Gadi returned from an intensive tour of the ranches in Judea and Samaria – where Jewish pioneers spearhead the struggle to prevent a Palestinian take-over of the territories. Aided by the Palestinian authority, Arabs buy land and build homes on deserted hilltops for which EU money supplies infrastructures and paves roads. If Israel does not wake up it will face a Gaza-like situation in the West Bank.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The creators of the film NAZA, which accuses the IDF of AI-driven genocide, received a standing ovation whose length could rival the standing ovations of the Stalin-era Politburo.

Mike and Gadi discuss the film and the way it was received in Israel and abroad. It seems that peddling blood libels against Jews has taken on an entirely different meaning in the post–October 7 world.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Haaretz “bombshell” story about a warning from MBZ to Netanyahu is not just nonsense — it’s hilarious nonsense. Still The New Yorker swallowed it whole. But precisely because it’s bogus, it actually tells you a lot about the state of Israeli politics - as the country gears up for elections. It’s been a while since Mike and Gadi had this much fun in a single show.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gadi sits down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a long conversation in Hebrew. To watch with English subtitles, please visit tabletmag.com/israelupdate, or you can access the video on Spotify, YouTube, or Rumble.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former IDF general Ofer Winter has launched Amcha Yisrael (“People of Israel”), a new right-wing populist party. Gadi explains why Netanyahu’s camp sees Winter as a threat. In Israel’s fragmented electoral system, small parties can end up wasting votes by drawing support away from other right-wing parties that then fail to cross the threshold for entering the Knesset. Winter insists that he belongs to the right-wing camp. But he rejected a reserved slot on the Likud list and chose to run on his own. His move could cost the right its majority and, ultimately, Netanyahu his hold on power.

Mike and Gadi also discuss the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz, where a “no war, no peace” deadlock drags on. And they revisit last week’s conversation with Dan Schueftan, who, apparently with his ears burning, called in just as they were criticizing him.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Middle East, argues Dan Schueftan, there are no solutions—only threats to contain, opportunities to exploit, and problems to manage. He joins Mike to explain why Gaza will require “violent maintenance,” why Turkey poses an immediate strategic challenge, and why economic pressure remains the best weapon against Iran.

Plus: Israel’s resilient society, its failing political class, and the hard strategic lessons Americans still refuse to learn.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Strangely, almost unbelievably, Israel’s economy is booming, even after three difficult years of war. The Tel Aviv 35 Index is up 130% since this government took office. Mike and Gadi try to explain how this has come to pass.

Also on this episode: the plague of selective enforcement against the Israeli right in the showdown ahead of the coming elections, and our usual assessment of the state of the war—in the Gulf and here at home, in Gaza.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Einat Wilf sometimes sounds like the right, and sometimes like the left. Which is, perhaps, the point of the new political party she founded. It’s named courage (Oz, in Hebrew). We asked her what the party’s agenda would be.

We also discussed the suggested changes to the Gaza deal - which we agreed will not come to pass. Gadi’s long interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly confirmed this view.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the 8th time that Netanyahu is invited to the White House since Trump returned to power. The stalemate in the Gulf was probably the main subject of their one and a half hour discussion. Mike surveys the possible plans they may have agreed or disagreed on.
Meanwhile, the “Settler Violence” campaign is coming to a head as Palestian terrorism escalates. Are Israelis realizing they are being manipulated by the media, at home and abroad?

And here is Melanie Phillips’s brilliant piece on the “Settler Violence” canard.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike lays out the four possible scenarios in which the current escalation in the Straits of Hormuz can develop. Gadi revisits the “settler violence” canard, in light of the devastating arson attack perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists against the settlement of Havat Gilad.

Also in this episode: J. D. Vance and Gadi Eisenkot.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices