The Promised Podcast

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Oren unbound or Oren unhinged? We discuss three essays by MK and former Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren, which surprised everyone, outraged many, and left the rest of us wondering how an ex-diplomat can be so, well,  un diplomatic. War...

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   2 States, 1 Homeland? There's another peace initiative proposing two states – Palestine & Israel – with no borders to separate. Palestinians  will settle in ancestral homes in, say, Haifa. But, they live in Palestine but vote and pay taxes in...

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. The High Price of Hate The Rand Corporation study found that the benefit of ending the Israel-Palestine conflict would be $123 billion for Israelis and $50 billion for Palestinians. Wow! With that money, we could buy Whatsapp, Waze, Skype & Inst...

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   FIFA = “Frankly, Israel Foments Apartheid”? We discuss the brouhaha over a Palestinian proposal to expel Israel from the international football association, FIFA, and the suggestion of some leftists that Israel deserves to be expelled. Do...

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   The anti-social network We discuss the tragedy of a government bureaucrat who, accused on Facebook of racism against an African-American woman seeking his help, shot himself in the head this week. Is the power of social network rage somet...

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   Netanyahu’s Ministry of Magic? We discuss the odd new ministerial alchemy that produced a “Minister of Space” and other strange concatenations. Did PM Netanyahu create bullshit ministries for bullshit reasons, destined to produce bullshit...

Allison, Don, and Ilene Prusher discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   BDS bummer on campus We discuss the spread of the BDS movement on American college campuses, feeding off last summer’s Gaza War. Student councils and minority activist groups are demanding divestment from Israel while telling Jew...

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   Days of rage and race We discuss the video of police officers assaulting a kid of Ethiopian descent in IDF uniform. It unleashed a wave of angry protests about police brutality against Ethiopian Israelis, and more broadly about a racism f...

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   The wages of boycott We discuss the recent Supreme Court decision to uphold a law that will make Israelis who advocate boycotts against Israeli businesses or institutions liable for any damages that result. Have the courts just criminaliz...

Don, Noah, and special guest Debra Kamin discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   Pillorying Peres for pilfering We discuss whether former PM and President Shimon Peres deserves to be pilloried for shilling for Israel’s richest and most rapacious bank, Bank HaPoalim, in exchange for $30,000 a month. “...

Allison, Ilene, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   Coalition proposition disquisition We discuss the dilemma facing opposition leader Isaac Herzog: Is opposition a form of perdition? Is joining the coalition electoral sedition demanding contrition? In short, should the center-left consi...

The Times of Israel's Miriam Herschlag,    Activist Professor Alon Tal and Noah discuss:   Fission Indecision How Leftist Israelis ought to react to the framework agreement limiting Iran's military nuclear program, but leaving the country (which, as we speak, is hosting a Holocaust denial cartoon contest) with lots of uranium and lots of centrifuges to process it at a future date. Trailing off Is ...

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   How do you solve a problem like Ted Cruz? The love bomb Ted Cruz tossed in Israel’s direction as he declared his candidacy for the US Presidency at Liberty College.  How does “Support Israel!” fit with “Ban Abortion!,” “Guns for All!,” an...

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   Let the pressure begin? We discuss Peter Beinart's proposal that it's time for American Jews to lobby the US government to pressure and punish Israel, channeling the Piper Chapman dictum, “Bitches gots to learn.” "V" for "vanquished" (and...

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   We-the-People have spoken! (What the hell did we say?) Allison, Don, and Noah discuss what these elections said, if anything, about the hearts and minds of Israeli voters: Headlines from Tel Aviv to Timbuktu have said that PM Netanyahu wo...

Listen to our special election panel with Noah Efron, Debra Kamin, and Gil Troy as they break down the surprising overnight results.

Don, Noah, and Allison discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Behind the Curtain We discuss the imminent elections and our expectations. For whom will we be casting our ballots? Why do we support that list? What do we think (or perhaps hope) will be the eventual outcome? Surprise! No Prize! Generally...

Don, Noah, and Allison discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   Death, Tyranny & the Pursuit of Jihad in the US Congress We discuss Prime Minister Netanyahu's much-anticipated speech to the combined houses of the United States Congress. Did it accomplish anything with Iran? In the end, did it strength...

Don, Noah, and special guest Judy Maltz (Haaretz reporter and documentary director) discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   Who gives a f*ck about a returned bottle? We discuss the State Comptroller's report, which details the profound profligacies and petty corruptions of the first family, including...

Allison, Noah, and special guest Ilene Prusher discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   Ideological warfare We discuss a remarkable new election video posted by the Shomron Settlers’ Council, which finds its place alongside new ads by PM Netanyahu suggesting that Leftists will invite the Islamic State...

Allison, Don, Miriam Hershlag, and Noah discuss (1) Why Mizrahim shun the Left (hint: It’s the oppression, stupid!), (2) the perhaps growing phenomenon of tourists who come seeking not to see the country’s sites of historic and cultural wonder, but rather, the sites of conflict and oppression: Why is this happening, and is it a good or bad thing?, and (3) As the Ministry of Education spends tens o...

Allison, Noah, and special guest Miriam Hershlag discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   Poking Obama in the Eye? We discuss PM Netanyahu’s decision to address the US Congress two weeks before Israeli elections, which has left President Obama livid, congressional democrats in despair, Israel’s US Amb...

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Pour encourager les autres We discuss the decision of the Israeli Steimatzky bookstore chain to cancel a “Charlie Hebdo” event, in which they had planned to sell a shipment of the post-massacre issue. Should offensive cartoons be in our fac...

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   Of Labor glossed We discuss the Labor Party primaries, which produced a list of candidates that is youngish, Ashkenazi-ish, female-ish, and socially-aware-ish. But has the party made a mistake by combining two agendas: Distributive justic...

  Gimme that ol’ time arrogance We discuss the crass response of Israel's leaders to the Paris terror attacks, a kind of double-pronged 'I told you so' - to Europe's leaders regarding the threat of radical Islam and to diaspora Jews about the lures of the Holy Land in an anti-semitic world.   Spotlight on Moshe Kahlon We ask: What makes the leader of the new 'Kulanu' party tick? He's tacking to th...