Israel Policy Pod

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Naysan Rafati, senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group. They discuss the current alarming state of Iran's nuclear program, the new diplomatic push by President Trump and his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to make a deal with Iran, how this time could be different due to Iran&a...

Israel Policy Forum Director of Strategic Initiatives and IPF Atid Director Shanie Reichman interviews Yotam Cohen, whose brother, Nimrod, remains in captivity in Gaza. A 20-year-old IDF soldier from Rehovot, Nimrod was serving as a tank gunner on the Gaza border on October 7 when Hamas attacked and dragged him into Gaza. Yotam reflects on the fight to free his brother, his perspective on the Gaza...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Tal Shalev, political correspondent at Walla News. They discuss Benjamin Netanyahu's rather unsuccessful meeting with Donald Trump in Washington this week, the Israeli government's war against the so-called “deep state,” the Qatargate scandal, the Netanyahu government’s priorities a...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Barbara Leaf, the former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and distinguished diplomatic fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. They discuss the Biden administration on October 7 and during the Gaza war, the evolving U.S.-Israel relationship during the conf...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber and Israel Policy Forum Director of Strategic Initiatives and IPF Atid Shanie Reichman discuss the Netanyahu government going after the judiciary, the dual firings of the Shin Bet chief and the attorney general, Israel's looming constitutional crisis, the status of the renewed military offensi...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts former Israeli minister Dan Meridor, who held a handful of high-ranking cabinet positions over multiple decades. They discuss the collapse of the ceasefire in Gaza and renewed Israeli airstrikes against Hamas, the precarious fate of the hostages, the upcoming dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Haaretz Military Correspondent Amos Harel to discuss the new IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. They cover his first week in the post and future plans for the army, the state of the IDF now 17 months into this war, the threat of a renewed Israeli military offensive into Gaza, the prospects of the...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber and Israel Policy Forum Director of Strategic Initiatives and IPF Atid Shanie Reichman discuss the national trauma and mood in Israel after last week’s return of four deceased hostages, the joyful return of six living hostages on Saturday, the potential for the hostage-and-ceasefire deal in Gaza to...

On this week's episode, Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor Neri Zilber hosts Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of Sagui Dekel-Chen, who was just freed from Hamas captivity after 498 days. They discuss the joyful reunion between Sagui and his wife and three young daughters, Sagui's road to recovery, the months of campaigning to get this hostage deal done, the role...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow and The Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Senior Fellow Shira Efron. The trio discusses Prime Minister Netanyahu's trip to Washington last week, President Trump's plan to turn Gaza into the riviera of the Middle East, the status of the Gaza cea...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Aziz Alghashian, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. They discuss how the past 16 months have looked from Riyadh and the Gulf, the prospects of Israel-Saudi normalization, the demand for a viable pathway towards Palestinian statehood, how Benjamin Netanyahu...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow and Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Senior Director of Policy Research Shira Efron. The trio discuss the release of the first three female hostages from Hamas captivity, the surprising (for some) Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, the re-emergence of Hamas f...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber and Israel Policy Forum Director of Strategic Initiatives and IPF Atid Shanie Reichman discuss the terms of the ceasefire-hostage deal and how it will be implemented, how many hostages are set to come home and if the deal will actually end the war, why the long-awaited deal was finalized now, criti...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Tal Shalev, political correspondent at Walla News. They discuss Prime Minister Netanyahu's political strength at the dawn of a new year, the state of play inside his coalition government, Itamar Ben Gvir's waning influence, the fraught issue of ultra-Orthodox conscription, the retur...

On the last Israel Policy Pod episode of 2024, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow and Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Senior Director of Policy Research Shira Efron. The trio discuss the past year of war across all of Israel's battlefields and fronts, the upheaval in Syria and the fall of the Assad regime...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts military affairs analyst Yaakov Lappin. They discuss the demise of the Assad regime, how the rebel takeover of Damascus is being viewed from Israel, the IDF ground incursion into southern Syria, the far-reaching air campaign against the Syrian Arab Army, what the future may hold for the fragm...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Assaf Orion, international fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and senior researcher at INSS. They assess the Israel-Hezbollah war over the past 14 months, and discuss the reasons why the ceasefire was concluded last week, what the agreement entails, how it differs from th...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Tal Schneider, political correspondent at The Times of Israel. They discuss the return of Israeli politics during wartime, the defection of Gideon Sa’ar, the firing of Yoav Gallant and the rumors regarding who may be next, the resumption of the judicial overhaul, the impact Donald Trump may a...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Natan Sachs, director of the Brookings Institution Center for Middle East Policy. They discuss Donald Trump's impending return to the White House, what his early foreign policy appointments could mean for Israel and the Middle East, inherent contradictions between Trump’s goals and the c...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow and Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Senior Director of Policy Research Shira Efron. The trio discusses the upcoming U.S. election and the debate over Israel policy, Israel's strikes on Iran this past weekend, the implications of Israel banning UNR...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum CEO David A. Halperin hosts Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber to discuss the violent life and death of Yahya Sinwar, where Hamas goes from here, future prospects for a hostage-and-ceasefire deal in Gaza, the linkage being made by Israel between the various war fronts, Prime Minister Netanyahu's likely rising political fortunes...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Haaretz Military Correspondent Amos Harel to discuss the state of the Israeli ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, how far this campaign will go, lessons from past Israeli wars in Lebanon, the potential Israeli strike options against Iran, the bleak state of the Gaza front,...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow and Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Senior Director of Policy Research Shira Efron. The trio reflects on the first anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attack and discusses Israel's thus-far successful escalation with Hezbollah in Lebanon, possible Isr...

In this episode of Israel Policy Pod, Israel Policy Forum CEO David Halperin hosts Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, Senior Rabbi at Park Avenue Synagogue. They discuss key themes from Rabbi Cosgrove’s new book, For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today —including the effect of October 7 on American Jews, the generational divide of Israel views, lessons learned from this past year, and more. Watch our v...

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber and Israel Policy Forum Director of Strategic Initiatives and IPF Atid Shanie Reichman discuss Hezbollah’s pagers and walkie-talkies blowing up across Lebanon, the prospects for further escalation on Israel’s northern front, the chances Yoav Gallant will actually be fired, the state of the Gaza hos...