At the moment, Israelis may think they have U.S. President Donald Trump's unconditional support when it comes to the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon - but that is not the case, according to Haaretz Washington correspondent Ben Samuels.

Reviewing Trump’s first weeks in office and their impact on the Middle East, amid reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be visiting the White House in coming days, Samuels noted on the Haaretz Podcast that Trump took dramatic steps with executive orders erasing what he could of President Joe Biden’s legacy. This includes  rescinding sanctions on violent extremist settlers in the West Bank, and lifting the only hold that Biden put on heavy payload weapons to Israel. 

Also on this week's podcast, Haaretz correspondent Linda Dayan described the powerful scene at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv over the weekend, where the release of four young women, IDF spotters who were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023, brought tears and relief to a country on edge. 

At the moment, Israelis may think they have U.S. President Donald Trump's unconditional support when it comes to the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon - but that is not the case, according to Haaretz Washington correspondent Ben Samuels. 
Reviewing Trump&rsquo;s first weeks in office and their impact on the Middle East, amid reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be visiting the White House in coming days, Samuels noted on the Haaretz Podcast that Trump took dramatic steps with executive orders erasing what he could of President Joe Biden&rsquo;s legacy. This includes&nbsp; rescinding sanctions on violent extremist settlers in the West Bank, and lifting the only hold that Biden put on heavy payload weapons to Israel.&nbsp;
Also on this week's podcast, Haaretz correspondent Linda Dayan described the powerful scene at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv over the weekend, where the release of four young women, IDF spotters who were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023, brought tears and relief to a country on edge.&nbsp;

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – a weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – a weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

Your audio guide to Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.

Haaretz Podcast

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – the Haaretz weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer. 

From Haaretz – Israel's oldest daily newspaper – the Haaretz weekly podcast in English on Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World, hosted by Allison Kaplan Sommer.

'We're not at a Trump-Netanyahu conflict point yet, but it's not far off'

Israel’s decision to return to full-scale war in Gaza was a devastating and tragic turn of events for the families of hostages still being held there, Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, an Israeli-American IDF soldier, said on the Haaretz Podcast. 

“It feels as if the hostages and their families are being viewed now as collateral damage,” said Chen, who has not taken a day off from the families’ struggle in over 530 days. “The current government has not done everything in its power to prioritize the release of all the hostages.”

That hostage families feel they must direct their appeals to President Donald Trump is a “testament against the current Israeli government. The newly released hostages didn’t get on a minibus and go to Jerusalem to meet the prime minister. They got on a plane and went to the White House.” 

Last year, the Chen family was told by the IDF that Itay was killed on October 7, and his body is held in Gaza, but Ruby Chen stresses that Hamas has not provided any evidence regarding his son’s condition, and the family won’t sit Shiva and mourn Itay until he is back in Israel. 

For the families of the 59 remaining hostages - dead and alive - the current situation is “a game of Russian roulette,” he said. “We don't know who is coming out and when. And we don't know who's going to hug and kiss their loved one, and who will need to prepare a funeral and a Shiva.”

 

Israel&rsquo;s decision to return to full-scale war in Gaza was a devastating and tragic turn of events for the families of hostages still being held there, Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, an Israeli-American IDF soldier, said on the Haaretz Podcast.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It feels as if the hostages and their families are being viewed now as collateral damage,&rdquo; said Chen, who has not taken a day off from the families&rsquo; struggle in over 530 days. &ldquo;The current government has not done everything in its power to prioritize the release of all the hostages.&rdquo;
That hostage families feel they must direct their appeals to President Donald Trump is a &ldquo;testament against the current Israeli government. The newly released hostages didn&rsquo;t get on a minibus and go to Jerusalem to meet the prime minister. They got on a plane and went to the White House.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Last year, the Chen family was told by the IDF that Itay was killed on October 7, and his body is held in Gaza, but Ruby Chen stresses that Hamas has not provided any evidence regarding his son&rsquo;s condition, and the family won&rsquo;t sit Shiva and mourn Itay until he is back in Israel.&nbsp;
For the families of the 59 remaining hostages - dead and alive - the current situation is &ldquo;a game of Russian roulette,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We don't know who is coming out and when. And we don't know who's going to hug and kiss their loved one, and who will need to prepare a funeral and a Shiva.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

'If I need to talk to the devil to get the hostages out, I will'

Haaretz Jewish World editor Judy Maltz joins this episode of the Haaretz Podcast to discuss the crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists in America. According to Maltz, the Trump administration’s targeting of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil for deportation as punishment for leading disruptive anti-Israel protests is “pulling the American Jewish community apart.”

Khalil is “no Mother Teresa or Righteous Among the Nations” and is “probably pro-Hamas,” said Maltz, but there is “no evidence” Khalil has committed crimes that justify deportation. 

“It’s a very complicated place to be a liberal Jew today in America,” she noted. “Whose side are you on? Do you come out against attempts to combat antisemitism on campus? What are you supposed to do?”

Also on the podcast, Haaretz columnist and Israeli intelligence expert Yossi Melman explains why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to wait until this week to fire the head of the Shin Bet, Israel's domestic security service, and why it is so worrying.

 

Haaretz Jewish World editor Judy Maltz joins this episode of the Haaretz Podcast to discuss the crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists in America. According to Maltz, the Trump administration&rsquo;s targeting of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil for deportation as punishment for leading disruptive anti-Israel protests is &ldquo;pulling the American Jewish community apart.&rdquo;
Khalil is &ldquo;no Mother Teresa or Righteous Among the Nations&rdquo; and is &ldquo;probably pro-Hamas,&rdquo; said Maltz, but there is &ldquo;no evidence&rdquo; Khalil has committed crimes that justify deportation.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very complicated place to be a liberal Jew today in America,&rdquo; she noted. &ldquo;Whose side are you on? Do you come out against attempts to combat antisemitism on campus? What are you supposed to do?&rdquo;
Also on the podcast, Haaretz columnist and Israeli intelligence expert Yossi Melman explains why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to wait until this week to fire the head of the Shin Bet, Israel's domestic security service, and why it is so worrying.
&nbsp;

'Mahmoud Khalil is no Mother Teresa - but there are laws in America'

Ruth Patir had been, in her own words, an “artist without art” over the past year. Until this week. 

Patir’s inventive feminist video installation "(M)otherland" was set to debut in the Israel Pavilion at the Venice Biennale last April - under the shadow of protests against the Gaza War and efforts to oust her from the festival. 

Ultimately, she made a controversial decision to keep the exhibit intact but shuttered behind closed doors, with a note on the door saying: “The artist and curators of the Israeli pavilion will open the exhibition when a cease-fire and hostage release agreement is reached.” That never happened throughout the seven months of the Biennale, and, as a result, her work was never seen. 

As (M)otherland finally meets the public at the Tel Aviv Museum this week, Patir joined Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer to talk about the firestorm in Venice, the challenges for Israeli artists creating during war, and innovative use of motion capture technology and Judean fertility figurines to tell a deeply personal story.

Ruth Patir&nbsp;had been, in her own words, an &ldquo;artist without art&rdquo; over the past year. Until this week.&nbsp;
Patir&rsquo;s inventive feminist video installation "(M)otherland" was set to debut in the Israel Pavilion at the Venice Biennale last April - under the shadow of protests against the Gaza War and efforts to oust her from the festival.&nbsp;
Ultimately, she made a controversial decision to keep the exhibit intact but shuttered behind closed doors, with a note on the door saying: &ldquo;The artist and curators of the Israeli pavilion will open the exhibition when a cease-fire and hostage release agreement is reached.&rdquo; That never happened throughout the seven months of the Biennale, and, as a result, her work was never seen.&nbsp;
As (M)otherland finally meets the public at the Tel Aviv Museum this week, Patir joined Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer to talk about the firestorm in Venice, the challenges for Israeli artists creating during war, and innovative use of motion capture technology and Judean fertility figurines to tell a deeply personal story.

'We're not at a Trump-Netanyahu conflict point yet, but it's not far off'

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