How Netanyahu Prolonged the Gaza War, and the F.B.I.’s Loyalty Test

Summary

The Headlines: How Netanyahu Prolonged the Gaza War, and the F.B.I.’s Loyalty Test

Release Date: July 11, 2025

Host: Tracy Mumford
Reporter Spotlight: Patrick Kingsley, Trip Mickel

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1. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's Role in Prolonging the Gaza War

Key Insights: The New York Times investigation reveals how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has deliberately extended the conflict in Gaza to secure his political position. By prioritizing his political survival over national interests, Netanyahu has navigated the war to maintain power.

Detailed Findings:

• Political Vulnerability: Following the Hamas attack on October 7, Netanyahu faced significant political instability. The Times uncovered that he disregarded multiple warnings during the summer about potential attacks, which could have undermined his leadership. Instead, he shifted blame onto Israel’s security chiefs to divert public criticism. (Timestamp: 00:57)

• Alliances with Far-Right Factions: Netanyahu fortified his position by allying with Israel’s far-right ministers and parties that advocate for aggressive actions against Hamas. This coalition has influenced his decisions regarding ceasefires and military strategies in Gaza.

• Ceasefire Compromises: An instance highlighted was Netanyahu’s initial agreement to a ceasefire last year. However, under pressure from a far-right minister threatening to dissolve his government, Netanyahu reversed his stance, demonstrating a pattern of prioritizing political alliances over peace efforts. (Timestamp: 02:04 – 03:07)

Notable Quote: Patrick Kingsley states, “Netanyahu has stayed in power by allying himself with Israel's far right. These are ministers and parties that want Israel to take the most aggressive stance possible to Hamas.” (Timestamp: 02:04)

2. Escalating Tensions in California Over Immigration Crackdown

Key Insights: President Trump's administration has intensified efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, leading to increased confrontations between federal agents and protesters in California.

Detailed Findings:

• Recent Clashes: On July 10, protests erupted near Camarillo as federal agents conducted raids on a cannabis farm, resulting in tear gas deployment and multiple arrests of demonstrators. (Timestamp: 03:07 – 04:00)

• Controversial Tactics: The use of masks by agents to protect their identities has sparked criticism, with Democratic lawmakers arguing that this practice hinders accountability. The Department of Homeland Security defends the measure as protection against doxing and harassment. (Timestamp: 04:00 – 05:00)

• Legislative Response: In response to the opaque practices, some lawmakers are advocating for bans on face coverings during raids to ensure transparency and accountability of federal operations.

3. FBI's Increased Use of Polygraph Tests as a Loyalty Measure

Key Insights: The FBI has ramped up its use of polygraph examinations to assess the loyalty of its agents, raising concerns about the politicization of such measures.

Detailed Findings:

• Expanded Polygraph Use: Traditionally employed for security clearances, polygraphs are now being used more aggressively to detect disloyalty, including probing if agents have spoken negatively about FBI Director Cash Patel. (Timestamp: 05:00 – 07:46)

• Internal Opposition: Former FBI officials describe this practice as “politically charged and highly inappropriate,” emphasizing that an agent’s loyalty should lie with the Constitution, not the director. (Timestamp: 06:00)

• FBI’s Stance: The FBI has declined to comment on the investigation, maintaining their defensive position on the legitimacy of their methods.

Notable Quote: A former bureau official remarked, “An FBI employee's loyalty is to the Constitution, not to the director.” (Timestamp: 06:00)

4. Justice Department's Push Against Transgender Medical Care for Minors

Key Insights: The Justice Department is actively pursuing confidential patient information from over 20 medical providers offering gender-related treatments to minors, signaling a coordinated effort to restrict transgender medical services.

Detailed Findings:

• Targeted Subpoenas: The DOJ has issued subpoenas to doctors and hospitals, though specifics about the targeted institutions remain undisclosed. This move reflects broader governmental attempts to curtail transgender healthcare access.

• Impact on Medical Providers: At least two hospitals in Los Angeles and Pittsburgh have ceased their youth gender clinics due to heightened pressure, impacting the availability of necessary medical care for transgender minors.

Notable Quote: An expert in psychedelic research highlighted a similar pattern, stating, “In just over a decade, we've put the species at risk of extinction, all in the name of healing and expansion of consciousness.” (Timestamp: 09:16)

5. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Raises Concerns About U.S. Democracy

Key Insights: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has publicly voiced concerns regarding the state of American democracy, sparking debates about the Supreme Court's role and impartiality.

Detailed Findings:

• Public Alarm: At a public speaking event, Justice Jackson emphasized the need for public engagement and vigilance in safeguarding democracy. (Timestamp: 05:00 – 07:46)

• Critical Judicial Opinions: Over the current term, Jackson authored several opinions critiquing her conservative counterparts, a departure from traditional judicial restraint. A law professor noted that her writings appear to “break the fourth wall,” signaling a more overt stance on political issues.

Notable Quote: Justice Jackson stated, “I am really very interested in getting people to focus and to invest and to pay attention to what is happening in our country and in our government.” (Timestamp: 05:00 – 07:46)

6. Nvidia Breaks Ground with $4 Trillion Valuation, Heralding an AI Revolution

Key Insights: Nvidia has achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first public company valued at $4 trillion, marking a significant shift towards an AI-driven era in computing.

Detailed Findings:

• Market Dominance: Nvidia controls over 80% of the AI chip market, a critical component for current and future AI systems. (Timestamp: 07:46 – 08:19)

• Investor Confidence: The company's surge is fueled by strong investor belief in the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, likened to the economic impact of the industrial revolution. (Timestamp: 08:07 – 08:59)

Notable Quote: Trip Mickel remarked, “What we've seen in recent months is a real conviction among investors that AI is here to stay and that it has the potential... to bring forward an economic transformation that rivals the industrial revolution.” (Timestamp: 08:07)

7. Decline of the Sonoran Desert Toad Amidst Psychedelic Exploitation

Key Insights: The Sonoran Desert toad faces extinction as its psychoactive secretions become a sought-after commodity in the psychedelic community, leading to overharvesting and habitat depletion.

Detailed Findings:

• Rising Demand: Once a quiet denizen of Mexico’s deserts, the toad gained notoriety for its psychedelic compounds, attracting enthusiasts and leading to mass trapping and selling. (Timestamp: 08:59 – 09:12)

• Environmental Impact: Scientific research indicates a steep decline in toad populations over the past decade, pushing the species toward extinction. (Timestamp: 09:13 – 09:16)

• Alternative Solutions: Advocates suggest promoting synthetic alternatives to mitigate the pressure on natural toad populations, emphasizing the urgency to preserve the species for ecological balance. (Timestamp: 09:12 – 09:16)

Notable Quote: A psychedelic research expert warned, “In just over a decade, we've put the species at risk of extinction, all in the name of healing and expansion of consciousness.” (Timestamp: 09:16)

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Conclusion

This episode of The Headlines delves deep into critical global and national issues, from geopolitical maneuvers in the Middle East and domestic immigration policies to the evolving dynamics within federal agencies and the Supreme Court. Additionally, it highlights significant technological advancements and environmental concerns, providing listeners with a comprehensive overview of the current state of affairs.

For a full exploration of these stories, visit nytimes.com.

Transcript

[Noah Chestnut]

Hey, it's Noah Chestnut from the Athletic. If you're into games and sports, pay attention. I'm gonna give you four sports terms. You tell me the common thread. Ready? Game, Match, point, set. This one's kind of a gimme. The answer is how tennis is scored. Do you want more of a challenge? Check out Connections Sports Edition. It's a new daily game for sports fans to play. Now go to theathletic.com connection.

[Tracy Mumford]

From the new York Times, it's the Headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Friday, July 11th. Here's what we're covering. A new investigation from the Times just out this morning, traces how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has prolonged the war in Gaza to stay in power.

[Patrick Kingsley]

We talked to more than 110 officials in Israel, the US across the Arab world. We got a hold of meeting notes, war plans, messages between officials. And overall, we found a pattern of behavior that shows how, even as Netanyahu has maintained that he's prioritizing Israel's national interest, what he has also often done at key moments is to prioritize his own political standing.

[Tracy Mumford]

Patrick Kingsley is the Times Jerusalem bureau chief. He says after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Netanyahu was incredibly vulnerable politically. The Times found he'd ignored repeated warnings that summer that Israel's enemies, including Hamas, might be planning an attack. It was damning information that could have turned the country against him. But Netanyahu moved to change the narrative. He blamed Israel's security chiefs instead. Patrick says that was the first hint of what Netanyahu was willing to do to preserve his position as the country's leader, and that that effort has continued.

[Patrick Kingsley]

Netanyahu has stayed in power by allying himself with Israel's far right. These are ministers and parties that want Israel to take the most aggressive stance possible to Hamas. Some of them want to push out all the Palestinians and see Israel take full control of the territory. And we found that Netanyahu factored all of that into the negotiations about ceasefires in Gaza. And at one crucial point last year, for example, Netanyahu had even agreed to a compromise that could have halted the war. But what we found was that he folded. He reversed course following an explosive cabinet meeting in which a key far right minister threatened to collapse Netanyahu's government. And that moment reflects calculations that we found he made repeatedly over the last year and a half, and which is still among the factors driving his decisions about what will happen in Gaza.

[Tracy Mumford]

Netanyahu's office has declined multiple requests for comment, but In a statement yesterday, the prime minister said the war had dragged on because of the complexity of the battlefield in Gaza and what he framed as the need to definitively defeat Hamas. You can find the full [e-mail] In California, tensions are escalating around President Trump's drastic crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Yesterday, protesters clashed with authorities near Camarillo. Outside of Los Angeles, agents were carrying out an immigration raid on a sprawling cannabis farm when protesters showed up yelling at officers and blocking the road. Authorities responded with tear gas and took multiple demonstrators into custody. They also arrested 10 people who they said were in the country illegally. The clash was the latest confrontation between protesters and federal agents in the state, which has become a key target in the administration's push to deport undocumented immigrants. The recent aggressive tactics by immigration agents have been criticized by Democratic lawmakers around the country, some of whom say they're particularly concerned that the agents are concealing their identities. Authorities have frequently been covering their faces with masks and balaclavas as they carry out raids and make arrests. The Department of Homeland Security says they're trying to protect themselves from being doxed and harassed. But critics say that without knowing officers identities, it's impossible to hold anyone accountable. Some lawmakers are now looking to ban authorities from wearing face masks in most cases. Now, three quick updates from Washington the Times has learned that at the FBI, the agency has significantly stepped up its use of polygraph tests on its own agents. The lie detection screenings are widely used at national security agencies for things like background checks, but the FBI has been increasingly using them to test for loyalty and to try to root out anyone who may have spoken to the media. Multiple senior officials have been asked during screenings if they've ever said anything negative about FBI Director Cash Patel. Former bureau officials told the Times the aggressive new use of polygraphs is politically charged and highly inappropriate, with one saying, quote, an FBI employee's loyalty is to the Constitution, not to the director. The FBI declined to comment. Also, the Justice Department is demanding confidential patient information from more than 20 doctors and hospitals that provide gender related treatment to minors. It's not immediately clear which hospitals and doctors they've targeted with subpoenas or if the providers will release any information. But the move underscores the coordinated effort between the White House and federal law enforcement to roll back transgender medical care. At least two hospitals in LA and Pittsburgh have recently shut down their youth gender clinics altogether, citing that pressure. And what keeps you up at night? I would say the state of our democracy at a public speaking event yesterday, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made brief but striking comments about how she sees the US Right now. I am, I am really very interested in getting people to focus and to invest and to pay attention to what is happening in our country and in our government. During the court's most recent term, the liberal justice wrote an unusually large number of opinions that included sharp criticism of her conservative colleagues rulings. She's claimed that the court placed its thumb on the scale in favor of President Trump and that it's endangered American democracy. One law professor told the Times that in Jackson's written opinions, she appeared to be trying to sound a public alarm about how the court's been ruling, saying, quote, she's breaking the fourth wall. Speaking beyond the court On Thursday, the computer chip giant Nvidia made Wall street history. It became the first public company ever to be valued at $4 trillion.

[Trip Mickel]

This is a real changing of the guard in the business landscape. Ever since 2011, one company and one company alone has dominated the top of the stock market, and that is Apple. But what we're seeing here with Nvidia is a transition to a new age of computing, and that is the age of AI.

[Tracy Mumford]

Trip Mickel covers Silicon Valley for the Times. He says the company has been able to pull off its meteoric rise because it controls more than 80% of the market for the chips that are the backbone of AI systems.

[Trip Mickel]

What we've seen in recent months is a real conviction among investors that AI is here to stay and that it has the potential, like Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang has talked about for many years now, to bring forward an economic transformation that rivals the industrial revolution. And if that proves to be true, no one who is an investor in Wall street wants to miss out on the opportunity to be a beneficiary of that.

[Tracy Mumford]

And finally, the Sonoran Desert toad used to be able to just go about its business in the wilds of Mexico, hopping around, eating bugs, living its best toad life until about a decade ago.

[Patrick Kingsley]

You all may not know about this.

[Donald Trump]

But there are actually psychoactive toads out there.

[Tracy Mumford]

Suddenly, the toad's superpower was headline news. A flood of coverage focused on the psychedelic compound that it secretes as a defense mechanism. Even though scientists had known about it since the 60s, it became a new obsession for people looking to get high. False narratives sprung up about how toad medicine was an ancient indigenous practice in the Sonoran Desert, though there's no evidence to self described shamans and new age healers started selling the drug offering ceremonies around it. Toad churches began popping up in California, Texas, Minnesota. People in Mexico began trapping the toads en masse, keeping them in buckets to sell to foreigners. It's gotten to the point that new research shows populations of the species are in steep decline. One expert in psychedelic research told the Times, quote, in just over a decade, we've put the species at risk of extinction, all in the name of healing and expansion of consciousness. The same substance that the toads secrete is also available in synthetic form and can be extracted from certain plants. So some advocates hope that those chasing a psychedelic high will start looking elsewhere and leave the toads alone. Those are the headlines, but stick around. We've got the Friday News quiz for you after the credits today on the Daily how Republicans efforts to cut funding for PBS and NPR could hit stations in conservative parts of the country. That's next in the New York Times audio app, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. This show is made by Will Jarvis, Jessica Metzger, Yon Stewart and me, Tracy Mumford. Original theme by Dan Powell. Special thanks to Isabella Anderson, Larissa Anderson, Jake Lucas, Zoe Murphy, Katie o' Brien and Paula Schuman. Now for the quiz, we've got questions about a few stories the Times has covered this week. Can you answer them all? First up, at the White House on.

[Donald Trump]

Tuesday, I just want to say we have a fantastic cabinet. Every one of them is a star in my book. And if they're not, I'll let you know about it.

[Tracy Mumford]

President Trump held a cabinet meeting surrounded by his top advisers. And during the meeting, he openly criticized another world leader.

[Donald Trump]

He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.

[Tracy Mumford]

Which world leader did Trump accuse of being dishonest? Give you a moment? Okay. The answer, Russian President Vladimir Putin. This was a notable turnaround from how Trump has talked about the Russian leader in the past when he's called him pretty smart. But Trump has been getting increasingly frustrated with Putin lately for not going along with Trump's calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Also at the meeting.

[Donald Trump]

And I picked it all myself. I'm very proud of it.

[Tracy Mumford]

Just going to sneak a bonus question in here. Trump found time for it, so we will, too. The president spent more than 10 minutes talking about White House decorations and where he picked up some of the items.

[Donald Trump]

So as president, you have the power. If I go into the State Department or Department of Commerce or Treasury, if I see anything that I like, I'm allowed to take it.

[Tracy Mumford]

What item did Trump brag about taking from Marco Rubio in the State Department. Okay, the answer.

[Donald Trump]

I see this gorgeous clock, grandfather clock.

[Tracy Mumford]

Trump said he nabbed a clock that he spotted when he was talking to Rubio and had that moved to the Cabinet Room instead.

[Donald Trump]

That's his contribution to the Cabinet Room. But it's, by the way, it's an incredible clock. And you know.

[Tracy Mumford]

Okay, next question. We have some very exciting news to announce that TSA will no longer require travelers to remove their shoes when they go through our security checkpoints. As of this week, everybody can keep their shoes on at the airport. And Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem alluded to more changes to airport security that could be coming down the line as the department evaluates, quote, every rule. Some people are already wondering if the limit on liquids could be next. The 3.4 ounce rule has stymied a lot of people from getting different things through security and left some wondering why. What actually qualifies as a liquid? It got to the point where the TSA had to publicly weigh in substance by substance. So here's the question for you. True or false? According to the tsa, peanut butter is a liquid. The answer, True. Peanut butter is officially considered a liquid because the TSA said it's spreadable. Quote, if you can spill it, spray it, spread it, pump it or pour it, it's a liquid. And last question. It's a bird.

[Patrick Kingsley]

Hey, buddy.

[Tracy Mumford]

It's a plane. It is another superhero reboot.

[Donald Trump]

The Adventures of Superman.

[Tracy Mumford]

The latest iteration of Superman is now in theaters. For almost like a hundred years now, the comic book hero has been featured in radio specials, TV shows, movies. He's been played by everyone from Christopher Reeve to Channing Tatum in a little tiny cameo. But there is one famous actor.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, I mean, it doesn't have the same.

[Tracy Mumford]

Who was supposed to take the main role in a Superman movie.

[Donald Trump]

I like it. I'm starting to get attached to this lengths.

[Patrick Kingsley]

What do you think to the movie.

[Tracy Mumford]

Had a title, a director, a big budget. The actor, you're hearing him now. Even got as far as trying on a customade Superman suit before the project got cancelled.

[Patrick Kingsley]

Yeah.

[Donald Trump]

I mean, you were saying it'll feel a little looser the more I wear it.

[Tracy Mumford]

Yeah. Who was that actor?

[Donald Trump]

This is great. Look at that.

[Tracy Mumford]

The answer, it's Nicholas Cage project was called Superman Lives and it got scrapped before filming started. It was going to be directed by Tim Burton, so it would have had a definite vibe. The new Superman is played by David Corenswet, who the Times once wrote has, quote, arctic blue eyes and dimples deep enough to serve martinis in. So cheers. All right, that is it for the news quiz. And if you want to tell us how you did or what you think about the quiz, you can always email us at the headlinesy times.com the show will be back on Monday.