The Promised Podcast

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment   —Elections, Infections & Abjections— Is the collapse of Israel's government a good thing, in a They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Sort of way? —Vaccination Lament...

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen To the Extra-Special, Special Extra Patreon Segment —Casablanca Dreamin'— Might peace between Morocco and Israel be kinda a game changer? —Netanyahu's Man in the Islamic Movement— Is Prime Minister Netanyahu's...

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs editor Miriam Herschlag, Allison Kaplan Sommer and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Donate to the Tel Aviv Crisis Center's crowdsource campaign Listen To the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon —"Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On"— Gideon Sa'ar, an aco...

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to the extra segment on Patreon —An Irony Wrapped in a Prevarication Inside a Mendacity— Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants new elections but votes against them; Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz does n...

Host of TLV1's Tel Aviv Review, Gilad Halpern, Allison Kaplan Sommer and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. —Sub-Committee?— Minister of Defense and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz's sets up a to investigate corruption in the purchase of German submarines and ships, that may implicate th...

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to this week's Extra Segment on Patreon —The Vaxx— When Pfizer announced last week that its vaccine looks good, PM Netanyahu got on the horn and negotiated a deal to buy a mess of...

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, Wunderkind Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. —What Was That?— Trump will soon be the 45th ex-President of the United States. Did his turbulent four years in office change Israel in ways that will last? —New Left?— A...

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. —9,499 Kilometers— Washington lies 9,499 kilometers from Jerusalem, and yet the politics of the one affects the politics of the other. What, if anything, can we learn from the mess of American politics about the mess...

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, Wunderkind Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida, All-star Haaretz writer Allison Kaplan-Sommer, NGO-maven-and-story-teller Don Futterman, Dan-David-Prize Czar Charlotte Halle, and ne'er-do-well Noah Efron tell stories of life and love in this place they call home, all previously aired, for quality control purposes. (That's how much we care about your listening e...

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, Wunderkind Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. —How Do You Solve a Problem Like Rav Kanievsky?— Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox kids are going each day to schools that are required by law to be closed, in maybe th...

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Become a Patron! —Exit Strategy— The government approves a plan to get out of Covid lockdown in nine easy stages. But will it work? —I Am Breathing on You— Novelist and editor Ruth Almog...

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, wunderkind critic Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. —The People Doth Protest Too Much!— In confining demonstrations to 1,000 meters from each protestor's home, did the government just do permanent damage to Israeli...

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. —Who Shall Live— As Israel's hospitals are overwhelmed with Covid patients, how do doctors decide who gets a ventilator and who doesn't? —AOC, AOC, Won't You Fight for Me?— Is AOC not that into us? —Make Me a Match— W...

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. —The Other Deal of the Century— Should Prime Minister Netanyahu get amnesty from prosecution for corruption in exchange for resigning? —RBG for She and We— Israel's Former Minister of Justice, Ayelet Shaked, says she...

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. --It Never Bahrains, But It Pours!-- Did this week's historic signing of historic agreements at the historic White house set us upon new historic path? --An Exceptional Lockdown-- Do praying and protesting trump...

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Click here to listen to this week's extra-special, special extra patron-only segment --But What Future?-- What does the Greek-tragic struggle over leadership of the Yesh Atid ("There is a Future") party say about the...

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and wunderkind critic Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. --And the Bush Was Not Consumed: On the Surprising Longevity of the Balfour Protests-- The protests in front of Prime Minister Netanyahu's home have lasted almost twice as long as "Occupy Wall...

Twenty two years ago, a week after Israel celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, a 26 year-old former drag-queen and trans woman won the world's biggest song contest, The Eurovision. She also forever changed the way we Israelis see ourselves. In this very special edition of The Promised Podcast, Noah tells her story, and explains why he thinks that in this moment of anxiety and dreadful Nation-State...

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag goes to the demonstrations shaking Jerusalem and the country at their foundations, with her daughter as a guide. Patreon Segment: Skiing the Slopes of the United Arab Emirates For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, Allison, Ohad and Noah ponder the shocking, stunning, amazing breakth...

Maybe no one is a better symbol of how Israel is changing (and did more to cause this change) than Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, who died this week at 83. Music Elohai – Kobi Oz Hakitzoti – Elitzur Goldsmith Support the show by becoming a Patron

From deep in summer doldrums, Noah tells the story of one song that is also, in a way, the story of Israel itself. Support the show by becoming a Patron

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and Don Futterman discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to this week's Patreon segment --First and a Half Israel-- Are the people demonstrating each night in front of the Prime Minister's home a new political class, changing all we thought we knew about Israeli poli...

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and wunderkind critic Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida discuss two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. --Reflections on the Revolution in Jerusalem-- Israelis' trust in their leaders has dropped by half in just one month, and each night brings new scenes of police water-cannoning protestors outsid...

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. --And It's One, Two, Three, What Are We Fightin' For? (with apologies to both Country Joe and the Fish)-- Huge, angry demonstrations demand that Netanyahu do something about Israel's economic crisis. But what?...

Tel Aviv Review  impresario Gilad Halpern, Allison Kaplan Sommer and Noah Efron discuss discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. --From COVID Heroes to COVID Zeros-- How'd Israel go from being COVID heroes to COVID zeros? --Tamar in Tehran-- A twenty-something, computer-hacker genius, Mossad spy goes native i...