Middle East
Sh#tshow
From Tel Aviv, a former Mossad official and his daughter talk about Middle East conflicts and strategies.
Latest episode · October 31, 2026
Israel Just Voted. Get Ready to Vote Again.
Why would towns on the front lines of three years of war vote for the government that led it? Daniella and Yossi Alpher look at what Israel’s October 27 election says about the country, from the loyalty of Netanyahu’s base to what Yossi calls a right-wing, increasingly religious Israel to a record turnout of Arab citizens. Yossi explains why nobody has the votes to govern, why every deal on the table is fragile, and…
The analyst, and father
Yossi Alpher
A consultant and writer on Israel-related strategic issues, Yossi Alpher is the author of the prize-winning Winners and Losers in the ‘Arab Spring’: Profiles in Chaos (Routledge, 2020); Periphery: Israel's Search for Middle East Allies and No End of Conflict: Rethinking Israel-Palestine (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015 and 2016, respectively).
Alpher served in the Israel Defense Forces as an intelligence officer, followed by service in the Mossad in operational and analytical roles. From 1981 to 1995 he was associated with the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, ultimately serving as director of the center. From 2001 to 2012 he was coeditor, with Ghassan Khatib, of the bitterlemons family of internet publications.
The interviewer, and daughter
Daniella Alpher
A tech executive marketing cybersecurity and AI in the Israeli tech sector; formerly a television producer at ABC News in New York.
Start here
- Ep. 20Not My ZionismA listener in New York asked how Yossi became a Zionist, and what he makes of the word now. The answer starts in Washington D.C. in the mid-1950s, with a Jewish education in which the Holocaust took up two sentences and…
- Ep. 14The Gofman Case: What Makes a Head of MossadWhat does it take to lead the Mossad? In this episode, Daniella and Yossi Alpher trace the history of Israel’s intelligence leadership through stories of controversial appointments, unexpected successes, operational…
- Ep. 10A Heart Attack, Missile Alerts, and the Iran WarIn this episode, Daniella and Yossi Alpher record remotely in the middle of the war with Iran after Yossi suffers a mild heart attack and undergoes emergency catheterization under missile alerts. From the hospital, the…
Recent episodes
- Ep. 23 flydubai, October 7 and the Warnings Israel Ignored Over Yossi Alpher's desk hangs a parchment the Mossad gave him, quoting Ezekiel: if the watchman sees the sword coming and doesn't blow the trumpet, he answers for the blood. Why do surprise attacks succeed when the…
- Ep. 22 Middle East Conflict 101: From the Romans to October 7, Nobody Comes Out of This Looking Good Yossi Alpher is a Mossad veteran, and he doesn't spare Israel. He says the mistake of 1967 was not the conquest but staying, that Jerusalem was never really reunited, and that Netanyahu's government has backed settlers…
- Ep. 21 Everyone Has a Base at Bab al-Mandeb The Houthis now control Bab al-Mandeb, which means they control whether Saudi oil leaves the Red Sea. Yossi Alpher has stood on that coastline. In 1981 he traveled through Somalia, visited Hargeisa and the port of…
- Ep. 20 Not My Zionism A listener in New York asked how Yossi became a Zionist, and what he makes of the word now. The answer starts in Washington D.C. in the mid-1950s, with a Jewish education in which the Holocaust took up two sentences and…
- Ep. 19 Sixteen Tons of Concrete: What a Quiet August Actually Means August is quiet, and Yossi doesn't trust it. He and Daniella map the fronts: Syria's new president signaling accommodation over the Golan Heights, settler violence turning the West Bank into the region's real…
- Ep. 18 Every Front Is Quiet but One Gaza is quiet. Lebanon is quiet. Even Iran, from Israel's standpoint, is quiet. So why does the West Bank look like it's being set alight on purpose? Daniella and Yossi examine the fear that Netanyahu wants conflict…