Israel Policy Pod

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Naysan Rafati, senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group. They discuss the latest in the fragile ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran, what a deal could actually look like, what happens if negotiations collapse and fighting resumes, which side may benefit more from not concluding a deal, the role of the Strait of Hormuz, the current political and economic state of the Islamic Republic, and more. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Haaretz Military Correspondent Amos Harel to discuss the results so far of the Iran war and whether the U.S. and Israel actually "won," the prospects of a ceasefire deal emerging from the talks in Pakistan, what happens if diplomacy fails, the growing focus on the Lebanon front and the risks to Israel of a prolonged campaign against Hezbollah, this week's talks in Washington between the Israeli and Lebanese governments, how national security decisions are actually made in Israel, and more. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow and Distinguished RAND Israel Policy Chair Shira Efron. The trio discuss the chances of a U.S.-Iran deal to end the war, the joint Israeli and U.S. military campaign after four weeks, Iran's ability to fight back, the impact of the conflict on the wider Middle East, the differing public perspectives on the war in the U.S. and Israel, the secondary front with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and more.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Policy Fellow Garrett Nada. They discuss who is actually running the Islamic Republic of Iran after a spate of high-profile assassinations, the fate of the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the regime's durability in the face of the intensive U.S.-Israeli offensive, why Iran thinks it's winning the war, the looming prospects for further escalation, how the conflict could end, and more. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts military affairs analyst Yaakov Lappin. They discuss the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Iran now in its second week, the campaign's military goals and achievements, Iran's rational 'madman' strategy, the current mood in Israel, the escalating front against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the three variables that will dictate how long the war will last, possibilities for how this war will end, and more. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

Note: This episode is an audio recording of a webinar Israel Policy Forum hosted yesterday, Monday, March 2.  In this timely discussion on the implications of the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, Rachel Brandenburg (Washington Managing Director, Israel Policy Forum), Michael Koplow (Chief Policy Officer, Israel Policy Forum), Shira Efron (distinguished chair for Israel policy at RAND), and Garrett Nada (Policy Fellow, Israel Policy Forum) analyze the current moment in the Middle East, U.S.-Israel coordination, strikes from Hezbollah in the north, the prospects that other countries might join the war, and more. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Washington Managing Director and Senior Policy Analyst Rachel Brandenburg and Senior Policy Analyst Dan Rothem. They discuss the inaugural meeting last week in Washington of Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza, the highs and lows of the event and the key themes that were raised, the chances of the board's ambitious financial and economic plans being enacted in Gaza, the major challenge of security and how to disarm Hamas, what post-war Gaza actually needs now and Israel's role in all of it, the state of play in the U.S.-Iran standoff, and more. Read our report by Dan Rothem and Celine Touboul on disarming Hamas here.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Raz Zimmt, director of the Iran program at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies and a former Israeli military intelligence analyst. They discuss the latest round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, the chances of diplomacy succeeding, what Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei is actually thinking, the dire situation inside Iran, what a U.S. war against Iran may look like, the day after any such conflict, and more. Read our new report, Disarming Hamas: A Framework for Lasting Security, here.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow and Distinguished RAND Israel Policy Chair Shira Efron. The trio discuss this week's summit meeting in Washington between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, the chances of negotiations with Iran actually succeeding, the likely gaps between the U.S. and Israel over any potential deal, the threat of a military attack if diplomacy fails, how Phase II in Gaza is going, the recent damaging steps taken by the Israeli government on the West Bank, and more.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber and Israel Policy Forum Director of Strategic Initiatives and IPF Atid Shanie Reichman discuss the state of play in the Iran crisis, potential upcoming U.S.-Iran talks and the prospects for their success, Ran Gvili z”l's return home last week and the closure of the hostage saga, the real start of Phase II in the Gaza ceasefire and the mechanics behind it, Zohran Mamdani and the Jewish community one month in, and more. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts military affairs analyst Yaakov Lappin. They discuss the current state of play in the U.S.-Iran crisis, including the domestic turmoil in Iran and the U.S. military build-up in the Middle East, what options President Trump has against the Islamic Republic, what Tehran may do in retaliation, the mood in Israel and whether the country is ready for another round with Iran, and more. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Barak Herscowitz, an Israeli political commentator and former aide to Naftali Bennett. They discuss the reasons why Barak left the Likud party, his experience working with Bennett in the prime minister's office, the chances of Bennett defeating Netanyahu in this year's Israeli election, the anti-Israel bias that led him to quit working at TikTok, and more. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Naysan Rafati, senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group. They discuss the ongoing protests across Iran against the regime, the strategic indecision by the Islamic Republic especially since last year's 12-day war with Israel, the prospects for miscalculation between Tehran and Jerusalem, President Trump's threats to 'come to the rescue' of the Iranian people, how the events in Venezuela impact Iran's thinking, and more. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Col. (ret.) Dr. Michael Milshtein, former head of the Department for Palestinian Affairs in Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate. They discuss the current status of the Gaza ceasefire deal, the contrasting realities on the ground in the Hamas-controlled red zone and the Israeli-controlled green zone, prospects for the U.S.-led Phase II of the deal, the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump, fear of escalation in Lebanon, and more. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow and Distinguished RAND Israel Policy Chair Shira Efron to hand out Israel Policy Pod's end-of-year awards and make predictions for 2026. The trio discuss the key events and biggest surprises of a momentous 2025—including the Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal, the Iran war, and Israeli politics—as well as the biggest winners and losers of the past 12 months. They look ahead to assess what will happen next in Gaza and Iran, the fate of Netanyahu's pardon request, Naftali Bennett's political prospects, when exactly a new Israeli election will be held, and more.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

In this special two-part episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber and Israel Policy Forum Chief Policy Officer Michael Koplow discuss the assassination of Hezbollah’s top military commander in Beirut and what it says about the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal, the state of play in Gaza amid what appears to be a stalled postwar transition, and what we learned from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's meeting with President Trump last week. Following that, Israel Policy Forum Director of Strategic Initiatives and IPF Atid Shanie Reichman and co-founder of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum U.S. Matan Sivek discuss the story behind the Hostage and Missing Families Forum’s efforts over more than two years to free the hostages taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Director of Strategic Initiatives and IPF Atid Shanie Reichman hosts Jacob Magid, U.S. Bureau Chief at The Times of Israel. They discuss whether the Gaza ceasefire will hold, the Hamas members trapped in Rafah, the UNSC resolution vote on President Trump’s 20-point plan, PA reform, settler violence in the West Bank, and more.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber and Israel Policy Forum Director of Strategic Initiatives and IPF Atid Shanie Reichman discuss the state of play in the Gaza ceasefire, the recent scandal over the IDF military advocate general and the Sde Teiman abuse, the American Jewish community after the ceasefire, the NYC election and Jewish community reactions to it, remembering Yitzhak Rabin z”l, and more.Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Dan Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel. They discuss the method and timing behind the Trump-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal, comparisons with the Biden administration’s diplomacy, whether senior U.S. officials are really coming to Israel to "Bibi-sit,” the prospects for Phase I of the deal holding, the challenges looming in Phase II, whether more regional normalization is really at hand, what’s next on the Iran front, and more. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.

On this week’s episode, Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor and Tel Aviv-based journalist Neri Zilber hosts Haaretz Military Correspondent Amos Harel to discuss how the Trump-brokered ceasefire came into being, the mood in Israel last week after the living hostages were finally released from Gaza, the state of play of the deal's first phase, the heavier diplomatic and security challenge awaiting in the second phase, the prospects for renewed conflict with Iran, a reflection on the past two years of war, and more. Support the showFollow us on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Bluesky, and subscribe to our email list here.