Israel Policy Pod

What happens in the Holy Land doesn’t just impact Israelis and Palestinians; it reverberates across the Middle East. Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor Neri Zilber hosts Hesham Youssef, a retired Egyptian diplomat and U.S. Institute of Peace senior fellow, and Farah Bdour, the programs director at the Amman Center for Peace and Development in Jordan, for a wide-ranging conversation about the key roles Egypt and Jordan play in the Israeli-Palestinian arena. Both Hesham and Farah are contributors to a new collection of analysis by an Israel Policy Forum task force entitled "Critical Neighbors: Egypt, Jordan, and the Israeli-Palestinian Arena," which offers Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian, and Jordanian perspectives on recent developments in Jerusalem.Explore the full collection of analysis online here.Or download a PDF version here.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

After the shock of losing its parliamentary majority, and with the Knesset coming back from a holiday break next week, what does the future hold for the Bennett-Lapid government? Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum Advisor Neri Zilber hosts Walla News Chief Political Correspondent Tal Shalev for a deep dive into the chances of the government surviving, the prospects of yet another election, Bibi Netanyahu eyeing a comeback, and who really is the most powerful person in Israeli politics today.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

In this episode, Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor Neri Zilber, Diane and Guilford Glazer Family Foundation Director of Policy Research Shira Efron, and Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow catch up on the major events of the past month, including clashes at Jerusalem's holiest site, the surprising diplomatic response, renewed rocket fire from Gaza, and the staying power (or lack thereof) of the Bennett-Lapid government.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

Violence continues to plague Israel, with another terror attack in Tel Aviv last week killing three Israelis. In this episode, Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor Neri Zilber is joined again by Amos Harel, Haaretz's military analyst, to assess the ongoing escalation and how the Israeli security forces and public have responded. They also discuss how Israel views both the looming Iran nuclear deal and the Russian army’s military failures in Ukraine.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

Violence has escalated in Israel, with three terror attacks in the span of a week leaving 11 Israelis dead. In this episode, Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor Neri Zilber speaks with Col. (res.) Dr. Michael Milshtein, the former head of the Palestinian arena at Israeli Military Intelligence, to analyze why such attacks are occurring now, what the Israeli government is doing to prevent them while heading into a highly sensitive holiday period, and why the future of the conflict will be determined by the Palestinian young generation.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

In this week's episode, Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor Neri Zilber speaks with Knesset Member Prof. Yossi Shain of the Yisrael Beitenu party about many of today’s pressing issues, including Israel's Ukraine policy, refugees and the Law of Return, and Israel-Diaspora relations, as well as his new book, The Israeli Century: How the Zionist Revolution Changed History and Reinvented Judaism, and what it was like leaving academia for the bruising world of Israeli politics.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

In this episode, Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor Neri Zilber, Research Director Shira Efron, and Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow discuss Israel's delicate balancing act in the Ukraine war, as well as Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's surprise mediation efforts. They also delve into the state of Israel-Turkey ties in the wake of President Isaac Herzog's state visit and provide a status update on Israeli-Palestinian relations.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

The Israeli intelligence services like to operate in secret, but one journalist has made a career by bringing them out of the shadows: Ronen Bergman of The New York Times and Yediot Ahronot. In this week's episode, Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor Neri Zilber talks with Ronen about why he chose to focus on this specific beat, how he goes about his work, the stories behind his bestselling book, Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations, and his recent reporting on the Israeli cyberweapon firm NSO Group.Ronen Bergman's recent New York Times article on NSO Group: The Battle for the World's Most Powerful CyberweaponRise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

The crisis in Ukraine is drawing the entire world's attention, and Israel is no exception. In this week's episode, Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor Neri Zilber hosts Washington Institute Senior Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya, author of Putin's War in Syria: Russian Foreign Policy and the Price of America's Absence. Anna and Neri contextualize the escalating standoff between Russia and the West and assess how it impacts Israel, which must walk a tightrope in order to maintain good relations with both its U.S. ally and an increasingly Middle East-focused Russia—all while hoping that world attention remains on the Iranian threat.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum policy advisor Neri Zilber hosts Jerusalem Post military correspondent Anna Ahronheim and Times of Israel military correspondent Judah Ari Gross to discuss their recent trip to Bahrain with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, the historic defense agreement signed, Israel-Gulf security ties more generally, lasers (yes, lasers), and the fallout from the death of 78-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Assad in the West Bank. Anna and Judah also describe what it's like to cover the unforgiving military beat in Israel. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.