Episodes
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Can Israel stop Iran if America decides to move on?
As Washington pursues negotiations with Tehran, many Israelis are wondering what their country can still do to shape the outcome. Dan Senor is joined by Ark Media contributor and Channel 12 senior political analyst Amit Segal to discuss the state of the U.S.-Iran talks, why Israel is showing restraint in Lebanon, and what leverage Jerusalem still has as Washington pursues negotiations with Tehran. They also examine the growing debate inside Israel over President Trump and J.D. Vance, and whether Netanyahu can navigate a moment when many Israelis feel the military achievements against Iran have yet to translate into a lasting strategic gain.
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____In this episode:
- Why the U.S.-Iran talks may be headed for failure
- Does Israel have any leverage left?
- Why Israel is showing restraint in Lebanon
- Why “no deal, no war” could still hurt Tehran
- Netanyahu, Trump, and the Vance problem
- Israel’s options if America steps back
- Could Trump shape Israel’s next election?
- Will Netanyahu really run for a seventh term?
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to Ark News Daily Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Beth Pearlman, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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Did Israel and the U.S. win the battle but lose the war?
Israel and the United States achieved what many would consider a remarkable military success against Iran. But the agreement that followed has left many Israelis wondering whether battlefield gains translated into strategic victory. Dan Senor is joined by Wall Street Journal columnist and Hudson Institute senior fellow Walter Russell Mead to discuss the paradox at the heart of the new U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, what it reveals about President Trump's approach to power, and how leaders across the Middle East are recalculating their assumptions about America, Israel, and the future of the region.
____Call Me Back is made possible by our subscribers. If these conversations are where you turn to understand Israel and the Jewish world, consider joining them. It's what keeps this show going.
Become a Subscriber - Inside Call me Back
____In this episode:
03:42 - The paradox: military success vs. political disappointment
05:03 - Why so many Israelis think Israel lost
07:27 - What was President Trump actually betting on?
21:30 - Does the 60-day deal mean anything?
22:30 - Why sanctions rarely deliver regime change
27:24 - What this war reveals about the future of warfare
35:27 - How Riyadh, Ankara, and Beijing are reading the moment
45:33 - Israel's growing dependence on President Trump
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to Ark News Daily Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Beth Pearlman, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Nadav Eyal reacts to J.D. Vance's comments on Israel and what they may signal about changing attitudes in Washington. The discussion touches a deeper Israeli concern: whether the assumptions that have long defined the U.S.-Israel relationship are beginning to change. If support for Israel can no longer be assumed, how should Israelis think about their relationship with America going forward?
____You can access the full episode here, where Dan takes on listener questions about:
- Why Nadav is waiting before judging the Iran deal
- Has the word "Zionism" outlived its purpose?
- Gadi Eisenkot and the significance of a Sephardic prime minister
- Does Eisenkot's English matter?
- Why Eisenkot is gaining political momentum
- Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel's freedom of action
- Can Israel afford a confrontation with the United States?
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____What does the Iran deal mean for Israel, and for Netanyahu’s political future?
Dan is joined by Ark Media contributor and Channel 12 political analyst Amit Segal to assess the newly announced U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding and the political questions it has unleashed in Israel. As negotiations begin and the fighting pauses, they discuss whether the war should be seen as a success, a missed opportunity, or something whose consequences are still unfolding. They also discuss the growing tension between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, the fight over Lebanon, and what all of it could mean for Israel's next election.
This episode was sponsored by Birthright: Invest in the Jewish future today at onetripchangeseverything.com.
In this episode:
04:03 - What worries Israel most about the new Iran deal?
06:18 - Trump’s unpredictability and the limits of certainty
13:15 - Is this a pause button or a rewind button for Iran?
18:42 - Does anyone expect a final agreement within 60 days?
20:57 - Why Lebanon has become the real battleground
23:09 - The growing tension between Trump and Netanyahu
28:54 - How the deal is reshaping Israeli politics
39:12 - How will history judge the war with Iran?
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Beth Pearlman, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____Why is Israel’s next election being driven more by fear than hope?
Dan is joined by For Heaven's Sake hosts Yossi Klein Halevi and Donniel Hartman to discuss the emotional forces shaping Israel's coming election. As Israelis prepare to vote, different communities are carrying different traumas, fears, and visions for the country's future, from tensions over Arab and Haredi political power to questions of national unity, leadership, and diminishing hope that life there can improve. They also consider whether Israelis can rediscover the unity of October 8th and what Israelis and diaspora Jews are each looking for in the country's next leader.
In this episode:
04:36 - Why this is a fear-based election, not a hope-based election
10:30 - The fear of Arab parties in a post-October 7 Israel
16:21 - Can Arab parties become part of Israel's political mainstream?
18:09 - The role and concern over Haredi voters reshaping politics
27:09 - Is the unity of an "October 8th Israel" still possible?
30:30 - The forces that threaten to shut down Israel’s economy
32:21 - Can Israel's political center hold?
37:39 - Why Gadi Eisenkot appeals across ideological lines
43:33 - Israelis and diaspora Jews each want something different from Israel’s leader
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Beth Pearlman, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Amit Segal explains why Gadi Eisenkot may be overtaking Naftali Bennett as the leading challenger to Benjamin Netanyahu, and why one overlooked political player could end up deciding who becomes Israel's next prime minister, or perhaps - even becoming the Prime Minister himself…
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You can access the full episode here, where Dan takes on listener questions about:
- Will Avigdor Lieberman play an outsized role in the elections?
- Trump's latest Iran escalation and the threat to Kharg Island
- Is Netanyahu really preparing to leave politics?
- The different appeals of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich
- What will actually decide Israel's next election?
- Do buffer zones still matter in the age of drones?
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____Can Gadi Eisenkot make the leap from one of Israel’s most trusted generals to its next prime minister?
Gadi Eisenkot’s popularity is seeing a meteoric rise. Dan is joined by Nadav Eyal to examine Eisenkot’s background, military record, decisions around October 7, and whether experience built on service and sacrifice can survive the rough-and-tumble of an election campaign. They also compare Eisenkot to previous generals who’ve tried this, and to his current viable political opponents.
In this episode:
03:54 – Is Gadi Eisenkot's rise in the polls real?
05:42 – The Appeal of Israel's "Quiet General"
14:33 – From Eilat to IDF Chief of Staff
16:51 – Eisenkot's military legacy and the "war between wars"
23:27 – How much responsibility does he bear for October 7?
27:00 – The personal tragedy that shaped his public image
30:45 – What the War Cabinet Revealed About Eisenkot
38:30 – Can Eisenkot Unite the Opposition?
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____Did the Iran war solve the problem, postpone it or make it worse?
That fundamental debate has emerged over the outcome of the war with Iran. The campaigns degraded Iran's military infrastructure, but it also ended with a new, possibly more dangerous Supreme Leader in power, Iran controlling the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran’s nuclear capability largely intact.
Dan is joined by former Israeli Military Intelligence chief Tamir Hayman and FDD CEO Mark Dubowitz to discuss whether the war was a strategic success, a missed opportunity, or an unfinished chapter in a conflict that is far from over.
Listen to Mark’s podcast, The Iran Breakdown with Mark Dubowitz.
In this episode:
04:51 - What is the most likely outcome of the U.S.-Iran negotiations?
08:00 - What were the tactical achievements of the US and Israeli attacks?
10:03 - Was the war strategically worth it?
19:42 - Can and will Trump still finish the job?
24:44 - Was the plan to have Kurds help topple the Iranian regime credible?
32:30 - Was Ahmadinejad a realistic replacement candidate?
35:42 - How formidable a foe is Mojtaba Khamenei?
41:48 - Is Iran more dangerous today than before the war?
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call me Back. Tal Becker, who has negotiated on behalf of Israel in the past, details the lesser known levers which are used in negotiations behind closed doors.
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You can access the full episode here, where Dan takes on listener questions about:
- Is Israel on the Right Side of History, but the Wrong Strategy?- Aliyah, Yeridah, and How Jews Should Frame their Futures
- What Would It Take to Expand the Abraham Accords?
- How Israel Can Counter Drones and Emerge Stronger
- Was Leaving the Iran Nuclear Deal a Mistake?
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____Is President Trump saving Israel from a war it can’t win, or forcing it into a deal that leaves Hezbollah intact and Israeli soldiers and citizens vulnerable?
President Trump announced a ceasefire in Lebanon. Hezbollah agreed to stop firing rockets into Israel. Israel agreed to not strike Beirut. Yet the fighting in southern Lebanon continues, IDF soldiers are being killed and injured by Hezbollah rockets and drones, and the strategic problem remains unsolved.
Dan is joined by Nadav Eyal and Amit Segal to discuss Trump’s explosive phone call and pressures on Netanyahu, the link between Lebanon and the Iran negotiations, and whether this moment represents an off-ramp from an unwinnable conflict or a pause that leaves Israel’s hands tied and facing the same dangerous dilemma in southern Lebanon.
In this episode:
04:48 - Trump's expletive-laced confrontation with Netanyahu over Lebanon
06:42 - What the new Lebanon "ceasefire" actually means
10:09 - Why Hezbollah's drone campaign is hurting Netanyahu politically
13:21 - Is the “Lebanon Trap” also possibly an off-ramp for Israel?
21:09 - What is really driving Netanyahu's decision-making?
23:30 - How Lebanon became part of the Iran negotiations
26:39 - Does Hezbollah's fate ultimately depend on Iran?
28:36 - Is Hezbollah weaker today, or stronger by adapting for the next war?
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____In a few months elections will be held in Israel, the first since Oct. 7th, and arguably one of the most consequential in Israel’s history. But how do the elections actually work in Israel?
As part of our Israel Votes series, Dan is joined by Amit Segal and Nadav Eyal for a practical guide to the mechanics behind Israeli democracy: the Knesset, coalition-building, electoral thresholds, and the structural realities that will shape the next election long before a single vote is counted.
In this episode:
03:33 - Why Israel Chose a Parliamentary System
07:06 - The Knesset, the Government, and the Courts
12:36 - How Votes Become Knesset Seats
14:57 - How Israel Actually Chooses a Prime Minister
18:45 - Coalition Negotiations and the Fight Over Ministries
22:09 - What Caused Israel's Five-Election Deadlock?
24:54 - What Election Night Looks Like in Israel
27:45 - Does Israel End Election Night With a Governing Majority?
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____Why has the world become so fixated on Zionism, and what does that obsession actually reveal about the West?
Alana Newhouse joins Dan Senor to unpack her widely debated essay Zionism for Everyone. They explore how rapid technological change and cultural disorientation are colliding with an ancient idea of peoplehood and why that tension is showing up in the global conversation about Israel.
Newhouse argues that the fixation on Zionism is not really about Israel at its core, but about something missing in modern societies: identity, purpose, and self-determination. She lays out a provocative framework for what makes societies resilient, why some nations are struggling, and whether the model behind Zionism can be applied far beyond Israel.
Read Alana’s essay in The Free Press, Zionism for Everyone here.
In this episode:
- The collision between rapid technological change and ancient identity debates
- Why Zionism has become a global fixation right now
- What “ethnos” really means and why it’s being misunderstood
- Zionism as a model: identity, vision, and hard work
- What went wrong in the West and the limits of globalization
- Is anti-Zionism driven by envy or a loss of self-determination?
- The four traits of resilient societies
- Can this model be applied beyond Israel, and by whom?
- The erosion of peoplehood in the modern West
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call me Back. Dan addresses a listener's question about Gadi Eisenkot's political appeal and whether the qualities Israelis look for in a prime minister are the same ones valued by Diaspora Jews.
You can access the full episode here, where Dan takes on listener questions about:
- What should Trump do next on Iran?
- Will Rachel Goldberg-Polin return for another holiday episode?
- Is there still hope for Arab and Haredi integration in Israel?
- Why the Haredi draft exemption is reaching a breaking point
- Could Arab or Haredi parties decide Israel’s next government?
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____Can the Black-Jewish alliance be repaired, or is it irreparable?
Coleman Hughes, host of The Coleman Hughes Show at The Free Press and author of The End of Race Politics, joins Dan to trace the history of one of America’s most important political coalitions, and how it began to unravel. He looks at the forces behind that shift, from old neighborhood tensions and the Nation of Islam to campus politics and a worldview that treats America and the West as uniquely guilty. And - if the old alliance cannot simply be recreated, what would a healthier path forward actually require?
Coleman's essay on Sapir: https://sapirjournal.org/friends-and-foes/2024/black-radicalism/
Coleman's Book: https://www.amazon.com/End-Race-Politics-Arguments-Colorblind/dp/0593332458
Coleman's podcast: https://www.thefp.com/listen/conversations-with-coleman
In this episode:
- How Black and Jewish Americans became allies
- The tensions inside the civil rights alliance
- James Baldwin’s theory of Black antisemitism
- Why Baldwin’s explanation falls short
- Nation of Islam, Farrakhan, and hip-hop
- Jewish success and the resentment problem
- October 7th and the campus view of Israel
- BLM, allyship, and whether repair is possible
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____If Trump signs an interim deal with Iran, what leverage is left to dismantle Iran's nuclear program?
As reports swirl around a possible U.S.-Iran agreement, Dan sits down with Nadav Eyal and Mark Dubowitz to sort through what’s actually on the table — and what could unravel next. The conversation centers around the core dilemmas facing Washington, Jerusalem, and the Gulf: whether this moment represents strategic containment of Iran or the beginning of a slow retreat from the leverage created by the war.
They debate the risks of a “Hormuz for Hormuz” deal, the future of Iran’s nuclear stockpile, the limits of economic pressure, and whether the military gains can survive a prolonged diplomatic pause. Hovering over the entire conversation is a deeper question: after months of escalation, what would victory look like now?
In this episode:
- What’s Actually in the Emerging U.S.-Iran Deal
- The “Hormuz for Hormuz” Tradeoff
- Iran’s Uranium Stockpile
- Could Trump Sustain Military and Economic Pressure?
- The Gulf States’ Interests
- Hezbollah, Lebanon, and the Axis of Resistance
- What Israelis Think of The Deal
- Will This Be Remembered as a Turning Point — or the Moment the West Blinked?
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____Did the U.S. and Israel plan to replace Iran’s regime with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?!
A new New York Times investigation has revealed an astonishing alleged U.S.-Israeli plan behind the war with Iran: not just strikes on nuclear sites and missile capabilities, but a broader attempt at regime change, together with none other than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ronen Bergman joins Dan to explain how the plan was built, why Ahmadinejad became part of it, why it collapsed before it could fully begin, and what it means that the story is coming out while the war is still unresolved.
In this episode:
04:36 - Ronen’s first reaction to the Ahmadinejad story
05:54 - How Israel’s goal shifted from strikes to regime change
07:21 - Why the 12-day war left the core Iran problem unresolved
08:21 - What the Mossad plan was supposed to do in the first 100 hours
12:36 - Why Ahmadinejad was considered as an internal alternative
22:42 - The strike that was meant to free Ahmadinejad
28:24 - The plan for Kurdish forces to enter Iran, and why it never moved forward
30:48 - Who benefits from this story going public
This episode was sponsored by RootOne. Help the Jewish teen in your life experience Israel for themselves. Visit RootOne.org to learn more.
This episode was sponsored by Hadassah. Please go to Hadassah.org to make a gift that helps Hadassah continue its longstanding, life-changing support for the people in Israel.
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____Was the Trump-Xi summit a win, a loss or neutral?
Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping ended with no major breakthrough, no dramatic concession, and no public rupture. But according to Carice Witte, Founder and Executive Director of SIGNAL Group, that may be the real story. China projected confidence, framed itself as America’s peer, and tried to turn the summit into proof of U.S. decline. Yet on Taiwan, Iran, and regional leverage, Beijing got far less than it wanted.
Carice joins Dan to unpack what really happened in Beijing, why China wants Iran weak but intact, how Israel’s military successes have changed Beijing’s view of Jerusalem, and what Israel should do differently as China watches the war from the other side of the world.
Learn more about SIGNAL Group.
In this episode:
- Why Beijing wanted the summit to look like a win
- What Xi’s “Thucydides Trap” message signaled
- The Taiwan concession Trump did not give
- Why China wants Iran weak but still useful
- Keeping Hormuz open and Iran non-nuclear
- China’s support for Iran and the limits of plausible deniability
- How October 7th changed China’s view of Israel
- What Israel should do differently on China
This episode was sponsored by Hadassah. Please go to Hadassah.org to make a gift that helps Hadassah continue its longstanding, life-changing support for the people in Israel.
Learn more about the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Community Leadership Program.
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____Content warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual violence
How do unverified claims become a New York Times column?
On Monday, the New York Times published an opinion column by Nicholas Kristof titled "The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians" — an explicit attempt to draw a moral equivalence between Hamas and Israel by alleging that both equally engage in systematic sexual violence. The piece, based on interviews with 14 unnamed Palestinians, cited a Geneva-based NGO calling Israeli sexual abuse a "standard operating procedure" and described, among other things, trained dogs used to sexually assault prisoners. Kristof quoted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appearing to validate the charges - but Olmert subsequently issued a statement clarifying that he did not, in fact, confirm the column's most serious claims, including that Israeli authorities directed the rape of children or that systematic sexual torture is state policy.
The morning after Kristof's column appeared, an Israeli civil commission released a 300-page report - built on more than 10,000 photographs, thousands of hours of video, and over 400 testimonies - concluding that Hamas's sexual violence on October 7th was systematic, widespread, and deliberate. The New York Times, which had been told the report was coming months in advance, published it nearly 24 hours after running Kristof's op-ed.
Reporters who spent the day going through Kristof's column claim by claim found it largely unverifiable - no dates, no locations, no names - recycled from dubious sources and in many cases almost certainly false. The deeper question this episode asks is not simply whether the column is fair, but how something like it gets published in the paper of record at all: what is the pipeline, from NGO to press release to Pulitzer Prize winner's byline, that turns unverified claims into fact? And why does that pipeline flow so reliably in one direction?
To answer that, Dan is joined by Matti Friedman, a former AP reporter and editor in Jerusalem, and author of the 2014 Atlantic essay "What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel" - who has spent years documenting the specific mechanisms by which NGOs hostile to Israel have shaped, and in some cases dictated, Western coverage of this conflict.
In this episode:
02:12 - What Kristof’s column alleged
09:39 - Which claims are documented, unverifiable, or implausible
14:21 - How NGO claims become mainstream coverage
17:21 - Euro-Med, activist sourcing, and the New York Times
23:47 - Matti Friedman’s warning about Western media
27:21 - The October 7th sexual violence report and the timing problem
This episode was sponsored by Birthright: Invest in the Jewish future today at onetripchangeseverything.com.
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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____Five months after the Bondi Beach attack, Australia’s Royal Commission on Antisemitism is hearing testimony about what Jewish life has become since October 7th.
Dan is joined by Alon Cassuto, CEO of the Zionist Federation of Australia, and Lisa Mittelman, Director of Public Affairs, to discuss what the hearings have revealed, why the government resisted the commission before finally giving in, and whether this process can lead to real change.
They also examine how anti-Zionism is being used to exclude Jews from progressive spaces, what real solidarity requires from non-Jewish Australians, and why young Australian Jews are asking whether they can still build their futures in Australia.
In this episode:
04:21 - Why Australia’s Royal Commission matters
04:39 - What the testimonies revealed about Jewish life after October 7th
07:27 - Antisemitism from neo-Nazis to progressive spaces
12:33 - Why Australia finally agreed to a Royal Commission
14:42 - Where anti-Israel rhetoric crosses into antisemitism
20:27 - What non-Jewish Australians are still failing to confront
23:48 - How Australian Jews are experiencing the commission
32:02 - Can young Australian Jews still see a future in Australia?
This episode was sponsored by Hadassah. Please go to Hadassah.org to make a gift that helps Hadassah continue its longstanding, life-changing support for the people in Israel.
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____The Iran war is coming to an end. What leverage do Israel and the U.S. have for what comes next?
Dan Senor is joined by Ed Husain and Nadav Eyal to unpack the fragile aftermath of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. As Washington signals that the operation is over, Iran is still testing the Strait of Hormuz, its nuclear program remains unresolved, and the regime’s internal fractures may now matter as much as its military capabilities. They discuss what Iran thinks it has won, what the U.S. and Israel actually achieved, and whether the next front is no longer the battlefield, but inside Iran itself.
Read Ed’s article, Iran is Not a Monolith: The Case for Exploiting the Country’s Internal Fractures.
In this episode:
02:42 - What “the operation is over” actually means
06:09 - Iran’s strategy at the Strait of Hormuz
08:42 - Why Tehran may believe it won the war
13:21 - What remains of Iran’s nuclear program
20:15 - Why economic pressure may not be enough
20:54 - The IRGC’s grip on the regime
29:24 - Can Iran’s internal fractures bring down the regime?
34:18 - Israel’s return to a shadow-war strategy
34:51 - The regional alliance needed after the war
38:42 - What the U.S. must do to avoid a nuclear Iran and a closed strait
More Ark Media:
Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings. Explore Israel Votes Listen to For Heaven's Sake Listen to What’s Your Number? Watch Call me Back on YouTube Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal Instagram | Ark Media | Dan X | Dan Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel Get in touchCredits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo
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