Is Israel's longest serving prime minister a net asset -- or a net liability -- at this point, when it comes to the country's security?

In favor of Benjamin Netanyahu -- explicitly speaking out in favor of his being pardoned by Israel's president -- is the widely published rabbi, Shmuley Boteach.

Replying to those pro-Bibi opinions: a law professor at Reichman University in Israel, Prof. Yaniv Roznai, a constitutional law expert.

Hear some bitter, but intelligently reasoned, arguments -- on 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.

Gaza's next stage and Turkey's role. Those issues spell trouble in the seemingly rosy Florida lovefest of Donald Trump and Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu.

Days after their 6th meeting of 2025, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington tells Dan how these summits work -- and he can tell what the real issues were behind the Mar-a-Lago platitudes.  

Sure, the Israeli prime minister and American president praised each other to the skies, but there are still "troubling" differences over Gaza -- Phase 2 of the Trump peace plan -- and over Turkey (Turkiye). Trump wants to give his friend, Turkish president Erdogan a role in both Gaza and Syria. Netanyahu definitely opposes that.

Dan's guest is Michael Herzog, former Israeli ambassador (during the Biden years) in Washington and the brother and son of two Presidents of the State of Israel.  A retired Brigadier General in the IDF, Michael Herzog is a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

 

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 reports there's a lot going on, when it comes to Israeli intelligence, security, and politics.  There's a rare statement from the Mossad, on why its director met with Qatar. Arab news media claim a kidnapping in Lebanon by the Mossad. 

And -- the next big strategic event for Israel: Prime Minister Netanyahu will visit President Trump at Mar-a-Lago for talks on December 29.   Netanyahu (according to Senator Lindsey Graham, heard in the podcast) wants a green light to strike Iran.

But there are indications that Trump will push Netanyahu to speed up execution of the Trump plan for peace in Gaza.  Dan's primary interviewee is Nimrod Novik, Distinguished Fellow at Israel Policy Forum (IPF), who says -- writing for IPF and for Commanders for Israel's Security -- that Trump should put pressure on Netanyahu at the Florida meeting.  An open effort by Israelis to see a foreign leader twist the arm of Israel's leader.

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 Mossad director, David Barnea, gave a rare openly threatening speech: vowing to stop Iran's continued ambition to build nuclear weapons.  At an awards ceremony, he also said Israel will punish those responsible for the terrorist attack on Jews in Australia -- at their Hanukkah party on Bondi Beach.

Dan -- in Israel this week -- speaks with Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel on a range of current events. She says Israel repeatedly warned Australia that an antisemitic terrorist attack was coming, accusing that country's government of inaction.  

Dan reports that officials -- Haskel among them -- seem coordinated in a message that Israel is not merely fighting Hamas and Hezbollah -- but is, in effect, combating the enemies of Western civilization.

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 episode of The Mossad Files recorded in Israel, Dan interviews Maj. General (Retired) Amos Yadlin -- former head of Aman, the Military Intelligence directorate that's the biggest part of Israel's intelligence community.

Yadlin was one of the air force pilots who destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981 and also served as defense attache at Israel's embassy in Washington.

In this conversation, he warns that the Gaza crisis isn't over -- and Israel hasn't sealed its victory against Hezbollah in Lebanon. He also analyzes the possibility that Iran might re-start its nuclear program ... or will Iran wait for a while to see what happens in Israeli and U.S. pollitics?

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.

Until 29 years ago, it was illegal in Israel to reveal the name of the Mossad director. But now Israel's top spymaster is a public figure -- and the honor is about to go to Major General Roman Gofman.  Who's he?  

He has no experience in intelligence agencies. He speaks English poorly, but his Russian is excellent, as he was a Jewish immigrant to Israel from Belarus in the Soviet Union at age 14.

Dan's guest -- to discuss Gen. Gofman -- is  Dan's longtime writing partner, Yossi Melman: a top Israeli journalist with encyclopedic knowledge of Israel's intelligene and security agencies.  Yossi explains his doubts about Gofman, including two missteps involving secrets in his career.

Dan and Yossi take a deep dive into Mossad leadership, especially in the age of Benjamin Netanyahu, as this prime minister is putting his personal stamp on all the instruments of power in Israel.

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 analyzes the revelation, in a documentary on Israeli TV's Kan-11, that presented a lot of retired military and intelligence chiefs who feel Prime Minister Netanyahu was stop-and-go when it came to confronting Iran.  They suggested he did not agree to full funding of Mossad and IDF projects to penetrate Iran and prepare for war -- with war seen as likely, at some point, to stop Iran's nuclear program.

It is true, of course, that Netanyahu ordered the airstrikes on Iran -- powered by undercover Mossad teams in that country -- this past June. And he persuaded Donald Trump to send B-2 bombers to drop huge bunker-buster bombs on nuclear facilities.

Dan then turns to Samuel M. Katz -- author of more than a dozen books about Israeli special forces, military units, and now "The Architect of Espionage."  It is a biography of the late Meir Dagan, the director of the Mossad from 2002 to 2011. He was an action man in every way: no use collecting intelligence, he believed, if you didn't use it to sabotage your enemy!

Katz's book also includes a lot of stories of Israeli history since 1950, when Dagan arrived in Israel as a 5-year-old from Ukraine.  Dan and Sam talk for about 25 minutes.  (Happy Thanksgiving!)

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.

You've heard of John Spencer, one of the experts on urban warfare who has declared -- after studying the Gaza war closely, and going to the warfront 7 times -- that Israel abided by the international rules of war.

Chair of war studies for the Madison Policy Forum, Spencer is known for creating an urban war study program at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

He tells Dan Raviv there's no way Israel was guilty of genocide against Gaza's Palestinians, while Hamas's actions -- the massacres and kidnappings in Israel on October 7, and the regime's treatment of Gaza civilians -- were outrageously atrocious.

Listen. Consider the analysis. Respond. Please do.

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.

You'll hear Bill Clinton declare that if his friend, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, had not been assassinated in November 1995, Israel and the Palestinians would have made peace "and the whole world would be different."

Then, to the world as it is: Yaakov Katz, Israeli strategic analyst and co-author of "While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East," joins Dan in dissecting an official -- if preliminary -- report by the Israel Defense Forces on the failures of October 7, 2023: the day of the massacres and mass kidnappings by Hamas.

Pointing to the difficulty of persuading other nations to form an International Securty Force as peacekeepers in Gaza, Yaakov Katz says: "No one's going to fight Hamas on Israel's behalf. No one's going to disarm Hamas on Israel's behalf." The Trump plan, which at least freed all the hostages, does not mean "We have Middle East peace" -- despite the repeated claim by President Trump.

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 co-author (on six books), Yossi Melman, is the featured interview -- on "the strangest case in IDF history": the chief military prosecutor, who admits leaking evidence showing abuse of Palestinian prisoners, has been arrested. She's accused of staging a suicide attempt, perhaps to cover evidence on her mobile phone.

Also: Yossi discusses his documentary film on Israeli TV -- "Averting the Gaze" -- which focuses on the incitement against Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin that preceded his assassination exactly 30 years ago.

You'll also hear Israeli strategy expert, Prof. Kobi Michael, telling Dan there have to be sweeping reforms in Israel's intelligence agencies -- as a result of the failures of Oct. 7, 2023.

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.