ISRAEL UPDATE

The world of Israeli jurisprudence is so surreal, you have to pinch yourself to believe what you see. This week the court first struck down a constitutional amendment, then declared judicial authority to remove a sitting prime minister. Michael Doran and Gadi Taub explain what the judges are up to, and what the consequences may be. Because apart from judicial theory, these decisions have political implications for the war: they threaten to throw Israel back into the controversies about judicial reform that tore the country apart before October 7. Meanwhile the war may be widening in the north, after the assassination of Hamas's West Bank chief, Saleh al-Arouri. The hit was carried out in Beirut and is widely attributed to Israel. And if so, says Mike, this is a message not just to Hamas and Hezbollah, but also to the US which is trying to retrain Israel on the northern front. And then there are also Mike's and Gadi's picks for the dumbest take on the news. And for those who want to go back in time to the introduction of the failed legal reform, here's Mister Yariv Levin laying out the plan before it was aborted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGwLCjAzIIg

Gadi Taub and Mike Doran see Israeli politics returning with a vengeance. The Israeli left, with an assist from elements in the military, is promoting a campaign depicting "settler violence" in the West Bank as the impediment to a two-state solution. Meanwhile the Israeli Supreme Court has nullified an amendment to a semi-constitutional Basic Law, thus taking for itself veto power over the formation of what Israel has for a constitution. The campaign against the settlers and the move to overturn the law both target the right. These developments come as the Biden administration is pushing Prime Minister Netanyahu to ride roughshod over his rightwing coalition partners who oppose the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.

Ehud Barak is widely seen as the mastermind behind the permanent Never-Bibi protests. His machinations have become infamous. But this surely tops them all. What made him talk of being called to office when the Yarkon River will be filled with floating corpses of Jews killed by Jews? Here's the video. Mike and Gadi discuss it, here: https://rumble.com/v43oun2-israel-confronts-iran.html

A precision strike in Syria killed Iranian General Razi Mousavi. Iran blames Israel for the assassination. Why did Israel do it? How will Iran respond? Gadi Taub and Mike Doran discuss the reasons and possible repercussions. Also on this episode: the bizarre political imagination of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and the American attempt to push Prime Minister Netanyahu into a political crisis with his coalition partners. And not least: our picks of the dumbest takes on this week's news.

Eliezer Cherki believes that in order to fight Hamas effectively, we need first to understand the religious roots of their genocidal ideology. Hebrew with English subtitles.

Netanyahu's government is caught in a vice: American pressure to restore the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip on the one hand, and threats from the National Religious Party to topple the coalition if Netanyahu yields to the American demands. Is there a way to juggle these conflicting forces? Michael Doran and Gadi Taub discuss the latest. And here's a link to the article we mentioned: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/bidens-three-nos

While the Israeli opposition to Netanyahu is trying to leverage the tragedy of the escaping hostages, shot mistakenly by the IDF, the U.S. is stepping up its meddling in Israeli politics, trying to break Netanyahu's coalition on the rocks of its pie-in-the-sky postwar plans. Mike Doran and Gadi Taub explain why very serious calculations are involved on all sides. Also in this episode: why the Houthis are a bigger danger than either Washington or Jerusalem are admitting.

The anti-Netanyahu alliance between the Israeli left and the Biden Administration from the days of the struggle over judicial reform is being resurrected. Some Israelis may not be happy about it. Gadi Taub and Michael Doran discuss the latest as well as the new American "mediation" initiative in Lebanon, the fantasy of a "revitalized" Palestinian Authority and the pie-in-the-sky called "the two-state solution." Some footage of PA kindergarten kids will make clear why the PA is not much better than Hamas. And not least: our picks of the dumbest take on the news this week.

In-Depth Special with Prof. Gerald Steinberg: As has become abundantly clear on American campuses, and recently in the testimony of three university presidents in congress, anti-Semitism is being relegitimzed among Western elites. Its new disguise is a double standard masquerading under the banner of human rights and bent on delegitimizing the Jewish nation-state . Our guest in this special in-depth episode, Professor Gerald Steinberg, founder and president of NGO Monitor, an organization that tracks how NGOs with benign sounding names operate in the service of terror organizations and anti-Semitic agendas.

These are testimonies read by a police officer to the Knesset Committee on the Advancement of Women and Gender Equality. THEY CONTAIN ARE VERY GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS. Viewer discursion is strongly advised. We decided to post this abridged version with English subtitles to counter lies and denials. Yet, we did not want to insert this clip into our regular episodes, where we decided early on, not to force such material on viewers who understandably wish to avoid them.

The October 7 massacre has exposed a terrifying fact: half a century of postmodern morality has legitimized the oldest form of hatred: the irrational hate directed against Jews. That is true all over the West and shockingly, in Israel too, as a recent leftist campaign against the orthodox and ultra-orthodox has shown. Michael Doran and Gadi Taub discuss the latest.

Some believe that there are Israeli politicians who are beginning to work with the Americans on a two-state solution – a plan they must know the Israeli public will not accept. Is this the reason for the tensions within Netanyahu's coalition in response the American pressure to restrict the operations in Gaza? Michael Doran and Gadi Taub disagree on how to understand these latest developments.

Since we recorded, hostilities were renewed. Our analysis, though, is still valid: the U.S. is attempting to narrow Israel's room of maneuver. So much so that it's hard to see how Israel can win the war under such limits. But Prime Minster Netanyahu told Sec. Blinken that he would see it to a successful conclusion. Gadi Taub and Michael Doran discuss the latest, with a multifaceted comparison to 1973, under a very different secretary of state: the late Henry Kissinger who passed away this week. Plus: Israeli intelligence had long held the details of Hamas's plan of attack, but its chief of intelligence dismissed it. As we promised, here's Mike's piece on the Yom Kippur War, which sheds light on what the U.S. and Israel should now be doing. https://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/israel-zionism/2023/10/the-hidden-calculation-behind-the-yom-kippur-war/

The hostage deal has moved forward with a tense pause in the fighting. Michael Doran and Gadi Taub discuss how this can now play out, what pressures will be brought to bear by Israel, the US, Hamas and Iran. Meanwhile, Israel's minister of communications threatens to withdraw government funds from the Haaretz newspaper which, he claims, incites against Israel in a time of war. Mike explains how Gadi was kicked out of that paper and why. We'll also rate some of dumbest takes on the news this week.

In this latest episode of ISRAEL UPDATE Mike and I discuss the hostages-for-terrorists exchange deal. But we also translated for English speakers some breath-taking body-cam footage from those fateful hours of Shabat, October 7. It's the story of one brave police officer. Here's a taste. For the full episode: https://rumble.com/v3xacxl-understanding-the-hostage-exchange-deal.html

Gadi Taub and Michael Doran discuss the pros and cons of the deal that's going halting the Israeli war machine for at least 4 day. Who's pushed for it? Why now? And how is it likely to end? Plus: bodycam footage from a hero police officer who shot terrorists off the road while riding his police motorcycle (see cover photo)

The global press has tacitly agreed to categorically separate Hamas in Gaza from Hamas in Judea and Samaria. This distinction is artificial and misleading. Worse, the distinction between Hamas and Fatah is may prove meaningless if the conflict escalates. An in depth conversation with groundbreaking investigative journalist Elchanan Gorner.

The battle of north Gaza is reaching its climax since under the Shifa Hospital lies the nerve center of the metro – the underground city of tunnel which Hamas has built under Gaza City. Michael Doran and Gadi Taub discuss the latest. Plus: the heroic story of the late 22 year old Aner Shapira. We honor his memory.

The ground operation proceeds better than anyone predicted, while the leaders of the Muslim Middle East meet for a summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Gadi Taub and Mike Doran discuss the latest. Guest Interview: Dr. Ran Baratz discusses volunteer defense units in Israeli towns and villages. Plus: Netanyahu vs. the Biden administration on the day after the war.

This is not the beginning of the end. @Doranmiated explains. For the latest on the war check out our new episode of ISRAEL UPDATE: https://rumble.com/v3uillf-is-the-us-negotiating-with-iran-behind-israels-back.html

Iran is putting direct pressure on the Biden administration to push for a "humanitarian pause" and the administration is applying pressure on Israel to accept it. Michael Doran and Gadi Taub discuss the latest: Amos Hochstein's mission to Beirut, the methodical advance of the IDF in north Gaza, and the exodus of Gazan's to the south. We also spoke with Tablet's Liel Leibovitz about the growing fear for the safety of American Jews, and lastly – the schizophrenia of woke Israeli universities.

The Palestinian Authority is training an army, not a police force. Having praised Hamas for its terror attack on the south of Israel, will the PA follow its example? It's but a 10 minute drive from Samaria to the outskirts of Tel-Aviv. For the full episode of IU: https://rumble.com/v3tx0z3-israel-said-no.html

For the full interview, and an update on the current stage of the war: https://rumble.com/v3picye-israel-update-israel-at-war-ep.-1.html

Israel's leadership stood firm against Blinken's pressure: no "humanitarian pause" until the hostages are released. Gadi Taub and Michael Doran discuss the latest. We also spoke with Dr. Iddo Netanyahu, the prime minister's brother, about changes in Israeli society; We discussed Nasrallah's speech, as well as the army that has formed in Judea and Samaria under our noses, just a short distance from Tel Aviv. Can the horrors perpetrated in the south be repeated in Israel's largest metropolis?

The IDF's plan is finally taking shape. Michael Doran and Gadi Taub discuss the operation and the options. New light is shed on the atrocities by forensic medicine, while more stories of bravery come to light. We spoke with Menachem Kelmanson who saved more than 100 souls in Kibbutz Beeri on October 7, before losing his own brother. Also in this episode: a new front in with Yemen, and footage the BBC cut out of its interview with Israeli president, Isaac Herzog.