Gil Hoffman explains all the different political possibilities for the months ahead and compares the craziness in the political systems in Israel and the United States. He goes into all the factors that will decide the timetable for Israel’s next election in 2019 and why the period after the election could be even more exciting than the race itself. Lastly, Gil apologizes for the “shallow coverage” of the current municipal elections by himself and the rest of the Israeli media, yet vows to continue more of the same.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/State Department Photo Public Domain

Gil Hoffman speaks to veteran Israeli political insider Tal Shalev, who just returned from accompanying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to New York, about what happened behind the scenes at the United Nations General Assembly. Hoffman and Shalev speculate about when the next Israeli election will be held and when US President Donald Trump will reveal his ultimate deal plan for Middle East peace.

Photo Credit: Office of the Prime Minister of Israel

Gil Hoffman speaks about the challenges of Israeli democracy, as Arab MKs are en route to the European Union to seek condemnation of the Jewish state and writing letters defending the antiSemitism of British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and right-wing Jewish MKs are saying Arab MKs and Arabs in general are unwanted.
He also gives listeners an update on the state of the award-winning honey farm in Samaria that he visited last year after it was ransacked by Arab vandals just ahead of the Rosh Hashana holiday. (To listen to last years show click here.)

Are American Jewish leaders deliberately misleading the public when they blame Israeli policies for the widening rift between Israel and progressive, young US Jews to make up for their own failures in reaching out to them? Rabbi David Eliezrie, who is Chabad’s liaison to the American Jewish establishment thinks so, and tells it to their face and to Gil Hoffman on this week’s Inside Israel Today. Eliezrie says the problem is not with the Jewish Nation-State Law or the broken compromise on the Western Wall but with the lack of Jewish education for non-Orthodox Jewish children and follow up programs to Birthright Israel. He also questions whether Reform or Conservative Jewish leaders can still claim to speak for a majority of US Jews due to their dwindling membership. But he gives hope that in Israel, trends are going in a more positive direction.

Gil Hoffman and Peggy Cidor, who have been covering the exciting race to succeed Nir Barkat as mayor of Jerusalem for The Jerusalem Post analyze who has the best chance to win the October 30 election. Hoffman provides audio from a political event in the holy city. Cidor, who has been covering municipal politics for 20 years, explains why this election is different than all mayoral races in the city in the past. She also answers what Barkat’s chances are to succeed Benjamin Netanyahu and become prime minister of Israel one day.

Isaac Herzog explains why he left his jobs as opposition leader in the Knesset and a Knesset member in the Zionist Union for the chairmanship of the Jewish Agency in excerpts from his Jerusalem Post interview broadcast here with permission. Gil Hoffman asks him whether leaving the Zionist Union is akin to fleeing the sinking Titanic.

Gil then talks about the new head of the opposition, Tzipi Livni, and gives examples of how not to head an opposition that perhaps could come in handy for her, from protests this week, from demonstrations that failed to prevent the Gaza Strip withdrawal this week 13 years ago, and from a Jerusalem city council member who claims to know the ways of God.

Gil Hoffman takes you behind the scenes into the conflict between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and progressive Jews from the Diaspora over the fate of egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall and a bill that would define Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. Would Netanyahu prefer to help the ultra-Orthodox over Diaspora Jews from around the world? Gil explains all sides in a dispute that reflects the complexity and beauty of Israeli democracy.

Gil Hoffman gives an insider’s look into the exciting events at the Knesset Monday night, when MKs advanced a bill that could draft yeshiva students and passed a law that removes funding for the Palestinian Authority that is given to terrorists and their families. He explains the potential impact of each bill and whether one could be a first step to elections and the other to Middle East peace. Along the way, he talks about the vibrancy of Israeli democracy, where there is never a dull moment.