Prime Minister Netanyahu prepares to arrive in Washington, DC next week for an address to a joint session of Congress (his 4th), a meeting with President Biden (covid-permitting), all against the backdrop of the negotiations over hostages and a temporary (or phased) ceasefire.

To help us understand what is going on the eve of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit, to preview what the Prime Minister hopes to get out of the visit, and the stakes for the visit (and also the future of the political Right in Israel), we are joined by Amit Segal. He is the chief political correspondent and analyst for Channel 12 News, and for Yediot Achronot, the country’s largest circulation newspaper. In his military service, he worked as a media and parliamentary correspondent for IDF (military) Radio.

Today we sit down with one of the most interesting figures in Israeli public life, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who served as Israel’s 13th Prime Minister (2021-22), and previously, in a Netanyahu-led government as Defense Minister (2019-20), and earlier on as Economy Minister.

When he himself was prime minister, Naftali Bennett’s government was comprised of 8 political parties from across the ideological spectrum – from his own Yamina Party and the New Hope party on the Right, through Yair Lapid’s party in the center, to the Labor and Meretz parties on the Left. And then – for the first time in an Israeli Government – there was the Arab Muslim party, Ra’am. In his business career, Prime Minister Bennett was a successful start-up entrepreneur. And he served in Israel’s elite Sayaret Mechtel special forces.

Before today’s conversation, one housekeeping note. We are announcing our second “Call Me Back Live” Event. I will be talking to creators of Fauda — Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz. They are scripting OCTOBER 7th, a feature film on the heroic true story of Noam Tibon, who rescued his son Amir Tibon, a Haaretz journalist, and his young family, from Hamas terrorists who had invaded their home at Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Issacharoff is also is a war correspondent who has been embedded with the IDF in Gaza. The event is July 22 at 6pm in NYC at the Comedy Cellar. Part of the proceeds will be donated to Leket, Israel’s leading food rescue organization, which has played a critical role working with farmers and kibbutizm in the Gaza envelope since 10/07.

To RSVP, please go to comedycellar.com, click the “lineups” button on the top left and select “July 22”.

In recent days, while we have all been consumed with the U.S. presidential debate, less international attention has been on Israel. But during this time, Israel’s security apparatus has proposed and advocated for a formal end to the war in Gaza. This is in part because the IDF is closer to achieving its military objectives in Gaza by having dismantled Hamas’s capabilities – and in part because they believe it’s the only way to get some calm on Israel’s northern border, at least for now. The security establishment argues that there is a connection between the two fronts. Whether or not the Government will accept and implement this proposal, is not yet clear.

To help us understand what’s going on here, our guest today is NADAV EYAL, who returns to the podcast. He is a columnist for Yediot. Eyal has been covering Middle-Eastern and international politics for the last two decades for Israeli radio, print and television news.

Since October 7th, many of us have had uncomfortable conversations we could never have imagined having. October 7th sparked debates and discussions that got very awkward very quickly.

But what’s unique about our guests today is that they were having these conversations prior to October 7th. Not only were they having these conversations, they were working on a book that chronicled these difficult conversations. Their book is called “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew”. It’s by Noa Tishby and Emmanuel Acho.

One of the questions we repeatedly get from you, our listeners, is – “Where was the IDF on October 7th?” It’s a topic that we have strenuously avoided. After the war, there will be a formal commission of inquiry that attempts to understand all that went wrong and why. There will be a time and a place for that.

And yet, as the war in Gaza winds down, and as Israel prepares for another possible war, this question re-emerges. What lessons can be learned? More and more journalists in Israel are exploring the topic. So, we are going to dedicate an episode from time to time in the weeks ahead to try to understand what these journalists are learning.

Today in this special episode, we are releasing the first episode of the Call me Back podcast recorded before a very enthusiastic live audience at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan. Our guest was actor, director and comedian Michael Rapaport.

The focus of our conversation is about how Michael became such an energetic, provocative, and hilarious voice on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people since 10/07, as well as his observations on why more Jews from the creative arts and entertainment industry have not been as outspoken as him (or, even worse, why so many have remained silent).

First, a housekeeping note: many of you filled out the survey we published in our previous episode, and we are very grateful for that. If you haven’t filled out this short survey, we would greatly appreciate it if you took 2 minutes to fill it out. It is extremely helpful to us in thinking through ways to improve the podcast and understand our audience. Please follow this link to the survey: https://forms.gle/nZh8ZRA5YjJxmdEW6

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In recent days, there have been a lot of war-related developments that have taken place in Israel and outside of Israel. So it was good that wr had the opportunity to catch up with Haviv Rettig Gur as Shavuot came to a close in Israel.
In this episode, we wound up having a spirited conversation about:

I.The mood in Israel days after after Operation Arnon, and also why the day after the successful resuce operation we saw Benny Gantz’s long anticipated exit from the unity government;

Over the past 8 months, we’ve focused most of our attention on Israel’s perspective and the American perspective since October 7th. But what we wanted to do today is gradually zoom out from Israel and Gaza, to the perspective of other regional players in the Middle East, and finally examine this war from the perspective of the global powers, especially China and Russia. Has the Israel-Hamas war advanced their interests or reversed them?

Our guest today is Walter Russell Mead. He is at the Hudson Institute, he is the Global View Columnist at The Wall Street Journal. He was previously the Henry Kissinger fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He also has a terrific podcast at Tablet Magazine, called What Really Matters: https://www.tabletmag.com/podcasts/what-really-matters

Tzipi Livni has served as a minister of eight different cabinet ministries under three prime ministers: Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert, and Benjamin Netanyahu. Her positions have included Justice Minister, Foreign Minister and Vice-Prime Minister. She has also been the official leader of the opposition.

As foreign minister, Tzipi Livni led negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, she was a key government figure during Israel’s disengagement from Gaza and during Hamas’s subsequent takeover of Gaza. She was foreign minister during Israel’s Second Lebanon War and during Israel’s operation to take out Syria’s nuclear reactor.

Since October 7, there has been a debate inside Israel about what cost Israelis should pay as a society to get their fellow citizens home, or, what the cost would be to Israeli society if their fellow citizens do not return home.

One perspective we have not heard is that of a professional who has actually debriefed every single living hostage upon return, including children, women and the elderly; those who were held in underground tunnels and those who were held in apartments above ground by Gazan families; those who were held captive alone and those who were held captive with other israelis; those who were medically treated, and those who were tortured.