Day 819 - Haviv Rettig Gur with 6 projections for Israel in 2026
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 January 2026
⏱️ 67 minutes
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Summary
Welcome to The Times of Israel's Lazar Focus. Each Friday, catch diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.
This week, while Berman was in Florida to cover the summit between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan invited senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur to sit in the hot seat and prepare five scenarios for Israel for 2026.
Rettig Gur came prepared -- plus one -- and the two spend the first half discussing the three main fronts of the war, Lebanon, Gaza and Iran.
In the second half, we learn about more domestic/political issues, including Rettig Gur's projection that Israel will begin to wean itself from US aid as the political winds shift in the States.
Lazar Focus can be found on all podcast platforms. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.
IMAGE: A man walks down to the Western Wall as the Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound appears in the background in the Old City of Jerusalem on December 4, 2025. (JOHN WESSELS / AFP)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's Laser Focus. I'm your host Amanda Borschal Dan, here with |
| 0:08.8 | not Laser, here with Khabiv Rettigur. Laser is in the United States with our prime minister, |
| 0:16.2 | Benjamin Netanyahu. And so, Kaviv is in, and we are kind of babysitting the laser focus this week, |
| 0:23.2 | Khabi. So Kaviv, thank you so much for joining me today. Great to be here, Amanda. Laser is |
| 0:28.5 | having fun in Miami while we have to go through the cold rain of the Jerusalem Hills. |
| 0:34.7 | That's right. Life is so unfair. But Kaviv, I mean, as a man who has his own named podcast, it might be a little strange to |
| 0:43.9 | have somebody else hosting, Chaviv knows everything, or what's the name of your podcast? |
| 0:49.2 | Ask Chaviv anything. I know. I'm just kidding. Luckily, Chaviv gets to choose the question, |
| 0:54.0 | so, you know, |
| 0:55.7 | he doesn't, he sounds like he knows everything because he chooses what to answer. That's, |
| 1:00.0 | that's the important thing. That's the key. If you're starting your own podcast, make sure you |
| 1:04.4 | get to pick the topic. 100%. And one day, I aspire to having my own podcast named after |
| 1:10.2 | moa. But in the meantime, I'm so happy to be here. |
| 1:14.0 | Aren't your deputy editor of the Times of Israel in charge of all the podcasts? I know. And I actually |
| 1:17.8 | picked all the names. So it's my own. You could have this, Amanda. This is a choice. |
| 1:22.5 | One day. One day. In any case, Khabib, thank you so much for joining me on the laser focus. And I actually |
| 1:29.9 | gave you some homework. So listeners, we are going to hear about Kaviv's very own projections |
| 1:36.8 | for 2026. This is the year we're about to enter as we're recording and will have entered |
| 1:43.7 | when this has |
| 1:44.4 | been released, Chaviv's projections for Israel for 2026. So we're going to dive into them |
| 1:51.8 | when we're back. And we're back. I am Amanda Barshall, Dan, here with our senior analyst, |
| 2:00.3 | Chaviv Rettigur. And Chaviv, I am Amanda Barshall Dan here with our senior analyst, Chaviv Retegur. |
... |
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