Oman Talks, Netanyahu’s Washington Dash, and a Friday in the Far North — Plus: America’s ICE Shockwaves and the AI Acceleration

This week’s Tel Aviv Diary opens with the uncertain aftermath of the Friday negotiations in Oman—talks that produced not a breakthrough, but what sounds like a framework for more talks. Iran, as Marc argues, has mastered the art of stretching diplomacy into an endless process, and the early signs suggest exactly that: no agreement to halt enrichment, remove stockpiles, or tackle missiles and other demands. Marc examines why President Trump, despite his pre-meeting rhetoric, appears reluctant to send bombers—especially under pressure from Gulf allies wary of regional disruption, market instability, and the unpredictable consequences of war. For Israelis, it remains a strange moment: the temptation to “solve” Iran versus the exhaustion of a country still trying to recover, with air defenses improving but the unknowns still looming.Then the political drama shifts to Washington. As Marc was preparing to upload the episode, news broke that Prime Minister Netanyahu is making an emergency visit to the U.S. this Wednesday to meet President Trump—officially to discuss Iran, but in reality, Marc suggests, also to prevent an American deal that focuses only on the nuclear file while leaving missiles and regional behavior aside. Marc weighs the political logic of an in-person meeting with Trump, the optics surrounding Netanyahu’s schedule, and what the sudden urgency may reveal about Jerusalem’s fears of a narrower American agreement.From there, the diary becomes literal. Marc takes listeners on a Friday trip to Israel’s far north—Metula, the Dado lookout, the view of Lebanon close on three sides, and Mount Hermon capped with snow. There are on-the-ground impressions: how quickly the highways now shrink the country, the quiet that feels peaceful and deceptive, the partial return of residents, and Kiryat Shmona’s stubborn stillness—beautiful, struggling, and in many ways unchanged since the 1970s. The episode closes with two wider lenses: American politics (ICE, immigration, and the unsettling breadth of the Epstein revelations) and the accelerating AI revolution—from multi-agent experiments that feel like science fiction to tools like Claude that can compress hours of work into minutes, raising both productivity and dread about what comes next. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marcschulman.substack.com/subscribe