I'm Jonathan Sacerdoti

Epizody

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  How Britain and Europe rely on Israeli defence tech, whatever their leaders say — Yuval Steinitz on the catastrophic consequences of boycotting Israel and on Jewish survival 23.07.2026 55min

  Israel has become one of the most formidable developers of advanced defence systems in the world, despite its tiny size and population. Now, as calls to boycott its arms industry grow louder across Europe, Yuval Steinitz — Chairman of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and former Israeli Minister of Finance, Energy and Intelligence — tells Jonathan Sacerdoti how Iron Dome, David's Sling and the revolutionary Iron Beam laser have defended the country against more than 40,000 missiles and rockets in three years, and why he believes those pushing to disarm Israel are handing its enemies exactly what they want.As Britain reluctantly accepts its new Prime Minister, Steinitz responds to Andy Burnham's proposed arms restrictions on Israel, argues that singling out the Jewish state for boycott while ignoring China, Russia or Saudi Arabia is indefensible, and points out that British fighter jets and air defense systems already depend on Israeli technology developed by Rafael.In this wide-ranging conversation, Jonathan Sacerdoti speaks with Yuval Steinitz about the hypocrisy behind BDS, the $2 laser rewriting the rules of warfare, Israel's rise past Britain, France and Germany in GDP per capita, the legacy of David Ben-Gurion, and what a defenceless Israel would mean for 8 million Jews.Donate to support these conversations, at https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donate🛡️ Watch if you want to understand why disarming Israel would not bring peace, but risk a new Holocaust in the Middle East.🎯 We Discuss:🚀 How Israel intercepted over 40,000 missiles and rockets in three years🇬🇧 Why Britain's new Prime Minister made Israel his first target⚖️ The hypocrisy Steinitz sees in boycotting Israel but not China, Russia or Saudi Arabia💡 The $2 laser beam that could end the era of missile warfare🇫🇷 How France's arms embargo backfired and forced Israel to build its own defence industry📈 How Israel's GDP per capita overtook Britain, France and Germany🏭 The secret history of Ben-Gurion founding Rafael in 1948🛰️ Why Britain's own fighter jets already rely on Israeli-developed technology💀 Steinitz's warning: what a defenceless Israel would mean for 8 million Jews🕊️ Why he still believes peace with the Palestinians remains possible🔔 Subscribe for more serious and unflinching conversations about Israel, defence, Western politics and the forces shaping the Middle East.👤 Follow JonathanOn XOn InstagramOn Substack💬 Comment below — can the West keep criticising Israel's right to defend itself while relying on the very technology that defends it?#IronDome #IronBeam #Israel #IDF #IsraelDefense #BDS #JonathanSacerdoti #MiddleEast #IsraelNews #WesternCivilisation
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  Why liberalism cannot defend Britain: Melanie Phillips on the West’s “suicide note” 14.07.2026 1h 25min

  Can a Jew still be fully British when support for Israel is treated as evidence of disloyalty? Melanie Phillips tells Jonathan Sacerdoti why she shifted her centre of gravity from London to Jerusalem, how Britain’s cultural institutions turned against her, and why she believes the crisis facing Jews is inseparable from the wider collapse of Western confidence.Britain still inspires her deep affection. But beneath that attachment are harder questions. Has liberal tolerance become a refusal to defend civilisation? Can the West recover its Christian and biblical foundations without reviving its historic hostility towards Jews? Has anti-Zionism become a new loyalty test? Is Donald Trump’s faith in dealmaking blinding him to the nature of Iran and Hamas — and can anyone still break through a culture in which feelings have replaced objective truth?In this wide-ranging conversation, Jonathan Sacerdoti speaks with Orwell Prize-winning journalist and author Melanie Phillips about abandoning the Guardian worldview, finding a fuller Jewish identity in Israel, her criticism of the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Trump’s handling of Iran and Gaza, and her practical advice for Jews confronted with accusations about Israel.Donate to support these conversations, at https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donate👁️‍🗨️ Watch if you want to understand why Melanie Phillips believes the struggle over Israel, Jewish identity and antisemitism is part of a much larger battle for Britain and Western civilisation.🎙️ We Discuss:🇬🇧 Why Jewish acceptance in Britain became conditional🇮🇱 How Israel made her a 'more complete Jew'💔 Melanie's increasingly unrequited love for Britain🌍 Why she believes Israel and the West are ultimately defending the same civilisation⚖️ Liberalism’s “suicide note”✝️ The Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Israel, Islamism and Christian history🇺🇸 Why Donald Trump’s belief in deals may prevent him from understanding Iran, Hamas and ideological enemies⚠️ How an American retreat could embolden Russia, China, North Korea and the Islamist world📰 The Guardian article Melanie wrote despite knowing its underlying story was untrue🧠 How the left transformed political disagreement into a struggle between moral goodness and evil🗣️ Why conventional arguments defending Israel often fail✡️ Why she remains optimistic, and why Jews must continue speaking even when they feel isolated or exhausted🔔 Subscribe for more serious and unflinching conversations about Israel, British politics, antisemitism, Western civilisation, religion and the forces reshaping Jewish life.📲 Follow JonathanOn XOn InstagramOn Substack💬 Comment below — can Britain recover its culture and confidence without making Jewish life even less secure, or has the old relationship already broken down?
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  How the West's own laws are being used to destroy it: Natasha Hausdorff exposes the ICC and UN 05.07.2026 44min

  Natasha Hausdorff tells Jonathan Sacerdoti that international law — the very system the West built to protect itself — has been turned into a weapon against Western civilisation, and that what is being done to Israel today will be done to Britain and America tomorrow.Behind the headlines about war crimes, genocide and starvation lies a harder story. What happens when the courts meant to deliver justice become political tools? When UN reports launder terrorist propaganda as established fact? When the photographs that moved the world turn out not to show what we were told they showed? And if "what starts with the Jews doesn't end with the Jews," what does the weaponisation of international law mean for every law-abiding nation that still fights by the rules?In this conversation, Jonathan Sacerdoti speaks with Natasha Hausdorff — barrister, international law expert and founder of the Centre for International Rule of Law — about how the laws of war are being inverted, why the ICC and ICJ have lost their credibility, how NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch built cases on Hamas sources they never verified, why the "State of Palestine" fails the basic legal test for statehood, and why the West's silence in the face of this abuse may be the most dangerous signal of all.Donate to support these conversations, at https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donate👁️‍🗨️ Watch if you want to understand how international law — from the ICC to the UN Human Rights Council — is being turned against Israel and the West, and why the outcome affects every nation that still plays by the rules.🎙️ We Discuss:⚖️ Why Natasha Hausdorff founded the Centre for International Rule of Law — and what "the weaponisation of international law" actually means🏛️ How rule-of-law nations treat law as a limit on power, while despots treat it as a tool to wield power🔴 Why the ICC and ICJ increasingly look like political bodies rather than independent courts📄 How the latest UN Commission of Inquiry "launders" terrorist propaganda into an official report on the targeting of children🗂️ Why Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch relied on Gaza "local authorities" — while admitting they had no one on the ground🔍 "Projection": how Israel's accusers are guilty of exactly what they accuse Israel of🧾 Why the "State of Palestine" fails the Montevideo test for statehood — and how the ICC invented its own jurisdiction🍽️ The starvation narrative: why over 3,000 calories per person per day were entering Gaza — and why up to 90% of aid was diverted by Hamas🚸 The truth behind the "starving children" photographs — and the well-fed relatives cropped out of frame🎓 How the international legal academy silences anyone who won't "drink the Kool-Aid" on Israel🚧 Why Egypt sealed the border at Rafah — and how the international community became complicit in Palestinian suffering🎖️ How a senior British general was attacked by his own colleagues for reporting honestly what he saw in Gaza🌍 Why "what starts with the Jews doesn't end with the Jews" — and how lawfare will one day be turned on Britain and the US🔔 Subscribe for more serious and unflinching conversations about international law, Israel, the Middle East, antisemitism, and the forces reshaping the West.📲 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansacerdoti/On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com💬 Comment below — has international law become a shield for the world's worst actors and a weapon against the nations that actually respect it? And if Israel is the test case, who's next?#NatashaHausdorff #JonathanSacerdoti #InternationalLaw #Israel #Lawfare #ICC #ICJ #Gaza #Hamas #Genocide #UN #AmnestyInternational #HumanRightsWatch #MiddleEast #RuleOfLaw #WesternCivilisation
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  The Muslim Brotherhood "invasion" the UK refuses to see – a warning from two Emiratis on the threat Britain is trying to ignore 29.06.2026 51min

  Britain has been infiltrated, the Muslim Brotherhood's quiet takeover is already underway, and the West is listening to the wrong Muslims.Rauda Altenaiji and Ahmed Sharif Al Ameri are part of a new wave of Emirati voices speaking out, proudly and publicly, in defence of the Abraham Accords and the world's only Jewish state. They feel safer walking through Dubai at 4am than London at 8pm, and their leadership has stopped sending students to British universities for fear they'll be radicalised.But beneath the warning are harder questions. The UAE enforces its famous tolerance through some of the world's harshest laws — including execution. Is that a model the West could ever, or should ever, follow? Is their picture of coexistence too perfect to be true? And when two polished young influencers appear defending Israel and the Accords, who exactly is behind them — and why?In this conversation, recorded live at the ARC 2026 conference, Jonathan Sacerdoti speaks with Rauda Altenaiji and Ahmed Sharif Al Ameri — Emirati commentators and social-media political voices — about the Abraham Accords, Islamist extremism in Britain, the Muslim Brotherhood, antisemitism, migrant workers' rights, the death penalty, and why they believe London is losing its identity while the Gulf thrives.Filmed at ARC 2026ARC’s new book: ⁠The Age of Reconstruction⁠ - by Johnny Patterson, ARC Chief Ideas OfficerDonate to support these conversations, at: ⁠https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donate⁠👁️‍🗨️ Watch if you want to understand how two Emiratis see Britain's extremism problem — and why they believe the West is listening to the wrong Muslims.🎙️ We Discuss:🔴 Why two Emiratis publicly defend Israel and the Abraham Accords — and what it cost them🕌 The Muslim Brotherhood "invasion" of the West, and why they say it now works through PR, not conquest🇬🇧 Why the UAE will no longer send its students to study in the UK⚖️ How the UAE treats antisemitism as terrorism — and the one case that ended in execution🏙️ Why they'd walk through Dubai at 4am but not London after 8pm👷 The truth about the UAE: the uncomfortable questions on migrant workers, labour laws and 87.9% of the population💀 Tolerance enforced by the death penalty — model or warning?📖 The idea of a "civilisational jihad"🎓 How a Muslim woman was branded Islamophobic by a white British university professor🤔 "Is this engineered?" — answering the suspicion that these influencers came from nowhere🌍 How to spread coexistence to the rest of the Arab world🔔 Subscribe for more serious and unflinching conversations about the Middle East, Israel, the Gulf, Islamism, and the forces reshaping the West.📲 Follow JonathanOn ⁠X⁠On ⁠Instagram⁠On ⁠Substack⁠ARC Conference:On ⁠X⁠On ⁠YouTube⁠On ⁠Instagram⁠💬 Comment below — is the UAE's model of enforced tolerance something the West should learn from, or the very thing it should fear?
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  How the world's self-proclaimed winner got played: Dan Schueftan on Trump’s Iran mistake 15.06.2026 53min

  Is Trump's deal with Iran worse than Obama's JCPOA? Dan Schueftan tells Jonathan Sacerdoti how it emboldens every Iranian proxy from Hezbollah to the Houthis, and leaves Israel in one of the most precarious positions in its history.Both sides are claiming victory. But beneath those claims are harder questions. Has Iran been given a free pass to rearm? Has Israel lost the cover it needed to act? What does this mean for the Gulf states, for Lebanon, for the Iranian people desperate to be rid of their regime — and for the West's credibility as a civilisation willing to defend itself?In this conversation, Jonathan Sacerdoti speaks with Dr. Dan Schueftan — strategic analyst and former director of the National Security Studies Center at the University of Haifa — about what the Trump-Iran deal actually contains, why a president who built his identity on winning may have handed Iran a historic victory, what Israel can still do alone, and why the West's retreat from confrontation is the most dangerous signal it can send.Donate to support these conversations, at https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donate👁️‍🗨️ Watch if you want to understand what the Trump-Iran nuclear deal really means for Israel, for the Middle East, and for any country that still believes in the willingness to fight for its interests.🎙️ We Discuss:🔴 Why Dan Schueftan calls this deal a capitulation worse than Obama's — and what Iran actually received🇮🇷 How Iran keeps uranium enrichment, faces no limits on ballistic missiles, and its proxies remain intact🇮🇱 What Israel can do now — alone, without the American cover it depended on🔫 Why Hamas and Hezbollah will never disarm — and why that was never a realistic goal with or without the US🌍 How the Gulf states, Lebanon's non-Hezbollah population, and Iran's own people were also abandoned by this deal📉 Why Trump — a man who defines himself entirely by winning and losing — may not yet grasp what he gave away⚔️ The 1930s parallel: how Western unwillingness to fight emboldened Hitler, and what today's retreat signals to today's barbarians🏛️ Why Western democracy can no longer produce leaders like Churchill or FDR — and what that means for civilisation🇮🇱 Why Israel's combination of open society and willingness to fight makes it unique in the Western world — and uniquely resented💡 Dan's "smart optimism": why things will get worse, but Israel will grow stronger faster than things deteriorate🔔 Subscribe for more serious and unflinching conversations about the Middle East, Israel, Iran, US foreign policy, and the forces reshaping the West.📲 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansacerdoti/On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com💬 Comment below — is there something going on in this deal that Trump knows and we don't, or has the self-proclaimed master dealmaker just made the worst deal of his career?
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  Suspended, investigated, nearly expelled: what universities do to dissidents, and how Connie Shaw broke free 02.06.2026 1h 19min

  Connie Shaw went on LBC at 8am to defend free speech on Islam — and was publicly called a racist before the interview ended. She had already been suspended from her university radio committee and faced potential expulsion for writing about trans ideology on campus. She used to be woke herself.👉🏻 If you like this interview please share it with a friend, and give it five stars 👈🏻Across universities, newsrooms, and public platforms in Britain, a pattern keeps repeating: point to Islamic extremism, question trans ideology, or defend Western identity — and the response is not debate but accusation. The labels shift from episode to episode — racist, transphobic, far right — but the mechanism is identical. Name the person, not the argument. Make the cost of speaking visible to everyone watching. This is how honest conversations are removed from public life.In this conversation, Jonathan Sacerdoti speaks with Connie Shaw — external affairs officer at the Free Speech Union and commentator — about Islamism, trans ideology in academia, the grooming gangs cover-up, the state of British universities, Israel, and what free speech actually means in a society where some speech is already a coded call to violence. At stake is the ability of any citizen to say plainly what they can see.Donate to support these conversations, at https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donate🧑‍💻 Watch if you want to understand how ideological pressure shapes young people at school and university — and why those who break from it face organised attempts to silence them.🗣 We Discuss:🎙 Why Connie was accused of racism on LBC for defending free speech on Islamic public prayer in Trafalgar Square🏫 How trans ideology embedded itself inside academia — and what happened when Connie wrote about it📖 Why some students believe that even reading the opposing argument is an act of moral transgression🕌 Why criticism of Islamism keeps being reframed as racism — and who benefits from that confusion👮 How a self-described former school snitch and feminist society chair woke up to what she had been part of🇮🇱 What Connie found when she visited Israel, and why many people who hold strong opinions still don't know what happened on October 7th✝️ Why an atheist can still believe Christianity is essential to Western civilisation🗺 Whether free speech can survive in a society where some communities use language as a coded call to violence⚖️ What role figures like Tommy Robinson actually play in British political life — and whether that role is ultimately helpful or harmful👶 Why declining birth rates and the breakdown of relationships between young men and women may be the most underreported civilisational crisis of our time📺 Subscribe for more serious and unflinching conversations about free speech, Islam, trans ideology, Israel, antisemitism, and the culture wars reshaping the West.🔔 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansacerdoti/On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com💬 Comment below — is there a point at which protecting free speech becomes a form of civilisational self-harm, and if so, who gets to draw that line?
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  Who controls what you know? Ashley Rindsberg on the capture of Wikipedia and public knowledge 14.05.2026 1h 16min

  Ashley Rindsberg has uncovered how a small group of powerful online actors can twist the facts we trust, reshape public reality at global scale, and quietly influence what millions of people believe they know.Search engines, encyclopaedias, artificial intelligence models and social platforms now form the infrastructure of public knowledge. They shape what citizens believe, what institutions repeat, what journalists trust, and what political actors can smuggle into respectable discourse. The deepest battles of the internet age are fought through language, sourcing, rankings, edits and definitions. This is a full scale battle for your mind.In this conversation, Jonathan Sacerdoti speaks with Ashley Rindsberg about Wikipedia, propaganda, information warfare, and the collapsing distinction between knowledge and power. At stake is the machinery by which ideas acquire legitimacy.Donate to support these conversations.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand how information warfare now operates through the institutions we trust most, and why the struggle over facts has become a struggle over political legitimacy, historical memory and civilisational confidence.💬 We Discuss:🧠 Why the internet has become the primary power centre for politics, culture, ideology and public belief📚 How Wikipedia’s claim to neutrality can become a vehicle for narrative control🌍 Why the battle over Israel, Palestinians and Jews on Wikipedia carries serious geopolitical consequences🕵️ How anonymous editors can influence material with profound political, economic and human significance🤖 Why artificial intelligence systems relying on Wikipedia may amplify contested narratives at scale🧾 How information laundering works when sources, citations and institutional trust reinforce one another⚖️ Why “neutral point of view” can fail when moral and political conflicts are embedded in the sources themselves🏛️ How trusted knowledge infrastructure affects journalism, education, policy and public memory🔥 Why modern propaganda often appears through respectable systems rather than crude slogans🧩 What this reveals about Western institutions, technological dependence and the fragility of shared reality🔔 Subscribe for more serious and unflinching conversations about information warfare, free speech, Israel, antisemitism, media power and the institutions shaping the West.📲 Follow JonathanOn XOn InstagramOn Substack👇 Comment below — who should be trusted to guard public knowledge when the platforms shaping reality are anonymous, ideological and structurally unaccountable?
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  What happens when you question everything about who you are – Bellamy Bellucci breaks every identity rule, and neither side likes it 26.04.2026 55min

  Jonathan Sacerdoti speaks with Bellamy Bellucci, a South African-born, American trans-woman who converted to Judaism and now lives between worlds that rarely tolerate one another. Bellamy's identity is often challenged and questions by the very groups that you might expected to affirm it.Public language increasingly celebrates identity while losing any stable account of meaning. Categories multiply, recognition becomes currency, and institutions struggle to distinguish between self-description and truth. In that confusion, questions that once belonged to philosophy or theology now play out through politics, culture, and personal testimony.DONATE TO SUPPORT THESE INTERVIEWS: https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donateBellamy describes a life shaped by displacement, violence, and reinvention. From apartheid-era South Africa to the United States, from homelessness to religious conversion, and from gender dysphoria to public advocacy for Israel, Bellamy's trajectory cuts across the categories that dominate 21st century Western discourse. 👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand how identity, belief, and political ideology collide in a single life shaped by conflict, conviction, and resistance.💬 We Discuss:🧭 How personal identity becomes a battleground for wider civilisational conflicts🔥 Why conversion to Judaism is described as easier than living openly as a Jew🧠 The distinction between psychological identity and physical reality in gender dysphoria🌍 How Western institutions reward victimhood and reshape identity into political capital⚔️ Why October 7 acted as a moment of collective activation for Jews worldwide🧩 The tension between internal truth and external recognition in modern identity politics🏛️ How ideological movements adopt minority identities as instruments of power📉 The erosion of cultural confidence in the West and its consequences for social cohesion🕯️ The role of faith, resilience, and suffering in shaping Jewish identity across generations🧱 Why assimilation, belonging, and national identity remain unresolved in Western societies🤔 Can you be addicted to transition?🔔 Subscribe for more serious and unflinching conversations about identity, power, and the future of Western societies.📲 Follow JonathanOn XOn InstagramOn Substack👇 Comment below — can a society sustain itself if it cannot define truth, identity, or belonging with any shared clarity?
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  The warning we ignored: Holocaust survivor Martin Stern on THE HUMAN CAPACTIY FOR EVIL 13.04.2026 1h 4min

  This Yom Hashoah special episode features Holocaust survivor Martin Stern, who shares his story and reflects on his fears for the world today.Martin Stern survived arrest, deportation, and life in camps as a young child, his survival dependent on individuals who chose courage over conformity at moments of real danger. His life since has been shaped by that experience, through decades of reflection and education, including his work teaching younger generations about the Holocaust and other genocides.In this challenging conversation, Martin It examines how ordinary people come to adopt ideas they have not properly interrogated, how crowds form around moral language that has lost its substance, and how institutions fail to cultivate independent thought. What emerges is not simply memory, but a warning about how societies drift, how certainty replaces judgement, and how easily moral language can be detached from reality.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand how Holocaust testimony exposes the deeper failures shaping the present💬 We Discuss:• 🕯 Why Yom Hashoah demands moral seriousness rather than symbolic remembrance• 🧠 How a five-year-old child experienced arrest, interrogation, and deportation under Nazi rule • 🚂 What the camps revealed about ordinary people carrying out extraordinary evil without reflection • 🧭 How individual acts of courage, like those which saved Martin and his sister, illuminate moral choice under pressure • 🏛 How modern institutions and media environments fail to cultivate independent moral judgement• 🗣 Why large groups adopt identical slogans without genuine understanding or inquiry• ⚖ The role of conformity, social approval, and intellectual laziness in shaping belief systems• 🔥 How contemporary hostility toward Jews reflects deeper ideological and civilisational tensions• 🧩 The convergence of identity politics and inherited prejudice as a destabilising force• 📉 Why “never again” has not held, and what that reveals about human nature• 🧑‍🏫 The collapse of education as a system for teaching ethical reasoning and responsibility• 🌍 What it means to live in an era where truth is contested and moral certainty is performative🔔 Subscribe for more serious and unflinching conversations about history, power, and the moral challenges shaping our world📲 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansacerdoti/On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com👇 Comment below — what does it take for a society to turn memory into judgement, rather than ritual?#JonathanSacerdoti #MartinStern #YomHashoah #HolocaustSurvivor #HolocaustMemory #Antisemitism #WesternValues #EducationCrisis #MoralResponsibility
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  The end of a system that once held the world together – Danny Orbach on what comes after the collapse of the global order and the rules-based system 09.04.2026 1h 6min

  The language of international law is being stretched to breaking point. Terms once defined with precision are now deployed as instruments of moral accusation, detached from the evidentiary standards that once gave them force. In that shift, something deeper is revealed about the condition of Western institutions. Authority no longer rests securely on method, but on consensus, amplification, and the emotional force of accusation. What presents itself as a defence of human rights increasingly operates through blurred definitions, institutional capture, and self-reinforcing narratives. The result is a system that struggles to distinguish between war, crime, and rhetoric, while insisting on moral certainty.Danny Orbach is an associate professor for history and Asian studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specialises in military history, political assassinations and coups, military adventurism, illegal orders, dynamics of military atrocities and the history of intelligence and espionage.In this conversation with Jonathan Sacerdoti he challenges the widespread use of the term “genocide” in relation to Gaza, examines how international institutions, media, and academia reinforce one another in elevating contested claims into accepted truth, and how evidentiary standards are displaced by moral framing.He explores the blurring and expansion of legal definitions, the role of NGOs and the UN in shaping narratives, and the way political and intellectual pressures shape judicial and scholarly consensus. He also addresses how immigration and shifting notions of national and cultural identity are placing new strain on Western democracies, challenging their ability to define boundaries, maintain cohesion, and sustain legitimacy.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand how legal language, institutional authority, and political incentives are reshaping truth, justice, and democracy in the modern world.🙏🏻 DONATE TO SUPPORT THESE INTERVIEWS: https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donate💬 We Discuss:⚖️ Why the legal definition of genocide requires specific intent and why that threshold matters🧠 How moral intuition is increasingly replacing evidentiary standards in public discourse🌐 The rise of “junctions of reliability” across the UN, NGOs, academia, and media📊 How the shift from quantitative to interpretive standards enables political manipulation🔁 The feedback loop between institutions that amplifies unverified claims into accepted truth🏛️ Why international courts may be influenced by social and intellectual pressure🧩 The gradual expansion and blurring of legal definitions in the laws of war🗳️ How modern political incentives prioritise signalling over compromise in democracies🧱 The “barnacle effect” of accumulating laws and regulations slowing institutional function🌍 Why the post-World War II rules-based order is fracturing into a more unstable system⚠️ The growing gap between liberal elites and democratic legitimacy🧭 Whether liberal democracy can reform itself before more radical alternatives emerge🔔 Subscribe for more serious and unflinching conversations about geopolitics, law, and the future of Western civilisation.📲 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansacerdoti/On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com👇 Comment below — can institutions recover their authority once definitions, evidence, and trust begin to erode, or does that loss become irreversible?
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  Science vs Religion – does God exist? Michel-Yves Bolloré explains how the debate is shifting, and why some scientists now question the idea of a self-explaining universe 30.03.2026 55min

  Does God exist, and can we prove it?Donate to support these interviews.There is a growing assumption in modern Western life that science has settled the question of God. That belief rests less on settled knowledge than on cultural habit, reinforced over generations of intellectual fashion and institutional authority. What once presented itself as liberation from superstition has, in many cases, hardened into a new orthodoxy, one that treats materialism as neutral and belief as deviation.Yet the scientific story itself has not remained static. Developments in cosmology, physics, and biology have introduced new tensions into that confidence. Questions of origin, order, and fine tuning continue to resist reduction to simple mechanism. The deeper the inquiry goes, the more the underlying assumptions begin to matter.In this conversation, Jonathan Sacerdoti speaks with Michel-Yves Bolloré, co-author of God, the Science, the Evidence, a book that has reached a wide audience across Europe and now enters the English-speaking world. Bolloré approaches the question not as a theologian, but as a proponent of a cumulative case built from scientific and philosophical developments over the past century. His argument rests on the claim that the balance of evidence has shifted, and that materialism now requires greater leaps of faith than it once did.The discussion moves between first principles and contested conclusions. Bolloré distinguishes sharply between the existence of a creator and the claims of organised religion, treating the former as a question of reason rather than revelation. At the same time, he extends the argument into moral philosophy and history, suggesting that questions of good and evil, as well as the endurance of certain civilisations, cannot be understood within a purely material framework.What emerges is a live dispute about the nature of explanation itself. Scientific models, philosophical commitments, and human intuitions about meaning are all in play. The conversation exposes the fault line between competing accounts of reality, each claiming rational authority, each carrying profound implications.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand how modern science is being used to challenge materialism and reopen the question of God’s existence.💬 We Discuss:🔬 Why recent developments in cosmology and physics are being interpreted as evidence for a creator rather than a self-contained universe🧠 How materialism functions as a belief system with its own assumptions, rather than a neutral scientific default🌌 The implications of the Big Bang and why a universe with a beginning raises deeper questions about causation⚖️ The distinction between probability and proof, and how scientific reasoning is applied to metaphysical questions🧩 Fine tuning and whether the precision of physical constants points to design or coincidence🧪 The unresolved problem of how life emerges from non-life and why this remains a critical gap in scientific explanation📚 The relationship between science, philosophy, and religion, and whether they can coherently point in the same direction🧭 The argument that morality requires a source beyond human preference and legal convention📖 The role of historical continuity, including the survival of the Jewish people, in arguments about divine intention🧍 Human freedom, suffering, and the persistent question of evil in a world that may or may not be created with purpose🔔 Subscribe for more serious, unflinching conversations about belief, power, and the foundations of modern civilisation.📲 Follow JonathanOn XOn InstagramOn Substack👇 Comment below — does the accumulation of scientific evidence strengthen belief, or does it simply expose the limits of what science can explain?
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  The Palestinian journalist Israel watches for the truth: Suleiman Maswadeh on inequality, opportunity, and what October 7th did to Arabs in Israel 03.03.2026 1h 4min

  Donate: https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donateSuleiman Maswadeh is Israel’s most visible Palestinian Arab television correspondent, a regular presence on the national news, speaking fluent Hebrew to a country that rarely hears an Arab accent in that role. His career sits inside one of Israel’s deepest contradictions, two communities living side by side, sharing streets and history, yet separated by language, schooling, and fear, with the public story of the conflict often shaped by the absence of ordinary contact.Jonathan Sacerdoti meets Suleiman Maswadeh in person to trace how a Palestinian Arab man raised in an observant Muslim family taught himself Hebrew as an adult and entered Israel’s mainstream media. He describes the practical mechanics of East Jerusalem’s isolation, the misinformation that flourishes when people cannot speak, and the personal cost of crossing over, including ostracism, threats, and the dislocation of being trusted by Hebrew speaking viewers while remaining contested at home.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand how language, media, and intimidation shape the conflict more quietly than slogans ever will.💬 We Discuss:🧭 What it means to grow up minutes from Jewish neighbourhoods and still live in a different world🗣️ How learning Hebrew became a route into work, citizenship, and a wider reality🪪 The lived politics of taxes, representation, residency status, and unequal civic investment🧠 How misinformation about history takes hold when education and contact collapse🪖 Why the only “relationship” many Palestinians have with Israelis is through soldiers and raids📺 How Arab and Israeli media each fail audiences, especially under the pressures of war🧩 The psychological strain of living between identities, languages, and public expectations🕯️ October 7 as personal grief, public rupture, and a harder test for anyone arguing for contact🗳️ How fear polices civic participation, including threats against Palestinians who try to run locally🌱 Why change driven by ordinary people, language learning, and education may outlast leadership cycles🔔 Subscribe for more unflinching conversations about Israel, Palestinians, media, power, and the moral condition of the West.📲 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansacerdoti/On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com👇 Comment below — what breaks first in a divided society, trust, language, or the courage to tell the truth out loud?
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  We need to be ready for ever: why winning the war won't bring peace — Yaakov Amidror 25.02.2026 57min

  If you value these interviews, please consider donating: https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donateMajor General Yaakov Amidror argues that wars in the Middle East are never truly concluded. They are managed, suppressed, and deferred. Born on the day Israel declared independence and shaped by decades at the heart of its security establishment, he views October 7 not as an aberration but as the cost of strategic hesitation. The dismantling of Iran’s crescent, the degradation of Hamas, and the weakening of Hezbollah mark a significant shift in Israel’s position. None of it is final. Each front remains unfinished. Each contains the seeds of the next confrontation.In this conversation, Amidror lays out a doctrine grounded in vigilance, pre-emption and strength. Israel cannot transform the political culture of the region or impose a permanent settlement on its enemies. It can only ensure that when one war ends, preparation for the next is already under way. The question is whether the post–October 7 strategy has internalised that lesson, and whether coordination with the United States will reinforce Israeli security or restrain it at a decisive moment.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand how Israel’s post–October 7 strategy is being recalibrated around pre-emption, American coordination, and the permanent management of existential threats. We Discuss:🛡️ Why dismantling Iran’s “ring of fire” has changed the strategic map, yet left unfinished fronts in Gaza, Lebanon and beyond🎯 The case for restoring pre-emptive war as a legitimate and necessary Israeli tool after years of strategic hesitation🇺🇸 How far Israel should defer to the United States on Gaza, Iran and Hezbollah, and when it must ultimately act alone🔥 Whether Hamas can ever be disarmed without direct IDF force, and what happens if American diplomacy fails🚀 The military lessons of October 7, from munitions stockpiles to manoeuvre divisions and long-range strike capacity🌍 The emerging Turkish–Qatari–Saudi alignment and what it means for Syria and the regional balance of power⚖️ Why Israeli resilience rests on necessity, mobilisation rates, and a cultural understanding that survival has no substitute📉 The limits of international legitimacy, European reliability, and Israel’s ability to influence rising antisemitism abroad🔄 What a “visible victory” truly means in a region where threats regenerate unless actively suppressed🔔 Subscribe for more serious conversations about Israel, geopolitics, security, and the future of Western civilisation.📲 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansacerdoti/On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com👇 Comment below — Has Israel achieved a decisive strategic shift since October 7, or is this merely the opening phase of a longer and more dangerous cycle?
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  Iran’s negotiators are stalling, but pressure at home could change everything – Beni Sabti 25.02.2026 43min

  Donate at https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donateBenny Sabti, senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, joins me at a moment of acute strain for the Islamic Republic. He argues that Tehran’s diplomatic posture follows a familiar pattern: delay, repackage old positions, concede nothing essential, preserve enrichment capability and the infrastructure of coercion. This time, Washington appears less willing to indulge the ritual, framing negotiations as a final test before more forceful options are considered.Are the renewed student protests, including at the Sharif University of Technology, a sign of genuine internal fracture or another uprising destined to be crushed? Does the re-emergence of figures such as Ali Larijani signal consolidation, desperation, or preparation for succession? Could someone like Hassan Rouhani serve as a transitional figure if pressure intensifies? And if confrontation comes, would it accelerate regime collapse or entrench it through violence? These are the questions Sabti addresses as we assess how narrow Tehran’s room for manoeuvre has become.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand whether Iran stands at the brink of war, internal upheaval, or a managed transformation that reshapes the Middle East.💬 We Discuss: ⚖️ Why Tehran’s negotiating pattern reflects a long institutional culture of delay without substantive concession 🧭 How the Trump administration’s approach seeks legitimacy before escalation 🎯 The erosion of Iran’s regional terror network and what that means for deterrence 📉 The regime’s domestic crisis, from inflation shocks to collapsing public trust 🎓 Why renewed campus protests at Sharif and beyond matter strategically 🛡️ Whether elements of the IRGC could favour controlled transition over ideological collapse 👑 The symbolism of exiled opposition figures and the limits of monarchical nostalgia 🔄 Regime change versus regime management, and what history suggests about transitions from revolutionary states 🌍 What retaliation against Israel or US allies would mean for the regime’s survival 📊 How internal legitimacy and external pressure now converge on Tehran’s future🔔 Subscribe for more serious, unflinching conversations about geopolitics, security, antisemitism, and the future of Western institutions.📲 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansacerdoti/On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com👇 Comment below — is Iran approaching genuine transformation, or merely another cycle of tactical retreat designed to preserve the regime for another generation?#JonathanSacerdoti #BennySabti #Iran #MiddleEast #Geopolitics #RegimeChange #NuclearNegotiations #IRGC #WesternSecurity
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  The public no longer trusts the establishment – Julia Hartley Brewer on immigration, Israel, Islam, Frage, and Starmer 22.02.2026 1h 25min

  Julia Hartley-Brewer is one of the most outspoken voices in British broadcasting. In this conversation she defends Israel with unapologetic force, describing her recent visit as life changing and arguing that after October 7 the country acted with remarkable restraint under existential threat. She says Britain and America would have responded far more ruthlessly.But this discussion goes far beyond Israel.She explains why she would now have voted for Donald Trump, why she believes lockdown was a historic political and moral failure, and why trust in government, science and the BBC has been permanently damaged. She argues that Britain has talked itself into cultural self-doubt, tolerated intolerance in the name of liberalism, and failed to defend its own borders or values.From mass immigration and deportations, to media bias over Gaza and Iran, to the psychological impact of Covid on a generation of children, this is a conversation about strength, sovereignty, and whether Britain still has the will to govern itself.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand why she believes Britain is drifting, institutions are failing, and political courage is in short supply.🇮🇱 Why she says Israel showed extraordinary restraint after October 7 and has been misrepresented in Western media🇺🇸 How Donald Trump's strength is essential to deterrence📺 BBC amplification of Hamas narratives and hesitation over Iran protests🧠 Why lockdown policies shattered public trust and damaged children, families and the economy🛂 Why illegal immigration requires mass deportations and a hard reset on border control🇬🇧 Why she believes British liberal culture is superior in its freedoms and should be defended without apology🗣️ The danger of suppressing dissent while tolerating extremist rhetoric on Britain’s streets📱 How social media broke the information monopoly of legacy broadcasters⚖️ Whether Britain needs a leader willing to make deeply unpopular but necessary decisions🔔 Subscribe for more serious, unflinching conversations about Britain, Israel, free speech, and the future of Western democracies.📲 Follow JonathanOn XOn InstagramDonate👇 Comment below — has Britain lost the will to defend its values, or is a political reckoning on the horizon?This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.💬 We Discuss:
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  Inside Gaza: will the war start again as the ceasefire is tested? Jonathan Sacerdoti reports from central Gaza as Hamas breaks Gaza ceasefire AGAIN 17.02.2026 14min

  Jonathan Sacerdoti travels into the Gaza Strip, embedding with the IDF along the new front line that now divides the territory.Months into the Trump brokered ceasefire, Israel holds 58 per cent of Gaza behind what they call the 'yellow line'. Hamas remains in control of the rest and declares it will not disarm. Sniper fire, tunnel discoveries and daily ceasefire violations continue, even as aid enters through Israeli controlled crossings.From fortified positions overlooking the central refugee camps to staging areas where humanitarian supplies are transferred, this on the ground report examines how Israel is enforcing its security doctrine just a kilometre from its own civilian communities.Speaking with the IDF’s international spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, Jonathan explores Hamas’s continued tunnel building, guerrilla attacks during the ceasefire, disputed casualty figures, and the strategic calculation behind holding a majority of the Strip.The question hanging over the quiet landscape is whether this is containment, or simply the interval before renewed war.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand how a ceasefire operates when territory is divided, weapons remain in place, and both sides prepare for what may come next.💬 We Discuss:🟡 Why Israel is holding 58 per cent of Gaza and what the yellow line represents in practice🔫 How Hamas continues sniper attacks and guerrilla operations during the ceasefire🕳️ The scale and persistence of the tunnel network beneath Gaza📦 How humanitarian aid is transferred across the border under Israeli control🏘️ The strategic importance of Gaza’s central refugee camps⚖️ The dispute over casualty figures and the politics of wartime information🛡️ Whether demilitarisation is achievable under the current agreement🌍 The prospects for international forces replacing the IDF presence🔔 Subscribe for more serious, on the ground reporting and analysis on Israel, Gaza and the wider Middle East.📲 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansac...On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com/👇 Comment below — will this ceasefire endure without Hamas disarmament, or is renewed conflict inevitable?
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  Did NY's Muslim mayor just use the Quran to fight Trump's migration policy? Neo-Islamic conquest and how compassion became our weakness and their strength – Prof Mordechai Kedar 11.02.2026 1h 5min

  Please donate to support these conversations: https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donateWhen NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani referenced Islamic teachings and invoked the Hijrah in his speech at a multi-faith event, was he offering a message of spiritual resilience — or signalling something more political?In this conversation, Prof Mordechai Kedar unpacks what that reference really means, explaining how Hijrah is not simply a story of exile and refuge, marking the transition from marginalisation to sovereignty, from preaching to governing. We explore how a modern political leader drawing directly on that narrative deserves our urgent attention.Mordechai Kedar, one of Israel's most experienced scholars of Islamic culture, Arabic society, and political Islam, draws on decades of study, to explain how migration functions within Islamic tradition, how theology becomes statecraft, and why historical precedent matters in contemporary politics.We also assess Gaza after October 7th, Israel’s determination that Hamas does not return to power, and the argument for clan based emirates rather than nationalist or Islamist governance. Finally, we analyse Iran: credible threat, regime survival, ethnic fault lines, and whether decentralisation offers a more stable future than imposed unity.This is a conversation about power, legitimacy, and the operating systems beneath public rhetoric.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand what Mamdani’s Hijrah reference signifies within Islamic history — and how migration narratives intersect with political authority in the West and the Middle East.💬 We Discuss:🕌 What the Hijrah represents in Islamic political development🏙️ How religious narrative can function as a framework for public authority⚖️ The boundary between personal religious practice and political Islam🔥 What makes Israel alarmed about the Trump plan for Gaza🏛️ The case for clan based emirates over ideological nationalist movements🌍 Why heterogenous Middle Eastern states struggle for legitimacy🛢️ Whether Iran is truly afraid of Trump's threats🧭 The argument for decentralisation as a path to stability🔔 Subscribe for more serious conversations on Israel, political Islam, geopolitics, and Western institutions.📲 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansacerdoti/On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com👇 Comment below — when political leaders invoke sacred history, should voters hear metaphor, or doctrine with institutional consequences?
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  Iran’s last chance: what the West can still do to save Iran – Dr Thamar Eilam Gindin 03.02.2026 1h 6min

  Iran’s regime is relying on executions, foreign fighters and extreme repression to survive.In this conversation, Jonathan Sacerdoti speaks with Dr Tamar Eilam Gindin, a specialist in Iranian language, culture and political mythology, about what she is seeing emerge inside the Islamic Republic. Drawing on reports and her own sources from within Iran, she explains how executions surged in the months that followed the 12 Day War, how protests were crushed using non-Iranian forces, and why these tactics point to a system under enormous strain.Dr Gindin describes how funerals have turned into protests, why mosques are being burned as symbols of oppression, and why removing the Supreme Leader might not dismantle the regime.The conversation also examines how Iranian regime narratives continue to shape Western media and academic analysis, and why protesters inside Iran are rallying around Reza Pahlavi.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand how Iran’s uprisings will develop in the coming weeks and months.💬 We Discuss:🇮🇷 The surge in executions after the war in June🔥 The regime’s use of foreign militias against protesters🕌 The breakdown of religious legitimacy⚔️ Why removing one leader would not end the system🧠 How Western analysis misunderstands Iran👑 Who is Reza Pahlavi and why protestors chant his name🌍 What type of external pressure could actually change outcomes🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on Iran, power and global affairs.📲 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansacerdoti/On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com🙏🏻Help me make more of these videos:Donate: https://jonathansacerdoti.com/donate👇 Comment below — will the US act to end the regime, or has the moment passed?#Iran #IranProtests #IslamicRepublic #MiddleEast #RezaPahlavi #JonathanSacerdoti #TamarEilamGindin
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  Is the world about to tip over? What Trump may do next – Col Richard Kemp 30.01.2026 1h 12min

  What happens next in Iran? Will the United States strike, and if so, when? Will Israel be drawn in again, or deliberately held back this time? Will Britain take part, or remain confined to a defensive role?What would the targets actually be – nuclear facilities, missile infrastructure, or the leadership itself? And if the regime is hit hard enough to fall, who takes over? If it survives, what then?These questions sit at the centre of the Middle East right now. Military forces are already deployed. Diplomatic pressure is intensifying. The margin for miscalculation is shrinking, and whatever comes next will shape the region for years, possibly decades.In this deep and analytical conversation, Colonel Richard Kemp speaks with Jonathan Sacerdoti about the strategic reality behind the headlines. Kemp is a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan and a long standing analyst of Islamist movements, Western military power, and the politics of war. He brings operational clarity to a moment dominated by uncertainty and noise.The conversation also covers Hezbollah, Hamas, Gaza, the Houthis, and how Iran’s proxies shape escalation across the region. It also turns to Britain, asking whether the UK is prepared for war at all, and what repeated signals of weakness mean for deterrence, along with analysis of the planned UK surrender of sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, Britain’s shrinking strategic posture, and the consequences of failing to defend national interests.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand what may be coming next in Iran and the Middle East, and what it reveals about Western strength, weakness, and leadership.💬 We Discuss:🇮🇷 What Iran’s internal unrest means for the survival of the regime🇺🇸 Whether a US strike is now likely, and what it would target🇮🇱 Israel’s role behind the scenes and why intelligence may outweigh firepower🎯 The realistic prospects and dangers of regime collapse in Tehran🧨 How Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis shape regional escalation🇬🇧 Britain’s readiness for war and the limits of its current posture⚖️ The legal pursuit of soldiers and veterans and its impact on morale🏝️ The Chagos Islands and the consequences of surrendering strategic ground🏛️ Leadership, deterrence, and why institutions fail under real pressure🌍 How the Middle East could be reshaped if Iran weakens or falls🔔 Subscribe for more serious, unflinching conversations about war, power, and Western responsibility.📲 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansacerdoti/On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com👇 Comment below — if Iran is heading towards a decisive moment, do Western governments actually know what outcome they are prepared to deal with?#RichardKemp #JonathanSacerdoti #Iran #MiddleEast #Israel #UKDefence #Geopolitics #WesternSecurity #WarAndPeace
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  Rewriting centuries of British law, and the public wasn’t asked — top barrister Jeremy Dein KC speaks out against government proposals 26.01.2026 1h 10min

  Britain’s justice system is facing a profound rupture. Under the banner of efficiency and backlog reduction, reforms are being proposed that would remove large numbers of cases from jury trial, weaken appeal rights, and concentrate decision making power in the hands of the state. These changes touch principles that have defined British liberty for centuries and raise fundamental questions about our justice and democracy, and who they ultimately serve.In this conversation, Jonathan Sacerdoti speaks to veteran criminal defence barrister Jeremy Dein KC, whose decades at the heart of the courts give him a rare vantage point. Dein explains why dismantling jury trials will not solve the crisis it claims to address, why judges themselves are alarmed, and how political pressure, public disorder and selective enforcement are corroding trust in the rule of law. From constitutional change to the reality of two-tier justice, this discussion exposes how institutional drift becomes moral failure when the state forgets its duty to protect the individual.👁‍🗨 Watch if you want to understand how the erosion of jury trials, policing failures and selective enforcement are symptoms of a deeper crisis in British justice.💬 We Discuss:⚖️ Why jury trials are not a procedural detail but a constitutional safeguard against injustice🏛️ How proposals to reduce jury trials undermine principles dating back to Magna Carta📉 Why abolishing juries will not solve the court backlog and may worsen it👩‍⚖️ Why concentrating power creates new risks📜 The quiet removal of appeal rights and what it means for ordinary defendants🚨 Fast tracked justice and why speed can become a substitute for fairness🔍 Two tier justice and how public order policing reveals institutional fear and inconsistency🕍 The failure to protect Jewish communities from intimidation masquerading as protest🗣️ Free speech versus criminal intimidation and where the law has lost clarity🇬🇧 What all of this says about Britain’s future as a liberal democracy🔔 Subscribe for more serious and unflinching conversations about law, power and the future of British institutions.📲 Follow JonathanOn X: https://x.com/jonsacOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathansacerdoti/On Substack: https://jonsac.substack.com👇 Comment below — if jury trials and equal justice are weakened in the name of efficiency, what protections remain for the individual against the state?#JeremyDein #JonathanSacerdoti #BritishJustice #JuryTrials #RuleOfLaw #FreeSpeech #Antisemitism #UKPolitics #CivilLiberties