Podcasts

On January 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered its ruling on South Africa’s charges against the State of Israel regarding ”genocidal acts” in Gaza after the events of October 7. Even though the Court did not order an immediate ceasefire, its ruling did provide support for other international calls for trade sanctions and arms boycotts against Israel. At a time in which truth and facts are undermined and disregarded, how can Israel maintain a positive image in the international arena? What are the effects of the ICJ decision on the ground? What exactly are the provisional measures against Israel that were ordered, and how do they influence the continuation of the war? What is expected in the following months, and what can Israel do to contain the damage? In today’s podcast, INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with Amb. Arthur Lenk, formerly Israeli ambassador to South Africa (2013–2017), ambassador to Azerbaijan (2005-2009), and director of the Department of International Law at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2010-2013), and Col. (res.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit Baruch, senior researcher and head of the Law and National Security Program at INSS. Together they discuss the current legal campaign against Israel in the international community.

On 6:30 AM on October 7, 2023, Israel woke up to the nightmare of an extensive horrific attack by thousands of Hamas terrorists. On the 18th day of the war, Israeli authorities report that 1,400 Israelis were murdered and over 5,431 wounded. 222 Israeli hostages were officially reported held by Hamas in Gaza, among them 30 children under the age of 18. The number of hostages is expected to rise even higher, as over 100 Israelis are still reported missing. There are over 125,000 internally displaced Israelis, and to date more than 7500 rockets were fired by Hamas toward Israel. As Israel continues to reel from the horrors of October 7, the IDF is reportedly completing preparations for a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip. In this podcast, INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with Col. (res.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit Baruch, senior researcher and head of the INSS Law and National Security Program. Together they discuss the rules that govern Israel’s combat in the Gaza Strip, the humanitarian aid in Gaza, the Israeli hostages, the connection between antisemitism and support for Hamas, and the role of the international community in the context of the unfolding events.

On October 7, 2023 at 06:30 am Israel woke up to a horrific nightmare. Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group based in the Gaza Strip, began a vicious and coordinated attack that shook southern and central Israel. Hamas launched a massive rocket attack targeting civilian areas, and simultaneously, infiltrated the Israeli villages surrounding the Gaza Strip with the goal of committing mass slaughter, abduction, rape, and other acts of brutality toward innocent Israeli victims. The results of this attack are beyond belief: Israeli babies were beheaded, and dismembered bodies burned, among them children. Other testimonies indicate that children were tied with their hands behind their backs and shot in the head. Between 120-150 Israeli hostages were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists to Gaza. In this podcast INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with Colonel (res.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit Baruch, INSS senior researcher and head of the INSS program on law and national security, and with Anat Shapira, Neubauer Research Associate in the INSS Terrorism and Low Intensity Conflict Program and a PhD candidate in the Tel Aviv University Philosophy Department. Together they discuss the viscous and barbaric acts of Hamas toward innocent civilians in Israel. What is known thus far about Hamas’s plan? How has the international community reacted? How has Hezbollah in the north responded until now, and what will be Israel’s reaction?

The Oslo Accords, signed 30 years ago, were a seminal development in Israel-Palestinian relations. In today’s podcast, INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with Dr. Anat Kurz, senior researcher and director of research at INSS and editor of INSS Insight, Col. (res.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit Baruch, senior researcher and head of the INSS Program on Law and National Security, and Brig. Gen. (res.) Udi Dekel, who served as Managing Director of INSS for ten years and currently heads the INSS Program on the Palestinian Arena. Together they examine the core principles of the Oslo Accords and ask: what is left of these principles today? Did they fail in the long run, or have some remained valid on the ground? How did Israel move from “making peace” toward “managing the conflict”? What threats confront what is left of the agreements? And finally: what can still be done to stop the dangerous slide into a one-state reality?

INSS Executive Director Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg and Col. (res.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit Baruch deliberate the implications of the revocation of the reasonableness standard in judicial decisions. What is the significance of yesterday’s Knesset legislation? Is this indeed “the end of democracy”? And what does the near future look like – in the security, economic, political, social and judicial realms? What are the main challenges facing Israel? And are they joined by emerging opportunities?

In this podcast, INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with three INSS senior researchers: Brig. Gen. (ret.) Dr. Meir Elran, head of the INSS program on Israel’s Civilian Front and Societal Resilience; Dr. Chuck Freilich, former Deputy National Security Adviser in Israel’s National Security Council; and Col. (res.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit Baruch, head of the INSS Law and National Security Program. Together they discuss worrying developments in the Israeli social-political crisis, in light of the government’s proposed judicial overhaul and the implications for Israel’s “special relations” with the United States. What are the main concerns from the side of the protesters regarding the judicial overhaul? Is there still a chance to reach a compromise? How do the domestic events in Israel shape the public discourse in the US? Is there a similarity between the crisis in Israel and the deep political polarization in American society? How essential are the “special relations” to Israel and its national security interests? And what can Israel do in order to ensure these relations remain firm and stable in the long run?

INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with senior researcher Col. (res.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit Baruch, who heads the program on Law and National Security at INSS, to discuss her special publication (co-authored with Dr. Bell Yosef from Tel Aviv University) on the independence of Israeli courts and the connection to Israel’s national security. The new legislative reform, introduced to the public by Justice Minister Yariv Levin on January 4, 2023, is apparently one of the most burning issues on the Israeli agenda at the moment, as it is seen by many sectors in Israeli society as an attempt at a legislative coup that threatens to change the very basic democratic and liberal principles on which Israel was established. The purpose of the podcast is to understand what is meant by the term “liberal democracy” in the Israeli context; how is it connected to national security; what are the dangers in this proposed reform to the judicial system; what are the implications on social, legal, economic, and security levels (both domestic and international); and what should be the recommendations for decision makers based on the following analysis.

New INSS Podcast: A panel discussion from the INSS 15th Annual International Conference on the US presence in the Middle East. What is the Biden administration’s policy on the ME? Ms. Dana Stroul, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East and Mr. David Schenker, Taube Fellow and Director of the Program on Arab Politics, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs explain, in a conversation with Col. (res.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit Baruch, Senior Research Fellow, INSS

Nearly ten days into Operation Guardian of the Walls, Dr. Sarah Feuer sat down with INSS colleagues Dr. Kobi Michael, Col. (ret.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit Baruch, and Dr. Meir Elran to discuss the current state of affairs – from Hamas’s aims and Israel’s achievements in Gaza, to Israel’s battle for legitimacy in the international arena, to the causes and potential consequences of unrest between Israeli Jews and Arabs.

INSS Managing Director Udi Dekel, joined by INSS senior researchers Pnina Sharvit Baruch and former US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, speaks about the application of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated is planned for the coming month. What would the map of Israel look like after this move? What would be the legal status of the Jewish population and the Palestinian population in the annexed area? Would this move ignite the region? What is the expected reaction in the international arena? Will US President Donald Trump accept any Israeli decision on the matter? What will be US policy if Joe Biden enters the White House in January 2021?