Best Amir Factor Podcasts (2025)

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Inside Gaza's hospitals: 'The children were very thin. Weak. Glazed eyes. It was devastating' 32:45

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2d ago32:45

32:45

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly challenged the assertion that starvation is rampant in Gaza, most recently when he slammed a UN report on famine as “blood libel.” On the Haaretz Podcast, Yarden Michaeli takes listeners behind the scenes of his in-depth reporting with Nir Hasson on the scale of severe acute malnutrition in Gaza. As …

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‘Netanyahu will never leave Gaza. War is part of the classic authoritarian playbook’ 31:02

6d ago31:02

31:02

Israel is approaching the “horrifying” position of becoming a pariah state due to the Gaza war, former MK and Middle East expert Ksenia Svetlova said on the Haaretz Podcast, expressing deep worry that it was dangerously close to following in the footsteps of her native Russia. Western nations' refusal to cooperate with Russia due to its aggression …

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'Israeli musicians must choose if they want to be boycotted at home or boycotted abroad' 22:44

10d ago22:44

22:44

Israeli musicians are learning the hard way that speaking out against the war in Gaza comes at a price, Haaretz culture reporter Shay Ringel explained on the Haaretz Podcast. The letter, signed by 1,200 members of the cultural and artistic community, was unusually outspoken regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling on Israeli soldiers to d…

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'A very dangerous gamble': Netanyahu's open clash with IDF leaders over invading Gaza City 32:36

14d ago32:36

32:36

The Israeli public is “exhausted” by the nearly two-year conflict in Gaza, and the vast majority of IDF military leaders believe it should end. Yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is forging ahead with his plan to invade Gaza City and expand the war because “he will do whatever he can to stay in power,” said Haaretz senior security analyst Amos H…

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Recognizing Palestine? 'It may be a punishment for Netanyahu, but it's a big prize for Israel' 22:23

17d ago22:23

22:23

Israel is swimming in unprecedented diplomatic waters. Last week, Germany announced it will restrict arms exports to Israel, and a growing number of world leaders – led by France and the U.K. – are declaring their intention to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. “We are hearing things that we never heard from great friends of Israel,” said …

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Behind Netanyahu's dangerous Gaza takeover: A conversation with Haaretz Editor-in-Chief Aluf Benn 31:59

20d ago31:59

31:59

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is often portrayed as a political improviser who seizes opportunities and dodges land mines as they occur to preserve his hold on power, he is in fact guided by a clear and consistent mission, Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn tells the Haaretz Podcast. “Netanyahu’s strategy, since the inception of his career…

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Why ‘deep pain’ over Israel and Gaza is boosting Jewish support for an anti-Zionist candidate for NYC mayor 23:32

23d ago23:32

23:32

The "last thing" Rabbi Rachel Timoner says she wanted to do was block the street in front of New York's Israeli consulate as part of a protest calling on Israel to increase the flow of humanitarian aid in Gaza – let alone get arrested for doing so. The Brooklyn rabbi said on the Haaretz Podcast that when she was asked to take part in the demonstrat…

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'Israel doesn't want journalists on the ground': CNN’s Jeremy Diamond on the fight to enter Gaza 34:19

28d ago34:19

34:19

The foreign press corps in Israel has been battling – unsuccessfully – since the Gaza war began in October 2023 to be permitted access to the Strip in order to report on the conflict and the humanitarian situation there from the ground. Appearing on the Haaretz Podcast, CNN’s Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond breaks down the status of the lega…

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'Starvation is being livestreamed. Every minute we lose a life in Gaza': Palestinian testimonies and growing Israeli protests 29:25

1M ago29:25

29:25

The latest crisis of mass starvation and death in Gaza seems to have finally cut through the layers of denial and media self-censorship in Israel – and in both Arab and mixed cities, demonstrations against the horrifying humanitarian situation are drawing tens of thousands of protesters. This week, the Haaretz Podcast includes two firsthand account…

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Netanyahu will 'do anything to stay in power’: If early elections are called, could he win? 33:02

1M ago33:02

33:02

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decisively lost his Knesset majority following the exit of the two major ultra-Orthodox parties that were pillars of his coalition, which now holds only 49 seats in the 120-member parliament. But celebration is premature for those hoping for swift elections that could lead to the end of his rule, warns Haaretz …

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Behind Trump’s crusade to 'save Bibi' from his criminal trial 27:48

1M ago27:48

27:48

If it weren’t for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial and the multiple investigations into payments made by Qatar to his closest aides, the Gaza war could have been over, Bar Peleg, who has been covering Netanyahu’s legal woes, said on the Haaretz Podcast. In his conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, Peleg lai…

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Dropping bombs and dialogue? Israel-Syria peace talks right now are ‘absolutely mind-boggling’ 27:00

1M ago27:00

27:00

The Israeli military strike on southern Syria this week is “concerning” in view of the “unexpected opportunity” for a potential peace agreement with the new government there, Israel’s former deputy security adviser Chuck Freilich said on the Haaretz Podcast. On Tuesday, the IDF struck Syrian army forces that had entered the city of Sweida to preven…

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The U.S. and Canada are running out of Reform rabbis. Look who's taking their place 21:37

2M ago21:37

21:37

A crisis-level shortage of clergy in North American Reform and Conservative synagogues has led to a fascinating new phenomenon – an exodus of Israeli-born rabbis moving to the United States and Canada to serve as spiritual leaders. On the Haaretz Podcast, Judy Maltz, Haaretz’s Jewish world editor who has reported on the trend, explains how these Is…

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'I touched death so many times in Gaza': Released hostage Aviva Siegel on 'screaming' for a cease-fire deal 24:32

2M ago24:32

24:32

Israel, it seems, is once again on the brink of a cease-fire deal with Hamas – one that would see hostilities halted for at least two months, and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages. But as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump talk particulars in Washington, the families of the 50 remaining hostage…

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'Hope is a political choice': MK Gilad Kariv on the fight for democracy and Reform Judaism in Netanyahu’s wartime Israel 26:24

2M ago26:24

26:24

Religious extremism and intolerance of liberal Judaism has spread from the ultra-Orthodox and ultra-nationalist parties into the mainstream of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, MK Gilad Kariv said on the Haaretz Podcast. “This is not the Likud that we knew 10 or 20 years ago,” he said. “Any attempt to differentiate the Likud from the…

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Behind the scenes of the explosive Haaretz 'killing field' Gaza expose that Netanyahu called a 'blood libel' 26:13

2M ago26:13

26:13

An explosive expose by Haaretz featured testimonies from IDF soldiers and officers that they were ordered to use live fire to disperse thousands of unarmed Palestinians in Gaza who had crowded the handful of stations set up to distribute humanitarian aid. The story grabbed international attention, and sparked fury among top Israeli officials, inclu…

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Why 'emboldened' Jewish settlers are now attacking Israeli soldiers in the West Bank 27:05

2M ago27:05

27:05

Destructive attacks on Palestinian communities by West Bank settlers “emboldened” by support from powerful far right-wing figures in the Netanyahu government have received little attention as the country has focused on the war in Gaza and the recent clash with Iran. Last week, dozens of settlers descended upon Kafr Malik, a Palestinian town north o…