The director of the Mossad, General Roman Gofman -- two months after taking over the spy agency -- has followed-up his firing of the deputy director with two new ousters: a man and a woman who were very senior in spying on Iran and interpreting all the data from there.

Dan's longtime co-author (on 6 books), Yossi Melman, helps us interpret the firings within the Mossad.

Dan's guest, Nathan Guttman, adds that it appears Prime Minister Netanyahu is recognizing the failure of the plan -- linked with the Israel-U.S. war against Iran that began February 28 -- to topple Iran's regime.

Nathan Guttman also analyzes the Michigan primary results, which was a significant win for an anti-Israel Democrat, and the broader challenges facing Israel-U.S. relations -- including how to define antiSemitism.

Nathan Guttman is the Washington correspondent for Kan, Israel's public broadcasting network; and he writes a column on Jewish power and politics for MomentMag.com, the website of Moment Magazine.

This is the 79th 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 new 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.

In an action-packed audio half-hour, Dan analyzes Donald Trump's claim of a breakthrough on Gaza -- and we hear a Palestinian-American who claims to know Hamas well say that the group really is willing to disarm, to stop Israel's targeted assassinations!

Also -- various angles on the Trump-Netanyahu summit at the White House, where the men didn't appear together, but perhaps they were plotting something big. We hear them, and also Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid in Washington, saying the decline in U.S. public support for Israel can be "reversed."

And Harlan Ullman -- U.S. Navy veteran and strategic advisor to governments and corporations -- famous for the "Shock and Awe" strategy of launching a war -- tells Dan that the U.S. seems headed for failure in the Iran conflict.

Pressed by Dan, Harlan Ullman casts doubt on U.S. willingness to cooperate with Israel's military and intelligence in the future.

This is the 78th 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 new 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.

Longtime Israeli official and diplomat Nimrod Novik -- a senior advisor to the late prime minister Shimon Peres -- tells Dan he sees major changes ahead in Israel, if any combination of the five political party leaders running against Benjamin Netanyahu are successful.  Israel's election will be held October 27.

Novik believes steps would be taken toward creative diplomacy -- rather than the use of force to solve Israel's challenges. He explains a credible investigation of the failures of Oct. 7, 2023, would likely occur.  The abusive violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank might be curbed, and the IDF might be pulled out of Syria and Lebanon (where Netanyahu boasts that Israel has "security belts" inside the neighboring countries' territories).

Important for West Bank stability -- and also for pressing ahead with "Trump's 20 Points" plan for Gaza -- Novik says a new leader would likely try to work with the Palestinian Authority, however flawed the P.A. is, in order to weaken the murderous Hamas faction.

You'll also hear Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as Dan analyzes the U.S. administration's stand on continuing to bomb Iran, and on the nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that might be heading nowhere.

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 new 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 examines new information on the Mossad's efforts to recruit a hostile former Iranian president -- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- as an agent for Israel.  Mossad veterans have said they make the "impossible" possible.  But really?

A former head of research in the Mossad, Sima Shine, speaks about the Ahmadinejad caper -- a brief excerpt from The Telegraph's video podcast hosted by Roland Oliphant.

Then Dan drills down mow deeply with a 29-year veteran of the CIA -- Marc Polymeropoulos: trying to explain Donald Trump's constantly changing goals and methods in the Iran war ... analyzing Mossad strategies, based on his experience working with the Israelis ... and wondering how much of a change in strategy may emerge if Prime Minister Netanyahu loses the October 27 election in Israel.

Also: J.D. Vance.  America's vice president is sending our some mightily unfriendly vibes toward Israel -- and the Mossad. You'll hear Vance excerpts from the Joe Rogan Experience.

This is the 76th weekly episode of The Mossad Files.  Search on YouTube for video extras.

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 new 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 President Trump chose to return to war against Iran -- although not completely forcefully -- Iran's oil sales were again banned by U.S. sanctions.

Can harsh sanctions bring down the radical regime in Tehran? When the Memorandum of Understanding that Trump's negotiators created with Iran permitted oil sales for 60 days -- and pronounced a ceasefire that hasn't totally held -- how many billions of dollars would that have given to Iran?

Dan speaks with Max Meizlish about that. He's a researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, DC, and he's a former official at the U.S. Department of Treasury's agency that enforces sanctions. It's called OFAC: the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Also: details of an article for Spytalk.co by Yossi Melman, Dan's co-author on 6 books about Israeli intelligence and security. The article reveals new details about the Mossad and CIA together plotting -- early this year -- an attempt to topple Iran's government: an invasion of Iran by Kurdish forces, with U.S. and Israeli air cover. Preparations were underway, when President Trump decided to stop the plan.

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 new 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's joined by his co-author on six books about Israel -- journalist and filmmaker Yossi Melman -- who's been writing about a serious rift in relations between Israel and the United States.  The reason?  Donald Trump is wooing Iran.

Also heard in this episode of The Mossad Files: former Israeli ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren; and former U.S. officials on a Carnegie Connects online discussion -- Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Mike Singh of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Alan Eyre of the Middle East Institute.

This is the 74th weekly episode of The Mossad Files 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 new 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's guest is Joel Rubin, author of "Saving Democratic Foreign Policy: How Democrats Can Earn the American People's Trust to Lead the World Once Again." Rubin was a State Department official in the Obama Administration and has a Substack, "The Briefing Book."

He argues that Israel could be doing a much better job of explaining its policy goals -- its vision of how the Middle East could be better -- instead of simply defending the justice of making war on eight fronts since Oct. 7, 2023.

We also hear highlights of Prime Minister Netanyahu's recent speech in English, to consider whether he's succeeding at swaying the world toward Israel's cause.  As Joel M. Rubin tells us: "It's not working!"

This is the 73rd 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 new 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 examines the widely held belief that President Trump's deal with Iran -- the Memorandum of Understanding -- was bad for Israel, and therefore the country's spy agency, the Mossad, will surely go back to covert war inside Iran.  This time, the Israelis expect to be alone.

Clearly the U.S. and Israel did not achieve their goals in the war that they launched on February 28.  Yossi Melman -- Dan Raviv's co-author on six Middle East books -- helps analyze what may happen next.  Yossi points out that dictatorial regimes tend to fail in the long run.

Dan also turns to Yaakov Katz, author of "While Israel Slept," to explain how Israel could get along without $3.8 billion dollars of annual military aid from the U.S.  They discuss the "partnership" that would replace the one-way aid.

We also hear J.D. Vance with some harsh words directed at Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

This is the 72nd weekly episode of The Mossad Files with Dan Raviv.  Please subscribe and recommend or rate on the various audio podcast sites.

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 new 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 war against Iran may be entering a new phase -- and some may call it peace. But many serious analysts in the United States and Israel call it a failure, or even "a disaster" for Israeli interests.

Dennis Ross, longtime Middle East mediator for American presidents, offers hope that pressure will build for positive change in Tehran -- but, as author of "Statecraft 2.0" he suggests that good principles of statecraft have not been followed by President Trump. Where are the clear objectives and means?

We also hear Danny Citrinowicz, who was a senior analyst on Iran for Israel's Military Intelligence directorate (Aman) -- highly critical of the war that began on February 28. He was speaking with former U.S. mediator Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, on a Carnegie online program.

This is the 71st weekly episode of The Mossad Files -- available on all major audio podcast sites. And search YouTube and Spotify for "video extras" from us.

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 new 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's guest is Yaakov Katz -- author of books on Israeli defense including "While Israel Slept" (on the failures of Oct. 7, 2023) and former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post. 

They discuss the new director of the Mossad spy agency, General Roman Gofman -- controversial in part for alleged failure to support a young Israeli operative in a secret operation. Gofman is a Benjamin Netanyahu loyalist, so will he stand up against some plots proposed by political leaders, as other Mossad chiefs have done?

Their half-hour discussion also spotlights the high point of U.S.-Israel military and intelligence cooperation -- the joint attacks on Iran -- and how the relationship between Netanyahu and Donald Trump has disintegrated into high tension.

This is the 70th 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 new 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.