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The Deep Dive

The Deep Dive

By: Jerusalem Post Podcasts
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The Deep Dive is The Jerusalem Post's flagship podcast series, hosted by Jacob Laznik.

Each week, we review the top stories, put an up-close lens on a major topic, and dissect the main story of the week.Copyright Jerusalem Post Podcasts Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Netanyahu leads, no majority: Israel’s election deadlock

    Netanyahu leads, no majority: Israel’s election deadlock
    29 Oct 2026
    Likud leads, Arab parties hit a record 19 seats, and no one has 61. Jerusalem Post's Knesset correspondent Keshet Neev unpacks Israel’s post-election deadlock.

    With about 97% of votes counted, the results upended months of polling. Netanyahu’s Likud is the largest party, and his bloc leads 53 to 48. Even so, no coalition adds up. Record Arab turnout raised the effective threshold and pushed every new small party out of the Knesset. Meanwhile, the Arab parties are signaling a willingness to use their leverage to unseat Netanyahu without their traditional preconditions. Keshet Neev and host Jacob Laznik walk through each scenario: a unity government with Gadi Eisenkot and Naftali Bennett, a minority government, or a third outcome neither bloc wants. “Anyone who says they know what’s going to happen is lying,” Laznik says.

    The week grew more complicated when it emerged that the Shin Bet is examining suspected foreign funding, reportedly linked to Qatar and possibly Turkey, aimed at boosting Arab turnout. Qatar has denied the allegations, and the Central Elections Committee says the integrity of the vote is intact. The episode also covers Avigdor Liberman’s wildcard role and how a Democratic win in the US midterms could shape Netanyahu’s Iran plans. It closes with what these first post–October 7 elections reveal: Netanyahu’s bloc still leads, but “doesn’t have nearly as much support as it did” before the attack, Neev notes.
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    26 min
  • Too late for Netanyahu's blitz? Top pollster says minds are made up

    Too late for Netanyahu's blitz? Top pollster says minds are made up
    22 Oct 2026
    With less than a week until Israelis vote, a leading election pollster argues Netanyahu isn't trying to win – he's trying not to lose.

    Fresh off a Trump endorsement and a late blitz of Israeli TV interviews, Netanyahu is making his final push. But JPPI senior fellow and Channel 13 pollster Shmuel Rosner tells Deep Dive's host, Jacob Laznik, that most voters made up their minds long ago, shaped by the judicial overhaul, October 7 and years of war.

    "Netanyahu doesn't expect a win. He expects not to lose," he says, describing a defensive strategy designed to deny the opposition a workable coalition and force yet another election.

    The conversation covers the race to 61 seats and the odds of a minority or unity government, including the scenario in which President Herzog brokers a plea deal that lets Netanyahu step aside.

    He also addresses whether a new round with Iran could reshape the vote, why Trump endorses allies like Netanyahu and Orbán at no cost to himself, and why Israel's election system remains one of the few institutions Israelis still trust. "There are many good things in America that Israel can imitate," he warns. "That's one of the things we should not imitate."
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    34 min
  • Can't vote in Israel? 'The main way to influence is through giving'

    Can't vote in Israel? 'The main way to influence is through giving'
    15 Oct 2026
    Giving through JGive is now more than four times its pre-October 7 level. Founder and CEO Ori Ben-Shlomo on whether Israel-diaspora solidarity can last.

    Three years after October 7, the surge in giving to Israel hasn't faded; it has kept climbing.

    Ben-Shlomo says JGive expects more than a quarter of a million Israeli and diaspora donors this year, giving a combined half a billion shekels. The bigger shift, he argues, is cultural: "Before October 7, the third sector was nice to have. Now it's a must-have."

    With elections approaching and many diaspora Jews unable to vote, he makes a provocative case: "Politics divides people, and giving connects them." In his view, philanthropy can shape Israeli society more than politics does.

    Ben-Shlomo founded JGive after reserve duty in Operation Protective Edge in 2014. In this conversation, he explains how donors moved from the old "Uncle Sam" model of writing a check to an institution toward direct, transparent giving, often alongside Israelis rather than for them.

    He also takes on a hard question: how diaspora communities are balancing support for Israel against the rising cost of protecting themselves from antisemitism at home. He shares the story of a wounded reservist who used his own rehab to fundraise for his hospital roommate, and he lays out his vision for Israel's "fourth power": a strong civil society, built alongside defense, the economy, and technology.
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    32 min
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