Host Simon Spungin is joined by Haaretz diplomatic correspondent Noa Landau and Anshel Pfeffer to discuss the deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates over the normalization of relations between the two countries – in exchange for suspending plans to annex parts of the West Bank. We ask: Who are the winners and losers in a deal that will have little practical impact? Are the Palestinians justified to feel abandoned? Has Benjamin Netanyahu now cleared his debt to President Donald Trump? And what does the deal mean for regional and domestic politics?

Host Simon Spungin is joined by Haaretz diplomatic correspondent Noa Landau and Anshel Pfeffer to discuss the deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates over the normalization of relations between the two countries &ndash; in exchange for suspending plans to annex parts of the West Bank. We ask: Who are the winners and losers in a deal that will have little practical impact? Are the Palestinians justified to feel abandoned? Has Benjamin Netanyahu now cleared his debt to President Donald Trump? And what does the deal mean for regional and domestic politics?

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.

Inside Israel’s no-change, no-cost peace deal with the UAE

Longtime editor-in-chief of The New Yorker David Remnick joins the Haaretz podcast and guest host Joshua Leifer for a wide-ranging conversation about his more than three decades of reporting on Israel and Palestine, the role of the journalist in a populist age, and the future of U.S.-Israel relations.

"The only way to tell this story is to try to tell it truthfully and to know that you will fail," Remnick wrote in his report on the aftermath of October 7, 2023, published just two weeks after the attacks. In this episode, Remnick recalls what it was like to walk through the ruins of Kibbutz Be'eri and what was then the great trepidation of the nature of Israel's impending response.

Remnick returned to report on Israel and Palestine four more times over the last three years, and in July, The New Yorker published Remnick's profile of Gadi Eisenkot, currently the frontrunner among the candidates challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Remnick and Leifer discuss whether Eisenkot has what it takes, and what an Eisenkot-led government might do differently. Can the damage wrought by the current government be undone?

After Israel's destruction of Gaza, and amid spiraling settler violence in the West Bank, what remains of the prospects for a just resolution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians?

Read more: 

Netanyahu's Biggest Challenger: Who Is Gadi Eisenkot and What Does He Stand For?

Inside Likud Territory, Eisenkot Is Quietly Gaining Ground. Will It Be Enough to Defeat Netanyahu?

The American Jewish Establishment Is Defending an Israel That No Longer Exists

Bibi Cried Wolf? Americans' Trust in Israeli Intelligence Is Stooping to Irreparable Lows

Longtime editor-in-chief of The New Yorker David Remnick joins the Haaretz podcast and guest host Joshua Leifer for a wide-ranging conversation about his more than three decades of reporting on Israel and Palestine, the role of the journalist in a populist age, and the future of U.S.-Israel relations.
"The only way to tell this story is to try to tell it truthfully and to know that you will fail," Remnick <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/06/israel-gaza-war-hamas">wrote in his report</a> on the aftermath of October 7, 2023, published just two weeks after the attacks. In this episode, Remnick recalls what it was like to walk through the ruins of Kibbutz Be'eri and what was then the great trepidation of the nature of Israel's impending response.
Remnick returned to report on Israel and Palestine four more times over the last three years, and in July, The New Yorker published Remnick's profile of Gadi Eisenkot, currently the frontrunner among the candidates challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Remnick and Leifer discuss whether Eisenkot has what it takes, and what an Eisenkot-led government might do differently. Can the damage wrought by the current government be undone?
After Israel's destruction of Gaza, and amid spiraling settler violence in the West Bank, what remains of the prospects for a just resolution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians?
Read more:&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/2026-07-14/ty-article-magazine/.premium/netanyahus-biggest-challenger-who-is-gadi-eisenkot-and-what-does-he-stand-for/0000019f-600d-d0b9-ab9f-727d015b0000">Netanyahu's Biggest Challenger:&nbsp;Who Is Gadi Eisenkot and What Does He Stand For?</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/2026-07-11/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/eisenkot-is-quietly-gaining-ground-in-likud-territory-enough-to-beat-netanyahu/0000019f-4fb6-d9b4-abdf-cfff1db80000">Inside Likud Territory, Eisenkot Is Quietly Gaining Ground. Will It Be Enough to Defeat Netanyahu?</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/haaretz-today/2026-08-18/ty-article/.highlight/the-american-jewish-establishment-is-defending-an-israel-that-no-longer-exists/000001a0-14d7-df40-afe2-9df741e90000">The American Jewish Establishment Is Defending an Israel That No Longer Exists</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026-08-19/ty-article-opinion/.premium/bibi-cried-wolf-u-s-trust-in-israeli-intel-is-stooping-to-irreparable-lows/000001a0-1669-dd2f-a1b6-7feb06480000">Bibi Cried Wolf? Americans' Trust in Israeli Intelligence Is Stooping to Irreparable Lows</a>

The New Yorker's David Remnick on Netanyahu, Mamdani, and Israel's 'failure to face' Gaza

The battle over the Likud Party primaries this week was a clear example of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserting his dominance over his political kingdom, Haaretz senior analyst Esther Solomon told the Haaretz Election Podcast. 

Netanyahu had unsuccessfully tried to cancel the always robust Likud primaries altogether – ultimately compromising by pushing through a measure where he chose the candidates for nine key spots on the top of the list. He included a spot for Oren Dobronsky, an Israeli high-tech entrepreneur and hummus chain owner in Silicon Valley who has not lived in Israel for years, has no political experience and made headlines recently for calling U.S. President Donald Trump a “morally corrupt piece of shit” in the recent past. 

The prime minister’s message was clear, Solomon said: "This is no longer about the Likud party. This is about me."

Solomon joined Haaretz correspondent Judy Maltz and host Allison Kaplan Sommer to discuss the top stories from the last week week, which included controversy over efforts by expat Israelis to travel en masse to vote to replace the current government, and a proposal by opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot to form a minority government even if he doesn’t have a decisive election victory. 

Also on the podcast, Maltz described her encounters as she travels across Israeli cities to take their pulse ahead of the election, including Kfar Chabad, where, she quipped “only the Messiah is more popular” than far-right extremist Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Arab city of Umm-al-Fahm, where she said it was “very sad” that many young well-educated Palestinian citizens of Israel said they were so alienated that they were not planning to vote.

Read more:

Netanyahu's New Election Ploy Smells of Desperation and Elon Musk

In Monday's Likud Party Primary, Netanyahu Hopes to Get Rid of Lawmakers Whom He Had Nurtured in the Past

Netanyahu Changes Likud Rules to Let Far-right Politician Run in Primary

'People Here Like Ben-Gvir's Tough-guy Approach': Will This Netanyahu Stronghold Near Gaza Go Further Right?

'We Need to Finish the Job': The Israeli Town Where Itamar Ben-Gvir Ranks Second Only to the Messiah

The battle over the Likud Party primaries this week was a clear example of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserting his dominance over his political kingdom, Haaretz senior analyst Esther Solomon told the Haaretz Election Podcast.&nbsp;
Netanyahu had unsuccessfully tried to cancel the always robust Likud primaries altogether &ndash; ultimately compromising by pushing through a measure where he chose the candidates for nine key spots on the top of the list. He included a spot for Oren Dobronsky, an Israeli high-tech entrepreneur and hummus chain owner in Silicon Valley who has not lived in Israel for years, has no political experience and made headlines recently for calling U.S. President Donald Trump a &ldquo;morally corrupt piece of shit&rdquo; in the recent past.&nbsp;
The prime minister&rsquo;s message was clear, Solomon said: "This is no longer about the Likud party. This is about me."
Solomon joined Haaretz correspondent Judy Maltz and host Allison Kaplan Sommer to discuss the top stories from the last week week, which included controversy over efforts by expat Israelis to travel en masse to vote to replace the current government, and a proposal by opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot to form a minority government even if he doesn&rsquo;t have a decisive election victory.&nbsp;
Also on the podcast, Maltz described her encounters as she travels across Israeli cities to take their pulse ahead of the election, including Kfar Chabad, where, she quipped &ldquo;only the Messiah is more popular&rdquo; than far-right extremist Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Arab city of Umm-al-Fahm, where she said it was &ldquo;very sad&rdquo; that many young well-educated Palestinian citizens of Israel said they were so alienated that they were not planning to vote.
Read more:
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/2026-08-13/ty-article-magazine/.premium/netanyahus-new-election-ploy-smells-of-desperation-and-elon-musk/0000019f-fa3e-d101-a5bf-fb3e95100000">Netanyahu's New Election Ploy Smells of Desperation and Elon Musk</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/2026-08-16/ty-article/.premium/in-likud-primary-netanyahu-hopes-to-get-rid-of-lawmakers-whom-he-had-nurtured/000001a0-09cf-dbac-a5bc-89ff5ad60000">In Monday's Likud Party Primary, Netanyahu Hopes to Get Rid of Lawmakers Whom He Had Nurtured in the Past</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/2026-08-12/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-changes-likud-rules-to-let-far-right-politician-run-in-primary/0000019f-f643-db94-a3df-ffc38f740000">Netanyahu Changes Likud Rules to Let Far-right Politician Run in Primary</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/2026-07-22/ty-article-magazine/.premium/a-netanyahu-stronghold-near-gaza-was-ravaged-on-oct-7-will-it-go-further-right/0000019f-7984-dec7-afff-79ed7f7e0000">'People Here Like Ben-Gvir's Tough-guy Approach': Will This Netanyahu Stronghold Near Gaza Go Further Right?</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/2026-07-28/ty-article-magazine/.premium/in-kfar-chabad-only-the-messiah-is-more-popular-than-ben-gvir/0000019f-9340-df92-a7ff-b7c26b210000">'We Need to Finish the Job': The Israeli Town Where Itamar Ben-Gvir Ranks Second Only to the Messiah</a>

Israeli election update: Netanyahu's iron grip on the Likud primary

Nearly three years since Israel’s war in Gaza began, and despite a lengthy case brought before the High Court of Israel, journalists remain unable to enter the Strip to report independently on the widespread destruction, the ongoing humanitarian crisis and the IDF’s occupation of more than half of the Strip. 

Histadrut national union official Peter Lerner, who served as the IDF’s Spokesperson to International Media until 2024, says the IDF’s reluctance to allow journalists in is a symptom of the war being drawn out and Israel’s increasing isolation from the global community. 

“The time passed two years ago,” to let journalists enter Gaza, Lerner said. “I recommended it to my superiors, that holding out this long is not beneficial to Israel; it just superimposes the fact that people will say that you're hiding something. …The fact is that there will be negative stories about the negative consequences of war.” 

Lerner and host Amir Tibon also discussed the reasons why Israeli soldiers passively watch – or even partake – in settler-led attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, and the ways in which the government fuels the total lack of accountability. “When I watch the attacks of these families in their homes, and they’re so helpless – as someone who experienced October 7 very, very close, it’s traumatic to watch," shared Tibon, a longtime resident of Kibbutz Nahal Oz.

State-backed settler violence has also accelerated against journalists in the West Bank, where Haaretz correspondent Matan Golan and photographer Itai Ron were attacked this week by settlers that have besieged homes in Qusra, near Nablus, as IDF soldiers looked on. 

Abby Seitz, a features editor at Haaretz, joins the podcast to recount the threats, illegal orders from soldiers and right-out lies that she and reporter Nagham Zbeedat encountered in a single day in the southern West Bank last month. Zbeedat and Seitz reported from Umm al-Khair as the community marked one year since Awdah Hathaleen recorded his own death at the hands of internationally sanctioned settler leader Yinon Levi.

When asked for comment on why Border Police, with the army, dispersed the village’s memorial ceremony, a police spokesperson told Haaretz that it was an “unlawful gathering, which was intended to serve as a demonstration of support for a terrorist who was neutralized” – a statement that contradicts the state’s own stance, as prosecutors filed reckless manslaughter charges against Levi last week. 

“This is not uncommon, and it’s increasingly happening against international and Israeli journalists, but it's also been happening against Palestinian journalists for a long time. There are Palestinian journalists right now in administrative detention, held for months and months and months without charges, simply for filming what's been going on” in the West Bank, Seitz said. 

Read more: 

Taghreed El-Khodary: International Media Is Failing Palestinian Journalists in Gaza

West Bank correspondent Matan Golan: I Was Attacked by Settlers as a Journalist. What the IDF Lets Them Do Will Get Palestinians Killed

IDF Removes Palestinian Families in Qusra as Israeli Settlers Resist Army Operation to End Siege

'Lords of the Land': Israeli Soldiers Describe How Settlers Manage Military Reality in the West Bank

One Year Later: Israel Issues Rare Indictment Against Settler Who Killed Palestinian Activist

A Year After a Settler Shot Awdah Hathaleen, His Village Still Can't Mourn in Peace

Nearly three years since Israel&rsquo;s war in Gaza began, and despite a lengthy case brought before the High Court of Israel, journalists remain unable to enter the Strip to report independently on the widespread destruction, the ongoing humanitarian crisis and the IDF&rsquo;s occupation of more than half of the Strip.&nbsp;
Histadrut national union official Peter Lerner, who served as the IDF&rsquo;s Spokesperson to International Media until 2024, says the IDF&rsquo;s reluctance to allow journalists in is a symptom of the war being drawn out and Israel&rsquo;s increasing isolation from the global community.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The time passed two years ago,&rdquo; to let journalists enter Gaza, Lerner said. &ldquo;I recommended it to my superiors, that holding out this long is not beneficial to Israel; it just superimposes the fact that people will say that you're hiding something. &hellip;The fact is that there will be negative stories about the negative consequences of war.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Lerner and host Amir Tibon also discussed the reasons why Israeli soldiers passively watch &ndash; or even partake &ndash; in settler-led attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, and the ways in which the government fuels the total lack of accountability. &ldquo;When I watch the attacks of these families in their homes, and they&rsquo;re so helpless &ndash; as someone who experienced October 7 very, very close, it&rsquo;s traumatic to watch," shared Tibon, a longtime resident of Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
State-backed settler violence has also accelerated against journalists in the West Bank, where Haaretz correspondent Matan Golan and photographer Itai Ron were attacked this week by settlers that have besieged homes in Qusra, near Nablus, as IDF soldiers looked on.&nbsp;
Abby Seitz, a features editor at Haaretz, joins the podcast to recount the threats, illegal orders from soldiers and right-out lies that she and reporter Nagham Zbeedat encountered in a single day in the southern West Bank last month.&nbsp;Zbeedat and Seitz reported from Umm al-Khair as the community marked one year since Awdah Hathaleen recorded his own death at the hands of internationally sanctioned settler leader Yinon Levi.
When asked for comment on why Border Police, with the army, dispersed the village&rsquo;s memorial ceremony, a police spokesperson told Haaretz that it was an &ldquo;unlawful gathering, which was intended to serve as a demonstration of support for a terrorist who was neutralized&rdquo; &ndash; a statement that contradicts the state&rsquo;s own stance, as prosecutors filed reckless manslaughter charges against Levi last week.&nbsp;
&ldquo;This is not uncommon, and it&rsquo;s increasingly happening against international and Israeli journalists, but it's also been happening against Palestinian journalists for a long time. There are Palestinian journalists right now in administrative detention, held for months and months and months without charges, simply for filming what's been going on&rdquo; in the West Bank, Seitz said.&nbsp;
Read more:&nbsp;
Taghreed El-Khodary: <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026-08-10/ty-article-opinion/.premium/international-media-is-failing-palestinian-journalists-in-gaza/0000019f-e592-d310-a3df-e5932d050000">International Media Is Failing Palestinian Journalists in Gaza</a>
West Bank correspondent Matan Golan:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-security/2026-08-12/ty-article-magazine/.premium/settlers-attacked-me-what-the-idf-lets-them-do-will-get-palestinians-killed/0000019f-f2ab-d101-a5bf-fbbbe5060000">I Was Attacked by Settlers as a Journalist. What the IDF Lets Them Do&nbsp;Will Get Palestinians Killed</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/west-bank/2026-08-13/ty-article/.premium/idf-evicts-several-palestinian-families-during-operation-to-end-settler-siege/0000019f-fa98-d28e-a3df-fad8651c0000">IDF Removes Palestinian Families in Qusra as Israeli Settlers Resist Army Operation to End Siege</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-08-09/ty-article-magazine/.premium/lords-of-the-land-soldiers-explain-how-settlers-call-the-shots-in-the-west-bank/0000019f-e507-d867-a3df-edd79f370000">'Lords of the Land':&nbsp;Israeli Soldiers Describe How Settlers Manage Military Reality in the West Bank</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-crime/2026-08-06/ty-article/.premium/israeli-settler-who-killed-palestinian-activist-indicted-one-year-later/0000019f-d681-d09d-a59f-f699522c0000">One Year Later:&nbsp;Israel Issues Rare Indictment Against Settler Who Killed Palestinian Activist</a>
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/west-bank/2026-08-02/ty-article-magazine/.premium/a-year-after-a-fatal-settler-shooting-umm-al-khair-still-cant-mourn-in-peace/0000019f-b334-da04-a7ff-bb34c0a30000">A Year After a Settler Shot Awdah Hathaleen, His Village Still Can't&nbsp;Mourn in Peace</a>

Inside Israel’s no-change, no-cost peace deal with the UAE

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