logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2024
28m 15s

Alon Pinkas on challenging the idea of N...

HAARETZ
About this episode

Haaretz senior columnist and former diplomat Alon Pinkas says that for years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tacitly supported the continuation of the brutal dictatorship of Bashar Assad in Syria, and it is absurd for him to claim credit for helping to topple Assad’s rule by weakening the mainstays of Iranian power in the region.

“He might as well claim credit for the invasion of Normandy or the fall of the Berlin Wall or the surrender of Japan,” said Pinkas on the Haaretz Podcast. “He had nothing to do with those things. That he decimated Hamas and decapitated or degraded Hezbollah? Absolutely, but the Israeli military did that. That’s the same military he maligned and that he foul-mouthed in the days and weeks following the October 7, 2023 calamity.” 

According to Pinkas, Netanyahu is suffering from “delusions of grandeur” in his attempts to convince Israelis and the wider world that he is somehow remaking the Middle East by “cherry-picking successes, ignoring failures and presenting a false narrative.”

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Today
Behind Netanyahu's dangerous Gaza takeover: A conversation with Haaretz Editor-in-Chief Aluf Benn
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is often portrayed as a political improviser who seizes opportunities and dodges land mines as they occur to preserve his hold on power, he is in fact guided by a clear and consistent mission, Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn tells the Haa ... Show More
31m 59s
Jul 24
Netanyahu will 'do anything to stay in power’: If early elections are called, could he win?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decisively lost his Knesset majority following the exit of the two major ultra-Orthodox parties that were pillars of his coalition, which now holds only 49 seats in the 120-member parliament. But celebration is premature for those hoping for ... Show More
33m 2s
Jul 21
Behind Trump’s crusade to 'save Bibi' from his criminal trial
If it weren’t for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial and the multiple investigations into payments made by Qatar to his closest aides, the Gaza war could have been over, Bar Peleg, who has been covering Netanyahu’s legal woes, said on the Haaretz Podcast. ... Show More
27m 48s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2024
Israel to expand settlements in the occupied Golan Heights
Israel's government has approved a plan to encourage the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move was necessary because a "new front" had opened up on Israel's border with Syria, after the fall of the Assad regime. We ... Show More
47m 28s
Dec 2024
Israel colonizes Syrian territory, and anti-Assad rebels allow it, seeking more Western support
After helping to overthrow leader Bashar al-Assad, Israel destroyed Syria's military capabilities and is seizing territory, annexing the Golan Heights and occupying more land. The Al-Qaeda-linked Salafi-jihadist rebels who now rule Syria, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have a ... Show More
24m 3s
Oct 2024
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning that Iran “will pay” after it fired about 200 ballistic missiles at military targets last night. When it comes to retaliation, the US President Joe Biden says he does not support an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. Meanwhile, on ... Show More
1h 1m
Oct 2024
Israel says it will retaliate against Iran - what to expect
Today on the show, Fareed is joined by Danny Citrinowicz, former head of the Iranian Strategic Branch in the Israeli military intelligence, to discuss Iran’s attack this week and how Israel might strike back. Then, long-time foreign correspondent Kim Ghattas speaks with Fareed fr ... Show More
43m 14s
Mar 2024
How Israel Became a Rogue Ally
This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he’s invading the Palestinian city of Rafah despite strong opposition from the Biden administration. Why does Israel, a country that seems to rely on the U.S. for so much, increasingly ignore and defy its long time Am ... Show More
34m 10s
Sep 2024
The killing of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah
Today on the show, Fareed speaks with New York Times Magazine staff writer Ronen Bergman to discuss how Israel was able to carry out its assassination of Hezbollah’s leader in Beirut, and what might come next as tensions continue to rise throughout the region.  Then, in his first ... Show More
43m 4s
Sep 2024
Netanyahu defends his war in Gaza; faces criticism from allies, and more
Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, defended his country’s war in Gaza, and his refusal to agree to a ceasefire, in a defiant press conference. 
4m 11s
Oct 2024
How significant is Macron's statement on Israel's war on Gaza?
France's president Emmanuel Macron says arms deliveries to Israel for use in Gaza should stop. His comments have been angrily rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. So how significant is Macron's statement? And why such a furious reaction from Israel? In this epis ... Show More
25m 18s