BICOM's Podcast

James Sorene, Calev Ben Dor and Richard Pater assess this week’s missile strikes from Gaza, the Israeli response, the likely riots tomorrow on the Gaza border and Bibi’s dilemma that he has no good options in response.

BICOM CEO James Sorene talks to Lahav Harkov, the Senior Contributing Editor at the Jerusalem Post, about Benny Gantz's Tuesday night TV interviews and the surging support for small right wing parties. 

James Sorene, Richard Pater and Calev Ben-Dor discuss the latest election news in Israel, including the Prime Minister’s row with Gal Gadot about the nation state law, why the Blue and White Party is declining in the polls and why Naftali Bennett said Benny Gantz is Hamas’s ‘wet dream’.

Richard Pater and Calev Ben-Dor interview Dr Guy Lurie from the Israel Democracy Institute, discussing what happens now after the Israeli Attorney General decided to indict Benjamin Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

In this week’s episode, James Sorene is joined by Hanin Ghaddar, Visiting Fellow at the Washington Institute, to assess the impact of the UK’s new ban on Hezbollah and how it will hurt Hezbollah’s precarious financial situation. Hanin also sets out her ideas for what more can be done to counter Hezbollah activity in the Middle East.

This week, in the first of our Israeli election specials, BICOM CEO James Sorene interviews polling guru and star of the Tel Aviv Review podcast Dahlia Scheindlin to discuss what the Israeli public are thinking ahead of the elections and how we can interpret the latest opinion polls.

James Sorene talks with colleagues Calev Ben-Dor and Toby Greene on BICOM’s new paper, “Hezbollah's precision missile project”. They discuss how the project is increasing the threat to Israel’s infrastructure and population centres and the wider implications for Middle East security if the technology is shared with Houthi and Shia militias in Yemen, Iraq and Syria.

James Sorene talks to Gil Hoffman, the Jerusalem Post’s chief political correspondent, about who really won the Likud primaries and what kind of party is likely to emerge after April's elections. Gil also analysed the fallout from Benny Gantz’s first newspaper interview in which he said Israel should “learn the lessons from the disengagement from Gaza and implement them in other arenas.”

From Tel Aviv, James Sorene talks to Richard Pater after attending Benny Gantz’s campaign launch. They discuss Gantz’s surge in the polls and what Benjamin Netanyahu will do next.  

James Sorene is joined by Anshel Pfeffer to discuss the latest phase in the ongoing war between Israel and Iran in Syria. They also analyse the latest news in the Israeli election campaign. Anshel is the author of ‘Bibi: the turbulent life and times of Benjamin Netanyahu’ and a journalist for the Economist, Times and Haaretz. 

James Sorene talks to Calev Ben Dor and Richard Pater about Aviv Kochavi, the new IDF Chief of Staff and the challenges he will face in the job. They also discuss former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz’s first words in the election campaign about the Nation State law.

James Sorene discusses Mike Pompeo’s Cairo speech with Ilan Goldenberg, Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for New American Security (CNAS). President Trump wants US forces out of Syria but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US will work with its allies to remove every last Iranian boot from Syria. Can both actually happen and what do US allies i...

BICOM CEO James Sorene talks to Anshel Pfeffer about the latest twists and turns in the Israeli election campaign and how Benjamin Netanyahu’s possible indictment on corruption charges will alter the election result and formation of a Government. Anshel is the author of ‘Bibi – the turbulent life and times of Benjamin Netanyahu’ and the Israel correspondent for the Economist and the Times and a re...

BICOM's Israel based staff Richard Pater and Calev Ben-Dor discuss the announcement of Israeli elections in April and the main issues to look out for, including Netanyahu’s popularity, the Attorney General's timetable over whether to indict the Prime Minister, and the possibility of the ‘centre left’ bloc uniting behind one candidate.

James Sorene talks to Calev Ben Dor and Richard Pater about BICOM’s forecast for the Middle East in 2019, a look ahead at the key trends and major events for the new year including - Israeli elections, Iran’s mission to upgrade Hezbollah missiles with precision guidance systems, Mohammad Bin Salman’s tarnished reputation and whether the US will ever publish its long awaited plan for Israeli-Palest...

James Sorene speaks to Israel’s leading military and security analyst, Amos Harel, about this week’s shooting attacks in the West Bank, what steps Israeli security forces will take and what Hamas’s role has been facilitating the attacks.

James Sorene talks to Dr Daphne Richemond-Barak, assistant Professor at the IDC Herzliya and an expert in underground warfare, about Hezbollah tunnels and what they tell us about its wider operational strategy towards Israel. 

James Sorene and Dr Toby Greene discuss the highlights of BICOM’s new research study 'British Middle East Strategy after Brexit', UK relations with the UAE and Saudi and how Israel’s warming relations with Arab countries complements the UK’s role in the Middle East.

James Sorene talks with Richard Pater and Calev Ben-Dor about the UK Foreign Secretary’s Saudi and Iran visits, crisis with the UAE and a full analysis of this week’s events in Israeli politics and the inside story of how the Israeli coalition survived. 

James Sorene talks to Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief and co-author of two books: "Weapon Wizards - How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower" and "Israel vs. Iran - The Shadow War". They discussed the fallout from the latest conflict in Gaza, the impact of Defence Minister Lieberman's resignation and early elections in Israel. 

CEO James Sorene speaks to Katherine Bauer, an expert on sanctions and terrorist finance at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former official at the US Treasury. They discuss the latest US sanctions on Iran, what sectors they target, what their effects will be, and what measures Iran might take to avoid them.

BICOM CEO James Sorene and BICOM Israel Director Richard Pater discuss the Israeli local elections and BICOM’s poll of UK attitudes to Israel and the Middle East.  

BICOM CEO James Sorene interviews Tal Shalev from Walla News to assess Prime Minister Netanyahu’s week as he ponders early elections - Israeli media reported that the Attorney-General will decide whether or not to indict Netanyahu by March, Gaza continues to cause insecurity for the Israeli public and Jordan announced it will cancel a lease deal as part of the bilateral peace treaty. 

James Sorene talks to David Rosenberg, Haaretz Business Editor about his new book: 'Israel's Technology Economy’. The discuss the origins of the Israeli tech boom and the factors that could slow the pace of the Israeli tech boom in the future.   

James Sorene talks to Dr Matthew Levitt, Fellow at the Washington Institute and head of their counter terrorism and intelligence programme. Matthew is a former US Treasury and FBI official and author of the 2013 book Hezbollah: The global footprint of Lebanon’s party of god.