Lawfare Podcast, Episode #102: Israeli Politics, Oy Vey!
The Israeli government fell this week, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu called new elections. Israeli politics are an endlessly fascinating Byzantine mess with significant security implications for the United States. The shape of Israeli politics, after all, conditions a lot of other U.S. interests in the region---everything from the degree of friction with key Arab allies to the prospects of a conflagration with Iran.
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
The Israeli government fell this week, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu called new elections. Israeli politics are an endlessly fascinating Byzantine mess with significant security implications for the United States. The shape of Israeli politics, after all, conditions a lot of other U.S. interests in the region---everything from the degree of friction with key Arab allies to the prospects of a conflagration with Iran. So this week, I sat down with Natan Sachs, a fellow in the Brookings Center for Middle East Policy---which, full disclosure, is run by another person named Wittes. We talked about why Israel is heading towards new elections in March, whether those elections will strengthen or weaken Netanyahu's hand, the prospects for a surge of support of the Israeli hard right, and what it all means for U.S. interests.
Benjamin Wittes is editor in chief of Lawfare and a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of several books.
