On Israel with Ben Caspit, an Al-Monitor podcast Al-Monitor

Ben Caspit speaks this week with Israel’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Orit Farkash-Hacohen. Israel and the United States started this week a strategic dialogue focused on technological cooperation. The minister explains that "climate change, the covid pandemic, the desertification phenomenon and so many other international and regional issues, are all in essence technological challenges. Even security has become a technological challenge." Farksha-Hacohen says that the Israeli-American technological strategic cooperation plan launched this week builds on that understanding, that national security challenges faced by our two nations and by the world must involve a significant technological pillar if we are to cope with them efficiently. 

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Ben Caspit speaks this week with Knesset member for the Likud party Nir Barkat. The legislator just came back from a tour in the United States, where he campaigned against the Iranian nuclear program. Barkat argues that the Iranians do not hide their desire to annihilate Israel, and thus the international community should not try to conclude any deal with them. "You don’t make a deal with someone who wants to take you out of business. They want to destroy Israel, so what kind of a deal can you make with them? Instead of negotiating a deal, we must focus of creating a force that would threaten and deter Iran," says Barkat. He also argues that Tehran cannot be trusted with any kind of agreement, arguing, "they will surely breach the agreement from day one."

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Ben Caspit speaks this week with Attila Somfalvi, chief anchor at the Israeli Ynet news site and tv channel. Israel is preparing now for its fifth round of elections in less than four years. Somfalvi, a senior political analyst, says Israeli politics and society have deeply changed in the last few years. In the past, the political battle centered on the Palestinian issue, with the Peace Now camp on one side and those advocating against any territorial concessions on the other. This political duel is now gone, replaced by a struggle over the very nature of the state of Israel. The two camps — liberals and right-wingers — are now battling over how Israel’s democracy will look like in the coming years. "Opposition leader [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his Likud party no longer hide their ambition to change Israel, starting with its judicial system and judges," explains Somfalvi. 

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Ben Caspit speaks this week with Amir Tibon, who serves as deputy editor for Haaretz’ English edition. Tibon, an expert on Israel-US relations, believes that a nuclear deal with Iran is bound to be eventually reached, as it is in the interest of all the world powers involved in the negotiations. Tibon recalls that former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried in 2015 to stop the agreement but failed. "Prime Minister [Yair] Lapid, alternate Prime Minister [Naftali] Bennett and Defense Minister [Benny] Gantz have adopted a more realistic policy, of trying to influence the agreement. They are not trying to kill it, but rather shape it so it would be more comfortable for Israel on certain aspects," he explains. 

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Ben Caspit speaks this week with veteran geologist Yossi Langostsky, considered the founding father of natural gas discoveries off the Israeli coast. Langotsky recounts that the first discovery took place in 1999, when he himself asked for an exploration-drilling permit for gas and oil, deep into Israel’s economic waters. Ten years later, actual drilling started, in an area Langotsky labeled the Tamar field, after his eldest granddaughter. The renowned geologist explains that the Tamar field could supply Israel with all the natural gas it needs for a period of 25 years. He also believes there is potential for discovering oil in the same region. Still, such exploration, he says, would require much deeper drillings and much more costly procedures.  

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Ben Caspit speaks this week with Maj. Keren Hajioff, the international spokesperson of Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Haijaoff has been managing relations with foreign media during the recent IDF operation in Gaza. Alongside the exchange of fire on the ground, Israel and Islamic Jihad also fought each other in the media arena. Hajioff explains that winning media battles requires more than the truth. "The difficult part is to make people listen, to make sure that the story goes viral. You have to find a way to get attention for your narrative, in order to amplify the message you want to share," she notes. 

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