The Promised Podcast

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. "Horny for you" We discuss the member of Knesset who resigned after it became public that he harassed women, and ambivalent efforts to address sexual harassment elsewhere. It’s a gas, gas, gas We ask why Israel's incipient gas deal has sparked mass protests on the streets, while other issues are met with apathy. Kidnapped 67-year-old babies We discuss why many people believe that Yemenite babies were transferred from their parents to Ashkenazi parents 60-odd years ago. All songs from the special project by musician David Peretz, "Yodim Atem Likhvod Ma? Artists Perform Songs of Hanukah":Adam Cohen – Maoz TzurNoa Shemer – Neirotai Ha-ZeirimEran Tzur – Hava NarimaAlbert Sofer – Ner Li

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Did peace slip through our fingers? We discuss a socko television documentary showing how close Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas came to a peace agreement eight years ago, and yet how far, raising a raft of “what if?” questions. The corruption deduction We discuss the behind-the-scenes deals that allowed MKs to funnel monies to their favorite causes in exchange for their acquiescence to the proposed budget. Is it quite as unsavory as it seems? Fighter flight We discuss an IDF poll showing that, increasingly, the guys with the guns are the guys with the kippot. Should we be worried that the army seems to be becoming a religious person's institution? All songs by Tamar Aphek: Who Cares/Summer ComesWhere Were You When It Happened?The Dynamic Of MotionTaking Over

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. "Well, what family doesn't have its ups and downs?" (With apologies to James Goldman and Katherine Hepburn, or perhaps to King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine) We discuss Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent attempts to fix relations with American Jews. Is his "charm offensive" more charm or offensive? Bickering about stickering The EU has issued new guidelines for the labeling of products from the occupied territories, and many Israelis are up in arms. We ask how those of us on the left ought to respond. What happened in Paris Finally, we discuss what sense we in Israel make – or should make – of the infinitely sad mass-murders in Paris. All songs are tributes to Paris, with a heavy heart and a troubled mind: Yael Naim - ParisRiff Cohen - A ParisYair Ziv - Be-Rechovot ParisEthnix - Tel Aviv Kmo Paris

Noah, Don, and Haaretz columnist and ubermensch Bradley Burston discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. "They don't like us. They really don't like us!" (With apologies to Sally Field) A meta-survey suggests that Palestinians really don’t think highly of Israelis and Jews, and other polls suggest that Israeli Jews don’t have much sympathy for Palestinians. Does this prove a one-state solution is completely implausible? Leaving the land We ask whether or not it's time to stick a fork in the old Zionist dream of Jews returning to the land and making it bloom. Should we lament the "abandonment" of the agriculture industry? Sound salvation (with apologies to Elvis Costello) We discuss the efforts of Minister of Culture and Sports, Brigadier General Miri Regev, to make army radio station Galgalatz play more Mizrahi music. All songs by Bint El Funk, in honor of their Headstart campaign, which you can (nay, should) support: Mujik SheliMin ZamanUmakYa Habibi (Live from IndieNegev)

Noah, Don, and Times of Israel Ops & Blogs editor Miriam Herschlag discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. If I Divide Thee, O Jerusalem… A shocking new poll shows that 56 percent of Israelis wish to transfer Arab majority neighborhoods in Jerusalem to the hands of the Palestinian Authority, to let them keep the peace. We discuss its potential political implications. Partition ambition We discuss a proposal to slice Israel up into two states: An enlightened, progressive, leftist, secular state called "Dan" and a benighted, religious state called "Judaea." Why is this separation so appealing to those on the left? Trapped in the Net: Are social networks killing Israeli politics? Did the personal computer kill the raucous political rally? We talk about how the internet has changed the face of Israeli politics, and not necessarily for the better. All songs by Ariel Kleiner: Biglal HaKishlonot4Ha-GumiaKe-she-Anachnu Korim

In a show marking, with sadness, the 20th anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s murder, Allison, Noah and Don (fresh back from rehab) discuss three Rabin-related topics, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Whose death is it, anyway? We discuss the struggle over Rabin’s legacy: Should it be a broad message about political violence, or a narrower message about the dangers of the occupation? Who really killed Rabin? Alarming polls show that one third of all Israelis and half of religious Israeli Jews do not believe that PM Rabin was killed by Yigal Amir, instead believing one of the many conspiracy theories that proliferate. We ask why. Had Rabin lived… We try to answer that unanswerable, counterfactual question: Had Yigal Amir eaten some bad sushi on the 3rd of November, 1995, what country and what world would we be living in today? All songs by Nati Hassid, in honor of his show this week at the Ozenbar club here in Tel Aviv! A Love Story From Platform 9KaspomatBecause We Don't Care Anymore - ft. Shaanan Streett Pass It Along

Allison, Noah, and special guest, professor and environmental leader Alon Tal, discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Standing together or coming apart? We discuss competing narratives on the left for explaining the “knifey, stabby” times we’re living in. Rage of Consent? We discuss efforts to change Israel’s rape laws that turn the focus of the courts from the victims to the perpetrators. Political Environment? We ask whether Israeli environmental organizations are crypto-leftists in crummy disguises. All songs by Beer7: 7 Beer BottlesAnti-ShantiMy Mom Killed The PunkA Pig In Answer

Allison, Noah, and special guest Miriam Herschlag (Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor) discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Savage times These may not be the worst of times, but never have times been bad in just this way. We discuss what this week has been like for us, as parents and as people, as our Facebook feeds fill with ever-more-horrifying videos. What Israel’s right makes of the violence How has Israel's right reacted to this gruesome spate of attacks, and do they have a point? What Israel’s left makes of the violence How has Israel's left reacted to this gruesome spate of attacks, and do they have a point? Music: Omer Netzer - Goodbye SongOmer Netzer - TroubleOmer Netzer - WaitingTamar Eisenman - Creation

Allison, Noah, and special guest Miriam Herschlag (Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor) discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Third Intifada? We discuss the waves of violence engulfing us, as stabbings follow shootings follow stonings, accompanied by violent demonstrations and mass arrests. What the hell is happening around us, and what, if anything, can make it stop? Kids and racism A study has found that almost two in five of teachers say they lack adequate teaching tools to combat racism among their students - our kids. Is racism common coin in our children’s economies and, if so, what should be done about it? The temptations of battle-tested testes New research has found that Israeli women shopping at sperm banks prefer soldiers' sperm, the more battle-tested the better. What is that about? All songs by Ravid Kahalani and Yemen Blues (off the Insaniya-Humanity album): BeautalityTonight I'll Be Pretty (Featuring Mariem Hassan)FarhaMa'ahla Asalam (Featuring Zion Golan)

Allison, Noah, and special guest Gilad Halpern (Managing Editor of Ynet News and host of TLV1’s Tel Aviv Review) discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. The coming of the Repub-Likud & Avodah-mocrat parties We discuss PM Netanyahu’s plans to unify the parties on the right into an "Israeli Republican Party," and the nascent efforts of the Labor Party and the Tnua Party to do the same thing on the center left, forming an "Israeli Democratic Party." Sham-bassador? We discuss the efforts of three leftist diplomats to block the appointment of Dani Dayan, one-time chair of the settler YESHA Council, as Israel’s ambassador to Brazil, by convincing Brazilia not to allow him to serve. Charming settlers We discuss the "charm offensive" of settlers, who have lately taken to inviting folks to their towns, their vineyards, their homes, to demonstrate how much, if we just give them a chance, we'd like them, we'd really like them. All songs by Ha-Tavlinim: Ba LiBa-TachanahRosh Ba-KirTzilzalei Paomonim