” Nides told hosts Allison Kaplan Sommer and Amir Tibon, describing the U.S. president as a “Zionist” who “knows more about the Middle East and Israel than probably any politician in the history of the United States.” In a wide-ranging interview held on the eve of the Knesset’s vote to dissolve itself and Yair Lapid’s instatement as caretaker prime minister, Nides lays out the goals of Biden’s Mideast tour, with stops in Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia. He also answers our questions on related policy issues from Ukraine and China to Iran. Also on this week’s episod...

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, ending the federal right to abortion, it was “devastating,” says Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, in an interview with Haaretz Weekly. “We had been mapping out every possible path this decision could go down. And the one the court chose was absolutely the worst,” Katz tells host Allison Kaplan Sommer. Katz has been spearheading the fight for abortion rights in the Jewish community under the banner of religious freedom. “Judaism not only permits abortion: our tradition commands it when it comes to protecting the life of the mother,” she says. Also on this week’s episode: political consultant Dahlia Scheindlin analyzes the dissolution of the Knesset and what lies ahead as Israel faces its fifth election in three and a half years, and weighs the odds of a comeback for former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the fifth time since 2019, Israel will hold an election as the country's political crisis grows ever worse, with no end in sight. Why did Prime Minister Naftali Bennett decide to shock the political scene by blowing up his own government? What kind of leader will his interim successor, Yair Lapid, be? And is it too soon to discuss a comeback by Benjamin Netanyahu? Our team in the studio – Amir Tibon, Anshel Pfeffer and Allison Kaplan Sommer – answer all your most pressing questions on the political drama. Later on this episode, an in-depth interview with former Israeli national security adviser Uzi Arad, on his years working next to Netanyahu, the books he used to buy for the former prime minister in London's best bookstores, and what Joe Biden whispered in his ear outside the Oval Office. Arad, today a sharp critic of his former boss Netanyahu, also has some harsh words for the government that replaced him. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trump adviser Steve Bannon has refused to testify to the congressional January 6 committee about his role in the Capitol insurrection. But he agreed to speak to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jennifer Senior – though when confronted he didn’t tell her the truth. “He was definitely working the phones all day. And he was lying to me about it,” Senior tells Haaretz Weekly podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, discussing her recent profile of Bannon in The Atlantic. Senior also talks about how the U.S. alt-right movement has fanned the flames of antisemitism, and how Bannon dealt with being profiled by a Jewish woman. “He knew early on that I was Jewish and was therefore extremely awkward, almost clumsy, and trying to bring up how much he loved the Jews,” she says. “It was almost like that movie scene where Austin Powers sees a person with a mole and keeps accidentally saying the word ‘mole’ out loud. Like he was staring at me and thinking, ‘Jew, Jew.’“ See omnystudio.com/l...

Haaretz Weekend host Allison Kaplan Sommer and Haaretz English Deputy Editor Amir Tibon review the turbulent Israeli political scene after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s embattled governing coalition failed to pass a contentious West Bank bill this week – and ask if this could be the death knell for the anti-Netanyahu "change government." Later on the show, Prof. Joshua Shanes joins the podcast to discuss changes in ultra-Orthodoxy – a community that will soon represent a fifth of all U.S. Jews, their affinity for Donald Trump and his camp, and the activism that emerged during the pandemic. Shanes, who directs the Arnold Center for Israel Studies at the College of Charleston, also talks about the antisemitism panel he attended during a recent visit to Jerusalem. He was “shocked and scared” to hear former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer – a confidant of Benjamin Netanyahu – use “violent language” that sounded “straight out of Kahane.” See omnystudio.com/listene...

Rep. Andy Levin, a progressive Democrat from Michigan, is facing a tough primary race against fellow lawmaker Haley Stevens, as the two politicians battle in a newly redrawn Congressional district in the Detroit area. Their election has become the latest front in the political war between AIPAC, which is supporting Stevens, and J Street, which has endorsed Levin. Joining host Allison Kaplan Sommer on this episode, Levin responds to what he calls “sad and pathetic” personal attacks from a former AIPAC president who called him “arguably the most corrosive member of Congress to the U.S.-Israel relationship.” He explains his views on the subject by stating: “I love Israel. I'm a supporter of Israel and always have been, I voted for all our aid to Israel. I'm against the BDS movement. I voted to replenish Iron Dome. To use the kind of language that they're using against me, just because I won't tow AIPAC’s exact line is wrong, and it's not going to work.” See omnystudio.com/listen...

U.S. President Joe Biden visited Asia this week, where he made headlines by promising todefend Taiwanin case of a Chinese attack on the island. At home, his administration has been struggling with rising inflation ahead of this year's midterm elections. So why, in the face of multiple internal and international crises, is the president soon planning avisit to Israeland potentially also Saudi Arabia? On this week's episode, we asked leading U.S. foreign policy expertAaron David Millerwhat Biden will try to achieve during the trip– from a diplomatic breakthrough between Israel and Saudi Arabia, to improved ties with the region's major oil producers. Miller also told host Amir Tibon why America's greatest global challenge today is actually coming from within. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ending a decades-long policy of neutrality, Sweden and Finland have decided tojoin NATO in response to Vladimir Putin's botched invasion of Ukraine. On this episode of Haaretz Weekend, our correspondent in Stockholm, David Stavrou, explains why this decision is an earthquake for the two Scandinavian countries, and veteran national security analyst Amir Oren discusses the global implications it will have, ranging from Washington and Moscow to Israel and the Middle East. They also tell host Amir Tibon how Putin could punish the two countries in the interim period until they are accepted to NATO, and what it would take to remove Turkish President Erdogan'soppositionto their application. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.