THE MOSSAD FILES with Dan Raviv

Deep analysis on this post-elections episode of The Mossad Files with Dan Raviv.  Dan (in Washington DC) chats with Marc Schulman, a historian, columnist, and pundit in Tel Aviv.

They discuss the likelihood of more strains -- and negativity -- between America and Israel.  Schulman says a first step to change the trend will be removing Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister.

They explain how the rival (in Israel's Oct. 27 election), Gadi Eisenkot, has a much better chance of forming a government -- though perhaps not a coalition that officially has a majority (61 seats in the Knesset).

A frank, fast-moving discussion on the big issues in the U.S. and in Israel!

Schulman is the author of a new book, "Between Hope and Fear," about the past 3 decades in Israel.  He also has a Substack, "Tel Aviv Diary," and is founder of the website HistoryCentral.com.

This is the 92nd weekly episode of The Mossad Files with Dan Raviv.

Please comment on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- is a low-priced e-book, "Target: Iran -- How the Mossad Penetrated Iran to Smash the Nuclear Program."  For Kindle: https://levantbooks.short.gy/hGLRKs 

Also the Raviv-Melman history of the Mossad is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).  

AND: Dan Raviv is co-author of a book with social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can figure out yourself and the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

 (You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

After analyzing details of the stalemate that resulted from the Oct. 27 election in Israel, Dan speaks with Israel-based Rotem Oreg-Kalisky, the founder of LIBRAEL, an organization that reaches out to liberals (progressives) in the United States.  The group feels it can demonstrate that you can retain your liberal values, yet still be a supporter of Israel.

The organization's website is LIBRAEL.org . Oreg-Kalisky speaks in favor of the idea that the “Change” bloc partner with Israeli Arab parties to ensure a government meant without ultra-Orthodox politicians whom he considers dangerous to a Jewish democracy.

This is the 91st weekly audio episode of The Mossad Files with Dan Raviv.

Please comment on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- is a low-priced e-book, "Target: Iran -- How the Mossad Penetrated Iran to Smash the Nuclear Program."  For Kindle: https://levantbooks.short.gy/hGLRKs 

Also the Raviv-Melman history of the Mossad is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).  

AND: Dan Raviv is co-author of a book with social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can figure out yourself and the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

 (You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

The stalemate with Iran, since early April, may well be broken -- one way or the other -- just after the fateful Israeli election (October 27) and the vital midterm elections in the U.S. (November 3).

A top Israeli strategist, Professor Kobi Michael, joins Dan to consider what could be accomplished by renewing airstrikes against Iran -- even as Benjamin Netanyahu publicly declares that Israel's goal is to topple the Islamic regime in Iran.

Kobi Michael also reviews his recently published analysis of polling among the Palestinians of the West Bank and -- to a limited degree -- in Gaza. Do they still support Hamas? Many have concluded that the war launched by the invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, was a mistake. But they still are broadly unwilling to share the land "from the river to the sea" with the Jewish state of Israel.

This is the 90th weekly episode of The Mossad Files with Dan Raviv.

Please comment on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- is a low-priced e-book, "Target: Iran -- How the Mossad Penetrated Iran to Smash the Nuclear Program."  For Kindle: https://levantbooks.short.gy/hGLRKs 

Also the Raviv-Melman history of the Mossad is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).  

AND: Dan Raviv is co-author of a book with social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can figure out yourself and the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

 (You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

Less than 2 weeks before Israel's election, violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank (a.k.a. Judea & Samaria) has erupted as a top story in the news worldwide.  They have attacked Palestinian farmers and villagers, they severely injured a Washington Post photographer, and they assaulted a group of European diplomats who drove into the West Bank to see what's going on.

Dan speaks with Nimrod Novik, one of the leaders of Commanders for Israel's Security, after the organization petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to order action aimed at restoring order.

Novik talks about dangers to Israel's security, due to unrest in that territory captured from Jordan in 1967 -- and the damage to Israel's reputation abroad.

They also discuss a study by the Institute for National Security Studies (near Tel Aviv), identifying a new national security strategy for Israel that is emerging without being announced or fully discussed. Among other things, it stresses offensive action rather than defense and deterrence; and the new strategy advocates reducing dependence on the United States.

This is the 89th weekly episode of The Mossad Files with Dan Raviv.

Please comment on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- is a low-priced e-book, "Target: Iran -- How the Mossad Penetrated Iran to Smash the Nuclear Program."  For Kindle: https://levantbooks.short.gy/hGLRKs 

Also the Raviv-Melman history of the Mossad is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).  

AND: Dan Raviv is co-author of a book with social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can figure out yourself and the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

 (You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

Dan spotlights some intriguing statements surrounding the third anniversary of October 7: Did intelligence agencies ignore warnings of a Hamas plan to massacre and kidnap Israelis?  Brett McGurk, longtime nonpartisan U.S. official who was President Biden's Middle East envoy confirms there really was near-agreement with Saudi Arabia to establish open, cooperative relations with Israel -- just before the October 7 atrocity.

McGurk was speaking to Margaret Brennan of CBS's Face the Nation, about his new book, "Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages."

Dan then interviews Eric Alterman -- a Brooklyn College professor whose book in early 2023, "We Are Not One," chronicled the trend of American Jews drifting away from Israel.  His New York Times opinion article, a few days ago, was headlined, "AIPAC is Failing."  

Dan mentions (repeatedly) that he does not agree with all of Alterman's strong criticisms of Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank.  The purpose, in the podcast, is to offer a window into what many American progressives are focused on -- when it comes to Israel. 

Alterman says he used to be a "liberal Zionist" but now cannot defend Israel.  That's a strategic crisis for Israel: a significant part of the threat matrix this podcast discusses.

This is the 88th weekly episode of The Mossad Files with Dan Raviv.

Please comment on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- is a low-priced e-book, "Target: Iran -- How the Mossad Penetrated Iran to Smash the Nuclear Program."  For Kindle: https://levantbooks.short.gy/hGLRKs 

Also the Raviv-Melman history of the Mossad is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).  

AND: Dan Raviv is co-author of a book with social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can figure out yourself and the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

 (You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

Dan sheds light on the Israeli political fallout, and other angles of the terrorist co-pilot trying to destroy a FlyDubai airliner headed for Tel Aviv. Will the incident help Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel's Oct. 27 election? (Probably.)

Dan then turns to Fred Burton, who was a senior counterterrorism official with the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service. He worked at Stratfor and is the author of best selling books, including "Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent."

A key question: Why hasn't Iran launched a worldwide terrorism campaign, as its response to being attacked by Israel and the United States?

This is the 87th weekly episode of The Mossad Files with Dan Raviv audio podcast.

Please comment on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- is a low-priced e-book, "Target: Iran -- How the Mossad Penetrated Iran to Smash the Nuclear Program."  For Kindle: https://levantbooks.short.gy/hGLRKs 

Also the Raviv-Melman history of the Mossad is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).  

AND: Dan Raviv is co-author of a book with social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can figure out yourself and the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

 (You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

How Israel conducted the war in Gaza: Dan Raviv explores more reaction to the NAZA (documentary by two Israelis) charging their country didn't care about killings of Palestinian civilians.  

Dan then interviews Yonah Jeremy Bob, military reporter for The Jerusalem Post -- co-author of the new book, "In the War Room: The Inside Story of Israel's Fight Against Hamas and the Iranian Axis." 

Dan and Yonah explore the story of a troika: Prime Minister Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and retired General Benny Gantz who made the early war decisions after the atrocities of the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 251. The three men had a long history of personal dislike and distrust, and the dynamics of decisionmaking during a war thrust upon Israel is fascinating.

This is the 86th weekly episode of The Mossad Files with Dan Raviv.

Please comment on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- is a low-priced e-book, "Target: Iran -- How the Mossad Penetrated Iran to Smash the Nuclear Program."  For Kindle: https://levantbooks.short.gy/hGLRKs 

Also the Raviv-Melman history of the Mossad is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).  

AND: Dan Raviv is co-author of a book with social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can figure out yourself and the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

 (You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

A documentary film has sparked a sensation: Two Israelis made "Naza" [the Hebrew acronym for "collateral damage"], and their work was hailed by a record-long standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival.

Critics of Israel especially enjoy it when Israelis are condemning their own country.

The Mossad Files asked Michael Oren -- a former Israeli ambassador to the United States -- for his reaction. Oren, a best-selling historian, is completing a book about the Hamas attack of October 7 (2023) and the Gaza war that raged for two years after that.

Oren says Israeli military officers are "livid" about the reported claims in the movie.

Also -- Dan interviews Kai Bird, a best-selling biographer whose latest book is "American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump.  Our conversation focuses on Trump's style in foreign affairs, largely inspired by the notorious lawyer Cohn.

The conversation includes Bird's other biographies -- of Robert Oppenheimer, Jimmy Carter, and CIA officer Robert Ames -- as the author says, "I consider the Middle East to be one of my homes."

This is the 85th weekly episode of The Mossad Files.

Please comment on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- is a low-priced e-book, "Target: Iran -- How the Mossad Penetrated Iran to Smash the Nuclear Program."  For Kindle: https://levantbooks.short.gy/hGLRKs 

Also the Raviv-Melman history of the Mossad is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).  

AND: Dan Raviv is co-author of a book with social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can figure out yourself and the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

 (You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

Dan offers a review, with comments, of the news report that says Prime Minister Netanyahu had prior warning of a major Hamas attack -- before October 7, 2023 -- and did nothing about it. Netanyahu calls it "fake news." The United Arab Emirates neither confirms nor denies...

Dan then interviews Marc Schulman -- founder of HistoryCentral.com -- who has written a new book: "Between Hope & Fear: Israel From Oslo to October 7." There was a lot of optimism about peace with the Palestinians at the time of the Oslo Accords in 1993, but October 7 (2023) shattered all positive dreams.

Marc Schulman's work can be seen on his Substack -- Tel Aviv Diary.

This is the 84th consecutive weekly episode of The Mossad Files with Dan Raviv.

Please comment on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- is a low-priced e-book, "Target: Iran -- How the Mossad Penetrated Iran to Smash the Nuclear Program."  For Kindle: https://levantbooks.short.gy/hGLRKs 

Also the Raviv-Melman history of the Mossad is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).  

AND: Dan Raviv is co-author of a book with social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can figure out yourself and the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

 (You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

Dan reviews some espionage-related angles in the latest Middle East news -- and then turns to Danny Citrinowicz, a 25-year veteran of the Israeli military's intelligence directorate (Aman) where he was head of the Iran analysis team.

The regime hasn't been toppled. The nuclear potential still exists. Iran's missiles can hit Israel. Trump held back Israel from pursuing its goals in Iran.

Citrinowicz adds details, and offers his impression that the results of the October 27 election in Israel will not bring needed changes in policy toward Iran, toward Lebanon, and (above all) toward the Palestinians.

This is the 83rd consecutive weekly episode of The Mossad Files with Dan Raviv.

Please comment on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- is a low-priced e-book, "Target: Iran -- How the Mossad Penetrated Iran to Smash the Nuclear Program."  For Kindle: https://levantbooks.short.gy/hGLRKs 

Also the Raviv-Melman history of the Mossad is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).  

AND: Dan Raviv is co-author of a book with social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can figure out yourself and the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

 (You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.