Avsnitt

  • Watch the conversation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5MQRA0gZlk

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    ------------------------------------------------------>>

    Please follow this link to subscribe to SAPIR, a quarterly publication edited by Bret Stephens: sapirjournal.org/CallMeBack

    ------------------------------------------------------>>

    Link to our previous interview with Yoav Gallant: https://youtu.be/aPEPztvsJGQ

    Last month we published the first in a series of interviews with former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, telling the story of the October 7th War from his unique vantage point. Our first interview, “Four Days in October,” focused on the intense deliberations that took place behind closed doors regarding the possibility of Israel responding to its stronger adversary first, Hezbollah in Lebanon, rather than Hamas in the Gaza Strip. If you have not heard or seen that interview, you can find it here.

    For the second interview in our series with General Gallant, we focused on the most difficult aspect of this war - the hostages in Gaza and the efforts to bring them home.

    Yoav Gallant served as Israel’s Defense Minister from 2022 until 2024. He was fired by Benjamin Netanyahu twice in those two years, first in 2023, when massive protests in Israel led Netanyahu to reverse his decision, then again in November of 2024. Gallant is a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party. His military career spans five decades, beginning in 1977 as a naval commando in Shayetet 13, and serving as chief of the IDF’s Southern Command during Operation Cast Lead, an early war with Hamas that lasted from late 2008 to early 2009.

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Sound Editor

    YARDENA SCHWARTZ - Executive Editor of Ark Media

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

    AMIEL SHAPIRO - Voice Actor

  • Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    Last week, three federal agencies — including the Department of Education — announced a comprehensive review of the funding relationships between the federal government and Columbia University in regards to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Like most universities, Columbia receives a great deal of federal funding.

    The Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, created by the Trump Administration, announced that it will visit 10 university campuses that have seen a shocking rise in antisemitism since October 7, 2023.

    According to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, “Americans have watched in horror for more than a year now, as Jewish students have been assaulted and harassed on elite university campuses. Unlawful encampments and demonstrations have completely paralyzed day-to-day campus operations, depriving Jewish students of learning opportunities to which they are entitled. Institutions that receive federal funds have a responsibility to protect all students from discrimination. Columbia’s apparent failure to uphold their end of this basic agreement raises very serious questions about the institution’s fitness to continue doing business with the United States government.”

    According to Maya Sulkin in the Free Press, “even though Columbia formed a Task Force on Antisemitism weeks after Hamas’s invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, and issued two reports that revealed shocking instances of Jew hate on campus—not just among students but professors and administrators—the college has done little to root out the problem.”As a result, on Friday the Trump Administration announced the cancellation of $400 million in federal grants to and contracts with Columbia.

    Following these developments, one could be left with the impression that higher education is doomed. Yetwe were struck by the reaction from the Call Me Back community to a conversation we had with the Chancellor of Vanderbilt University, Daniel Diermeier, last November, in an episode titled “How Vanderbilt University is getting it right.” It reminded us that some universities have impressively navigated the past 16 months.

    Vanderbilt is one of them. Another is Washington University. The Chancellors of both universities (Washington University Chancellor Andrew Martin and Vanderbilt’s Diermeier) recently issued a set of principles that every university should be able to adopt. They summarized these principles in a piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education, titled: “Universities Must Reject Creeping Politicization.” You can read it here:

    There have been other universities, like the University of Michigan, which in the months after October 7, 2023 experienced massive disruptions. Yet according to conversations we have had with current Jewish students, the university administration has been doing much better than others. University of Michigan President Santa Ono has taken promising steps on a number of fronts, including the University’s relationship with Israel, that could also serve as a model.

    So, against the backdrop of chaos at Columbia and Barnard this past week, we sat down with WashU’s Andrew Martin and Michigan’s Santa Ono at the ADL’s “Never is Now” Summit in New York City, for a candid conversation about what has happened at each of their universities, lessons learned, and charting a path forward.

    Additional items:

    ADL’s Campus Antisemitism Report Card: https://www.adl.org/campus-antisemitism-report-card

    -Free Press reporting on Columbia University:

    https://www.thefp.com/p/exclusive-trump-administration-cancels

    -https://www.thefp.com/p/trump-columbia-antisemitism-federal-funding

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

    YARDENA SCHWARTZ - Executive Editor of Ark Media

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Saknas det avsnitt?

    Klicka här för att uppdatera flödet manuellt.

  • Watch the conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pSSh03tpRII

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    The Two-State Solution had been on life support long before October 7. While Hamas’s massacre shattered Israelis from all walks of life, those from the kibbutzim near the Gaza border — many of whom lifelong advocates for a Palestinian State — were among the hardest hit.

    Though stark divisions in Israeli society remain, there now seems to be a broad consensus among the people of Israel and their political parties on one conclusion: the two-state solution is all but dead. Yet one Israeli leader - one of the very few who battled terrorists in Southern Israel and rescued Israelis on October 7 - continues to hold out hope.

    Yair Golan is a decorated general, former IDF Deputy Chief of Staff and head of the The Israeli Democrats Party. We sat down with General Golan to discuss Israel’s future, the misconceptions that led to October 7, and the unique role he played on that darkest of days.

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

    YARDENA SCHWARTZ - Executive Editor of Ark Media

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    On Thursday, the IDF released the scathing findings of its probe into the military failures that led up to and accompanied the massacre of October 7, 2023.

    According to those findings, the military vastly underestimated Hamas’s capabilities, misread its intentions, and failed to mount an effective response to the mass invasion of Israel’s borders. The IDF’s probe into its own failures reveals both the extent to which warnings went ignored, and the extent to which so many communities in Southern Israel were forced to fend for themselves.

    While some of these findings come as no surprise, they are still shocking and devastating to process. We spoke with two of Israel’s leading national security journalists to walk through the key points of the findings.

    Amos Harel is the Defense Analyst at Haaretz, and Nadav Eyal is a Senior Political Analyst at Yediot Achronot.

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Additional Editing

    YARDENA SCHWARTZ - Executive Editor of Ark Media

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Watch the conversation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjgvkBGiejU&t=40s

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    An entire nation mourned yesterday as Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were laid to rest, following a procession through streets of Israel that were lined with thousands of Israelis. As Yarden Bibas delivered eulogies for his wife and children who were murdered by terrorists in Gaza, we were all reminded of the millions of people around the world who celebrated or justified the attacks that shattered their lives and so many others. While much of that moral confusion has emanated from the Left of the political spectrum, the courage and moral conviction of one leader on the Left has stood out.

    Over the past 16 months, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has been one of the staunchest supporters of Israel’s war against Hamas. Fetterman, a Democrat who is not Jewish, has been more outspoken in his support for Israel than most of his Jewish colleagues. As a result, Fetterman has gone from being a hero of the Left to becoming a lightning rod for many progressives. And yet, he has not backed down from the fight he perceives as a decisive turning point for his party, and a test for whether or not it will continue to stand for true liberal values.

    John Fetterman, Senator and former Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, joined us to discuss his controversial stance on an issue that has divided the Democratic party, and what the future holds for his party.

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Additional Editing

    STAV SLAMA - Director of Operations

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    As phase 1 of the ceasefire and hostage deal enters its final week, the fate of phase 2 of the deal remains uncertain. While hostages’ families are urging for a continuation of the deal to bring all the remaining hostages home, parts of the Israeli government are pressing for a return to the war.



    With Mideast Envoy Steve Witkoff traveling to the region this week to push for an extension of the deal, we turned to a Call Me Back regular and leading Israeli journalist to make sense of the mixed signals we are seeing from every direction.


    Amit Segal is a columnist for Yediot Ahronot, and a senior political analyst for Israel’s Channel 12.



    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor
    MARTIN HUERGO - Additional Editing
    STAV SLAMA - Director of Operations
    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research
    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Housekeeping note:

    Ark Media, the humble home of this podcast, is looking for a purpose-driven Chief Operating Officer, to help facilitate its ambitious plans for the future. If you are interested in applying for the position, please follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/mp5udcxr

    Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    Following a gut-wrenching 48 hours for the Bibas family and for all of us, six living hostages were released from Gaza today, including two who had been held there not for a year, but a decade. Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, and Tal Shoham were abducted on October 7, 2023. Avera Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli, and Hisham al-Sayed, an Israeli Arab, had crossed into Gaza in 2014 and 2015, and were then taken hostage by Hamas.

    Hamas’s decision to release more living hostages than originally planned today is believed – according to our Israeli sources – to be a response to a sustained American pressure campaign. Part of that pressure includes President Trump’s proposal for the U.S. to take control of Gaza and relocate its entire population.

    Two weeks since its unveiling, Trump’s Gaza proposal has continued to drive headlines and debate around the world. Though that proposal is already impacting the policy decisions of various stakeholders in Gaza, it is still largely perceived as a shocking, unprecedented idea. For this episode of Call Me Back, we sat down with a historian who argues that Trump’s plan is in fact aligned with the outcome of many modern wars.

    Andrew Roberts is a British historian, member of the House of Lords, and the author of 24 books, including the New York Times bestseller, Churchill: Walking with Destiny. In a recent article for the Washington Free Beacon, Roberts writes, “peoples who unleash unprovoked aggressive wars against their neighbors and are then defeated…lose either their government or their sovereignty, or both.”

    To read more by Andrew Roberts on this topic, go to the Washington Free Beacon: https://freebeacon.com/israel/the-historical-case-for-trumps-riviera/

  • This morning in Gaza, in a ceremony that was even more twisted than those that came before it, Hamas paraded four coffins, containing the dead bodies of four hostages who were killed in captivity, before handing them over to the Red Cross. Israel then received the remains of Oded Lifshitz, an 83-year-old peace activist abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz; and the bodies of the iconic young mother Shiri Bibas, and her boys, Kfir and Ariel, who were respectively 9 months old and 4 years old at the time of their abduction, also from Nir Oz, which lost a quarter of its residents on October 7, 2023.

    Shiri, Kfir and Ariel came to symbolize Hamas’s brutality and the helplessness of the victims of October 7. Oded was also a symbol of the many men and women who had dedicated their lives to seeking peace with the Palestinians, and whose lives were brutally ended by Palestinians on that darkest of days.

    In a year of somber days, today is one of the more difficult ones we have experienced - here at Call Me Back, and as a nation. We are joined today to process this wrenching moment by a Call Me Back favorite: Matti Friedman, to help us understand what this day means for Israel, and how it will change us and the stories we tell ourselves about Israel and our hopes for peace.

    Matt Friedman is an award-winning journalist and author of four books. He is based in Jerusalem, and writes a column for The Free Press. Read his latest, “The Family That Never Came Home,” here: https://www.thefp.com/p/matti-friedman-the-bibas-shiri-kfir-ariel-yarden

    Matti’s books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Matti-Friedman/author/B0073YU31C

    Link to Seth Mandel’s article in Commentary Magazine, mentioned by Dan in this episode: https://www.commentary.org/seth-mandel/the-meaning-of-kfir-bibas/

    We would like to take this opportunity to thank Rebecca Strom, who has been running Ark Media’s operations almost since the beginning of the war, and is now moving on to the next chapter in her career. Rebecca was our first hire, and in hindsight, having her run our operations allowed Ilan and Dan to develop a larger vision. More on that in the near future. In the meantime, on behalf of the Ark Media team, we want to share our gratitude for all the hard work, long hours, holidays and weekends that Rebecca poured into this venture.

    Consequently, Ark Media is now looking for a hard working, mission-aligned, highly motivated Chief Operating Officer. If you want to throw your hat into the ring, please follow this link

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

    STAV SLAMA - Director of Operations

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    As we mark the 500th day of the war in Gaza, and 500 days of captivity for the Israeli hostages who remain there, the future of this fragile ceasefire-hostage deal is looking increasingly less stable. With every day bringing new twists and turns, we turned to a “Call Me Back” regular to help us make sense of where the war stands and where it may be going.

    Nadav Eyal of Yediot Ahronot is one of Israel’s leading journalists. Eyal has been covering Middle Eastern and international politics for the last two decades for Israeli radio, print and television news.

    Link to the Bret Stephens article mentioned in this episode: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/opinion/trump-hamas-gaza-israel.html

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

    REBECCA STROM - Director of Operations

    STAV SLAMA - Researcher

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Watch the conversation here: https://youtu.be/aPEPztvsJGQ

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    In the 16 months since October 7th, the leader who knows more than almost anyone about the inner workings of this war has barely been heard from – until now.

    In this episode of ”Call Me Back”, we hear the behind the scenes story of the war with Hamas and Hezbollah from Yoav Gallant, who served as Israel’s Defense Minister for the first 13 months of this 16-month war.

    In his first English-language interview since the war began, the former Defense Minister offers an intimate account of the war’s initial hours and days, with an emphasis on one date that could have changed it all: October 11th, 2023.

    This episode is the first in a series of interviews we will be posting with General Gallant, chronicling the historic and unprecedented events of the last 16 months.

    Yoav Gallant served as Israel’s Defense Minister from 2022 until 2024. He was fired by Benjamin Netanyahu twice in those two years, first in 2023, when massive protests in Israel led Netanyahu to reverse his decision, then again in November of 2024. Gallant is a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party. His military career spans five decades, beginning in 1977 as a naval commando in Shayetet 13, and serving as chief of the IDF’s Southern Command during Operation Cast Lead, an early war with Hamas that lasted from late 2008 to early 2009.

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

    REBECCA STROM - Director of Operations

    STAV SLAMA - Researcher

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Watch the conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zy-BEfKyQMY

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    President Trump’s dramatic and unprecedented press conference on Gaza, suggesting U.S. control and some form of relocation of its residents, has immediately shifted the conversation beyond the default two-state framework. In this episode, we break down how the Israeli public is reacting to Trump’s proposal, what it means for Netanyahu’s political standing, and the implications for the ceasefire and the hostage deal negotiations.

    Joining us to unpack these developments are Amit Segal and Nadav Eyal, two Call Me Back regulars.

    Nadav Eyal is a columnist for Yediot Aharonot and one of Israel’s leading journalists. He has been covering Middle Eastern and international politics for over two decades across Israeli radio, print, and television news.

    Amit Segal is the chief political correspondent and analyst for Channel 12 News and Yediot Aharonot, Israel’s largest-circulation newspaper.

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

    REBECCA STROM - Director of Operations

    STAV SLAMA - Researcher

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    Yesterday, in a dramatic and unexpected press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump called for a U.S. takeover of Gaza, and to relocate its two million Palestinian residents to alternative countries. President Trump also issued a series of executive orders impacting Israel and the Middle East, including one imposing maximum pressure on Iran.

    To discuss these fast-moving developments, Rich Goldberg returns to the podcast. Rich is a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). From 2019-2020, he served as Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction for the Trump White House National Security Council (NSC). He previously served as a national security staffer in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House and is an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve with military experience on the Joint Staff and in Afghanistan.

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

    REBECCA STROM - Director of Operations

    STAV SLAMA - Researcher

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    As Israelis welcome home more hostages after 15 months in Hamas captivity, we sat down with Nadav Eyal to discuss what their stories reveal about their captivity, their role in Israel’s national healing process, and the broader implications for Israeli society. We also discuss the ongoing negotiations for the next phase of hostage releases, the political stakes surrounding Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, and how these developments could shape Israel and the region.

    Nadav Eyal is a columnist for Yediiot. He is one of Israel’s leading journalists. Eyal has been covering Middle-Eastern and international politics for the last two decades for Israeli radio, print and television news.

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

    REBECCA STROM - Director of Operations

    STAV SLAMA - Researcher

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Watch the conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QrVakL6qcGg

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    As Israelis continue to observe the implementation of the hostage deal, we sat down with Walter Russell Mead for a conversation about U.S. foreign policy under the new Trump administration. How do we make sense of the president’s approach as he enters his new administration? What are the implications - both for the Middle East and other geopolitical hotspots? And, where does the hostage/ceasefire deal fit in this new and larger geopolitical context?

    Walter Russell Mead is the “Global View” columnist at the Wall Street Journal. He is the Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship at Hudson Institute, the Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft with the Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida. He was previously the Henry Kissinger fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

    He is also a prolific author. His most recent book is -- The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People, which you order here – https://a.co/d/3J67FYL

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

    REBECCA STROM - Director of Operations

    STAV SLAMA - Researcher

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

  • Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor


    Over the past couple of weeks, our focus on “Call Me Back” has been on the hostage deal and its implications.

    Today Amit Segal returns to the podcast to discuss the perspective of those inside Israel opposed to this deal.

    Amit Segal is the chief political correspondent and analyst for Channel 12 News, and for Yediot Ahronot, the country’s largest circulation newspaper.


    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

    REBECCA STROM - Director of Operations

    STAV SLAMA - Researcher

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Watch the conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vqT4MJKzEp0

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    Today, we are taking a step back to discuss many of the new opportunities across the landscape for the U.S. and Israel, as a new president takes office.

    Our guest is Dr. Tal Becker, who serves as Vice President and Senior Faculty of the Kogod Research Center at Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Tal was the former Legal Adviser of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is a veteran member of successive Israeli peace negotiation teams and, most recently, represented Israel before the International Court of Justice and played an instrumental role in negotiating and drafting the historic peace and normalization agreements (the "Abraham Accords"). Tal earned his doctorate from Columbia University in New York City, and is the recipient of numerous scholarly awards, including the Rabin Peace Prize, and the Guggenheim Prize for best international law book for his book "Terrorism and the State".

    CREDITS:

    ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

    MARTIN HUERGO - Editor

    REBECCA STROM - Director of Operations

    STAV SLAMA - Researcher

    GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research Intern

    YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

  • Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    On Sunday evening in Israel, after 471 days in captivity, three hostages — Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher — were released from Gaza and returned home to Israel, as a ceasefire in Gaza went into effect.

    There has been speculation as to why this deal was agreed upon now, and about whether January 19th effectively marked the end of the Gaza war. And more than anything, there is palpable anxiety about the fate of the remaining hostages.

    To take in this moment and unpack these questions about what comes next, we are joined by Yossi Klein Halevi and Wendy Singer.

    Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Yossi has written a number of books, including his latest, "Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor," which was a New York Times bestseller. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Times of Israel. He is co-host of "For Heaven's Sake" podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/for-heavens-sake/id1522222281

    Yossi Klein Halevi's books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001IXOA04

    Wendy Singer was the professional founder of Start-Up Nation Central (SNC), where she served as Executive Director for nine years. Wendy currently serves as a strategic advisor to select Israeli start-ups and NGOs, including the National Library of Israel. Before joining Israel’s tech scene, she spent sixteen years as Head of AIPAC’s Israel office. Wendy is a board member of the Shalom Hartman Institute; and a Trustee of the Russell Berrie Foundation.

  • Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    After fifteen months of war, and months of on-again, off-again negotiations, Israel and Hamas have reached a hostage deal, which is set to take effect this upcoming Sunday.

    What are the key points of the deal? What should we expect - or brace for - as hostages return home to Israel? And - will this deal mean the end of the war?

    To take in this historic development, and to help us understand all the above questions, we welcome back Nadav Eyal to the podcast.

    Nadav Eyal is a columnist for Yediiot. He is one of Israel’s leading journalists. Eyal has been covering Middle-Eastern and international politics for the last two decades for Israeli radio, print and television news.

  • Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    As we wait in anticipation of a hostage deal, we welcome President Trump’s incoming National Security Adviser, Rep. Mike Waltz, to the podcast, to discuss the possible hostage deal, and his thoughts on the U.S.-Israel relationship.

    Congressman Mike Waltz is a Colonel (Ret.) in the National Guard, and the first Green Beret to be elected to Congress. He worked on counter-terrorism in the Bush White House and was a policy advisor at the Pentagon, serving under Secretaries Rumsfeld and Gates, and a Congressman from Florida. As President Trump is sworn in as president - this upcoming Monday, January 20th, inauguration day - so will Mike Waltz, as the president’s National Security Advisor.

    Mike graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with Honors and served 27 years in the U.S. Army and National Guard. After being commissioned as an Army lieutenant, Mike graduated Ranger School and was selected for the elite Green Berets, serving worldwide as a Special Forces officer with multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. For his actions in combat, Mike was awarded four Bronze Stars, including two for Valor.

    Mike is the author of the books, “Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret’s Battles from Washington to Afghanistan”: https://a.co/d/18NEaB0 , and “Hard Truths: Think and Lead Like a Green Beret”: https://a.co/d/c0lnM9B

  • Watch Call me Back on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

    To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

    Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

    Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

    The collapse of Assad’s regime in Syria has created a new geopolitical reality, in which Turkey has emerged as a dominant regional power, both militarily and diplomatically. For Israel, this new reality entails certain risks, but also opportunities for cooperation?

    What is Turkey’s next move - and what are Erdogan’s ambitions? And how is Israel preparing for this new order?

    To help us understand, our guests are Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak and Call me Back regular Nadav Eyal.

    Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, who moved to Israel from Turkey, is a researcher at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, and an expert on contemporary Turkish politics and society. Yanarocak is the editor of Turkeyscope, and a member of the Middle East Network Analysis Desk. He is a frequent guest on Israeli media, where he regularly appears to discuss contemporary Turkish issues.

    Nadav Eyal is a columnist for Yediiot. He is one of Israel’s leading journalists. Eyal has been covering Middle-Eastern and international politics for the last two decades for Israeli radio, print and television news.