Economist Podcasts Lone goals: will US-Israel war aims diverge?
54 snips
Mar 13, 2026 
Anshel Pfeffer, Israeli journalist and author, tracks Israel’s widening fight with Iran and Hizbullah and the growing gap with America. Josh Roberts, markets correspondent, follows why battered junk stocks are suddenly in vogue as oil swings rattle markets. Ann Wroe, obituaries editor, celebrates Philippe Gaulier, the fearless clown teacher who turned cruelty into comic freedom.
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Israel And America May Split Over Iran Endgame
- Anshel Pfeffer says Israel and America may share air operations yet diverge on the war’s end-state in Iran.
- Israel talks up regime change, while Donald Trump reportedly wants control over Iranian oil flows without collapsing the regime.
An Unfinished Iran War Could Damage Netanyahu
- An inconclusive end could hurt Binyamin Netanyahu because Israelis are already asking what this war has actually achieved.
- Anshel Pfeffer notes Netanyahu sold the previous Iran war eight months ago as a "victory for generations," a claim now looking threadbare.
Mission Creep Has Left Israel Exposed On Two Fronts
- Israel’s Lebanon campaign is escalating, and without America it could look like Israel opened two wars it cannot win.
- Anshel Pfeffer says a limited anti-missile plan drifted into broader regime-change aims after Donald Trump told Iranian protesters "help is on its way."