The Promised Podcast

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Sara Hirschhorn and Noah Efron discuss (1) when is it genocide, and does it matter if people use that word or not, and why, and (2) Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s claim that this week he (and Israel) just put the kibash, once and for all, on the two-state solution.

Plus, a principal with principles, a stand-up comedian with heart, a workaround for high-ticket prices for concerts, and more music of these ...

Miriam Herschlag and Noah Efron discuss (1) the thinking behind the Prime Minister’s decision (and his “Security and Diplomatic Cabinet”) to extend and intensify the war in Gaza, and (2) the thinking behind the “national strike” called by some hostage families, intended to bring the country to a halt next Sunday.

Plus, Comfort, Kabbalah, Kohellet, Coltraine and Codeine early on a Friday morning, artistic collaborations between Isra...

Linda Gradstein, Gilad Halpern and Noah Efron discuss (1) the 20th anniversary of the "disengagement plan" and the evacuation of 21 Jewish towns in Gaza, and its lasting impacts, and (2) the plan cooked up in the UN by 21 countries and organizations for setting up the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel.

Plus, a memorial homage to Israel's greatest graphic artist, film festivals, wine festivals and lots of Tisha B'Av.

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Allison Kaplan Sommer, Linda Gradstein and Noah Efron discuss (1) Hunger in Gaza, and (2) French, English and Canadian plans to recognize the state of Palestine in September.

Plus, Tisha B’Av in the Land of Israel, lifeguards in Tel Aviv, and lamentations you can make out to.

Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion...

Miriam Herschlag and Noah Efron discuss (1) The dramatic moments this week when hundreds of Druze from Israel crossed into Syria to help Druze in Suwayda under attack by Bedouin militia and the Syrian army, and hundreds of Druze from Suwayda crossed into Israel to see relatives they had not seen in a generation, and (2) A percussive essay by Ezra Klein called “Why American Jews No Longer Understand One Another.”

Plus, the “Admor of...

Linda Gradstein, Gilad Halpern and Noah Efron discuss (1) What to make of the New York Times Magazine’s percussive essay called, “How Netanyahu Prolonged the War in Gaza to Stay in Power,” and (2) The “humanitarian city” that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz propose to build, and how they possibly think it is a good idea.

Plus, queer shuls, queer musicals, and a tribute to the great songwriter, Sheika Paikov, may ...

Miriam Herschlag and Noah Efron discuss (1) Prime Minister Netayahu’s trip to DC to break bread with President Donald Trump, to dot the I’s an cross the T’s on an expected-at-any-moment temporary cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas, and (2) Should Israeli doctors do triage on hostages, helping politicians choose who should come home first and who last in the upcoming cease-fire and hostage return deal with Hamas?

Plus, a...

Linda, Don and Noah discuss (1) U.S. President Donald Trump’s Truth Social posts demanding the immediate cancellation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial—calling Netanyahu a ‘great hero’ who, along with Trump, ‘saved Israel’—and how figures across Israel’s political spectrum have more or less fallen in line; and (2) what to make of a Haaretz “expose” about the IDF and the new humanitarian aid centers in Gaza.

Plus,...

In this wartime-fever-dream-inflected special episode Miriam Herschlag and Noah Efron talk about (1) the only thing any of us have talked about for the past weeks, what US President Donald Trump called “The Twelve-Day War,” and (2) several things we have NOT talked about for the past weeks, but maybe ought to have, including what’s going on in Gaza, a joint-Palestinian-Israel efforts to get humanitarian aid to Gaza, and an Israeli ...

Allison Kaplan Sommer and Noah Efron talk about (1) whether and how this week’s war on Iran reshapes our understanding of the more than 20 months of war in Gaza that preceded it, and (2) what we can learn from a moving essay by American journalist Isaac Saul called, “I think I’m Leaving Zionism, or Zionism is Leaving Me.”

All this and what we learn about Iran from the Persians living among us, and music by these self-same Persians.

Sara Yael Hirschhorn, Noah Efron and beloved prodigal podcaster Ilene Prusher talk about (1) The vote to disperse the Knesset that looked like it would succeed, until it failed and (2) Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to give guns to a Gaza militia run by a former drug-lord, ISIS support: What could go wrong?

All this and a fight in the Knesset over women wearing tfillin, and new songs of LGBTQ pride!

Hear the Extra-Special, Spe...

Allison Kaplan Sommer and Noah Efron talk about (1) How the left and right disagree about whether Israel ought to end the fighting in Gaza “now” and “forever”, and what these disagreements say about each political position and (2) Plans to disrupt the wedding of Avner Netanyahu, the son of the Prime Minister, and whether or not it’s o.k. to disrupt the family life of politicians one disagrees with.

All this and a meditation on anti...

Allison Kaplan Sommer and Noah Efron talk about (1) Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to reinstate the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza: why did this happen now and why the hell did it not happen before; and (2) What we learn (if anything) from the fact that Israel won the popular vote in this week’s Eurovision Song Contest, and what we learn (if anything) from the fact that Israel came in 15th (!) in the contest’s profession...

Linda Gradstein, Sara Hirschhorn and Noah Efron talk about (1) The “Pacts Americana,” being the trade and investment pacts that US President Donald Trump is reaching with Gulf states on his visit to the region this week, and where it leaves Israel; and (2) The “Cracks Americana,” being awkward ambivalence some Israelis feel about a hostage being released solely because he has an American passport and the American government interve...

Linda, Allison and Noah talk about (1) the reserve call-up and the new IDF operation – it’s already got a name: Gideon’s Chariots – that the government plans to launch in Gaza, and whether or not it is a good idea; and (2) The violent protests of a “Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Event” in Raanana, and what we do and do not learn from them.

All this and the crooked timber of humanity on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of...

Linda and Noah talk about (1) Head of the General Security Agency, or Shabak, Ronen Bar’s affidavits to the Supreme Court that one journalist says “will shape the security and democratic future of the State of Israel”; and (2) The strange quantum-entanglement of the Holocaust and October 7^th, and whether we learn anything about the one event from the other.

All this and, ahead of Memorial Day, last words left by soldiers...

Miriam Herschlag, Sara Hirschhorn and Noah Efron talk about (1) The open-letter from Airforce reservists and retirees, calling on the Government to end the war, the army’s scorched-earth response, and the flood of letters-of-support for the original letter – What’s it all mean?; and (2) The decision by Hebrew University’s elite publishing house, Magnes, to shelve plans to publish a Hebrew translation of Mein Kampf, and whether or n...