Dan's guest is Michael Koplow, chief policy officer of Israel Policy Forum -- based in Washington -- explaining IPF's criticisms of Benjamin Netanyahu, but also providing a clear-eyed view of Israel's fateful decisions: Put the hostages first? Or drive for total victory over Hamas in Gaza?

We also cover the U.S. talks with Iran over that country's nuclear program -- and the latest Israeli political crisis: whether ultra-Orthodox Jews will continue to be exempted from military service in the IDF.

Please find us on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- about the Mossad and Israel's other security agencies is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).

AND ANOTHER BOOK: Dan Raviv is co-author of a new book -- with world-renowned social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can find what's important to you -- and figure out all the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance ... and then they typically will reflect some back at you. That's called a win-win. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

(You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

After we hear Donald Trump confirm that he advised Prime Minister Netanyahu to shelve any Israeli plan to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, Dan turns to Michael Oren -- an American-born historian who served as Israel's ambassador to the U.S. during the Obama presidency. Dr. Oren links the double-murder of Israeli Embassy workers in Washington to the wider rise of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic extremism.

Oren also offers a fascinating prediction:

Donald Trump may lose patience with Israel's war in Gaza and demand that it end. Benjamin Netanyahu could find a reasonable ending, in a process that brings Saudi Arabia into the "Abraham Accords" (the Arab and Muslim countries establishing peaceful relations with Israel) -- a truly positive breakthrough for Israel, if it happens.

As a result, Netanyahu could call an election -- and he could win, despite opinion polls currently showing widespread dissatisfaction among Israelis.

Please tell your friends about The Mossad Files with Dan Raviv!

Dan's most recent book -- co-authored with Yossi Melman -- about the Mossad and other Israeli security agencies is SPIES AGAINST ARMAGEDDON. You can buy it at bit.ly/41j1Sc3

And Dan has a new book, co-authored with Professor Arie Kruglanski, on the human craving to make our lives matter: how that can be positive or lethally negative. The title is THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE. Find it at https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

Michael Oren's books, mentioned in the podcast, include SIX DAYS OF WAR -- https://www.amazon.com/Six-Days-War-Making-Modern-ebook/dp/B000Q80V6O/ref=sr_1_1 -- and Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present -- https://www.amazon.com/Power-Faith-Fantasy-America-Present-ebook/dp/B004YKULO2/ref=sr_1_1

Please find us on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- about the Mossad and Israel's other security agencies is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).

AND ANOTHER BOOK: Dan Raviv is co-author of a new book -- with world-renowned social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can find what's important to you -- and figure out all the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance ... and then they typically will reflect some back at you. That's called a win-win. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

(You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

We consider the security challenge posed by the murders of two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington by a "pro-Palestine" extremist. Dan speaks with Ory Slonim, former negotiator for Israel in secret missions to locate and liberate Israelis held by enemy nations and terrorists. Slonim is impassioned, calling for an end to the Gaza war so that all Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza will be freed.

Dan then interviews Jason Burke, international security correspondent for The Guardian newspaper -- on the revelation that after the Munich Olympics massacre of 11 Israeli athletes in 1972, the Mossad secretly had help from European intelligence agencies in locating Palestinian activists who were assassinated by the Israelis. The French, Swiss, and Italian governments would probably not do that -- but deals made directly between Mossad and intel partners in the once-secret "Kilowatt" group brought Israel the information it needed.

Please find us on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- about the Mossad and Israel's other security agencies is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).

AND ANOTHER BOOK: Dan Raviv is co-author of a new book -- with world-renowned social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can find what's important to you -- and figure out all the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance ... and then they typically will reflect some back at you. That's called a win-win. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

(You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

Dan comments on three highlights from President Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates: his respectful meeting with Syria's president, who used to be labeled a terrorist; Trump saying Iran has a limited time to agree to block any nuclear bomb program; and his accepting that Saudi Arabia won't join the Abraham Accords and open relations with Israel at this time.

Dan then brings Nimrod Novik into the conversation from his home in Tel Aviv. Novik is a longtime senior advisor to the late Prime Minister Shimon Peres. He is the Israel Fellow of IPF (Israel Policy Forum), and is active with the Commanders for Israel's Security. We discuss the CIS letter to President Trump asking him to apply pressure to end the Gaza war, rescue the hostages, and move toward a multinational Arab administration in Gaza.

Please find us on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- about the Mossad and Israel's other security agencies is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).

AND ANOTHER BOOK: Dan Raviv is co-author of a new book -- with world-renowned social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can find what's important to you -- and figure out all the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance ... and then they typically will reflect some back at you. That's called a win-win. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

(You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

The U.S. and Iran are resuming the nuclear talks -- President Trump goes to 3 Arabian Gulf countries next week (May 13-16) -- Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu orders IDF to step-up destruction in Gaza to destroy Hamas (and free hostages?).

Our guest on THE MOSSAD FILES is Jonathan Schanzer, executive director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies --- in Washington, DC. He describes the FDD think-tank as "center-right" and "nonpartisan." Schanzer and his colleagues are certainly experts on Iran's activities and a lot more in the Middle East. Our conversation runs half-an-hour.

Dan Raviv's most recent book (with Yossi Melman) is a history of Israeli intelligence and security agencies, SPIES AGAINST ARMAGEDDON: INSIDE ISRAEL'S SECRET WARS. To buy: https://www.amazon.com/Against-Armageddon-Inside-Israels-Secret-ebook/dp/B00ISCGZRY/ref=sr_1_1

Among Jonathan Schanzer's books is STATE OF FAILURE, which in 2013 presented evidence that the PLO was not capable of running a peaceful and stable Palestinian independent state. To buy: https://www.amazon.com/State-Failure-Mahmoud-Unmaking-Palestinian-ebook/dp/B00CGFJ0XU

Please find us on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- about the Mossad and Israel's other security agencies is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).

AND ANOTHER BOOK: Dan Raviv is co-author of a new book -- with world-renowned social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can find what's important to you -- and figure out all the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance ... and then they typically will reflect some back at you. That's called a win-win. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

(You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

Dan analyzes the mud-slinging feud between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of the domestic security/intelligence agency Shin Bet, Ronen Bar. Bar finally agreed to step down, as of mid-June. A win for Netanyahu? Maybe.

We hear a former Shin Bet director describe Netanyahu as "paranoid."

The prime minister himself told some stories to the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem, including new details of the Mossad operation that planted explosive pagers and walkie-talkies on thousands of Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon -- and how he decided to green-light the airstrike that killed Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Nasrallah, last September.

You'll also hear Netanyahu tell the Jewish News Syndicate event the minimum terms he'd accept for a U.S.-Iran deal to limit the Iranian nuclear program. As for the Gaza Strip, he says Israel will maintain military control -- and otherwise does not clarify what Arab or other foreign forces he would accept as administrators. The Palestinia Authority, based in the West Bank? Netanyahu says no.

We also hear a former U.S. ambassador, Tom Nides, explain why the Biden administration -- same as Barack Obama's White House -- did not trust Netanyahu.

Please find us on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- about the Mossad and Israel's other security agencies is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).

AND ANOTHER BOOK: Dan Raviv is co-author of a new book -- with world-renowned social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can find what's important to you -- and figure out all the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance ... and then they typically will reflect some back at you. That's called a win-win. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

(You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

With the United States and Iran negotiating, on limits to Iran's nuclear program, it may seem premature to predict that the talks will fail -- and the result will be a military strike on Iran. But that is precisely what our two guests are expecting.

John Hannah of JINSA (Jewish Institute for National Security of America) feels there is an attractive opportunity to hit Iran while it is weak, and -- answering podcast host Dan Raviv's questions -- he comments on how much damage an Israeli or Israeli/U.S. attack could accomplish.

Dan then interviews Or Yissachar, with a hawkish group called Israel's Defense & Security Forum (IDSF) -- known in Hebrew as Ha-Bit'honistim (which we may translate as "the Security-ists"). He says IDSF, composed mostly of retired Israeli generals and security chiefs, would welcome a strong deal with Iran. They feel that would have to mean Iran completely giving up its enriched uranium and key equipment. So they believe an acceptable deal will not be reached.

Thus Yissachar and IDSF recommend bombing Iran. He says they also welcomed Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision to resume the war in Gaza -- pounding Hamas, even though Palestinian civilians are also killed ("We don't know the true numbers," Yissachar tells The Mossad Files).

We intend to present a wide range of viewpoints on our podcasts -- so please subscribe on your favorite podcast site -- and please tell your friends.

Please find us on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- about the Mossad and Israel's other security agencies is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).

AND ANOTHER BOOK: Dan Raviv is co-author of a new book -- with world-renowned social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can find what's important to you -- and figure out all the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance ... and then they typically will reflect some back at you. That's called a win-win. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

(You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.

Dan (in Washington) and Yossi (in Tel Aviv) consider the revelation of an Israeli plan to attack Iran that was rejected by President Trump. Does the U.S. have a real chance of a strong nuclear limitation deal with Iran? In Israel, military and security vets skewer Prime Minister Netanyahu, demanding a deal to free the hostages by ending the Gaza war. Our guest, American activist and international lobbyist Shai Franklin, discusses Netanyahu's problems and blows to Israel's reputation -- even to the Mossad's credibility.

Please find us on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- about the Mossad and Israel's other security agencies is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).

AND ANOTHER BOOK: Dan Raviv is co-author of a new book -- with world-renowned social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can find what's important to you -- and figure out all the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance ... and then they typically will reflect some back at you. That's called a win-win. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

(You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.