In this episode, Guy Ziv, School of International Service professor and associate director of American University’s Meltzer Schwartzberg Center for Israel Studies, joins Big World to discuss democracy in Israel, the political longevity of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and current protests over Netanyahu’s attempts to limit the power of Israel’s highest court.

Ziv, who teaches courses on US foreign policy, international negotiations, US-Israel relations, and Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, begins our discussion by explaining how Netanyahu is a “political magician” (2:02). Ziv also analyzes the parallels between Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial and the indictments against former US President Donald Trump (6:03) and discusses the results of Israel’s November 2022 election, in which Netanyahu led a far-right coalition to win the majority of the 120 seats in Israel’s legislature, the Knesset (11:44).

Why was the judicial overhaul plan passed by the Knesset in July so significant (14:19)? How are less conservative segments of the Jewish population in Israel responding to Netanyahu’s efforts to weaken Israel’s judiciary (19:18)? Ziv answers these questions and discusses recent tensions in Israel’s military caused by the judicial overhaul plan (25:22). To close out the discussion, Ziv gives our listeners a preview of his upcoming book titled Netanyahu vs the Generals: The Battle for Israel’s Future (28:41).

In the “Take 5” segment (22:17) of this episode, Ziv answers the question: What are five policy recommendations for the Biden administration in terms of its response to the Netanyahu government’s controversial actions?

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