Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Today, we bring you a bonus episode of What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World. This episode features host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with best-selling author Dr. Micah Goodman in a conversation recorded on September 25, 2024, ahead of the IDF's targetted assassination of Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah. 

Best-selling author Goodman revisits a theory he discussed with Borschel-Dan on October 9, mere days after Hamas infiltrated Israel’s south and slaughtered 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages to Gaza. We hear about Goodman’s idea of the “zero-sum game” that Israel must play to restore deterrence and maintain legitimacy and its results so far.

Now, a year into this ongoing war, we learn how the Israeli narrative of the war is shifting away from perceiving it through the prism of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Today, two other narratives are increasingly gaining steam: One states that October 7 was the opening salvo to a regional war and the other zooms out even further and places it in the context of a realignment of the global axis.

We hear how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “right” in warning against Iran, but his coalition just may obstruct efforts to solve the conflict once and for all.

“We need new politics in order to defeat Iran,” said Goodman.

So this week, we ask Dr. Micah Goodman, what matters now.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. 

IMAGE: Philosopher and public intellectual Dr. Micah Goodman. (Yonit Schiller)

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