On this week's episode, Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor Neri Zilber hosts Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of Sagui Dekel-Chen, who was just freed from Hamas captivity after 498 days. They discuss the joyful reunion between Sagui and his wife and three young daughters, Sagui's road to recovery, the months of campaigning to get this hostage deal done, the role of the Trump administration and Netanyahu government, the prospects for the ceasefire to be extended and for all the hostages to be returned home, and more. 

Israelis' hearts are heavy with grief today as four deceased hostages are returned from Gaza—likely Oded Lifshitz, Shiri Bibas, and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, although we are still awaiting final forensic confirmation. We have all come to know their faces well over the past 503 days as symbolic of the human cost of the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7. It is unimaginable that their families will never again get to embrace them.

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On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow and The Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Senior Fellow Shira Efron. The trio discusses Prime Minister Netanyahu's trip to Washington last week, President Trump's plan to turn Gaza into the riviera of the Middle East, the status of the Gaza ceasefire deal, dimming prospects for Israel-Saudi normalization, possible reform in the Palestinian Authority, and more. 

Read Shira Efron's op-ed in The New York Times here.

Read Alex Lederman's op-ed in The Forward here. 

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On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Aziz Alghashian, Director of Research at ORF Middle East. They discuss how the past 16 months have looked from Riyadh and the Gulf, the prospects of Israel-Saudi normalization, the demand for a viable pathway towards Palestinian statehood, how Benjamin Netanyahu has misled the Israeli public, the Trump effect on Middle East diplomacy, and more. 

Policy Recommendations for the Trump Administration and the 119th Congress

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On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow and Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Senior Director of Policy Research Shira Efron. The trio discuss the release of the first three female hostages from Hamas captivity, the surprising (for some) Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, the re-emergence of Hamas fighters and the lack of a day after plan for the strip, the prospects of the ceasefire being continued into a second stage, what Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have planned for the Middle East and each other, and more.

Policy Recommendations for the Trump Administration and the 119th Congress

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On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber and Israel Policy Forum Director of Strategic Initiatives and IPF Atid Shanie Reichman discuss the terms of the ceasefire-hostage deal and how it will be implemented, how many hostages are set to come home and if the deal will actually end the war, why the long-awaited deal was finalized now, criticisms of the deal from both the right and left, the political implications for the Netanyahu government, and more.

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On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Tal Shalev, political correspondent at Walla News. They discuss Prime Minister Netanyahu's political strength at the dawn of a new year, the state of play inside his coalition government, Itamar Ben Gvir's waning influence, the fraught issue of ultra-Orthodox conscription, the return of the judicial overhaul, Trump's potential impact, and more. 

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On the last Israel Policy Pod episode of 2024, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow and Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Senior Director of Policy Research Shira Efron. The trio discuss the past year of war across all of Israel's battlefields and fronts, the upheaval in Syria and the fall of the Assad regime, the renewed prospects for a ceasefire-hostage deal in Gaza, Netanyahu's increasing political strength heading into the new year, what Trump may (and may not) do in the Middle East, and more.

View our latest explainers on critical issues facing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict here.

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On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts military affairs analyst Yaakov Lappin. They discuss the demise of the Assad regime, how the rebel takeover of Damascus is being viewed from Israel, the IDF ground incursion into southern Syria, the far-reaching air campaign against the Syrian Arab Army, what the future may hold for the fragmented country, the dismantling of the Iran-led axis of resistance, the status of Israel's multi-front war, and more. 

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On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Assaf Orion, international fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and senior researcher at INSS. They assess the Israel-Hezbollah war over the past 14 months, and discuss the reasons why the ceasefire was concluded last week, what the agreement entails, how it differs from the one that ended the last Lebanon war, the prospects that it is successfully implemented, and more.

View our latest explainers on critical issues facing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict here.

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On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Tal Schneider, political correspondent at The Times of Israel. They discuss the return of Israeli politics during wartime, the defection of Gideon Sa’ar, the firing of Yoav Gallant and the rumors regarding who may be next, the resumption of the judicial overhaul, the impact Donald Trump may already be having on internal Israeli affairs, and more.

View our latest explainers on critical issues facing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict here.

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