Haaretz Podcast

The 2026 midterm elections mark “a fork in the road in terms of how Americans view the U.S.-Israel relationship, and that fork in the road is going to be reflected accordingly in the next Congress,” according to Haaretz U.S. bureau chief Ben Samuels. 

Focusing on the explosive race for the Senate in Michigan - where Democrat Haley Stevens just threw her support behind a Republican candidate over Democrat Abdul El Sayed - as well as other key contests in what is expected to result in a “blue wave” for the Democrats on election night, Samuels outlined the issues on voter’s minds regarding Israel and the cases the candidates are making, particularly to Jewish voters. 

Also on the podcast, Michigan voter Max Kresch, an Israeli-American who lives in Jerusalem and served in the IDF, explains why he chose to support Democratic candidate El-Sayed. Israelis, he said, need American politicians like El-Sayed to act as “partners that are willing to hold our politicians in check,” as long as the Israeli government is controlled by far-right extremists.

Read more on haaretz.com:

Democrat Haley Stevens Backs GOP in Michigan Senate Race After Israel Feud With El-Sayed

I'm an Israeli-American Jew. I Love Israel. I Voted for Abdul El-Sayed 

Mamdani and Trump Loom Over the Battle for Jewish Voters in a Key New York House Race

For Texas Jewish Voters, Israel Sharpens the Choice Between Talarico and Paxton

Antisemitism and Scandals Haunting GOP Give Democrats an Opening in Ohio

 

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The main lesson of Israel’s election on Tuesday was that “the October 7 war did not change Israeli society,” said Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn, speaking on a special post-election edition of the Haaretz Podcast.

Despite the turbulence of the past four years, he said, “at the moment of truth, people clung to the tribal loyalties, to the feeling of identity, of belonging” rather than reacting critically to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s many missteps and failures, he explained.

Together with Haaretz senior analyst Esther Solomon and podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Benn analyzed the complicated coalition wrangling that will determine who steers Israel into the future, after a vote in which there was a clear majority of Israeli citizens voting against Netanyahu, but with an opposition divided between Jewish Zionist parties and Arab majority parties. 

Solomon hailed the record turnout in Arab communities, noting that “the Palestinian citizens of Israel, who have had an internal debate for many, many years about whether to participate in Israeli politics or not, made a historic decision this time around to participate, and in incredible numbers, and that has changed the complexion of the Knesset.” 

Benn and Solomon weighed post-election scenarios, assuming the Jewish opposition parties would reject partnering with the Arab parties, which could lead to new elections or a unity government including both coalition and opposition Jewish parties.

Both are, in Benn’s words, “very bad options” for the bloc headed by former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. Another election is unlikely to improve the opposition’s position and could well leave it worse off, while Netanyahu has a problematic track record when it comes to reaching out across the political divide.

“The idea of Netanyahu in a national unity government where there is some kind of equal division of power and labor is just absolutely ludicrous,” noted Solomon. The prime minister, she emphasized, “is a person who won't share, as they say in playgroup. He made agreements for rotating prime ministerships in the past, and then just threw it all into the trash can. This is not the kind of person that he is, and his agenda does not work cohabiting with anyone who would call themselves, you know, a liberal Democrat.” This leaves some “very bad options, because in both cases, Netanyahu is in power, regardless of how you call it.”

Read the latest developments and analysis on haaretz.com 

Israeli Democracy Has Been Given a Chance. It May Not Get Another

Israel's Worst Election Outcome: No Clear Winner, No Certainty, No Chance for Change

Ignoring the Historic Arab Turnout Is a Self-Inflicted Wound for Israel's Liberal Bloc

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As the hours count down before Israelis head to the polls, and Israeli high-ranking officers warn that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may want to strike Iran before Tuesday's election - the stakes are clearly high. But they are perceived as being even higher for one political camp, according to Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin, speaking on the final Haaretz Election Podcast ahead of Tuesday’s election.

"When people ask, 'Do Israelis see this as life and death?' - the answer is yes - for opposition voters," said Scheindlin, a veteran political strategist, pollster and Haaretz columnist. 

She described the mood at a Saturday night opposition election rally - hammering home the need to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government as "somewhat celebratory, but also a lot of anxiety. I heard a lot of people saying, 'I'm here, but I'm scared.'"

Together with fellow columnist Joshua Leifer - who admitted to being "very anxious" and "very nervous ahead of Election Day" - and podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Scheindlin assessed the late-breaking developments on the eve of the election which appears - according to the final election polls - doomed to result in a deadlock. 

"We are in for a long time of coalition wrangling, unless we see some sort of late-stage surprise surge," Scheindlin said.

Read the latest developments on haaretz.com. 

IDF Brass Fears Netanyahu May Launch Iran Offensive Before Tuesday's Election

As the Hard Right Fears Historic Defeat, Armed Settler Convoys in Tel Aviv Carry a Message

Here Are Some of the Horrors Brought Upon Us by Israel's 37th Government

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In this episode of the Haaretz podcast, Rahm Emanuel – former White House chief-of-staff, veteran Democratic party insider, and potential presidential hopeful – speaks with guest host Joshua Leifer about the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship, the potential consequences of the upcoming elections in Israel, and the politics of Jewish identity in the current moment.

In July, Emanuel delivered a speech at Tel Aviv University in which he strongly criticized Israel's government, called for sanctions against violent settlers and companies building settlements, and proposed ending U.S. military assistance to Israel, all as part of a larger vision encompassing Israel's regional normalization and the creation of a Palestinian state.

On the podcast this week, he elaborated on the rationale behind the speech and what he calls the 23-three-state solution, based on the 2002 Saudi Peace Initiative. "I think lining up the Arabs' desire for stability with Israel's desire for security, with the Palestinians' desire for sovereignty – you can actually make the politics and policy work together," he said.

But to get there, he stressed, will require a change in Israeli leadership. Netanyahu, Emanuel added, "undermined any ability to have a partner in the purpose of building up Hamas."

Still, in the wake of the wars in Gaza and Iran, Emanuel stressed, the U.S.–Israel relationship "is not going to be the same relationship it was in the past, it can't be."

"We are at a tipping point," he said. "There is no reset button here."

Read more:

Rahm Emanuel Wants to Save Israel. But Are Israelis Listening?

This Month, Israelis Will Vote on Palestine. There's Only One Choice on the Ballot

The Week the Democrats Defined the Israel-Palestine Debate for 2028

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U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, in a move that was both unprecedented and unexpected at this point in the campaign.

With only a week left before the Israeli election, Haaretz English editor Yishai Halper said on the Haaretz Podcast that he doesn’t believe Trump's "October surprise" is enough for people on the right or the left "to make a significant change in their vote.”

"It is almost taken for granted that Trump is behind Netanyahu, and he may even amp up his endorsements in the coming days," he said, "It's an October surprise in the sense that he finally did this. The impact, I think, will be anything but a surprise.”

Also on the podcast, Haaretz correspondents Judy Maltz and Nagham Zbeedat assess the state of the race, polling and the mood of the Israeli voting public.

Zbeedat, who covers Palestinian affairs, said that the Arab majority parties are seeing the effect of many Arab citizens who previously boycotted national elections, or stayed home out of indifference or hopelessness, who are voting this year. This is mainly "because of the gun violence in the Arab community, and also because of the recent attempts to disqualify Arab parties.”

Maltz, who recently visited Gadi Eisenkot's hometown of Eilat, discussed the racist attacks on him from Netanyahu supporters. She also described the jittery mood among anti-Netanyahu voters across the country, as Election Day approaches. “People are not sleeping at night. People are talking about, ‘What are we going to do if Netanyahu pulls it off again? Where are we going to go? Can we stay here?’ It is that bad.” 

Read more: 

Trump Just Handed Netanyahu His October Surprise. Will It Pay Off?

Pro-Netanyahu Pundit Calls Eisenkot 'Moroccan Monkey' Controlled by Ashkenazi Elite

In Eilat, Gadi Eisenkot Has the Hometown Advantage. Is It Enough to Shake Netanyahu?

Explained: How Can Israelis Still Vote for Netanyahu?

Abu Shehadeh's Withdrawal Leaves Palestinians With a Political Dilemma

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The Iran war, like so many that came before it, centers on energy’s crucial role in geopolitics, according to Hebrew University historian Dr. Guy Laron, though international leaders often downplay or ignore it.

“Time and again, leaders speak in the language of values, security, justice, freedom, while chasing oil behind the scenes,” Laron said, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast in a discussion of the increasingly complicated geopolitics of the ongoing regional conflict in the wake of February’s U.S.-Israel attack on Iran and its effect on energy markets.

Historically, he added, even wars that don’t begin with energy at the center of the conflict often evolve into ‘oil wars’ once countries fighting for domination and influence are impacted by the necessity of access to tremendous levels of fuel to power both land and naval military forces.

Speaking on the podcast, Laron, the author of the new book "Oil Wars: The Struggle for Control that has Shaped the Modern World," (Yale University Press) noted how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used “energy calculus” to sell President Donald Trump on the attack and discussed the missteps that have left the White House mired in the region after Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz - something that the U.S. president “was told that this is exactly what would happen, and he still took the risk,” Laron said.

“Trump was dumb enough to think that what he did in Venezuela - in America’s backyard - he can do in the Middle East in the same way.”

Read more:

Houthis Claim Another Attack on Riyadh Airport, Threaten Saudi Oil Sites

As the Election Clock Ticks Down, Netanyahu Is Running Out of Wars to Win

Will Trump Defend Saudi Arabia From Houthi Attacks – and How Far Will He Go?

Trump's Iran War: Without Strategy, There Is No Path to Victory

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Leaders of far-right parties running in the Israeli elections are openly campaigning on platforms that advocate expelling Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank.

On the Haaretz Podcast, senior analyst Esther Solomon and correspondent Linda Dayan discussed the platforms of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and ex-general Ofer Winter, both of whom are wooing voters by attacking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government from the right. 

Ben-Gvir in particular is proudly “promoting a platform for ‘voluntarily‘ expelling Palestinians from every single part from Gaza and the West Bank,” Solomon said. 

Winter included his longtime support for “voluntary emigration” from Gaza in the platform of his new Amcha Israel party, in an effort Solomon described as being designed to appeal to far-right voters dissatisfied with Netanyahu, but “who are a little bit disgusted by some of the crude ways that Ben-Gvir operates. They like their candidates to look a bit nicer.” 

Dayan, who recently attended a Winter campaign event aimed at English-speaking voters, said that Winter’s party’s positions articulated by the candidates on his list and their supporters are “a profoundly bizarre rejection of reality.” 

Together with host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Solomon and Dayan assessed the state of the race, which is increasingly shaping up into a likely deadlock, with neither the pro-Netanyahu nor the (Jewish, Zionist) anti-Netanyahu bloc coming close to achieving a 61-seat majority, according to the polls. 

Read more: 

Israel Election Poll: Eisenkot Bloc Continues Slump as Netanyahu's Coalition Gains Ground

Countdown to Election Day: A Road Trip Through a Country Deciding Its Future

America's Right Is Tired of Israel and Jews. NatCon Jerusalem Confirms It

This Leader of a Small, Far-Right Party Wants Netanyahu Fans to Take a Chance on Him

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The decision by Israel’s top generals and intelligence chiefs not to put the IDF on high alert in the hours before October 7 was “the worst gamble in Israeli military history,” according to senior defense analyst Amos Harel, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast on the third anniversary of the attack by Hamas on southern Israel. 

“They terribly, tragically underestimated both Hamas’ capabilities and its actual intentions that night,” Harel said. 

Harel is the author of “6:29: Anatomy of a Failure,” the first and most complete account of the chain of mistakes by the country’s top military and political echelons leading up to the devastating events of that day.

On the podcast, Harel recounts the military and political mistakes that were made, pinning them on “arrogance” and a “condescending” misreading of Hamas’ capabilities and determination – and how their failures have shaken Israeli citizen’s belief that they are “in safe hands.” 

“We have the best air force in the region, one of the best in the world. We have the technology. We have the operational understanding, and so on, and yet we were taken by complete surprise,” he noted. 

Harel also discusses the legacy of October 7, including how it is shaping Israel’s upcoming election, and the narrative crafted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that has allowed him to maintain political viability as he runs a campaign that exploits fears of a repeat of the disaster, all while  blocking the formation of an October 7 commission of inquiry or any other comprehensive investigation, and fanning the flames of conspiracy theories.

Netanyahu, he said, is “fighting for his life by any means necessary. Everything is worth it in order to maintain power and stay out of jail.”

Read more:

Analysis by Amos Harel | Three Years After Hamas Attacked on October 7, Israel Has Yet to Start Reckoning With Its Failures

October 7: How Hamas Attacked Israel, Minute by Minute

Protests Across Israel Mark Third Anniversary of October 7

Israel's October 7 Leaders Mourned the Dead – and Celebrated Their Own Survival

Op-ed | My Mother Was a Peace Activist Killed on October 7. Don't Use Her Name to Justify Mass Killing

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu handling of the crisis after the Flydubai attack demonstrated his “facility at dominating the news cycle and setting the agenda of the debate” in the crucial weeks ahead of the October 27 Israeli election, said Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer, speaking on the Haaretz Election Podcast. 

Netanyahu skillfully and quickly took the spotlight, basking in the reflected glory of the heroic pilot and passengers who saved the plane, while evading responsibility for the security failures as he did post-October 7. By doing so, he put his election rivals in a lose-lose position, Leifer noted. 

If his rivals for power publicly acknowledged that “we're living in a dangerous neighborhood and we have to step things up, then you know they end up backing him,” Leifer said. “But if the opposition comes out and starts blaming Netanyahu” for the oversights and negligence that led to the near-disaster, “they come out looking like they’re spoiling the party and they’re not loyal.”

Leifer’s fellow Election Podcast panelist Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin agreed and said given the situation, it is “smarter” for the opposition to “sit back and let the facts come out” in the media rather than go on the offensive. 

On the podcast, Leifer and Scheindlin joined host Allison Kaplan Sommer to discuss flydubai, along with the impact of the commemoration of three years since October 7 on the campaign, dueling interpretations of the current polls, and the Netanyahu opposition’s “horrifically mismanaged” campaign.

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The most recent attempt at a show of unity by the Jewish Zionist parties opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was only partially successful.

With the election less than a month away, their leaders may have agreed not to campaign against each other and save their fire for Netanyahu – but they failed to explicitly commit to backing whichever party leader garners the most votes to head the bloc, said Haaretz correspondent Judy Maltz, speaking on the Haaretz Election Podcast.

"For most of the people who support the parties in the opposition bloc, it was a big disappointment that they couldn't say what seems so obvious to most people," Maltz said of the meeting between the four major parties opposed to Netanyahu.

"There was a lot of hope that they would emerge ... and say, 'We have a leader. It will be Eisenkot against Netanyahu,' but they could not reach an agreement on that."

Maltz was joined on the podcast by fellow Haaretz journalist Linda Dayan and host Allison Kaplan Sommer to discuss the fallout of the Central Elections Committee's decision to disqualify Arab parties along with individual members of the party, and the controversial decision by left-wing Democrats leader Yair Golan to support barring Balad party head Sami Abu Shehadah, who made comments following October 7 that were interpreted as supporting the Hamas attack.

"What he wrote is disgusting," Dayan said. "The question is whether it's actually illegal, and there are a lot of figures saying that it isn't," and noted that such votes to disqualify candidates is an "Israeli election tradition."

Maltz, who has been traveling across the country over the past months, reporting on the mood of Israeli voters, spoke on the podcast about her visit to Kibbutz Be'eri, where 132 people were massacred and 35 taken hostage on October 7, to find out how that trauma has affected their politics.

"Overall, most of them have moved to the right. But they will not vote for any parties in the current coalition, because much as they hate Hamas, they hate the current Israeli government even more, and blame them for October 7."

Read more: 

Opposition Leaders Agree to Decide Who Will Lead Next Government Only After Elections

Banned Arab Party Leader to Challenge Knesset Disqualification in Court Despite Internal Opposition

Israel's AG Urges Court to Disqualify Arab Party Leader Over Post-Oct. 7 Remarks

Eisenkot Says No Arab Party Meets Demands to Join Government Led by Him

'Not Once Did You Use the Word Peace': In English, Yair Golan Strikes a Centrist Tone

Did Kibbutz Be'eri Lose Faith in the Left?

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