Israeli musicians are learning the hard way that speaking out against the war in Gaza comes at a price, Haaretz culture reporter Shay Ringel explained on the Haaretz Podcast.

The letter, signed by 1,200 members of the cultural and artistic community, was unusually outspoken regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling on Israeli soldiers to disobey "unlawful orders" and to refrain from "committing war crimes."

"Talking about the horrific things that are happening in Gaza – the killing of children, the expulsion of population – this is something new," Ringel explains.

Ringel recounted how at least one artist had a concert cancelled as a result of signing the letter. He retracted his signature, and his concert was restored "all within the course of two hours." Other artists took their name off the petition due to pressure by right-wing activists.

In his conversation with host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Ringel noted that most of the signatories are older and more established musicians, while younger artists are "completely absent" from the petition.

Read more:

Israeli Mayors Ban Artists Who Signed 'Criminal' anti-Gaza War Petition as Some Retract Signatures

'Fake News': Israeli Singer and 'Fauda' Star Idan Amedi Slams Artists Petitioning Against Gaza War

Unthinkable Today – but in 1988, Israel's Biggest Singers United Against the Occupation

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The Israeli public is “exhausted” by the nearly two-year conflict in Gaza, and the vast majority of IDF military leaders believe it should end. 

Yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is forging ahead with his plan to invade Gaza City and expand the war because “he will do whatever he can to stay in power,” said Haaretz senior security analyst Amos Harel, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast. 

IDF brass, led by chief of staff Eyal Zamir, is attempting to convince Netanyahu for a more limited siege on Gaza City. Still, the message from Netanyahu has been that “he is calling the shots, and the army’s job is to follow orders and prepare to invade Gaza City,” despite the danger that would pose to Israeli hostages being held in the area. 

Whether or not a full-on operation will eventually happen primarily depends on U.S. President Donald Trump, who, Harel says, is the only one who could push Netanyahu off course, but does not appear to be doing so – for now.

“At one point or another, I think the president will be fed up, because there's no victory in sight in Gaza. The suffering continues, and he keeps facing questions from within, including from Republicans, regarding where this is going and why Americans are contributing to this suffering. I don't think that Netanyahu has all the time in the world.” 

Regarding the hostages, Harel confessed that he struggles to believe that “an Israeli prime minister would just desert them to their death and leave them to die in the tunnels. And yet the signs are there.” 

Read more from Amos Harel:

First Eyal Zamir, Then Gaza City: Defense Minister Katz Targets IDF Chief of Staff Amid Unpopular Offensive

Netanyahu Struggles to Sell His Plan to Conquer Gaza as Allies Openly Call for Sacrificing Hostages

Despite What Netanyahu Wants You to Think, an Israeli Conquest of Gaza Remains Far Off

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Israel is swimming in unprecedented diplomatic waters. Last week, Germany announced it will restrict arms exports to Israel, and a growing number of world leaders – led by France and the U.K. – are declaring their intention to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. 

“We are hearing things that we never heard from great friends of Israel,” said Nadav Tamir, the executive director of J Street Israel, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast. 

Tamir, a former Israeli consul-general in Boston and aide to Israel’s late president Shimon Peres, noted that these allies “were working tirelessly for the release of hostages” and continue to declare “time and time again that Israel has a full right to protect itself after the horrible massacre of October 7 and against Iran and Hezbollah. But they cannot support this war any longer, because it is so clear to them, just like it's clear to most Israelis, that this war has no purpose and is only continuing for political reasons.” 

Tamir says that recognizing a Palestinian state nor limiting arms exports is not a punishment against the Israeli people.

“Maybe they see it as punishment for Netanyahu, but as a Zionist Israeli, I see it as a big prize for us,” Tamir said. “I think that a Palestinian state is first and foremost an Israeli interest. There is no way Israel could remain the homeland of the Jewish people and a democracy if there will be no Palestinian state."

In his conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Tamir also discussed the controversial remarks by J Street President Jeremy Ben Ami regarding the use of the term genocide, whether Israelis should give up on the idea of President Donald Trump restraining Netanyahu, and what Tamir’s former boss Shimon Peres would think of Israel’s current predicament. 

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While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is often portrayed as a political improviser who seizes opportunities and dodges land mines as they occur to preserve his hold on power, he is in fact guided by a clear and consistent mission, Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn tells the Haaretz Podcast. 

“Netanyahu’s strategy, since the inception of his career, and even before he became a professional politician, has been to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and diminish the Palestinian national movement,” said Benn.

As the war has worn on and with Netanyahu’s latest decision to escalate the conflict in Gaza instead of working to end it, Benn says the contention that the argument that Netanyahu does not really share the ideology of his farthest-right coalition partners – National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – does not hold up. 

“I've yet to see one area of disagreement between Netanyahu and Smotrich and Ben-Gvir,” Benn said. 

While the premier may “hide behind” excuses of being pushed and pulled by outside forces, Benn believes he has a firm grip on power and knows exactly what he is doing. 

In his wide-ranging conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Benn also discusses the 20th anniversary of the Gaza disengagement – which Israel’s right blames for the events of October 7, his brewing confrontation with the IDF Chief of Staff over Gaza, and whether Netanyahu can face the voters after essentially abandoning the remaining Gaza hostages.

Read more from Aluf Benn:

Opinion | Why Did the Self-righteous Opponents of Israel's Gaza Disengagement Ignore Security Warnings Before October 7?

Opinion | Don't Give Netanyahu a Free Pass. He Knows Exactly What He Is Doing in Gaza

Opinion | Can You Fight for Israel's Democracy but Collaborate With Its Persecution of Palestinians?

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The "last thing" Rabbi Rachel Timoner says she wanted to do was block the street in front of New York's Israeli consulate as part of a protest calling on Israel to increase the flow of humanitarian aid in Gaza – let alone get arrested for doing so.

The Brooklyn rabbi said on the Haaretz Podcast that when she was asked to take part in the demonstration, she found it impossible to say no.

"As a leader of the Jewish community here, as a rabbi, I feel that when Israel is acting in a way that they are claiming is representing Judaism, it's part of my job to show my understanding of what Judaism stands for. We feed the hungry, and we care for the sick, and we free the captives, and we care for the human dignity of every life, of every human life."

Timoner, the senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, spoke on the podcast about the unease among New York Jews since October 7, and the crisis ignited by Zohran Mamdani's victory in the city's Democratic primary.

Mamdani, who will once again face voters in the November general election, has been embroiled in controversy over his support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and his shifting stance on others on the left calling to “globalize the intifada.” 

While the city of New York "does not have a foreign policy," Timoner said, it is a "big deal symbolically and in terms of identity to think about the mayor being an anti-Zionist." Timoner says Mamdani must address the question of "how will Zionist New Yorkers know that they are welcome in this city, safe in this city, and know that they are part of his vision for this city."

The fact that despite his views, Mamdani received the most primary votes of any candidate, she added, points to the fact "a lot of Jews are feeling profoundly alienated from the behavior and the speech of this Israeli government, feel that it does not represent our values at all, and that it is a shameful degradation of Judaism. I don't know that you could explain the Jewish support for Mamdani without that factor."

Read more:

'It Is Impossible to Watch and Stay Silent' | Dozens Arrested as U.S. Jews Ramp Up Protests Against Gaza Starvation

Zohran Mamdani Officially Wins Democratic Primary for New York City Mayor

Mamdani Distances Himself From 'Globalize the Intifada' Slogan in Closed-door Meeting With Business Leaders

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The foreign press corps in Israel has been battling – unsuccessfully – since the Gaza war began in October 2023 to be permitted access to the Strip in order to report on the conflict and the humanitarian situation there from the ground. 

Appearing on the Haaretz Podcast, CNN’s Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond breaks down the status of the legal and public fight by international journalists to enter Gaza, noting that “never before in Israel's history has the Israeli government blocked access to Gaza for this amount of time. We reached that milestone months and months ago, and we have been calling on the Israeli government to allow us into Gaza to be able to do our jobs.”

The issue has taken on a new urgency, he added, as starvation in Gaza worsens, and he, his fellow journalists and news organizations feel the immediate need to assist and relieve the Palestinian journalists who have been doing “heroic work under extraordinarily difficult circumstances” reporting until now. 

“The primary motivation for our call is not that they aren’t presenting a fair and accurate picture of what's happening. It's because they shouldn't have to shoulder that burden on their own. We have watched as every single person in Gaza has been impacted by the starvation of this man-made crisis that is happening inside the Gaza Strip, and that includes our fellow journalists inside of Gaza,” Diamond said. 

In his conversation with host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Diamond also discussed a recent harrowing experience under threat from settlers in the West Bank, as well as his experience transitioning to his post in Jerusalem after covering Donald Trump as CNN's White House correspondent.

Read more: 

Why Israel Is So Determined to Keep the World's Media Out of Gaza

Israel's High Court Blocks All Foreign Journalists From Gaza, Delays Ruling on Appeal for Access

'Unable to Feed Themselves': Four Major Media Outlets Say Gaza Staff Face Starvation

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The latest crisis of mass starvation and death in Gaza seems to have finally cut through the layers of denial and media self-censorship in Israel – and in both Arab and mixed cities, demonstrations against the horrifying humanitarian situation are drawing tens of thousands of protesters. 

This week, the Haaretz Podcast includes two firsthand accounts of survival from Gaza: 32-year-old Hana and 24-year-old Abdel Halim.

Speaking on the podcast, Haaretz journalist Nagham Zbeedat told host Allison Kaplan Sommer that the situation in Gaza has “gone from bad to unbearable” and it has become “fight to simply remain a human being in Gaza, through all of the starvation, bombing and endless loss.”

She also reports on the new wave of protests led by Palestinian citizens of Israel, who have overcome fear of government retribution and taken to the streets en masse to protest the war and government policies that have led to the current dire situation.

“I dare say it's the first time in history that we witness a livestreamed starvation war committed against unarmed people,” said Zbeedat. 

Also on the podcast: Linda Dayan, a reporter who covers the anti-war protest movement for Haaretz, discusses how demonstrations against the humanitarian disaster in Gaza are becoming more mainstream. 

After nearly two years of focusing sharply on the hostages and calling for a cease-fire deal, Dayan said, Jewish Israelis are “putting themselves on the line and countering what was kind of a very well accepted talking point until fairly recently: that the Gazans aren't starving, that there's a lot of aid, and Hamas is just stealing it.”

From what she’s seen and heard, Dayan expects the protests focused on hunger and death in Gaza to grow. 

“I have a feeling there's going to be more and more of these until something changes,” she said, adding that she believes that the Netanyahu government’s decision to allow “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting “is partially because some people are listening to the street.”

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Read more:

'We and Our People in Gaza Are One': Over 10,000 Protest Gaza War and Hunger Crisis in Major Arab Israeli City

'We're Feeling Their Pain': Arab Israeli Leaders Declare Three-day Hunger Strike Over Gaza Starvation

Experts Warn: Gaza Children Facing Acute Malnutrition, Long-term Medical Support Needed

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decisively lost his Knesset majority following the exit of the two major ultra-Orthodox parties that were pillars of his coalition, which now holds only 49 seats in the 120-member parliament. 

But celebration is premature for those hoping for swift elections that could lead to the end of his rule, warns Haaretz columnist and political strategist Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin on the Haaretz Podcast. 

The ultra-Orthodox may have left the government in a “very demonstrative way, but if they don't actually join a vote that would bring down the government and launch early elections, it doesn't really matter,” Scheindlin said. 

As the Knesset enters its summer recess with a minority in power, only reconvening in October, “their exit from the coalition is essentially a matter of holding a political sword over the head of Netanyahu, over the government's head, saying ‘we are poised to bring down this government now and launch early elections’“ – but elections are far from a certainty. 

What is becoming increasingly certain for most Israelis, Scheindlin told podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, is the fact that the government has “made it extremely clear that its political interests override the good of the state” by doing everything in its power to advance the law the ultra-Orthodox are pressuring them to pass, exempting Haredi men from military service at a time when the country needs manpower more desperately than ever. 

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Read more from Dahlia Schiendlin in Haaretz:

Bolting Parties, Baffling Polls: Are Elections in Israel Imminent? What Are Netanyahu's Chances of Winning?

Netanyahu's Trial Is a Seductive Spectacle. But Dead Gazan Children Matter Far More

Netanyahu Should End the Gaza War Now – for His Own Sake, if Not for Israel's

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If it weren’t for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial and the multiple investigations into payments made by Qatar to his closest aides, the Gaza war could have been over, Bar Peleg, who has been covering Netanyahu’s legal woes, said on the Haaretz Podcast.

In his conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Peleg laid out the details of the multiple investigations, including BibiLeaks and Qatargate, against the Israeli premier in light of the calls by President Donald Trump that his trial be “cancelled.” Trump has also suggested that Netanyahu should be given a pardon, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee’s appearance at his trial in a show of support. 

A recent exposé by Peleg and Gidi Weitz revealed that the Trump administration is actively intervening in the Qatargate investigation by preventing a key U.S. witness, Qatar lobbyist Jay Footlik, from being questioned by Israel Police. Without Footlik’s testimony, which has now been postponed three times, “the case may well be stuck.”

The active crusade by the Trump administration to “save Bibi Netanyahu,” as the president put it on social media, “is the most interference that we have seen from the United States in Israel in internal matters.” 

Peleg said that all evidence points to the fact that Netanyahu’s legal woes have impacted his policy decisions over the past five years, with particularly fateful consequences over the course of the Gaza war. 

Israelis “need to know that what their prime minister is doing is what is important for the state – and when we see how Netanyahu is acting regarding the war, we don’t believe fully that he is doing what is good for Israel,” Peleg said. 

If Netanyahu was not on trial and facing other potential criminal charges, Peleg said, “maybe this war would have ended.”

Subscribe to Haaretz.com for up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Israel and the Middle East in English. 

Read more:

Haaretz Exposé | U.S. Officials: Order to Prevent Israeli Investigation of Key Qatargate Figure Jay Footlik 'Came From Above'

How Jay Footlik Went From Democratic Insider to Player in Netanyahu's Dirty Wartime Scandal

Following the Money: Where Does Qatargate Scandal Involving Netanyahu's Closest Aides and Gulf State Stand?

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The Israeli military strike on southern Syria this week is “concerning” in view of the “unexpected opportunity” for a potential peace agreement with the new government there, Israel’s former deputy security adviser Chuck Freilich said on the Haaretz Podcast. 

On Tuesday, the IDF struck Syrian army forces that had entered the city of Sweida to prevent harm to Druze communities and ensure the demilitarization of the area. The action was strongly denounced by the Syrian government. 

While Freilich said he understands that it was “part of the post-October 7 policy of not allowing potential threats to evolve on any of Israel's borders,” he believed the limited nature of the Syrian military intervention and the “channels of communication” that now exist could have been “used to reach some understanding.” Instead, he said, the Netanyahu government “seems to be taking a really absolutist approach.”

Freilich told podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer in their conversation that in his view, the government headed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa is “saying the right things” regarding Israel and, more importantly, backing up their words with actions. 

“They’re talking to us, and they seem to be willing to reach some sort of agreement,” he said, noting that they refrained from condemning Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and “has thrown the Iranians and Hezbollah out of Syria. They are strongly anti-Iranian, probably as much as we are. So there’s a meeting of interests here that we should be really working to take advantage of.”

“The fact that this is going on is absolutely mind-boggling, if one considers the history between Israel and Syria.”

Freilich said that he would be “thrilled” to see U.S. President Donald Trump’s vision of Syria joining the Abraham Accords manifest in the near future, but he cautioned that it may be “a bridge too far” at the moment, and a more limited non-belligerence treaty is more realistic in the short-term. 

Freilich also discussed the aftermath of the 12-day Israel-Iran war on the podcast, explaining that the most conservative estimates establish that the attack on Iranian nuclear sites set the country’s nuclearization program back by several years.

The only way to ensure long-term protection from a nuclear Iran, he emphasized, is diplomacy.

“A nuclear deal is the only way that we can ensure that they don't cross the threshold for the long-term. Military action has now gained up to four years, but if they want to reconstitute they can because they have the know-how. The only way to achieve an indefinite freeze on the program is a deal.”

Subscribe to Haaretz.com for up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Israel and the Middle East in English. 

Read more: 

Opinion | Israel Should Help Shape a New Syria. But It Must Do So Carefully, Quietly and Quickly

Analysis | Fresh Syria Violence Undercuts the Optimism Over Ties Between Israel and the New Regime

Syrians Abroad Dismiss Talk of Normalization With Israel: 'We Fear the Consequences, Especially for Palestinians'

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