The Deep Dive is The Jerusalem Post's flagship podcast series, hosted by Jacob Laznik.
Each week, we review the top stories, put an up-close lens on a major topic, and dissect the main story of the week.
Too late for Netanyahu's blitz? Top pollster says minds are made up
With less than a week until Israelis vote, a leading election pollster argues Netanyahu isn't trying to win – he's trying not to lose.
Fresh off a Trump endorsement and a late blitz of Israeli TV interviews, Netanyahu is making his final push. But JPPI senior fellow and Channel 13 pollster Shmuel Rosner tells Deep Dive's host, Jacob Laznik, that most voters made up their minds long ago, shaped by the judicial overhaul, October 7 and years of war.
"Netanyahu doesn't expect a win. He expects not to lose," he says, describing a defensive strategy designed to deny the opposition a workable coalition and force yet another election.
The conversation covers the race to 61 seats and the odds of a minority or unity government, including the scenario in which President Herzog brokers a plea deal that lets Netanyahu step aside.
He also addresses whether a new round with Iran could reshape the vote, why Trump endorses allies like Netanyahu and Orbán at no cost to himself, and why Israel's election system remains one of the few institutions Israelis still trust. "There are many good things in America that Israel can imitate," he warns. "That's one of the things we should not imitate."
15 Oct 2026
Can't vote in Israel? 'The main way to influence is through giving'
Giving through JGive is now more than four times its pre-October 7 level. Founder and CEO Ori Ben-Shlomo on whether Israel-diaspora solidarity can last.
Three years after October 7, the surge in giving to Israel hasn't faded; it has kept climbing.
Ben-Shlomo says JGive expects more than a quarter of a million Israeli and diaspora donors this year, giving a combined half a billion shekels. The bigger shift, he argues, is cultural: "Before October 7, the third sector was nice to have. Now it's a must-have."
With elections approaching and many diaspora Jews unable to vote, he makes a provocative case: "Politics divides people, and giving connects them." In his view, philanthropy can shape Israeli society more than politics does.
Ben-Shlomo founded JGive after reserve duty in Operation Protective Edge in 2014. In this conversation, he explains how donors moved from the old "Uncle Sam" model of writing a check to an institution toward direct, transparent giving, often alongside Israelis rather than for them.
He also takes on a hard question: how diaspora communities are balancing support for Israel against the rising cost of protecting themselves from antisemitism at home. He shares the story of a wounded reservist who used his own rehab to fundraise for his hospital roommate, and he lays out his vision for Israel's "fourth power": a strong civil society, built alongside defense, the economy, and technology.
8 Oct 2026
Flydubai passenger: 'We all thought we were going to die'
Uri Pintov was flying home from Thailand with his wife and three children when flydubai flight FZ1073 suddenly plunged toward the desert. Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief, Zvika Klein, filling in this week for host Jacob Laznik, investigates further.
Sitting in row 9, just behind business class, Pintov describes being pinned to the cabin floor during the dive, then helping restrain the attacker with airline headphones and carrying oxygen to the badly wounded captain. "We all realized we were going to die," he says. For 90 minutes after that, the Israeli passengers didn't know where the plane was going or whom to trust, so they posted a guard on every crew member until the aircraft landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. He also explains why so many families hesitated to board flydubai's replacement plane, and what he wants from Israeli officials now.
In the second half, Jerusalem Post senior Middle East analyst Seth J. Frantzman takes on the bigger questions. He looks at why reserve pilots were on board, how emergency codes work, and how a pilot reportedly dismissed by Oman Air could end up in a flydubai cockpit. He also warns against learning "the wrong lesson" from the attack. Frantzman calls flydubai "one of the crown jewels of the Abraham Accords," explains why Saudi Arabia would not let Israeli aircraft collect the passengers, and gives a frank assessment of what stands in the way of Saudi-Israeli normalization.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Contact The Deep Dive
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
