Haaretz Podcast

Host Simon Spungin is joined by Haaretz’s West Bank correspondent Hagar Shezaf to discuss the ongoing killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces in the West Bank – including 11 children in the first seven months of 2021 – and the relationship between the IDF and the settlers. We ask: Is the IDF’s finger getting lighter on the trigger when it comes to policing Palestinian demonstrations? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Simon Spungin is joined by Haaretz’s environment correspondent, Zafrir Rinat, and by science and archaeology editor Ruth Schuster to discuss the intense heatwave that has been cooking Israel, the newIsraeligovernment’s‘green’ legislation and why mitigation and adaptation are the best way for countries to deal with the climate emergency. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Simon Spungin is joined by Noa Landau and Anshel Pfeffer to discuss Artem Dolgopyat’s historic Olympic gold medal in gymnastics – his country’s second ever and its first in one of the core Olympic disciplines. Will Dolgopyat, who is not halakhically Jewish and cannot marry in the country, lead to a national rethink on the relationship between religion and state? PLUS: What’s behind the government’s rush to give citizens a third COVID vaccine shot? See omnystudio...

Host Simon Spungin is joined by Judy Maltz and Samuel Sokol to discuss the government’s far-reaching plans for reform the system by which food is certified as kosher in Israel. What’s wrong with the old system? Who stands to benefit from the reform? PLUS: Why is Ben & Jerry’s ice cream no longer kosher in some places? And why women running their own synagogues can’t call themselves rabbis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Simon Spungin is joined by senior intelligence analyst Yossi Melman, opinions editor Esther Solomon, and tech and cyber editor Omer Benjakob. We discuss the fallout from the Pegasus Project and ask: What limitations does and should Israel place on the export of these technologies? Did Benjamin Netanyahu act as a travelling salesman for the NSO Group? And will internationalpressure lead to a change in Israeli policy? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Simon Spungin is joined by Haaretz’s chief sports writer Uzi Dann and Allison Kaplan Sommer to discuss the record-breaking Israeli delegation to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. How many medals will the 90 athletes bag for Israel? Why is the Israeli baseball team predominantly made up of American Jews? And why are there no Arabs representing Israel – yet again? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Simon Spungin is joined by senior Haaretz writers Alon Pinkas and Bradley Burston, to discuss a poll which found that one in four American Jews sees Israel as an apartheid state...

Host Simon Spungin is joined by Haaretz’s senior editor for archaeology and science, Ruth Schuster, and archaeology correspondent Ariel David. The panel discusses the discovery of piglet skeleton in a First Temple-period home in Jerusalem...

Host Simon Spungin is joined by Noa Landau and Michael Hauser-Tov to discuss a stormy few days in the Knesset – and landmark rulings from the High Court: the justices’ decision that the Nation-State Law does not violate Israel’s unwritten constitution; the embarrassing scenes in the Knesset, where ideology was trumped by spite over the Citizenship Law; the court’s ruling that surrogacy should be offered to all; and the departure of Benjamin Netanyahu from the prime minister’s residence on...

Host Simon Spungin is joined by Anshel Pfeffer for a presidential episode of Haaretz Weekend, in which we discuss the legacy of outgoing president Reuven Rivlin, and his successor, Isaac Herzog, who was sworn in as Israel’s 11th president this week. We ask: Was Rivlin the best president Israel could have expected in such fraught times? Was it Herzog’s destiny to follow in his father’s footsteps and become Israel’s No...