Watch the conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pSSh03tpRII

To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

The Two-State Solution had been on life support long before October 7. While Hamas’s massacre shattered Israelis from all walks of life, those from the kibbutzim near the Gaza border — many of whom lifelong advocates for a Palestinian State — were among the hardest hit. 

Though stark divisions in Israeli society remain, there now seems to be a broad consensus among the people of Israel and their political parties on one conclusion: the two-state solution is all but dead. Yet one Israeli leader - one of the very few who battled terrorists in Southern Israel and rescued Israelis on October 7 - continues to hold out hope. 

Yair Golan is a decorated general, former IDF Deputy Chief of Staff  and head of the The Israeli Democrats Party. We sat down with General Golan to discuss Israel’s future, the misconceptions that led to October 7, and the unique role he played on that darkest of days. 

CREDITS:

ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

YARDENA SCHWARTZ - Executive Editor of Ark Media

GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern 

YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

On Thursday, the IDF released the scathing findings of its probe into the military failures that led up to and accompanied the massacre of October 7, 2023. 

According to those findings, the military vastly underestimated Hamas’s capabilities, misread its intentions, and failed to mount an effective response to the mass invasion of Israel’s borders. The IDF’s probe into its own failures reveals both the extent to which warnings went ignored, and the extent to which so many communities in Southern Israel were forced to fend for themselves. 

While some of these findings come as no surprise, they are still shocking and devastating to process. We spoke with two of Israel’s leading national security journalists to walk through the key points of the findings.  

Amos Harel is the Defense Analyst at Haaretz, and Nadav Eyal is a Senior Political Analyst at Yediot Achronot. 

CREDITS:

ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

MARTIN HUERGO - Additional Editing

YARDENA SCHWARTZ - Executive Editor of Ark Media

GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research  

YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

Watch the conversation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjgvkBGiejU&t=40s

To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

An entire nation mourned yesterday as Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were laid to rest, following a procession through streets of Israel that were lined with thousands of Israelis. As Yarden Bibas delivered eulogies for his wife and children who were murdered by terrorists in Gaza, we were all reminded of the millions of people around the world who celebrated or justified the attacks that shattered their lives and so many others. While much of that moral confusion has emanated from the Left of the political spectrum, the courage and moral conviction of one leader on the Left has stood out. 

Over the past 16 months, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has been one of the staunchest supporters of Israel’s war against Hamas. Fetterman, a Democrat who is not Jewish, has been more outspoken in his support for Israel than most of his Jewish colleagues. As a result, Fetterman has gone from being a hero of the Left to becoming a lightning rod for many progressives. And yet, he has not backed down from the fight he perceives as a decisive turning point for his party, and a test for whether or not it will continue to stand for true liberal values. 

John Fetterman, Senator and former Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, joined us to discuss his controversial stance on an issue that has divided the Democratic party, and what the future holds for his party. 

CREDITS:

ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

MARTIN HUERGO - Additional Editing

STAV SLAMA - Director of Operations 

GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research 

YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast
 

To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/
 

Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor
 

Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

 

As phase 1 of the ceasefire and hostage deal enters its final week, the fate of phase 2 of the deal remains uncertain. While hostages’ families are urging for a continuation of the deal to bring all the remaining hostages home, parts of the Israeli government are pressing for a return to the war. 

With Mideast Envoy Steve Witkoff traveling to the region this week to push for an extension of the deal, we turned to a Call Me Back regular and leading Israeli journalist to make sense of the mixed signals we are seeing from every direction. 


Amit Segal is a columnist for Yediot Ahronot, and a senior political analyst for Israel’s Channel 12. 

CREDITS:

ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor
MARTIN HUERGO - Additional Editing
STAV SLAMA - Director of Operations 
GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research 
YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

Housekeeping note:

Ark Media, the humble home of this podcast, is looking for a purpose-driven Chief Operating Officer, to help facilitate its ambitious plans for the future. If you are interested in applying for the position, please follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/mp5udcxr

Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor
 

Following a gut-wrenching 48 hours for the Bibas family and for all of us, six living hostages were released from Gaza today, including two who had been held there not for a year, but a decade. Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, and Tal Shoham were abducted on October 7, 2023. Avera Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli, and Hisham al-Sayed, an Israeli Arab, had crossed into Gaza in 2014 and 2015, and were then taken hostage by Hamas.

Hamas’s decision to release more living hostages than originally planned today is believed – according to our Israeli sources – to be a response to a sustained American pressure campaign. Part of that pressure includes President Trump’s proposal for the U.S. to take control of Gaza and relocate its entire population.

Two weeks since its unveiling, Trump’s Gaza proposal has continued to drive headlines and debate around the world. Though that proposal is already impacting the policy decisions of various stakeholders in Gaza, it is still largely perceived as a shocking, unprecedented idea. For this episode of Call Me Back, we sat down with a historian who argues that Trump’s plan is in fact aligned with the outcome of many modern wars.
 

Andrew Roberts is a British historian, member of the House of Lords, and the author of 24 books, including the New York Times bestseller, Churchill: Walking with Destiny. In a recent article for the Washington Free Beacon, Roberts writes, “peoples who unleash unprovoked aggressive wars against their neighbors and are then defeated…lose either their government or their sovereignty, or both.”

To read more by Andrew Roberts on this topic, go to the Washington Free Beacon: https://freebeacon.com/israel/the-historical-case-for-trumps-riviera/

This morning in Gaza, in a ceremony that was even more twisted than those that came before it, Hamas paraded four coffins, containing the dead bodies of four hostages who were killed in captivity, before handing them over to the Red Cross. Israel then received the remains of Oded Lifshitz, an 83-year-old peace activist abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz; and the bodies of the iconic young mother Shiri Bibas, and her boys, Kfir and Ariel, who were respectively 9 months old and 4 years old at the time of their abduction, also from Nir Oz, which lost a quarter of its residents on October 7, 2023. 

Shiri, Kfir and Ariel came to symbolize Hamas’s brutality and the helplessness of the victims of October 7. Oded was also a symbol of the many men and women who had dedicated their lives to seeking peace with the Palestinians, and whose lives were brutally ended by Palestinians on that darkest of days. 

In a year of somber days, today is one of the more difficult ones we have experienced - here at Call Me Back, and as a nation. We are joined today to process this wrenching moment by a Call Me Back favorite: Matti Friedman, to help us understand what this day means for Israel, and how it will change us and the stories we tell ourselves about Israel and our hopes for peace. 

Matt Friedman is an award-winning journalist and author of four books. He is based in Jerusalem, and writes a column for The Free Press. Read his latest, “The Family That Never Came Home,” here: https://www.thefp.com/p/matti-friedman-the-bibas-shiri-kfir-ariel-yarden

Matti’s books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Matti-Friedman/author/B0073YU31C

Link to Seth Mandel’s article in Commentary Magazine, mentioned by Dan in this episode: https://www.commentary.org/seth-mandel/the-meaning-of-kfir-bibas/

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Rebecca Strom, who has been running Ark Media’s operations almost since the beginning of the war, and is now moving on to the next chapter in her career. Rebecca was our first hire, and in hindsight, having her run our operations allowed Ilan and Dan to develop a larger vision. More on that in the near future. In the meantime, on behalf of the Ark Media team, we want to share our gratitude for all the hard work, long hours, holidays and weekends that Rebecca poured into this venture.

Consequently, Ark Media is now looking for a hard working, mission-aligned, highly motivated Chief Operating Officer. If you want to throw your hat into the ring,  please follow this link

CREDITS:

ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

STAV SLAMA - Director of Operations

GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern 

YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

As we mark the 500th day of the war in Gaza, and 500 days of captivity for the Israeli hostages who remain there, the future of this fragile ceasefire-hostage deal is looking increasingly less stable. With every day bringing new twists and turns, we turned to a “Call Me Back” regular to help us make sense of where the war stands and where it may be going.  

Nadav Eyal of Yediot Ahronot is one of Israel’s leading journalists. Eyal has been covering Middle Eastern and international politics for the last two decades for Israeli radio, print and television news.

Link to the Bret Stephens article mentioned in this episode: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/opinion/trump-hamas-gaza-israel.html

CREDITS:

ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

REBECCA STROM - Director of Operations

STAV SLAMA - Researcher 

GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern 

YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

Watch the conversation here: https://youtu.be/aPEPztvsJGQ

To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

In the 16 months since October 7th, the leader who knows more than almost anyone about the inner workings of this war has barely been heard from – until now. 

In this episode of ”Call Me Back”, we hear the behind the scenes story of the war with Hamas and Hezbollah from Yoav Gallant, who served as Israel’s Defense Minister for the first 13 months of this 16-month war. 

In his first English-language interview since the war began, the former Defense Minister offers an intimate account of the war’s initial hours and days, with an emphasis on one date that could have changed it all: October 11th, 2023.

This episode is the first in a series of interviews we will be posting with General Gallant, chronicling the historic and unprecedented events of the last 16 months.

Yoav Gallant served as Israel’s Defense Minister from 2022 until 2024. He was fired by Benjamin Netanyahu twice in those two years, first in 2023, when massive protests in Israel led Netanyahu to reverse his decision, then again in November of 2024. Gallant is a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party. His military career spans five decades, beginning in 1977 as a naval commando in Shayetet 13, and serving as chief of the IDF’s Southern Command during Operation Cast Lead, an early war with Hamas that lasted from late 2008 to early 2009. 

CREDITS:

ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

REBECCA STROM - Director of Operations

STAV SLAMA - Researcher 

GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern 

YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

Watch the conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zy-BEfKyQMY

To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

President Trump’s dramatic and unprecedented press conference  on Gaza, suggesting U.S. control and some form of relocation of its residents, has immediately shifted the conversation beyond the default two-state framework. In this episode, we break down how the Israeli public is reacting to Trump’s proposal, what it means for Netanyahu’s political standing, and the implications for the ceasefire and the hostage deal negotiations.

Joining us to unpack these developments are Amit Segal and Nadav Eyal, two Call Me Back regulars.

Nadav Eyal is a columnist for Yediot Aharonot and one of Israel’s leading journalists. He has been covering Middle Eastern and international politics for over two decades across Israeli radio, print, and television news.

Amit Segal is the chief political correspondent and analyst for Channel 12 News and Yediot Aharonot, Israel’s largest-circulation newspaper.

CREDITS:

ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

REBECCA STROM - Director of Operations

STAV SLAMA - Researcher

GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

Yesterday, in a dramatic and unexpected press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump called for a U.S. takeover of Gaza, and to relocate its two million Palestinian residents to alternative countries. President Trump also issued a series of executive orders impacting Israel and the Middle East, including one imposing maximum pressure on Iran.

To discuss these fast-moving developments, Rich Goldberg returns to the podcast. Rich is a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). From 2019-2020, he served as Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction for the Trump White House National Security Council (NSC). He previously served as a national security staffer in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House and is an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve with military experience on the Joint Staff and in Afghanistan.

CREDITS:

ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

REBECCA STROM - Director of Operations

STAV SLAMA - Researcher

GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer