Israel vs. Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran — and Itself
About this episode
Nearly a year after October 7, Ezra Klein talks with New Yorker editor David Remnick about Israel's overlapping wars and deepening political crisis. Drawing on his recent reporting and profiles, Remnick explains Yahya Sinwar — the Hamas leader in Gaza who learned Hebrew in Israeli prison, studied Israeli society, and concluded that hostage-taking works, a lesson reinforced by the lopsided Gilad Shalit exchange that freed him. They discuss Hezbollah's bombardment of northern Israel, which has depopulated border towns; Iran as the adversary Israelis see behind Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis; and the Biden administration's early pressure against a wider war. Remnick argues Benjamin Netanyahu is ideologically unchanged from the revisionist Zionism of his father, but decades in power — plus dependence on far-right partners like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich and his corruption charges — have corrupted him.