# Haaretz Podcast From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – a weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer. Page: Feed: --- ## [Israeli election update: Netanyahu's iron grip on the Likud primary](https://omny.fm/shows/haaretz-weekly/ep-16-8-v1) _2026-08-17_ The battle over the Likud Party primaries this week was a clear example of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserting his dominance over his political kingdom, Haaretz senior analyst Esther Solomon told the Haaretz Election Podcast. Netanyahu had unsuccessfully tried to cancel the always robust Likud primaries altogether - ultimately compromising by pushing through a measure where he chose the… [Listen](https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/397b9456-4f75-4509-acff-ac0600b4a6a4/3ca9d5dc-2c7f-4547-9efc-ac0800925a4c/c42b7978-dc6a-4cd9-8489-b4a800eaa699/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ad7192d6-ca94-4b26-b92c-ac0800925a5b) ## [What the hell is going on in the West Bank?](https://omny.fm/shows/haaretz-weekly/14-8-ep-v1) _2026-08-14_ Nearly three years since Israel's war in Gaza began, and despite a lengthy case brought before the High Court of Israel, journalists remain unable to enter the Strip to report independently on the widespread destruction, the ongoing humanitarian crisis and the IDF's occupation of more than half of the Strip. Histadrut national union official Peter Lerner , who served as the IDF's Spokesperson to… [Listen](https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/397b9456-4f75-4509-acff-ac0600b4a6a4/3ca9d5dc-2c7f-4547-9efc-ac0800925a4c/1d62a6ab-58d3-409e-ae70-b4a500adc5cc/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ad7192d6-ca94-4b26-b92c-ac0800925a5b) ## ['Right-wing but not Netanyahu': Will Israel's new mini-parties save Bibi or bury him?](https://omny.fm/shows/haaretz-weekly/ep-10-8-v1) _2026-08-10_ While the polls in Israel have been relatively stagnant, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's personal standing has faltered. "The minute that Netanyahu's stock seems weak, people will start selling it, and that has begun to happen," said Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer , speaking on the Haaretz Podcast. Joining Leifer on the podcast, Haaretz correspondent Linda Dayan observed that in her… [Listen](https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/397b9456-4f75-4509-acff-ac0600b4a6a4/3ca9d5dc-2c7f-4547-9efc-ac0800925a4c/10b4e558-0371-47da-b5be-b4a100ed2792/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ad7192d6-ca94-4b26-b92c-ac0800925a5b) ## ['Trump started a war with no plan. Now he doesn't know how to end it'](https://omny.fm/shows/haaretz-weekly/amos-harel-ep-v1) _2026-08-07_ Haaretz senior defense columnist Amos Harel joins the Haaretz Podcast to discuss Trump's latest U-turn on Iran, from threatening to bomb the country's infrastructure to once again negotiating with the Islamic Republic over reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Does the president have a plan, or is he just responding to pressure from different directions? How likely is a resumption of full-scale war… [Listen](https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/397b9456-4f75-4509-acff-ac0600b4a6a4/3ca9d5dc-2c7f-4547-9efc-ac0800925a4c/d2755840-c64f-4821-9e8c-b49c00d442a9/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ad7192d6-ca94-4b26-b92c-ac0800925a5b) ## [Could a Jewish politician joining an Islamist party shake up Israel's elections?](https://omny.fm/shows/haaretz-weekly/ep-3-8-v1) _2026-08-02_ Gadi Eisenkot "hasn't finished his rise" in the polls after his party, Yashar, has overtaken Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party for several weeks in a row, while the potential coalition of opposition parties is soaring past that of the current government, said Haaretz columnist Dahlia Scheindlin , speaking on the Haaretz Podcast. Scheindlin, a veteran political strategist and analyst,… [Listen](https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/397b9456-4f75-4509-acff-ac0600b4a6a4/3ca9d5dc-2c7f-4547-9efc-ac0800925a4c/706d2f9b-0fae-4de7-87fd-b49a00e199de/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ad7192d6-ca94-4b26-b92c-ac0800925a5b) ## [This Israeli ultra-Orthodox feminist activist has a warning for U.S. Jews](https://omny.fm/shows/haaretz-weekly/31-7-ep-v1) _2026-07-29_ On this week's Haaretz Podcast, guest host Joshua Leifer talks to Pnina Pfeuffer , a liberal, feminist ultra-Orthodox social activist. The Jerusalem-based Pfeuffer, CEO of the New Haredim, recently petitioned against a Knesset bill that would permit gender-segregated study tracks for master's and doctoral degrees in Israeli academic institutions. Pfeuffer represents a growing minority inside the… [Listen](https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/397b9456-4f75-4509-acff-ac0600b4a6a4/3ca9d5dc-2c7f-4547-9efc-ac0800925a4c/7cdcdaf1-2116-4730-a5a5-b49600e13b30/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ad7192d6-ca94-4b26-b92c-ac0800925a5b) ## [Three months to Israel's election: Why is Netanyahu really going to Washington?](https://omny.fm/shows/haaretz-weekly/27-7-ep-v1) _2026-07-27_ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence on traveling to the White House three months before the Israeli election signals his desperation to boost his sinking fortunes at the polls, Haaretz senior columnist Esther Solomon told the Haaretz Election Podcast. Despite his unpopularity with major portions of both American political parties and his turbulent relationship with President Donald… [Listen](https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/397b9456-4f75-4509-acff-ac0600b4a6a4/3ca9d5dc-2c7f-4547-9efc-ac0800925a4c/3b3f94e9-4318-4e5c-9b38-b49300e7a8f8/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ad7192d6-ca94-4b26-b92c-ac0800925a5b) ## ['An extreme right-wing Israel can't just pour billions into PR and expect its U.S. image to improve'](https://omny.fm/shows/haaretz-weekly/21-7-ep) _2026-07-23_ Both Israeli leaders and the Israeli public - lulled by both President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden's backing of Israel - are utterly unprepared for the generational tsunami taking place when it comes to American support for the Jewish state, Haaretz's opinions editor Amir Tibon told the Haaretz Podcast "Approximately 60 percent of Americans have a negative view of Israel, and the… [Listen](https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/397b9456-4f75-4509-acff-ac0600b4a6a4/3ca9d5dc-2c7f-4547-9efc-ac0800925a4c/ccfdfec1-6acb-442c-8f19-b48e00d53ac7/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ad7192d6-ca94-4b26-b92c-ac0800925a5b) ## [‘What if there aren't free and fair elections in Israel in October? What are we going to do?’](https://omny.fm/shows/haaretz-weekly/ep-19-7-v1) _2026-07-20_ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be even more unpopular than the current polling demonstrates, Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer said on this week's edition of the Haaretz Election Podcast. "I have begun to think the polling is not telling the whole story," he said, in a discussion on how voters who believe Netanyahu is causing irreversible damage to Israeli democracy and want him removed are… [Listen](https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/397b9456-4f75-4509-acff-ac0600b4a6a4/3ca9d5dc-2c7f-4547-9efc-ac0800925a4c/b8761f6d-4046-4d62-99a2-b48c00fe24aa/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ad7192d6-ca94-4b26-b92c-ac0800925a5b) ## [International money transfers (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/FCkka7bvFEMP) _2026-07-20 · **Sponsored**_ Send money to other countries and manage multi‑currency balances online. ## [Rep. Ro Khanna to Haaretz: ‘I’m more disturbed by Israel’s lies’ than being detained in West Bank](https://omny.fm/shows/haaretz-weekly/kahana-v1) _2026-07-15_ In his first interview with an Israeli media outlet since his confrontation with armed settlers and Israeli soldiers in the southern West Bank last week, Representative Ro Khanna spoke with Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer in a wide-ranging conversation about the now-famous incident, the "cruelty" he witnessed in his visit to the West Bank, and how Israel's "disproportionate and… [Listen](https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/397b9456-4f75-4509-acff-ac0600b4a6a4/3ca9d5dc-2c7f-4547-9efc-ac0800925a4c/c851960e-c6ce-4cb0-b0ae-b4880094d4ad/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ad7192d6-ca94-4b26-b92c-ac0800925a5b)