Israel Update

The recent National Conservatism conference in Jerusalem (in which Gadi participated) generated controversy over the question of how conservative Jews should respond to the rise of antisemitism on the right. Mike had a great deal to say. The war in the Gulf is once again shape-shifting. Mike has the latest. And then there are the coming elections, with a new smear campaign against Netanyahu, this time by his former military secretary, Maj. Gen. Avi Gil. And as if that were not enough: the man who submitted the indictments against Netanyahu, former AG Avichai Mandelblit, is now being grilled by the defense, and it doesn't look like he has good answers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The left-wing bloc in Israel is deliberately ignoring the elephant in the room: the war. They’re not saying anything about how they plan to pursue it. The reason is obvious. Their actual plans are very far from what the majority of voters – even their voters – want. Gadi and Mike meet in a disclosed location in Tel Aviv – actually, it’s 11 Pinsker St. if you want to know – to discuss all the latest with one exception: the war in the Gulf. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gadi returned from an intensive tour of the ranches in Judea and Samaria – where Jewish pioneers spearhead the struggle to prevent a Palestinian take-over of the territories. Aided by the Palestinian authority, Arabs buy land and build homes on deserted hilltops for which EU money supplies infrastructures and paves roads. If Israel does not wake up it will face a Gaza-like situation in the West Bank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The creators of the film NAZA, which accuses the IDF of AI-driven genocide, received a standing ovation whose length could rival the standing ovations of the Stalin-era Politburo. Mike and Gadi discuss the film and the way it was received in Israel and abroad. It seems that peddling blood libels against Jews has taken on an entirely different meaning in the post–October 7 world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Haaretz “bombshell” story about a warning from MBZ to Netanyahu is not just nonsense — it’s hilarious nonsense. Still The New Yorker swallowed it whole. But precisely because it’s bogus, it actually tells you a lot about the state of Israeli politics - as the country gears up for elections. It’s been a while since Mike and Gadi had this much fun in a single show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gadi sits down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a long conversation in Hebrew. To watch with English subtitles, please visit tabletmag.com/israelupdate, or you can access the video on Spotify, YouTube, or Rumble. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former IDF general Ofer Winter has launched Amcha Yisrael (“People of Israel”), a new right-wing populist party. Gadi explains why Netanyahu’s camp sees Winter as a threat. In Israel’s fragmented electoral system, small parties can end up wasting votes by drawing support away from other right-wing parties that then fail to cross the threshold for entering the Knesset. Winter insists that he belongs to the right-wing camp. But he rejected a reserved slot on the Likud list and chose to run on his own. His move could cost the right its majority and, ultimately, Netanyahu his hold on power. Mike and Gadi also discuss the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz, where a “no war, no peace” deadlock drags on. And they revisit last week’s conversation with Dan Schueftan, who, apparently with his ears burning, called in just as they were criticizing him. Mike reminded everyone that literally the funniest thing in the world is the recording of LBJ ordering Haggar slacks from the Oval Office, which is available at the…

In the Middle East, argues Dan Schueftan, there are no solutions—only threats to contain, opportunities to exploit, and problems to manage. He joins Mike to explain why Gaza will require “violent maintenance,” why Turkey poses an immediate strategic challenge, and why economic pressure remains the best weapon against Iran. Plus: Israel’s resilient society, its failing political class, and the hard strategic lessons Americans still refuse to learn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Strangely, almost unbelievably, Israel’s economy is booming, even after three difficult years of war. The Tel Aviv 35 Index is up 130% since this government took office. Mike and Gadi try to explain how this has come to pass. Also on this episode: the plague of selective enforcement against the Israeli right in the showdown ahead of the coming elections, and our usual assessment of the state of the war—in the Gulf and here at home, in Gaza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Einat Wilf sometimes sounds like the right, and sometimes like the left. Which is, perhaps, the point of the new political party she founded. It’s named courage (Oz, in Hebrew). We asked her what the party’s agenda would be. We also discussed the suggested changes to the Gaza deal - which we agreed will not come to pass. Gadi’s long interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly confirmed this view. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the 8th time that Netanyahu is invited to the White House since Trump returned to power. The stalemate in the Gulf was probably the main subject of their one and a half hour discussion. Mike surveys the possible plans they may have agreed or disagreed on.Meanwhile, the “Settler Violence” campaign is coming to a head as Palestian terrorism escalates. Are Israelis realizing they are being manipulated by the media, at home and abroad? And here is Melanie Phillips’s brilliant piece on the “Settler Violence” canard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike lays out the four possible scenarios in which the current escalation in the Straits of Hormuz can develop. Gadi revisits the “settler violence” canard, in light of the devastating arson attack perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists against the settlement of Havat Gilad. Also in this episode: J. D. Vance and Gadi Eisenkot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike thinks there’s a clear limit to how far Trump will escalate hostilities with Iran before the midterms, and Gadi explains the recent legislation blitz and why the ultra-orthodox draft has become such a hot button issue and why it's such an effective weapon for the left. It may well carry the day for them at the ballot box. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The left-wing media is in full hysteria over the government’s refusal to accept a Supreme Court injunction that directly contradicts the letter of the law. The issue is media regulation — and, as Gadi explains, it is political, not legal. It is high time the cabinet stopped letting itself be bullied by a full-blown progressive court. Also in this episode: Is Mike’s interpretation of the MOU turning out to be more accurate than Gadi’s — and Dan Shueftan’s? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump’s MOU repeats a very American mistake, says guest Prof. Dan Schueftan: like many presidents before him he does not understand radicalism. But the Lebanon Deal may be able to rectify some of the damage. In which case, says Schueftan, it would not be the first time that Israel saves the US from its own mistakes. Also in this episode: judges declare the bribery case against Netanyahu groundless. The book Dan Referred to turned out to be A World Restored, by HK, which, incidentally, Gadi only read on kindle and had a hard copy sent to Mike a few weeks back, because Amazon won't ship it to Israel. Highly recommended. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again affirmed that Israel will maintain its security zone in Lebanon – for as long as needed, regardless of any outside pressure. Mike and Gadi explain why yielding on this issue will cost Netanyahu the elections. Batya Ungar-Sargon was our special guest on this episode. She joined us to discuss her new book The Jews and the Left. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gadi thinks it is. The US has demonstrated that it will not really fight – unless it’s easy, can be done from the air, and includes very few casualties. That is a bad signal for every rogue regime the world over. Mike thinks the MOU is just a tactical retreat, and that hostilities will resume, eventually. Both, however, agree that it’s a blow for Israel in general and for Netanyahu’s election bid in particular. Then there is also the joke about the skeleton who orders beer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TRUMP AND NETANYAHU: A LOVERS' SPAT Contrary to the media’s rendering, no great rift has opened between Trump and Netanyahu. Rest assured that the Israeli attack on Iran was fully coordinated with the Americans. Trump, though, would do well to insist that Lebanon should have no relation to the negotiations with the Islamic Republic. Also on this episode: how rouge former head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, conspired with Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara to undermine an elected government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ent Trump tweeted out Mike’s piece on how this war will end, which means Mike just may have been on to something. And on that view, things are not as grim as many – on the left and as well as the right – seem to think. Mike explains. Meanwhile, the Iranians are playing the Lebanon card to sow discord between the US and Israel. The episode opens, though, with one more hair-raising story in the never-ending saga of Israel’s deep state trying to take down Israel’s elected government. Mike's piece: https://www.thefp.com/p/iran-war-end-trump-peace-deal-israel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Calibrate your expectations to reality not to the media frenzy. This is the Middle East. Things are never as bad as the alarmists say and they are never as good as we would like. Mike, Gadi and guest analyst, Channel 14’s Tamir Morag, look at the pros and cons of the emerging deal, and ask how Israel should conduct itself vis-à-vis the American interests. Also in this episode: the skit about “Bibists” that created a cultural storm in Israel, and how the deep state operatives tried (and probably failed) to block Netanyahu’s candidate for Head of the Mossad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iran is bleeding out under the naval blockade, suffering more pain than most reporters allow. Mike and guest host Tamir Morag, diplomatic correspondent for Israel’s Channel 14, discuss the real options on the table. Also in this episode: what a deal should cover, why the war is reshuffling alliances, and, naturally, the case for Azerbaijan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don’t let the press fool you: the massive economic pressure is having a huge effect, and it will continue. Mike and Gadi discuss – and rank by likelihood – the different possible outcomes. Meanwhile high-ranking Israeli officials have been taunting Mike over and over again, about his opinions on Turkey – which are (finally!) shifting. Slightly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s that time of the cycle when everything is judged by its possible influence on the coming October 2026 elections. Mike and Gadi discuss Netanyahu’s health, the Oct. 7 not-yet-appointed Commission of Inquiry, and the new political party formed by the merging of Bennett 2026 with Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid. Also in this episode: how the war is going. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are several possible developments moving forward on Iran: an improved version of a JCPOA; a resumption of hostilities; or a continuation of the current situation with economic pressure grinding down the Islamic Republic. The US can afford to wait longer than Iran can. Trump is likely to choose between those options based on how he views the impact on China. Also in this episode: Israel’s imperial Supreme Court thinks it has the authority to remove an elected minister. Read Mike's piece in Tablet here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is clear at this point who has the leverage: we—the U.S. and Israel—are winning this war. Rather than opening the Strait of Hormuz, Trump is closing it to Iranian shipping. It is unlikely that the Islamic Republic’s military dictatorship can survive this for long. Also in this episode: the China angle of the war, with our guest, the Hudson Institute’s Zineb Riboua. And finally, why Viktor Orbán’s defeat in Hungary matters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike thinks the achievements of this war are important enough to declare it a victory, though by no means a knock out. Mike and Gadi discuss the pros and cons of the ceasefire, the feasibility of an agreement, and the not unlikely return to military operations two weeks from now. Also in this episode: What are the reactions in Israel, what effects will the ceasefire have on the ongoing war in Lebanon, and what is “gleeful defeatism?” – All this and more on the new episode of Israel Update. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The orchestrated campaign to create alarm about “Settler Violence” magnifies a very marginal phenomena as part of a well thought out long game. Mike and Gadi explain how it works, and what its purpose is. We also have a guest on this show: Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili. She’s an academic, but she won’t bow down to the lies about the war. Read her op-ed in the Washington Post here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/03/27/israel-iran-war-propaganda-disinformation/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s at stake is the American-led international order. If the regime in Iran remains standing, it will have shown that the US can no longer guarantee that order. The good news, Mike and Gadi think, is that Trump fully understands this. This is not to say, however, that all the challenges can easily be overcome. Plus, Israel’s deep-state is reaching new level of legal surrealism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Trump go all the way with Iran? And if not, what are his options? There are many tools, apart from direct military assault, that the US can us to continue to weaken Iran, and prevent China from regaining its Middle East assets. Also in this episode: Israel’s coming ground incursion into Lebanon, and an update on Sde Teiman: the indictments against the Force 100 soldiers, alleging abuse of a Palestinian prisoner, have been withdrawn. Gadi explains what this means. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the Iranian game plan, and is it working? What does the choice of Mojtaba Khamenei to be the heir to his father’s role as Supreme Leader say about the regime and its ability to sustain itself? Gadi and Mike discuss. Plus, the reignited war with Hezbollah offers a chance, Gadi says, to rid ourselves of the idea that all of Israel’s military success can be reversed. It's time to make South Lebanon into North Israel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are the American and Israeli war aims the same? Regime change may turn out to be an ambiguous definition. Mike and Gadi assess the different scenarios which may fall under that phrase, and consider which ones events – and Trump – may end up imposing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world is holding its breath while the US is gathering its forces in the region. Mike and Gadi are convinced Trump means business. What will emerge in Iran after a strike is, however, far from clear. Also in this episode: the Gaza board and the latest moves by Israel’s wild Supreme Court bent on toppling Netanyahu’s coalition. We call it legal surrealism. But most importantly: what did Mike’s mother ask the dentist about? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike sees three possible scenarios in which this can unfold. In all three there will be massive consequences for Israel, the US and the world order. Also on this episode: who is trying to break Trump’s faith-based coalition from within, and why? And finally: Gadi’s hilarious twitter feud with NYT’s Ronen Bergman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: the Bondi Beach shooting, the rising tide of antisemitism, and the recent conference at the Hudson Institute, about how the hatred of Jews is weaponized to undermine American national security. Also - Israel's Deep State is thrashing around in an attempt to cover up the crimes of the IDF Advocate General. Will it succeed? And this is the Icelandic comedian Gadi mentioned: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DOebgY8jXx-/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is not clear how the theory of the Trump plan will be implemented in practice - and above all it is still unclear how Hamas will be disarmed. Has the UN Security Council Resolution made things any clearer? Are Israel's friends in Baku, Azerbaijan going to help solve this conundrum, and finally, have Israel Update's listeners managed to explain to Mike and Gadi what a conundrum is? And here are the links we promised: Zineb Riboua's piece on why the right get Mamdani wrong: https://www.hudson.org/politics-government/what-right-gets-wrong-about-zohran-mamdani-zineb-riboua And here's Mike's conversation with Caroline Glick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6y1cJqp9JM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The plot thickens! The tale of the rape that never was, and now the suicide attempt that Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi seems to have faked, opens a window into everything that has been convulsing Israel in recent years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The scandal over the doctored tape of the rape-that-never-was in Sde Teiman is the eye of a huge storm that has to do with everything that convulsed the country in recent years. Major General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi the head of the IDF prosecution resigned in disgrace over the affair – and was reported missing while we were recording this session. It turned out that she is alive, and just “lost” her phone in the sea while attempting suicide (or staging such an attempt). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tommy Robinson, the outspoken activist against the importation of Jihad into the UK, visited Israel. His support for Israel's war won many hearts in the country. Mike was skeptical but Gadi insisted on having him on the show (in this Mikeless joint episode of Gadi's Hebrew language podcast Gatekeeper, and Israel Update). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump plan – what’s in it? What are the implications of the Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity issued at Sharm El Sheikh? And what should we make of his Knesset speech? Plus, why did Israelis boo Netanyahu at Hostages Square? Mike and Gadi discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Netanyahu gave a show at the UN, rebuking the weakness of Western leaders and defending Israel’s conduct of the war with facts. Gadi and Mike analyze the speech in detail. Meanwhile antisemitism is rearing its ugly head on the right, led by the ubiquitous Tucker Carlson. How widespread is it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The debate about Charlie Kirk's legacy is actually a struggle over the future of the Republican Party - and not least over US-Israeli relations. Video:https://youtu.be/LZ8xduB0hPo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is highly unlikely that the Israeli strike in Qatar was not coordinated with the White House. Are the Americans and Israelis employing a good cop / bad cop strategy? What does the Israeli operation mean for the balance of power in the region? Mike and Gadi discuss the implications of the strike. And they are by no means small. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara is the de facto domestic ruler in Israel’s crazy system of government. And she is undermining both democracy and the rule of law, as a case of arson outside the Prime Minister’s residence has shown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump Administration has Israel's back. What is most notable about its day-after plan for Gaza is that the Palestinian Authority is not a part of it. Meanwhile, the administration also refuses to grant visas to the US to the PA leadership, so long as the PA maintains its pay-for-slay program, which grants financial aid to terrorists and their families. The message to leaders around the world who threaten to recognize a Palestinian state could not be clearer. Mike and Gadi discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yes, we will update you on Gaza, but we too are getting tired of it. So we turn our attention to the distorted mirror that passes for news-media in Israel and outside it. Haaretz, the NYT, mainstream anti-Israeli propaganda, etc. Also: who gets Pulitzers and for what? Link to the Haaretz podcast with Gen. Yaakov Amidror (interview begins 33:20):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6vBwE61dYQ&t=2012s https://youtu.be/GqV9Xamrisc Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Gadi lift the lid on the libelous narrative about the deliberate starving of Gazans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Israeli press is leading the “famine” campaign. Mike and Gadi discuss its reasons for lying. Also, on this episode – the crisis with the Druze population on both sides of the Israeli-Syrian border opens a window to the shifts in regional geopolitics. Mike reminds Israel not to act rashly, lest it ends up helping Iran return to Syria. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Gadi assess the strong message that the intimacy between Netanyahu and Trump sends to the world and to the region, as well as to domestic friends and rivals, in both Israel and the States. Then there's the deal, and the war that's dragging on in Gaza. Also in this episode: Gadi's essay on Tablet about the myth of "settler violence." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Israel’s domestic politics may have reached a turning point. But that may soon be overshadowed by even bigger geopolitical changes which may unfold during Netanyahu’s visit to the White House early next week. Mike and Gadi speculate, unburdened by what has been. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Gadi think they ought to congratulate themselves for getting it right. Or mostly right. The question now is, is this the dawn of a new regional order, or is this just an improvement of the old? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices