Call Me Back - with Dan Senor

French unrest reveals a society fraying at the edges, leading its citizens toward both political extremes. France’s inability to address its economy, immigration issues, and rising antisemitism aren’t going away anytime soon—and similar issues could be seen throughout Europe soon. 

Dan Senor speaks with Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, joining from Paris, and journalist Michael Moynihan, about the forces converging on France, the difficult choices facing French Jews, and the rise of political movements on both the left and right. Beneath the immediate crisis lies a bigger question: can Europe sustain the social and economic model i...

The conventional wisdom is that the outcome comes down to two possibilities: Benjamin Netanyahu stays in power, or Gadi Eisenkot replaces him. But what if neither scenario happens? 

On this episode of Call Me Back, Dan Senor speaks with political analyst Gil Hoffman about three under-the-radar scenarios that could reshape Israel’s next government.

In this episode:

Could Eisenkot form a government without winning 61 seats? 

What role could President Isaac Herzog play in shaping the next government? 

Would a new and/or renewed war change the calculus for N...

Is this a turning point for Jews in America, and what happens if the country fails the test?

Recorded live at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, Dan Senor brings together New York Times columnist Bret Stephens and Representatives Josh Gottheimer and Hillary Scholten for a candid conversation about the rising tide of antisemitism, the political forces reshaping American life, and the choices facing Jews and their allies. 

In this live conversation:

Dan explains the three-step playbook behind the blood libel that still plays out today

Bret S...

The US seems to have won the Battle of Hormuz; what would it take to win the Iran War?

Seven months into the war, the US and Iran are locked in a high-stakes test of endurance, with the Strait of Hormuz, the global economy, and the future of the Middle East hanging in the balance. Dan Senor brings together two leading Iran experts, Mark Dubowitz and Suzanne Maloney, who sharply disagree on whether America is gaining the upper hand–or paying too steep of a strategic price. Their debate gets to the hardest question of al...

Dan Senor is joined by Yael Bar tur and ChayaLeah Sufrin, hosts of the new Ark Media podcast Chosen People Problems, for a wide-ranging Ask Me Anything. They tackle questions about the state of Jewish education, the appeal of anti-Zionism among young Americans, why Fauda is shaping perceptions of Israel globally, and what the rise of the European right means for Israel and Jews abroad.

In this episode:

What American Hebrew school gets wrong

Why anti-Zionism is resonating with young Americans

Will the language around “genocide” and anti-Zionism eventually chan...

What does it mean for diaspora Jews to move forward from October 7th without becoming complacent or consumed by fear?

Three years after October 7th, Dan Senor sits down with Rabbis David Ingber and David Wolpe to discuss what the aftermath has revealed about Jewish life in America. They discuss the growing sense of uncertainty among diaspora Jews, the tension between Jewish values and liberal democracy, the debate over Zionism, and how Jewish communities can respond with both moral clarity and openness.

In this episode:

Why October 8th became...

Dan Senor and Ark Media CEO Ilan Benatar announce Ark+, our expanded membership; The Fold, our new private community; and the network's newest show, Chosen People Problems.

Join Ark+ and The Fold: arkmedia.org/subscribe

More Ark Media:

Listen to: Call Me Back

Listen to: Ark News Daily

Listen to: For Heaven's Sake

Listen to: Chosen People Problems (May need a link once the title is changed)

Sign up for our weekly Newsletter 

Follow us on...

What really happened inside the negotiations to free the October 7th hostages?

For 15 months, the Biden administration, Israel, Qatar, Egypt, and Hamas negotiated over one impossible question: how do you bring the hostages home while also fighting a war? Brett McGurk, who was at the center of those talks, joins Dan Senor to take listeners inside the negotiating rooms—from the first backchannel with Qatar to the deals that repeatedly came within reach and fell apart. He explains what he believes Washington got wrong, why public pressure sometimes made negotiations harder, and how an unlikely Bi...

How do you turn October 7th into fiction when it still feels like the present?

For more than a decade, Fauda has turned the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a global television phenomenon. But Season 5 takes on something different: two episodes that put its fictional characters inside the events of October 7th, while the trauma is still very much alive. Dan sits down with Fauda creators Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff to discuss the responsibility of dramatizing a real catastrophe, what they chose to show—and leave unseen—and what happens when fiction begins to shape how the world reme...

Could the financial warfare playbook built to isolate Iran be turned against Israel?

Twenty-four hours after Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the UN, the organization expanded its settlement-business blacklist to more than 200 companies. It’s not a sanctions regime, but could it be the beginning of something much bigger? Dan sits down with Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who helped build the architecture used to isolate Iran, to discuss whether the same playbook could be used against Israel, how quickly targeted measures can escalate, and what Israel can do to stop it. 

Rea...

This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Dan and Amit Segal discuss the attack against  Ambassador Leiter’s son, generational shift in American attitudes toward Israel, why Amit sees different forces driving younger Democrats and Republicans, and what Israel may need to change in its relationship with the United States.

___

Call Me Back is made possible by our subscribers. If these conversations are where you turn to understand Israel and the Jewish world, consider joining them. It's what keeps this show going.

For the full episode, subs...

Is Israel’s growing isolation abroad becoming a political problem at home? 

As Benjamin Netanyahu heads to New York for a brief UN visit just weeks before Israel’s election, Israel’s standing in the United States is deteriorating, even as Netanyahu’s political position at home has improved. Dan is joined by Nadav Eyal and Amit Segal to ask whether Israeli voters see the country’s growing international isolation with the same urgency as diaspora Jews, and how that divide is shaping an increasingly complicated election.

Read Rep. Brad Sherman’s warning about declining American supp...

Can Israel confront what went wrong in Gaza when the accusations leave no room for conversation?

In this special replay of For Heaven’s Sake, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi take on Naza, the explosive Israeli film accusing Israel of systematically disregarding civilian casualties in Gaza. After receiving a nearly 25-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, the film has ignited a firestorm over what happened in Gaza and how Israel’s conduct of the war should be judged. Donniel and Yossi wrestle with how to confront legitimate questions about Israel’s actions while rejecting a narr...

Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jerusalem fell after political and religious divisions among Jews spiraled into civil war. As Israel heads toward another election after years of political upheaval, October 7 and war, Dan speaks with filmmaker Gidi Dar and Rabbi David Stav, a leading voice in Israel’s religious Zionist community, about the history depicted in Dar’s film, Legend of Destruction, and its echoes in Israel today. Where does the comparison hold, where does it break down, and can Israelis learn from the past before their divisions become even harder to bridge?

This episode features extended scenes from Lege...

What happens when winning the war against terrorism leads us to forget why we were fighting it? 

Twenty-five years after the terror attacks of September 11, America has avoided another mass attack, but Manhattan Institute senior fellow and Free Press columnist Douglas Murray argues that success has come with different dangers: complacency, amnesia and turning many Americans against their own country. In a live conversation at the Manhattan Institute on September 8, Dan and Douglas look at what the West has forgotten about 9/11, why fringe conspiracy theories and anti-Western ideas have taken hold, and what Israel’s response to Oct...

Did Israel have enough warnings to prevent the devastation of the October 7th Hamas attacks?

A new Haaretz investigative report alleges that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed personally called to warn Benjamin Netanyahu days before October 7 that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a major operation, a report Netanyahu’s office calls “an absolute lie.” Dan is joined by Amit Segal and Nadav Eyal who debate the credibility and significance of the story, whether another warning could have changed Israel’s response, and if it will impact Israeli elections.

Read the report in Haaretz.

Get yo...

What if Yom Kippur isn’t the peak of the Jewish holiday season, but the beginning of something more joyful?

The Jewish holidays of Tishrei take us on a journey from judgement and reflection to vulnerability, gratitude and ultimately joy. Dan and Rachel Goldberg-Polin continue their annual exploration of the Jewish calendar and look at what Sukkot and Simchat Torah teach us about what really matters. They also reflect on what it means to hold onto that joy when Simchat Torah is now forever intertwined with October 7.

Get your tickets to a live taping of Ca...

This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Today, Dan himself answers listener questions about whether extreme views about a One State solution in Israel will find adherents because moderates don’t have a concrete plan, what it would take to find consensus for creating a Palestinian entity, and why the upcoming Israeli elections are clouding the issue.

___

Call Me Back is made possible by our subscribers. If these conversations are where you turn to understand Israel and the Jewish world, consider joining them. It's what keeps this show go...

Is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict really at the center of the Middle East?

In Part 2 of Dan’s conversation with historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The Cauldron, they trace how the balance of power in the Middle East shifted after 9/11, from Iran’s rise and its network of proxies to the emergence of Israel, Iran and Turkey as the region’s dominant military powers. They also ask whether the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has obscured a much larger struggle for power across the region, and what history can tell us about the possibility of peace.

Purchase a copy o...

How much of the Middle East’s history was actually shaped by the West?

The story most of us learned about who created the modern Middle East is incomplete. Dan is joined by historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The Cauldron, who argues that we give Western powers too much credit and the people of the region too little agency. In Part I of their conversation, they trace the forces that shaped the region, from the Ottoman legacy and the rise of nationalism to the Iranian Revolution and Islamism.

Purchase a copy of Simon’s book...

How much of the Middle East’s history was actually shaped by the West?

The story most of us learned about who created the modern Middle East is incomplete. Dan is joined by historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The Cauldron, who argues that we give Western powers too much credit and the people of the region too little agency. In Part I of their conversation, they trace the forces that shaped the region, from the Ottoman legacy and the rise of nationalism to the Iranian Revolution and Islamism.

Purchase a copy of Simon’s book...

This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Dan is joined by Ark Media contributor Amit Segal to answer a listener question about the column he wrote calling Ben Gvir a disaster for Israel, why he holds Smotrich to a different standard, and why he argues that Israel pays an international price for a minister who sells publicity while delivering almost nothing on policy.

___

Call Me Back is made possible by our subscribers. If these conversations are where you turn to understand Israel and the Jewish world, consider joining...

This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Dan is joined by Ark Media contributor Amit Segal to answer a listener question about the column he wrote calling Ben Gvir a disaster for Israel, why he holds Smotrich to a different standard, and why he argues that Israel pays an international price for a minister who sells publicity while delivering almost nothing on policy.

___

Call Me Back is made possible by our subscribers. If these conversations are where you turn to understand Israel and the Jewish world, consider joining...

 With a weaker Iran, do Turkey’s regional ambitions put it on a collision course with Israel?

Dan and Nadav Eyal analyze the shifting dynamics in the Middle East, focusing on whether Turkey’s President Erdogan aspires to become a regional superpower given the vacuum left by a weaker Iran. They discuss whether Turkey’s military is trying to move further into Syria, crossing what Israel considers a “red line,” Israel’s recent response, and the emerging Sunni axis between Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.

—-

Get your tickets to a live taping of Call me Back...

 With a weaker Iran, do Turkey’s regional ambitions put it on a collision course with Israel?

Dan and Nadav Eyal analyze the shifting dynamics in the Middle East, focusing on whether Turkey’s President Erdogan aspires to become a regional superpower given the vacuum left by a weaker Iran. They discuss whether Turkey’s military is trying to move further into Syria, crossing what Israel considers a “red line,” Israel’s recent response, and the emerging Sunni axis between Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.

—-

Get your tickets to a live taping of Call me Back...

How will current issues or past discrimination against Mizrahi Israelis influence this election?

Dan and sociologist Mijal Bitton discuss the history, identity, and political narratives of Mizrahi Jews—whose families came to Israel from across the Middle East and North Africa—and how those narratives continue to shape Israeli politics. They unpack the factors of historical discrimination by an Ashkenazi elite, questions of economic opportunity, dignity and belonging of the Mizrahi community, and the Mizrahi devotion to maintaining the Jewish character of the state of Israel.

—-

Get your tickets to a li...

How will current issues or past discrimination against Mizrahi Israelis influence this election?

Dan and sociologist Mijal Bitton discuss the history, identity, and political narratives of Mizrahi Jews—whose families came to Israel from across the Middle East and North Africa—and how those narratives continue to shape Israeli politics. They unpack the factors of historical discrimination by an Ashkenazi elite, questions of economic opportunity, dignity and belonging of the Mizrahi community, and the Mizrahi devotion to maintaining the Jewish character of the state of Israel.

—-

Get your tickets to a live...

This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Dan is joined by Jon Polin to answer questions from young Jewish adults and teenagers about how to reconcile personal Zionism with those who commit violence against Palestinians in the name of Zionism. They also discuss the pressures and  social costs faced by American young people who stand up for Israel and how to handle some of those tough conversations.

Learn more about Jon’s new project, Foundry 515 here.

Beyond Dispute by Daniel Taub

Man's Search for Meaning by Vik...

This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Dan is joined by Jon Polin to answer questions from young Jewish adults and teenagers about how to reconcile personal Zionism with those who commit violence against Palestinians in the name of Zionism. They also discuss the pressures and  social costs faced by American young people who stand up for Israel and how to handle some of those tough conversations.

Learn more about Jon’s new project, Foundry 515 here.

Beyond Dispute by Daniel Taub

Man's Search for Meaning by Vik...

Why have the classical liberal ideas that helped emancipate the Jews become so vulnerable?

Dan is joined by Jonah Goldberg of The Dispatch to ask why classical liberalism, which is the political tradition that embraces equality, individual rights and restraints on government, has become so vulnerable. They discuss how the terms liberal, progressive and socialist got confused, and why they think the DSA agenda will fail. Goldberg also explains the economic and cultural forces he sees fueling populism on the left and right, whether America’s liberal tradition is strong enough to withstand them, and what its er...

Why have the classical liberal ideas that helped emancipate the Jews become so vulnerable?

Dan is joined by Jonah Goldberg of The Dispatch to ask why classical liberalism, which is the political tradition that embraces equality, individual rights and restraints on government, has become so vulnerable. They discuss how the terms liberal, progressive and socialist got confused, and why they think the DSA agenda will fail. Goldberg also explains the economic and cultural forces he sees fueling populism on the left and right, whether America’s liberal tradition is strong enough to withstand them, and what its er...

What will it take to confront antisemitism at America’s elite universities?

Dan is joined by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, whose 2023 questioning of three Ivy League university presidents became a defining moment in the debate over antisemitism on college campuses. Drawing from her new book, Poisoned Ivies, Stefanik argues that the crisis reflects decades of systemic ideological bias, failed leadership and money from Arab countries buying academic influence. They discuss what it will take to confront antisemitism at America’s elite universities, and whether government intervention risks creating new problems of its own.

Purchase Congresswoman Elise Stef...

What will it take to confront antisemitism at America’s elite universities?

Dan is joined by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, whose 2023 questioning of three Ivy League university presidents became a defining moment in the debate over antisemitism on college campuses. Drawing from her new book, Poisoned Ivies, Stefanik argues that the crisis reflects decades of systemic ideological bias, failed leadership and money from Arab countries buying academic influence. They discuss what it will take to confront antisemitism at America’s elite universities, and whether government intervention risks creating new problems of its own.

Purchase Congresswoman Elise Stef...

This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Dan is joined by Ark Media contributor Nadav Eyal to answer listener questions about the growing number of highly educated Israelis leaving the country, why Nadav believes it's not just military conflicts driving them away, and the deeper issues facing Israeli society.
___

Call Me Back is made possible by our subscribers. If these conversations are where you turn to understand Israel and the Jewish world, consider joining them. It's what keeps this show going.

For the full episode, subscribe here...

This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Dan is joined by Ark Media contributor Nadav Eyal to answer listener questions about the growing number of highly educated Israelis leaving the country, why Nadav believes it's not just military conflicts driving them away, and the deeper issues facing Israeli society. ___

Call Me Back is made possible by our subscribers. If these conversations are where you turn to understand Israel and the Jewish world, consider joining them. It's what keeps this show going.

For the full episode, subscribe here to...

Why has antisemitism endured and how can Jews effectively combat it?

Dan is joined by author Dara Horn to discuss her new book, The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living. Five years after her book People Love Dead Jews diagnosed how society relates to Jewish suffering, Horn now addresses what can be done about it. She explains how AI is systematically targeting Jews, why traditional efforts to fight antisemitism are failing and outlines an approach to find a solution that could finally change everything. 

Explore Dara Horn’s new Tel...

Why has antisemitism endured and how can Jews effectively combat it?

Dan is joined by author Dara Horn to discuss her new book, The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living. Five years after her book People Love Dead Jews diagnosed how society relates to Jewish suffering, Horn now addresses what can be done about it. She explains how AI is systematically targeting Jews, why traditional efforts to fight antisemitism are failing and outlines an approach to find a solution that could finally change everything. 

Explore Dara Horn’s new Tel...