On Israel with Ben Caspit, an Al-Monitor podcast

Ben speaks this week with Maj. (res.) Danny Citrinowicz, one of Israel’s most notable experts on Iran, its proxies in the region and its nuclear ambitions. Citrinowicz refers to the barrage of 19 rockets fired by Hezbollah against Israel last Friday. He explains that Hezbollah’s main concern in general is the deterrence equation with Israel. Hezbollah's leadership now worries that Israel might exploit the growing insecurity in Lebanon to further attack the group, "especially after recent statements by Israeli seniors over pre-emptive strikes against Hezbollah’s precise-missile facilities."

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Ben hosts this week legislator Gaby Lasky of the leftwing Meretz party. Lasky, a human rights activist who had served as head of anti-occupation NGO Peace Now, is now member of the new ruling coalition, headed by pro-settler Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Lasky says that five months ago no one could have imagined such a coalition could be formed or was even possible. "This government faces so many missions that are important for Israeli society. No one now is inciting citizens against other citizens. The prime minister believes he is the leader of all Israeli citizens. This should be the norm, but for the last twelve years it wasn’t," she noted. 

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Following recent revelations that governments were spying on journalists, opposition politicians, activists and others using Pegasus spyware, Ben speaks this week with two representatives of NSO Group, the company that developed Pegasus. Brig. Gen. (res.) Ariella Ben Avraham currently serves as Global Communication Executive at NSO, while Shmuel Sunray serves as legal adviser to the group. 

Rejecting accusations against NSO, Ben Avraham states, “Because of NSO, people around the world are safer…Our product enables governments to save lives, and we see that every day. We are not the enemies of anyone. We do not have data in our possession and have no access to it. We do not operate the system. All those headlines are actually pretty funny.”

Sunray argues that the company had adopted international regulations on who to sell to, how to ensure that the product is used in a proper way, and how to deal with misuse of the software, if that happens. He says that NSO would be happy to take part at an international discussion on finding the right balance between national security and right for privacy.

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This week Ben speaks with retired Israeli Major General Noam Tibon, who is specialized in counter-terrorism and homeland security. The former Commander of the Northern Formation commented on statements made last week by outgoing IDF Deputy Chief Yoav Zamir about the IDF becoming too small. Tibon says that, globally, the Israeli army is strong enough to confront simultaneously Iran-backed Hezbollah both in Lebanon and Syria and Hamas in Gaza. Still, he estimates the army is not doing enough on the issue of ground forces. "For the last 20 years, the IDF has been investing mainly in its air force, intelligence and special forces. The IDF is using these three strategic tools in what we call ‘the war between the wars,’ which is mainly operating behind the scenes, in Syria, Lebanon and all over the region. But this is not real war, which is fought by ground forces," he argues. 

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Ben Caspit speaks this week with former ambassador Dr. Haim Koren. The former envoy to Egypt and South Sudan says that all Israeli governments, including the new government under the leadership of Naftali Bennett, have been and are interested in preserving and developing strategic relations with Jordan. "I expect that doubling the quantity of water [annually sold by Israel to Jordan] would be the first step in strengthening these relations." Koren adds the Palestinian issue is important for improving relations with the Hashemite Kingdom, and that King Abdullah intends to raise the issue in his upcoming meeting with President Joe Biden on July 19. Koren notes that even before the Abraham Accords, the Arab world was signaling to Israel that any advancement on the 2003 Saudi/Arab Peace Initiative should facilitate advancing other regional issues.  

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Ben Caspit speaks with Minister of Diaspora Affairs Dr. Nachman Shai, who came back this week from a mission to Miami. The minister had accompanied an Israeli rescue team sent there to assist recovery efforts at the site of the collapsed building. Referring to the deterioration in Israel’s relations with the American progressive Judaism community, Shai stresses the importance of renewing dialogue. He said this deterioration was certainly one of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s biggest mistakes of his term. "Netanyahu chose [former President Donald] Trump, he chose the Republicans, he chose the Evangelists. This cannot become a replacement for the [American] Jewish community, nor for the Democratic party."

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Ben Caspit speaks this week with Yizhar Hess, vice chairman of the World Zionist Organization. Discussing the crisis created by the former government vis-à-vis the Jewish diaspora in general — and American Jews in particular — Hess says he is now pinning his hopes on the new government to change this reality. Hess says that despite the agreement among coalition partners not to change the status quo, some specific issues could be dealt with and resolved. First and foremost, the Western Wall guidelines for a praying space for progressive Judaism. 

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Ben Caspit hosts this week former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Speaking just minutes after the swearing-in ceremony of the new government, Olmert says former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his "thugs" in the Knesset behaved shamefully, yelling and shouting at Israel’s new PM Naftali Bennett as he delivered his inauguration speech. "You may disagree with this government — that’s legitimate. You can criticize this government — that’s legitimate. But to organize members of parliament to prevent the designated prime minister from delivering a statement in an honorable and dignified manner, that is really shameful. Still, it is typical of the way Netanyahu and his friends had conducted themselves throughout the last few years."

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On the backdrop of an especially turbulent week in Israeli politics, Ben Caspit speaks with Oren Magnezy, co-founder of a business accelerator that helps Israeli start-ups work with the US Department of Defense. The former strategic adviser to prime ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert says, “What Benjamin Netanyahu fears most is a moment when he is not prime minister and the sky doesn’t fall." Mangezy argues that Netanyahu had always chosen the easy way to rule, which is to polarize Israeli society.  

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Ben Caspit speaks this week with former Blue and White Knesset member Ruth Wasserman Lande. Wasserman, a strategic expert, public speaker and Middle East affairs’ commentator, talks about recent clashes in Jewish-Arab mixed cities, arguing there was no symmetry between attacks on Jews and attacks on Arabs. She claims the number of attacks against Arab Israelis was significantly lower than those against Israeli Jews. Still, she called for considering putting in jail the heads of what she qualifies as small and marginal Jewish extreme groups, such as La Familia. "Their acts were definitively not the Jewish way and completely against the law," she notes.  

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