Political and geopolitical analysis from the world's top experts, hosted by Dan Senor.
Subscribe to Inside Call me Back to listen to our 3-part series with Ronen Bergman
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Is the war heading towards a ground assault or a push for a deal? To explore the possibilities, Dan is joined by Ark Media contributor Nadav Eyal and Fred Kagan, director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute.
In this episode:
02:24 - Two Tracks, One War: Escalation vs. Diplomacy
03:33 - Inside the Air Campaign: What’s Been Degraded—and What Hasn’t
08:33 - Diplomacy During War: Contradiction or Strategy?
10:57 - Iran’s Mindset: Why Tehran Thinks It’s Winning
15:54 - The Strait of Hormuz: Leverage, Illusion, or Real Control?
17:15 - What a U.S. Ground Operation Could Look Like
20:06 - Energy, Escalation, and Regional Spillover Risks
24:24 - Endgames: Deal, Deterrence, or Something Bigger?
More Ark Media:
Credits: Ilan Benatar, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Patricio Spadavecchia, Yuval Semo
For the full episode, subscribe here to Inside Call me Back
This is a sneak peek from today’s members-only Inside Call Me Back, Part 2 of our 3-part series on Inside Mossad’s Shadow War with Iran with Ronen Bergman.
Dan and Ronen pick up where Part 1 left off, diving into the growing tension between Israel and the United States over whether—and when—to strike Iran’s nuclear program. From dramatic exchanges with Presidents Bush and Obama to deep divisions inside Israel’s own security establishment, this episode explores the early fault lines that would shape one of the most consequential strategic debates in recent history.
For the full series, subscribe here to Inside Call me Back
More Ark Media:
Credits: Ilan Benatar, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Patricio Spadavecchia, Yuval Semo
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What does freedom mean when pain is still present?
As Passover approaches, Dan Senor speaks with Rachel Goldberg-Polin about how this year’s Seder lands differently. In a moment shaped by war, loss, and uneasy relief, they explore how the rituals of Passover hold both joy and sorrow—and why that tension is the point.
From the Exodus story to the symbols on the Seder table, Rachel reflects on memory, meaning, gratitude, and the challenge of holding both relief and restraint. Less about retelling the past, this conversation asks what it means to be free right now.
In this episode:
02:24 – Why This Passover Feels Different
08:09 – Setting the Table: From Slavery to Nationhood
12:54 – What Actually Happens at the Seder
16:15 – The Power of Questions (and Why Answers Matter Less)
27:39 – Bitterness, Memory, and Eating Our Pain
37:06 – Relief vs. Glee: A Moral Distinction
39:06 – Dayenu and the Discipline of Gratitude
This episode was sponsored by the Jewish Communal Fund. Learn more about JCF’s donor advised funds at jcfny.org.
This episode was sponsored by Hadassah. Please go to Hadassah.org to make a gift that helps Hadassah continue its longstanding, life-changing support for the people in Israel.
Purchase tickets to see Dan in conversation with Rachel Goldberg-Polin at the Streicker Center on April 20.
More Ark Media:
Credits: Ilan Benatar, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Patricio Spadavecchia, Yuval Semo
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Are the stakes of the Iran war higher than Israelis understand?
Micah Goodman joins Dan to try and understand the different narratives that drive this war: Iran’s war against the West, the Iranian people’s war of liberation, the United States’ paradoxical relationship with Israel, and China’s hegemonic fantasies. While Israelis are primarily concerned with guaranteeing their own safety, Micah argues that the war puts all these narratives to the test, and that the stakes of winning (or losing) the war may define the future of the balance of power around the world.
In this episode:
- The “Great Convergence”: Why This War Is Different
- The U.S.-Israel Paradox
- America First and MAGA (Can Israel’s Military Beat Conspiracy Theories?)
- Trump’s War Doctrine: Strength Without Quagmire
- The Global Stakes: China, Iran, and Deterrence
- Zionism and the Bigger Meaning of This War
This episode was sponsored by Hadassah. Please go to Hadassah.org to make a gift that helps Hadassah continue its longstanding, life-changing support for the people in Israel.
Find Theodore Herzl's The Jewish State here.
More Ark Media:
Credits: Ilan Benatar, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Patricio Spadavecchia, Yuval Semo
For the full episode, subscribe here to Inside Call me Back
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This is a sneak peek from this week’s members-only Inside Call me Back, which started a special three-part series on Israel’s shadow war with Iran.
The current campaign against Iran is just one chapter in a much longer war that has been taking place in the shadows for over three decades. This is the story of that war.
In this first installment, Ronen Bergman tells Dan about the first stage of the war: from the intelligence that led to the discovery of the nuclear program to Mossad’s assassinations of Iran's nuclear scientists, to groundbreaking cyber warfare. But did it work?
For the full series, subscribe here to Inside Call me Back
More Ark Media:
Credits: Ilan Benatar, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Patricio Spadavecchia, Yuval Semo
This is a news update from Ark News Daily. Subscribe here to Ark News Daily
In this episode:
-Iran hits Qatari gas hub
-Israel fights back on the energy war
-Trump and Netanyahu see light in the end of the tunnel
-Do Jews support the war?
Mentioned in the episode:
-Nadav Eyal on Call me Back about the Strait of Hormuz blockade
-For Heaven's Sake on the Jewish world's response to the war
-NPR poll on Jewish support for the war
-Israel Democracy Institute poll on Israeli support for the war
-JPPI poll on Jewish support for the war
More Ark Media:
Credits:
Deborah Pardes, Andrew Tobin, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Patricio Spadavecchia, Yuval Semo
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Can the world’s most powerful militaries reopen the Strait of Hormuz…or is Iran already winning the economic war?
Eighteen days into Operation Epic Fury, Iran is increasing its pressure on the world’s energy supply chain. With the Strait of Hormuz effectively under lockdown, oil flows have slowed to a trickle, prices are rising, and the risk of broader escalation is growing. Ark Media contributor Nadav Eyal joins Dan to break down why America and Israel’s military superiority hasn’t been enough to reopen the strait, what Israel’s latest strike on Iran’s energy infrastructure signals, and whether the current campaign is quietly setting the stage for regime change.
In this episode:
06:18 – 18 Days Into War: Where Things Stand
12:48 – The consequences of Iran's selective-blockade
14:48 – Can the US reopen the Strait of Hormuz?
20:24 – The World’s Tepid Response
23:24 – Decapitating Iran’s Leadership
26:54 – Is Regime Change the Endgame?
This episode was sponsored by the Jewish Communal Fund. Learn more about JCF’s donor advised funds at jcfny.org.
Purchase tickets to see Dan in conversation with Rachel Goldberg-Polin at the Streicker Center on April 20.
More Ark Media:
Credits: Ilan Benatar, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Patricio Spadavecchia, Yuval Semo
This is a news update from Ark News Daily. Subscribe here to Ark News Daily
In this episode:
- Israel hits top regime figures
- Iranian regime showing cracks
- Iran keeps bombing neighbors
- Trump admin aide quits to protest war
More Ark Media:
Credits: Andrew Tobin, Deborah Pardes, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Patricio Spadavecchia, Yuval Semo
This is a news update from Ark News Daily. Subscribe here to Ark News Daily
In this episode:
- Trump shifts focus to Hormuz
- Israel plans to capture southern Lebanon
- Arab world losing patience with Iran
- Some Israeli schools open up
Listen to Nadav Eyal and Amit Segal on the latest Call me Back episode.
More Ark Media:
Credits:
Deborah Pardes - Host
Andrew Tobin - News Writer
Ilan Benatar, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Patricio Spadavecchia, Yuval Semo
Subscribe here to Ark News Daily
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What happens if the U.S. and Israel win the war militarily, but Iran’s regime survives?
Dan Senor is joined by Nadav Eyal and Amit Segal to assess where the war stands as it enters its third week. While U.S. and Israeli forces continue grinding down Iranian military infrastructure, the bigger questions are now economic and strategic, especially after Iran effectively weaponized the Strait of Hormuz and global energy markets.
They debate whether Washington and Jerusalem share the same endgame, what success would actually look like, and whether removing Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile could become the decisive turning point.
Subscribe here to Inside Call me Back
In this episode:
09:12 — The Current Phase of the War: Grinding Through Iranian Targets
09:42 — Iran’s Energy Gambit and the Strait of Hormuz Crisis
11:03 — Oil Markets, Global Pressure, and Trump’s Political Timeline
25:18 — The Strategic Debate Inside Washington and Jerusalem
28:00 — Israel’s Ultimate Goal: Regime Change in Tehran
30:48 — Could the U.S. End the War Before Israel Is Finished?
35:18 — The Enriched Uranium Question and the “Strategic Surprise” Scenario
37:00 — If the Regime Survives: Did the War Actually Change the Region?
More Ark Media:
Credits: Ilan Benatar, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Patricio Spadavecchia, Yuval Semo
Subscribe here to the What’s Your Number? podcast.
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In a Call me Back bonus episode, we’re publishing this week’s episode of Ark Media podcast What’s Your Number, co-hosted by Yonatan Adiri and Yael Wissner-Levy. This week, despite recording between air-raid sirens and shelter runs, Yael and Yonatan break down Iran’s emerging strategy of economic warfare. Instead of matching Israel and the U.S. militarily, Iran appears to be targeting global pressure points—oil and gas infrastructure, fertilizer supply chains, financial hubs, AI data centers, and the Strait of Hormuz—to drive up global costs and force political pressure. The question: can this strategy actually move markets and reshape the conflict?
In this episode:
00:00 - Numbers of the Week
05:00 - The WYNDEX
09:00 - Big Short #1: Lebanon signals a shift on Hezbollah
11:30 - Big Short #2: Israel’s budget politics and coalition stability
14:00 - Long Play: Iran’s economic warfare and the global energy stakes
38:40 - Words of the Week
More Ark Media:
Credits: Ilan Benatar, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Patricio Spadavecchia, Yuval Semo