Host Simon Spungin is joined by Judy Maltz and Samuel Sokol to discuss the government’s far-reaching plans for reform the system by which food is certified as kosher in Israel. What’s wrong with the old system? Who stands to benefit from the reform? PLUS: Why is Ben & Jerry’s ice cream no longer kosher in some places? And why women running their own synagogues can’t call themselves rabbis.

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Host Simon Spungin is joined by senior intelligence analyst Yossi Melman, opinions editor Esther Solomon, and tech and cyber editor Omer Benjakob. We discuss the fallout from the Pegasus Project and ask: What limitations does and should Israel place on the export of these technologies? Did Benjamin Netanyahu act as a travelling salesman for the NSO Group? And will international pressure lead to a change in Israeli policy?

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Host Simon Spungin is joined by Haaretz’s chief sports writer Uzi Dann and Allison Kaplan Sommer to discuss the record-breaking Israeli delegation to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. How many medals will the 90 athletes bag for Israel? Why is the Israeli baseball team predominantly made up of American Jews? And why are there no Arabs representing Israel – yet again?

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Host Simon Spungin is joined by senior Haaretz writers Alon Pinkas and Bradley Burston, to discuss a poll which found that one in four American Jews sees Israel as an apartheid state. We ask: Is it an accurate description of Israel in 2021? If Israel gets rids of the occupied Palestinian territories, will allegations of ‘apartheid’ end immediately? What role did former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the moribund peace process play in mainstreaming the term? And in what other manifestations of ‘apartheid’ have become evident in Israeli society?

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Host Simon Spungin is joined by Haaretz’s senior editor for archaeology and science, Ruth Schuster, and archaeology correspondent Ariel David. The panel discusses the discovery of piglet skeleton in a First Temple-period home in Jerusalem. We ask: Does this mean that the Israelites ignored the prohibition against eating pork and what does it tell us about when Judaism as we know it was born? PLUS: A new type of human found in Nesher Ramla, Israel's unnoticed killer heat and dog poop DNA in Tel Aviv.

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Host Simon Spungin is joined by Noa Landau and Michael Hauser-Tov to discuss a stormy few days in the Knesset – and landmark rulings from the High Court: the justices’ decision that the Nation-State Law does not violate Israel’s unwritten constitution; the embarrassing scenes in the Knesset, where ideology was trumped by spite over the Citizenship Law; the court’s ruling that surrogacy should be offered to all; and the departure of Benjamin Netanyahu from the prime minister’s residence on Balfour Street.

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Host Simon Spungin is joined by Anshel Pfeffer for a presidential episode of Haaretz Weekend, in which we discuss the legacy of outgoing president Reuven Rivlin, and his successor, Isaac Herzog, who was sworn in as Israel’s 11th president this week. We ask: Was Rivlin the best president Israel could have expected in such fraught times? Was it Herzog’s destiny to follow in his father’s footsteps and become Israel’s No. 1 citizen? And how will he respond if – and when – former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu asks him for a pardon?

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Host Simon Spungin is joined by Haaretz's Amira Hass to discuss the recent demonstrations in the Palestinian territories and the Palestinian Authority's violent repression of those protests. We ask: What role does the Israeli occupation play in Mahmoud Abbas' ability to crush dissent? How is the Palestinian national struggle also a struggle for democracy? And why are Palestinian security forces targeting women?

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Host Simon Spungin is joined by Haaretz.com’s Linda Dayan and LGBTQ activist Muhammad Zoabi to discuss a broad spectrum of LGBTQ issues in Israel. How does a gay Muslim deal with multiple and often conflicting identities? What about pinkwashing? What does the new LGBTQ-friendly government mean for the community – in terms of acceptance and legislation? How does the presence of self-professed homophobes in the Knesset affect the community? And how did one ultra-Orthodox family cope with their transgender son?

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On this week’s episode, host Simon Spungin is joined by Amos Harel and Zvi Bar’el for a two-part discussion on Israel’s handling of two current threats: the delta variant of the Coronavirus and the Iranian nuclear program. In Part 1, Amos advises against panic in the face of the mini-wave of COVID-19 infections, says that the government must act quickly and responsibly – and warns that the August 1 target date for reopening to tourists might be postponed again. In Part 2, Zvi comments on the state of play in talks between world powers and Iran, the significance of Iranian noncompliance with inspection regimes and how Israel will continue to wage its shadow war against the Islamic Republic.

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