BICOM's Podcast

Episode 201 | Understanding Hezbollah

In this episode, Richard Pater speaks to Sarit Zehavi, a major in the IDF reserves who specialises in intelligence and holds an MA in Middle East Studies from Ben-Gurion University. She is the founder and CEO of ALMA, an organisation specialising in research and analysis of Israel’s security challenges on the northern border. In this episode, they discuss the state of Hezbollah and the recent attack it may be linked to inside Israel, politics in Lebanon and the current threat the organisation poses.

Episode 200 | Violence in the West Bank

In this episode, BICOM Director Richard Pater talks to Dr Michael Milshtein, an expert on the Palestinian Arena and the Head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel-Aviv University. 

In this 200th episode of the BICOM podcast, they discuss the growing terror attacks on Israel, what the run-up to Ramadan may look like, the future of the West Bank and how to prevent future friction between Settlers and Palestinians, as seen in Hawara this week.

Episode 199 | The State of Iran

In this episode, Richard Pater speaks to Benham Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) where he focuses on Iranian security and political issues. They discuss the current state of Iran's nuclear programme, Iran's links with Russia, and where the US and the EU stand on Iran.

Leveraging his subject-matter expertise and native Farsi skills, Behnam has closely tracked a wide range of Iran-related topics including nuclear non-proliferation, ballistic missiles, sanctions, the IRGC and internal Iranian politics. Benham recently produced a monograph on Iran’s ballistic missile programme.

Episode 198 | Unpacking Proposed Reforms to Israel’s Judicial System

In this episode, Jack Omer-Jackman, Research Associate at BICOM speaks to Professor Amichai Cohen. Professor Cohen is a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute and a faculty member of the Faculty of Law, Ono Academic College. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and holds a master's degree and a doctorate from the Yale Law School. His research deals with constitutional and international law, and he's the author of the book The Wars of the High Court. Professor Cohen joins Jack for a discussion of the dominant domestic Israeli political issue of the day: judicial reform - what does it look like, how does it compare internationally and what is next for Israel's judicial system?

Episode 197 | What does Israel’s political future look like?

In this episode, Jack Omer-Jackaman, BICOM Research Associate is speaks to Professor Jonathan Rynhold, head of the department of Political Studies at Bar Ilan University. Rynhold's research focuses on US-Israeli relations, Israeli foreign policy and the role of political culture in foreign policy. They discuss the internal dynamics of the coalition government, the state of proposed judicial reforms, and look at the current strength of the relationship between Israel and the US.

Episode 196 | Now the new government’s here, what’s next for Israel?

In this live episode, Richard Pater speaks to Tal Shalev, political correspondent at Walla News about the new coalition government and what may be the future challenges facing Israel. At Walla News, Tal covers Israel’s prime minister, the government, and parliament as well as the country’s foreign and diplomatic affairs. She studied Political Science and Philosophy at Tel Aviv University. This briefing was recorded live with questions by the audience, facilitated by Kira Lewis.

Episode 195 | Between Russia and Iran

In this episode BICOM Director Richard Pater speaks to Jonathan Paris about the current state of US and Israeli policy concerning Iran and Russia. In a wide-ranging conversation they discuss the geopolitical implications of both Tehran’s nuclear programme and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Jonathan is a London-based analyst, a former Middle East Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a senior adviser to the Chertoff Group.

Episode 194 | The National Religious Vote

In this episode, BICOM Research Associate Jack Omer-Jackaman speaks to Calev Ben Dor about his recent Fathom essay ‘Politically homeless’: Yamina voters tell their story. Calev assesses the impact on November’s election results of former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s stepping back from politics, the inter-communal violence of May 2021, the presence of Mansour Abbas in the previous government, and the rise of Religious Zionism. Calev Ben Dor is Senior Research Associate at BICOM and Deputy Editor of Fathom.

Episode 193 | Judicial Reform

In this episode, Richard Pater discusses judicial reform with Professor Suzie Navot.  Prof. Navot explains the background of Israel’s legal system, its uniqueness among other parliamentary democracies and the significance of potentially implementing an override clause. 

Suzie Navot is Vice President at the Israeli Democracy Institute.  She is a Professor of Constitutional Law, her areas of expertise include constitutional law, law of institutions, parliamentary law and comparative constitutional law.

Episode 192 | Chewing over the election results

In this episode, BICOM Director Richard Pater speaks with Carrie Keller-Lynn, a political and legal correspondent at the Times of Israel. They discuss the election results, breaking down what happened by party, and what could be next for the new government. Originally from the US, Carrie attended Stanford Law School and also holds a degree from Yale. She was called to the bar in New York and DC in 2017. Carrie also hosts her own podcast, and is based in Tel Aviv.