Podcasts

Join host Nicole Zedeck each week for an in-depth discussion with expert analysts on some of the most pressing national security challenges facing Israel today. On this week’s episode, Dr. Carmit Valensi discusses the volatile situation in Syria amid the surprise rebel resurgence, and how the instability could impact its neighbor Israel.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Tamir Hayman, executive director of INSS, leads a special discussion with INSS experts Sima Shine, Dr. Carmit Valensi, and Orna Mizrahi on the Shiite axis. The four discuss the implications of the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general, which may signal a turning point in the war and a possible strategic shift in Israel’s security balance. They focus on the ramifications of this event for Hezbollah and the state of Lebanon, the identity of Nasrallah’s successor, and the broader regional impact, particularly on the two major strategic players—Iran and the United States.

Since October 8, 2023, Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in an intense war of attrition, which seems to have accelerated in recent weeks and is accompanied by increasing expressions of threats by both sides. These threatening declarations make clear that in a case of an “all-out war,” the Israeli home front will indeed find itself facing a new, unprecedented challenge. In this program, INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with Dr. Carmit Valensi, a senior researcher at INSS and the head of the Northern Arena Program. Together they discuss how close is Israel to an “all-out war” in the north. What scenarios should be taken under consideration, and what are the implications of such a war to the Israeli home front? Is there still a chance of reaching a diplomatic solution, one that will bring back the security to tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from the north and will finally enable them to return home? And what is the role of Syria in the ongoing escalation between Israel and Lebanon?

INSS Deputy Director Itai Brun hosts a special podcast following the update of the Institute’s strategic assessment for 2020, in the wake of both the coronavirus pandemic and the establishment of Israel’s new government after more than a year of political deadlock. INSS Managing Director Udi Dekel, together with INSS researchers Sima Shine, Assaf Orion, Orna Mizrahi, Meir Elran, Sarah Feuer, and Carmit Valensi provide a comprehensive review on the international system and the Middle East, which have been rocked by the virus, and will offer their recommendations to the new government.