Think Twice with Jonathan Tobin

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• Ep. 224: The West lacks the will to fight terror while Britain faces civil war 28.06.2026 56dk

  The United States and Israel achieved unprecedented military success in their campaign against that started earlier this year on Feb. 28. But, according to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, the American decision to stop the war due to the economic pressure Iran was able to exert via its menacing of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz revealed a bitter truth about the West’s ability to defend itself.   He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by military expert Col. Richard Kemp, a veteran of several wars in which the United Kingdom took part and an on-the-scene analyst of the conflict Israel has been fighting against Iran and its terrorist proxies. Kemp says the reason why the United States pulled the plug on the war was due to President Donald Trump’s unwillingness to risk even a small number of casualties in order to ensure freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf.   “Very clearly, the United States was not, and probably would never be prepared to commit to boots on the ground in that situation,” says Kemp.   While Israelis are willing to do what is necessary to defend their country as well as their homes and families, the political leadership of the United States as well as Western Europe, lacks the will to commit to such a fight. Kemp also believes that the refusal of Britain and other NATO allies to fight alongside the United States against a nation like Iran that is as much of a threat to them as America, also played a role in Trump’s decision.   That is a political decision by London. According to Kemp, that has embarrassed the British military, since they would have been willing to defend British sovereign territory, like their bases in Cyprus, which were attacked by Iran, but their political leaders lack the will to do so.   Kemp also described the enormous difference between the image of Israel, which he visits frequently, and the way it is depicted in the Western media. “We shouldn't forget that this is not a misunderstanding or a lack of knowledge,” says Kemp. It is a deliberate campaign to delegitimize Israel, which began in the Soviet Union in the 1960s.”   In particular, he drew a strong contrast between the way Israel empowers and takes care of all of its citizens, including those who are disabled, with the way Palestinian Arabs treat their people. Israel is, he says, the only country that allows its disabled to serve their country while the Palestinians sacrifice their disabled children as human shields in the fighting in Gaza.   When asked about the future of British Jews, Kemp says the problem isn’t only the plague of antisemitism that has been tolerated by both the British Labour and Conservative parties. It’s that the rights of all British citizens, what he refers to as the “indigenous” people of Britain, are being undone by a willingness to tolerate law-breaking and Islamicization of society by immigrants from the Arab and Muslim world.   Kemp says the prospects for a political sea change that will enable any conceivable British government to protect the rights of all British citizens, including Jews, are not good. He believes it is more likely than not that future British prime ministers, like the last few, will be too afraid of violence from Muslims and the far left, to do anything about the problem. If that is the case, he predicts that it will result in a kind of civil war, comparable to the strife that prevailed in Northern Ireland for decades, where government forces strove in vain to counter violence from competing factions. In this case, that will mean Muslim terror will become a normal part of British life alongside counter-terror from “indigenous” Britons.   Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
• Ep. 223: The biggest threat to Israel democracy is the Supreme Court 11.06.2026 1sa 2dk

  With Israelis set to go to the polls in a few months, an issue that has been on the backburner since Oct. 7 will probably again be provoking public debate in the Jewish state. An effort to reform Israel’s Supreme Court and judicial system enraged the opponents of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in 2023 and is likely to be on the agenda again. Joining JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin in this week’s episode of Think Twice is Israel-American lawyer Yonatan Green, author of the new book, Rogue Justice: The Rise of Judicial Supremacy In Israel.   Green says that there is no court in the world in a democratic country that has the kind of power that Israel’s Supreme Court has seized for itself. And contrary to the claims of the opponents of judicial reform, “the biggest threat to Israeli democracy and the rule of law is the Israeli Supreme Court itself and its allies and its proxies.”   By abolishing the very notions of standing and justiciability, two cornerstones of English and American law, Israel’s courts have arrogated to themselves the ability to overrule the elected government on virtually any issue or action in ways unheard of in other democracies. This has created a system of judicial supremacy that is antithetical to democracy. And when you add in the fact that members of the court have the power to name or at least veto potential fellow judges, what Israel has created is a judicial oligarchy.   Nevertheless, judicial reform opponents call any effort to rein in this undemocratic system and re-establish a balance between the judiciary and the elected members of the Knesset and government a threat to democracy. Green believes that many Israelis believe this to be true because when it comes to the judiciary, citizens of the Jewish state are essentially isolated from other democratic nations and have no idea what is considered normative elsewhere.   As a result, they actually believe that democracy is not a matter of majority rule limited by independent courts that are restrained from overstepping their responsibilities. Rather, they actually are under the impression, reinforced by liberal dominance of their education system, that the rule of elites who have the right and duty to ignore the will of the voters is democracy. Moreover, they seem unfamiliar with the basic concept underlying the American system which holds that the rights of citizens are derived from God rather than a gift from a government that can be limited or taken away at will.   Green believes the danger from this undemocratic and coercive system that pretends to be democratic but is not, goes beyond the impact of an out-of-control judiciary. It has also increased polarization and made it harder for Israelis to get along with each other.   The solution to this problem, he says, is a much-needed change in Israeli education to promote knowledge about how democracy works and the election of a constitutional convention that, like the one that wrote America’s constitution in 1787, can come up with a more equitable system.  
• Ep. 222: Antisemites aren’t paying a price for their hate 04.06.2026 1sa 2dk

  The forces behind the mainstreaming of anti-Jewish conspiracy theories have gained a foothold in both major political parties. And according to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, there’s no sign of them being driven back to the fever swamps of the far left and the far right where they belong. Or at least not for the foreseeable future. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by columnist and author David Harsanyi who argues that no one would ever think about being racist and conspiratorial in the way they are about Jewish people when speaking about black Americans or anyone else. And, he says, expressions of anti-Zionism gives them the cover to get away with it.   While such people claim their beliefs are about their revulsion for Israel, Harsanyi argues that their use of tropes about Jews controlling the media, money, and being able to displace or get rid of politicians they don't like aligns with the sort of hatred that's always existed. It exists, he says, among progressives but also among the isolationist types and the paleocons. Such alleged right-wingers are very close to being progressives. “Tucker Carlson is far closer to Hassan Piker than people probably want to admit.  In fact, I'd say they're relatively indistinguishable except maybe for some cultural issues.” Harsanyi says.   What’s more, there's no real price to pay anymore for being antisemitic in society, Harsanyi points out. “If you're a racist, there's still a price to pay. If you're an antisemite, there is virtually no price to pay. You see comedians do it. You see podcasters do it, and you see mainstream media types do it as well.   While most Republican officeholders are pushing back against the antisemites, with, Harsanyi says, the conspicuous exception of Vice President JD Vance, most Democrats are giving in to their antisemites. The acceptance of people like Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner, despite his Nazi tattoo and sex scandals, as well as his vicious anti-Israel rhetoric is, like the rise of the left-wing congressional “Squad,” evidence of the progressive capture of the Democratic Party.   Nevertheless, Harsanyi thinks Democrats are making a mistake by investing so heavily in anti-Israel rhetoric. Most Americans, even those who are not predisposed to support Israel, are just not that interested in the issue and the left’s commitment to smearing the Jewish state and targeting Jews is not an election-winning issue.   Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
• Ep. 221: To resist antisemitism, today’s Jews must become refuseniks 28.05.2026 56dk

  What can American Jews do to successfully respond to the surge of antisemitism that followed the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023? The answer, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, may be to channel the spirit of activism that characterized the movement to free Soviet Jewry in the 1970s and 80s. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by scholar and author Izabella Taborovsky, the author of Be a Refusenik: A Jewish Student’s Survival Guide.   Taborovsky points out that the script for those engaging in what she calls “conspiratorial anti-Zionism was written by Soviet propagandists more than a half century ago. She says the Soviet Union didn’t merely engage in state-sponsored antisemitism but also in a similar effort to promote anti-Zionism in order to suppress Jewish dissent at home and to attack the United States and Israel.   What we’re facing today, she says, is, “the same language, the same ideas, the same conceptual universe and the same explanatory logic” employed by the Soviets against Jews then. The “refuseniks”—the Jews who wouldn’t go along with this assault on Jewish identity and demanded the right to emigrate—”refused this idea that in order to be accepted, we have to give up every aspect of our Jewish ideas and identity.” Moreover, she argues, they knew they weren’t accepted anyway by a society that was drenched in Jew-hatred.   The lessons she draws from this struggle, can, she asserts, be applied to the Jewish dilemmas of today. The six principles laid out in her book are to: Reclaim your Zionism and its centrality in Jewish identity; Educate yourself rather than remain Jewishly illiterate; Find comrades in arms and embrace allies, which exist in America among pro-Israel Christians; Do the unexpected and refuse to play by the rules laid down by the antisemites; Reject victimhood and embrace pride in Jewish success; and to Lead with Jewish life as a pathway to success.   Taborovsky also points out that efforts to bring up the history of the Jewish Socialist Bund as an alternative to Zionism is ahistorical. The Bund was just as nationalist as Zionism; it just wanted to practice it in Eastern Europe. To revive this doomed notion is to forget that it died in the ashes of the Holocaust and the Soviet gulags. To the contrary, she believes Jews should take heart from Israel’s successes and to realize that Zionism is the future of the Jewish people. It is those who reject it or wish to destroy it that are, as in the past, on the wrong side of history. Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
• Ep. 220: American’s rageful Jacobins are the real threat to democracy 21.05.2026 1sa 1dk

  The problem for democracies throughout the ages has always been the rage and impatience of mobs with any limits on their power to act on their impulses. According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, such movements have become a major factor driving not just divisive politics  and threats to liberty but also antisemitism. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by law professor, Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley, author of the new book, Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution. Turley traces the history of this potent threat to freedom by discussing both the American and French revolutions and how they differed. His hero is Thomas Paine, the author of pamphlets and books that inspired both world events but who has been shunted to the side by many historians. The problem that undermines all attempts at government by consent of the governed is when crowds of people, inflamed by the passions of the moment, seek direct democracy without limits. As history teaches us, Turley explains, that usually leads to violence and the end of freedom. The one example where that was avoided was the American experiment because of the adoption of a Constitution that created checks and balances that spoke to the founders fears of mob rule. That didn’t happen in France and that’s why their revolution failed. Yet while the American system has worked well for 250 years, the threats to its survival are real. Chief among them, Turley says, are what he calls the new Jacobins, the politicians, professors and journalists who want to “reform” or trash the Constitution in order to allow them to enact radical change that is antithetical to freedom. The same factors, he says, are behind the current surge in antisemitism. Such rage is, Turley asserts, corruptive, addictive and contagious. Revolutions, like the mythical story of Saturn, eat their children. Antisemitism is one of those forms of rage. It has that sort of release for some people. It leads inevitably to violence such as the attacks on Jews as well as the murder of Charlie Kirk and the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump. Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
• Ep. 219: Can Israel Beat the World’s Biggest Smear Campaign? 15.05.2026 1sa 8dk

  Israel has been put on trial every day throughout its history. But according to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, the case against it—including blood libels about it committing “genocide” or being an “apartheid state”—are nothing but myths and lies that can be systematically exposed and refuted by simple research and legal logic. He’s joined on this week’s episode of Think Twice by federal Judge Roy Altman, who has written a book that does exactly that. Altman, who serves on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida is the author of the new book Israel on Trial: Examining The History, the Evidence and the Law. In it he goes about the task of exploring each of six major accusations against the Jewish state: That Jews are colonists in the Land of Israel; That Israel’s founding was illegitimate or aberrational; That Israel has prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state; That Israel was occupying Gaza (and had turned Gaza into an open-air prison or a concentration camp) before October 7; That Israel is an apartheid or white-supremacist state; and that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. All are false. The judge says he was motivated to write the book not so much because of the atrocities committed on October 7, 2023 by Hamas and other Palestinians when they attacked southern Israel. Rather, it was because of the way American institutions turned their backs on Israel and the Jews in the wake of the massacre. But he believes that the truth about the accusations against Israel can help turn public opinion around. Altman estimates that about 10% of Americans believe the lies about Israel, while another 30% are patriotic and understand that Jews are an integral part of what has made America flourish, and therefore don’t believe the blood libels. The rest, he says, are persuadable if they are given the truth. His book treats the various false assertions against the Jewish state as legal charges that rise or fall based on objective evidence. Examining each through a judicial lens, he renders a final verdict and declares Israel innocent on all counts. Altman believes that at the heart of the case against Israel is the fact that anti-Zionism is indistinguishable from antisemitism, and the effort to delegitimize Israel and treat Palestinian Arab claims as credible is an inversion of the truth. Watch more Think Twice: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsksduy16U5Kb-ZQdW5aIj7xGhY1kk6i0 Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeartRadio, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel. Register for the JNS International Policy Summit here: https://jns-summit.org
• Ep. 218: Why won’t Jewish stars speak up against antisemitism? 07.05.2026 1sa 1dk

  In the aftermath of the horror of Oct. 7, 2023, one of the most discouraging things for embattled American Jews was the relative silence from Hollywood. An industry that was never slow to speak up about all sorts of other causes and filled with Jewish artists seemed curiously unconcerned about the assault on Israel and the subsequent surge of antisemitism. As JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin says, American Jews were left to wonder why the arts community seemed just as likely to cheer for those attacking Israel as to declare their solidarity with Jewish hostages. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by actor, singer and director Jonah Platt who has dedicated his energies since Oct. 7 to advocating for Jewish solidarity and unity. Platt, the son of a successful film producer and philanthropist, hosts a podcast called “Being Jewish With Jonah Platt,” points out that most of those Jews who have remained silent were never engaged or committed Jewishly. Nevertheless, he says the failure of those who had often called upon the Jewish community to offer them solidarity on other issues but were then not willing to do so when the Jews needed help after Oct. 7 was noticed. Platt noted that there were people who in the second week of October couldn't put their names on a letter saying free the hostages because they couldn't get involved. “That, I'll never understand and to me that's pretty inexcusable,” he said. But, he adds, no one should be shocked when those Jewish artists who never opened their mouths on behalf of the Jewish people on a good day didn’t suddenly open their mouths on a really terrible day. Platt says that those who run the entertainment business are generally worried about politics becoming part of the conversation about their work. Nevertheless, he pointed out that there is no “blacklisting” of pro-Israel artists in Hollywood. Those who have spoken up for Israel like actress Ginnifer Goodwin, who appeared on Platt’s podcast, haven’t suffered in their careers. Nevertheless, the erasure of Jews from the movies is, he thinks, “an inherited ethos” from the 1930s when the Jewish founders of Hollywood were desperate to assimilate and to avoid the antisemitism of that era.  Another problem is that even many of those artists who don’t hesitate to identify Jewishly define themselves largely by the ideas of social justice and solidarity with others rather than advocating for Jewish causes. In this way, they are uncomfortable about supporting Israel and Israeli victims without also expressing sympathy for Arabs who have suffered as a result of a war their side started. With respect to how Jewish families can deal with divisions caused by some family members who have taken sides against Israel, Platt says the most important thing is to preserve relationships with loved ones while being honest about those differences. In this he speaks with experience because his brother, actor Ben Platt has spoken up on behalf of the Palestinians and against Israel. As for how the community as a whole should deal with those who oppose Israel’s existence, he takes a very different view. He believes there should be room for questions and debate and criticisms of Israel’s government, especially for young people and others who are not fully educated about the issues. But we shouldn’t have to debate about whether we ought to be connected with Israel. Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
• Ep. 217: Communism’s comeback and the surge of antisemitism 30.04.2026 1sa 7dk

  Why are so many young Americans saying they support communism and do they understand that the anti-Zionist lies they are swallowing were cooked up by Soviet propagandists a half-century ago? Those are the questions JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin is asking about the willingness of ignorant Americans who are embracing the Marxist war on the West. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by scholar Jonathan Brent, the CEO of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and a historian of communism and the Holocaust.   According to Brent, the reason for the revival of Marxism is, “the hatred of the American system of government and of the West generally that has been inculcated in generation after generation of young people who have gone to our most liberal and our most privileged universities and progressive schools.” This has, he says, created an appetite for a belief in the power of the state to “smash” bourgeois values, liberalism and institute more equality. But Brent points out that all this failed ideology has to offer is “an equality that is actually based on deprivation and enslavement rather than on lifting people up.”   The renewed infatuation with Marxism and the overlooking of its role in the murder of more than 100 million people during the 20th century is, Brent argues, also directly related to the support for Hamas, anti-Zionism and the war against Israel among young people. It also explains the support that an anti-Zionist like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani gets from many young people.   Alongside of this trend is a renewed interest in the Jewish Labor Bund, the socialist Jewish movement that thrived in Europe before the Holocaust. Brent believes it is wrong for contemporary anti-Zionists to use it to attack the existence of the state of Israel.   “The back in the 1930s was not between Bundism and Israel,” Brent points out. It was a debate about, “Do we stay here or do we go there? Where do we have the best chance of survival? And by that I don't mean simply physical survival, but the survival of our traditions, the survival of our language, the survival of our customs, our literature, our music, and so on. That was the issue. Bundism, in the classical sense, was never against Israel as such. So, it's a bit dishonest to take that principled intellectual dispute of the 1930s and transport it into the present day.”   Brent also discussed the work of YIVO, which seeks to preserve the record of the Eastern European Jewish civilization that perished in the Holocaust and the Soviet gulags. While the Bundists shouldn’t be blamed for believing that Europe could be a place where Jewish life could continue to flourish, the verdict of history vindicated the belief of the Zionists that it was doomed there.   Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
• Ep. 216: The seven deadly myths about the Iran war 23.04.2026 47dk

  The trouble with most reporting and commentary about the war the United States and Israel have waged against Iran is obvious, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin. Liberal Journalists and members of the foreign policy establishment are so deranged by their hatred of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they’d rather the Iranian Islamist terror regime win a war than see those two leaders get credit for doing the right thing.   He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by Michael Doran, the senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at the Hudson Institute. Doran believes there are seven myths about the conflict that need to be debunked if Americans are to understand what’s happening in the Middle East.   The first is that it is a “war of choice.” It is not, he argues. The only other option was for the U.S. and Israel to wait for the Iranians to construct a sufficiently strong force of missiles with which they could defend their nuclear program at which point it would have been too late to do anything about it. The second is that President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal would have prevented the threat if Trump hadn’t withdrawn from it. The truth is the opposite. The accord guaranteed that Iran would get a bomb rather than preventing it.   The third is that President Joe Biden had left Trump a peaceful world. That is also false because Biden’s weakness and appeasement efforts empowered Iran and left the Middle East in flames. Another myth was that Iran was ready to compromise with Trump. As with their dealings with Obama and Biden, Tehran’s idea of compromise was the United States tolerating Iran’s terrorism, missiles and nuclear ambitions.   Doran also points out that the idea that stopping Iran is a distraction from the need to contain and confront China is wrong. Conceding victory to Iran will immeasurably strengthen its Chinese ally.   The most damaging myths are the ideas that Israel dragged the United States into war and that Trump and Netanyahu are megalomaniacal warmongers. The claims about the Jewish state deceiving Trump into war are more about the antisemitism of anti-Zionists and other Israel-bashers and completely divorced from the truth. The main purpose of the war is to defend American national interests. Nor are the claims about the two leaders true. They waited until all other avenues for ending the Iranian threat were tried before ordering the strikes on Iranian targets.   Doran also deprecates those who analogize the war to past historical incidents like the 1956 Suez crisis. The United States is, unlike Britain and France in 1956, not a declining power that can be muscled by powerful allies into abandoning their interests. While the outcome of the war and negotiations to end it are unclear, Doran points out that the notion that the U.S. and Israel are doomed to defeat simply isn’t true.   Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
• Ep. 215: Don’t be deceived: Anti-Zionism is antisemitism 16.04.2026 53dk

  The problem facing Jews today, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, is that blood libels about Israel aren’t just being mainstreamed as they are becoming unchallenged tropes of popular culture. He’s joined in the week’s episode of Think Twice by scholar and educator Naya Lekht who argues that it’s a mistake to think that the current surge of antisemitism dates back only to the aftermath of the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab terror attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.   Lekht argues that to understand what’s happened, we need to realize that current events were catalyzed by the UN’s 2001 Durban Conference, the September 11, 2001 terror attacks and the Second Intifada. These events helped introduce into the West an ideological assault on Zionism and Jewish rights for which the organized Jewish community was completely unprepared. What’s more, she says, there is no major Jewish legacy organization that's running a campaign devoted to opposing anti-Zionism.   The anti-Zionist propaganda which is aimed at attacking an essential element of Jewish identity that has been normalized in academia and throughout Western society is not new. It is, she points out, a vestige of Soviet disinformation and propaganda.   Lecht, who emigrated from the former Soviet Union as a child, says that Jews living under Soviet rule were immune to this propaganda because they understood instinctively that what they were hearing from the Communist government’s media was always untrue. By contrast, Americans are vulnerable to such appeals. That’s especially the case when they come packaged as part of fashionable ideologies about race that have been adopted by liberal cultural and media institutions as a new orthodoxy. In this manner, such toxic ideas are accepted even when they are specifically crafted to target Jews.   She teaches that Jew hatred can be understood as part of a “three-era framework,” consisting of three distinct eras, anti-Judaism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Zionism that are all part of a demonization project. The mistake that many Jews and supporters of Israel make is to try and debate the truth of blood libels about Israel such as the claim that it is committing “genocide” or defend the Jewish state’s right to exist. As much as it is important that such blatant lies be refuted, Lekht says what is needed is an effort to stop playing defense and isolate the Jew-haters spreading propaganda.   Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
• Ep. 214: A handbook on how to fight back against the antisemites 27.03.2026 1sa 9dk

  Jews around the world are reeling from the unprecedented surge of antisemitism that followed the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. They may feel helpless when confronted by the way the Jew-haters have mainstreamed tropes of antisemitism in order to demonize Israel and its supporters. But, says JNS editor-in-chief, the answer to this problem is not to give up. Jews don’t merely need to wake up and fight back but to do so effectively and win.   He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by JNS columnist Melanie Phillips, who has written a handbook for doing just that, titled, Fighting the Hate: A Handbook for Jews Under Siege.   According to Phillips, many Jews have responded to the post-Oct. 7 tsunami of hate with shock and confusion. She says that Jews have an absolute duty to stand up against lies, against injustice, and to tell the truth. “It seemed to me that there was much that could be done if people had the right ideas about how best to go about this, " said Phillips. “And I thought, and I still think, that the organized Jewish world in the diaspora didn't really have a strategy.”   Instead of playing defense, Phillips believes the Jewish world has to get off the back foot onto the front foot and go on the offensive. Yet too many are ignorant about the conflict with the Palestinians and the way leftist ideologues are spreading Hamas propaganda.   Part of the problem is what she calls, “liberals with moral vertigo.” Phillips says some Jews were so stunned on October 7th by the people that they had thought were being oppressed by the Israelis, but had turned into barbaric, psychopathic, slaughterers for which there was absolutely no reasonable excuse and they can't process it. Yet she believes that the pro-Israel and sane Jewish community can make some headway with them. But, she says, the first thing is you have to park your anger and reach out to those who used to rationalize Palestinian behavior and try to reach them with the truth and the facts.   Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
• Ep. 213: Debunking Iran war conspiracy theories 19.03.2026 1sa

  At the heart of much of the opposition to the war the United States and Israel are waging to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and spreading Islamist tyranny with terror is a conspiracy theory. Both left-wingers and some on the right still believe in myths about Israel or the Jews manipulating American foreign policy, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin.   He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by historian and Wall Street Journal columnist Walter Russell Mead who points out that surges of antisemitism in the United States, such as the one we’re currently experiencing, is a function of other factors which impact national discourse like economics and mass migration.   Mead also says that while antisemitism on the right is highly visible because of celebrity podcasters like Tucker Carlson, the overwhelming majority of Republicans still support Israel and the war in Iran. He argues that changes in attitudes toward Israel and increasing antisemitism are far deeper and more widely spread on the left right now.   While he doesn’t minimize the impact that antisemitic advocacy from podcasters can have on our national discourse, Mead says it's important to remember that not everyone in the country is immersed in online conspiracy theories and listen to extremists on the internet more for entertainment than for news.   American policy toward Iran is, as is the case with all foreign policy decisions, being decided by what the president of the day considers to be in U.S. interests, and not because of what Israel says or wants. As for the outcome of the current war, he admits there’s no way of knowing the outcome for sure. But he believes that the most likely result right now is one which may leave the current Islamist regime in place but with their ability to inflict harm on their neighbors or the world vastly reduced. That may oblige the U.S. and Israel to have to attack it again in the future, invoking the “mowing the grass” metaphor.   That’s in keeping with Mead’s belief that Trump’s foreign policy remains essentially “Jacksonian” in that he isn’t much interested in spreading American values and ideology abroad but is determined to defend the country’s interests aggressively.   Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
• Ep. 212: Why people still love dead Jews 12.03.2026 1sa 6dk

  Jews shouldn’t have to choose between fighting antisemitism and bolstering Jewish identity. According to JNS editor-in-chief, the assertion of New York Times columnist Bret Stephens that the Jewish community should stop doing the former and concentrate on the latter is a false choice. They need, he says, to continue to do both, though, admittedly the critique of Jew-hatred is often badly executed.   He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by Dara Horn, author of the highly influential 2021 book, People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present and the recently published Passover-themed graphic novel One Little Goat. Horn is the founder and president of The Tell Institute, which is devoted to educating the public about Jewish civilization. She says the lessons of her previous book still apply in the post-Oct. 7 era.    She argues that “people tell stories about dead Jews that make them feel good about themselves” and “living Jews have to erase themselves in order for those stories to be told.” But after Oct. 7, it’s clear that it's actually simpler than that. “The message of people who love dead Jews, which unfortunately has only been confirmed in the past two years, is that non-Jewish societies generally only find Jews acceptable when Jews have no power.”   Ultimately, she says, the point of venerating dead Jews while delegitimizing live ones, like those in Israel, “is the goal of working toward a final solution of eliminating Jewish civilization.”   Her graphic novel is aimed primarily at children but is sophisticated enough to have a lot for adults too. It presents a surrealist seder in which a lost afikomen prolongs the evening for six months and prompts a journey through Jewish history for its protagonist while being led by a talking goat. In the course of the story, the essential lesson of Passover that every Jew understands that they were personally liberated from Egypt is brought to life.
• Ep.211: Is Iran regime change a realistic option? 05.03.2026 47dk

  According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, at the heart of much of the opposition to the joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran is general ignorance about the fanatical nature of the Tehran Islamist terror regime. Rooted in religious fanaticism, their sponsorship of terrorism and nuclear ambitions are non-negotiable to a government of theocratic tyrants. That makes it imperative that Washington cease allowing them to delay until they get a weapon.   Tobin is joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by Retired Israel Defense Forces General Yosef Kuperwasser, the director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security. He says the answer to the question about why the regime underestimated President Donald Trump’s determination to stop them from continuing to seek a nuclear weapon and spread terrorism is rooted in its essential nature.   “They couldn't do anything else, because accepting the conditions put forward by the president would have portrayed them as weak, and they cannot afford to be seen weak at home,” says Kuperwasser. He added that they also are really committed to having this nuclear weapon and will never give it up. What’s more, they believed that isolationists within the administration would persuade Trump not to act with Israel to avert the threat. Kuperwasser pointed out that the mullahs’ interpretation of Islam also leads them to believe that it is permissible to deceive foes with compromises that they don’t intend to abide by, rendering more negotiations with Tehran pointless.   Kuperwasser also tempers optimism about the majority of the Iranian people using the U.S. and Israeli attacks on the regime to overthrow it. So long as the minority within the country that are still loyal to the theocrats have a monopoly on armed force and the opposition is deeply divided along ideological and sectarian lines, there is still a good chance that the Islamic government will survive.   Kuperwasser is also deeply worried by the willingness of many Americans on the left and the far right to blame Israel for the war. It is, he says, “a very strange situation where we are attacked from both sides of the aisle.” But he insists that Israel and its supporters must prioritize. “Our first priority is to make sure that the Iran terrorist regime is out of business.” It might, he says, cause Israel to pay a political price for achieving that end in the United States. But before that problem can be addressed, the existential threat from Iran to Israel as well as the West must be eliminated.
• Ep.210: Waiting for the shoe to drop on Iran 26.02.2026 56dk

  The main question to be asked about President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is not the immediate one about whether or when the United States will attack Iran, important though that may be. Rather, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, it’s understanding that, his critics’ claims notwithstanding, far from being isolationist, Trump’s approach is one of selective use of force only when he perceives it to be in America’s direct interest.   Tobin is joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by veteran diplomat and Tikvah Fund head Elliott Abrams. He believes that a negotiated deal between the United States and Iran that might prevent a military conflict are highly unlikely. Abrams asserts that after the severe losses they suffered during last year’s 12-day war on Iran by Israel and the United States, Trump thought Tehran understood that it was in no position to avoid making real concessions on its nuclear program and other issues. But the Iranians clearly are more worried about looking weak in the eyes of its restive population.   The Islamists are also, Abrams says, much like the Palestinians in their thinking about the conflict. They believe that demonstrating their willingness to be steadfast and continue the war against the U.S. and Israel is vital to maintaining their ideological purpose despite it not being in their interest to do so.   On the other hand, Abrams points out that a failure on Trump’s part in following through on his threats against Iran and his promise of help to the Iranian people will have serious consequences for U.S. foreign policy. Trump, too, cannot afford to look weak in the eyes of America’s adversaries.   As for the situation in Gaza in the aftermath of the cease-fire that ended the post-Oct. 7 war on Hamas, Abrams says that Trump’s Board of Peace is “frankly absurd” and “won’t achieve anything.” The situation in which Hamas continues to dig in and strengthen its military position in the portion of Gaza it still controls while Israel attacks and seeks to weaken the Islamists will likely continue until, probably after the next election, Jerusalem decides that it can no longer tolerate a Hamas state in Gaza, even if it is smaller than the one that existed prior to Oct. 7 and not as militarily strong.   Abrams also discussed the surge in antisemitism in the United States, particularly on the right. He said President Trump and Vice President JD Vance are in a position to do something about it. The question is whether they will. Meanwhile, the Tikvah Fund leader said that American Jewry should concentrate more on strengthening their own community than on playing defense against antisemites.
• Ep. 209: Will civil strife destroy Israel before its 100th birthday? 19.02.2026 49dk

  Is it possible for Israelis to overcome the differences that nearly tore the country apart before the Oct. 7, 2023 Palestinian Arab terror attacks? JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin points out that the divisive debate about judicial reform which helped encourage Hamas to strike on Oct. 7, was part of a culture war that pits liberal secular elites against the religious and nationalist communities that they think shouldn’t be allowed to govern that is still simmering.   He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by Israeli historian and activist Yoav Heller, the leader of the Fourth Quarter movement that is trying to transcend this divide. Created in 2022 as a reaction to the four stalemated elections that took place after 2019, the group, whose name references the effort to ensure that the Jewish state survives past its 100th birthday, seeks to bring Israelis from across the political, ethnic and religious spectrum together.   Heller, a former journalist and historian of the Holocaust, says the point of the Fourth Quarter, which, he says, has hundreds of thousands of members, is to allow Israelis from different communities to experience each other’s pain rather than just blaming each other for the nation’s problems. In particular, he wants to build support for a party that he may or may not lead that will be pledged only to serve in a unity government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and his centrist and left-wing opponents.   Heller is a critic of Netanyahu but believes that if the prime minister wins re-election, even those who have said they will never serve with him, should join with him to form a unity coalition. Indeed, he is critical of those parties for not agreeing to serve with Netanyahu after the Oct. 7 attacks.   Netanyahu’s efforts to reform the out-of-control and all-powerful Israeli judiciary has been a main point of contention to the point where the government’s critics were prepared to tear the country apart over it in 2023. That may well have encouraged Hamas to attack on Oct. 7. But the Fourth Quarter’s platform features support for judicial reform, albeit in a manner that Heller claims will provide consensus rather than one side of the political divide triumphing over the other.   But according to Heller, the point of the group isn’t just politics. Its real purpose is to awaken a higher degree of civic engagement and local philanthropy and volunteerism among Israelis. It is only by creating that communal spirit that seemingly unsolvable problems can be solved allowing the Jewish state, unlike previous Jewish commonwealths more than two millennia ago, to survive into a second century.   Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
• Ep. 208: It’s Time To Tell The Truth About Muslim Antisemitism 12.02.2026 1sa 2dk

  It's time to stop worrying about accusations of Islamophobia when discussing Muslim antisemitism. According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, reporting and commentary on the shocking levels of Jew-hatred among Muslims has been silenced out of fear of accusations of racism and prejudice. But most of what is labeled Islamophobia is just truth telling about the way conspiracy theories and hate speech about Jews is normative in the Islamic community. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by Andrew Bostom, author of a number of important works about Islamic radicalism including the new A Modern Qur'anic Kampf Against the Jews. His book is a translation with commentary of a highly influential text written by Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, the late head of Al Hazr University in Cairo, widely considered the “Muslim Vatican,” which illustrates that Jew-hatred is baked deep into both Islamic culture and traditional religious thought. Bostom points out that the polling done by the Anti-Defamation League—including some results that were apparently considered so shocking that the group didn’t publish them—has demonstrated just how pervasive antisemitic attitudes are among Muslims around the world and in the United States. The notion that Muslim Jew-hatred is merely the product of resentment of the state of Israel or concern for the Palestinians is utterly false, says Bostom. And far from cherry-picking outrageous quotes from an otherwise unexceptional text, Boston’s translation of Tantawi’s screed illustrates that the vilest forms of hate directed at Jews is part of mainstream Muslim thought. What is most shocking about Tantawi’s antisemitic book is not just the way he shows how antisemitism is mainstream in Muslim thought or the way he mixes traditional anti-Jewish tropes with modern conspiracy theories about Jews (such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion). It’s the fact that Tantawi was considered a moderate Muslim and not as extreme as many other Islamic religious figures. A big part of the problem though, is the failure of the West, including Jewish groups and leaders who prioritize the idea of interfaith dialogue above defending their communities against hate, to directly call out Muslim antisemitism. Too many people are, Bostom says, simply afraid of being accused of Islamophobia. Christians and Jews must find the courage to tell Muslims, “We won't accept you at interfaith dialogue meetings if you're going to preach this way. Just stop it. We're aware of it. Stop it. It's ugly. Don't do it.” Register for the JNS International Policy Summit here: https://jns-summit.org If you liked this episode, watch more Think Twice here: https://youtu.be/0gWSr1oi9A4?si=3O0ANsqbqAIFX95B Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel. Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel. Register for the JNS International Policy Summit here: https://jns-summit.org
• Ep. 207: The double game of the ‘American’ king of Jordan 05.02.2026 47dk

  According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, understanding the anomalous position of the kingdom of Jordan requires balancing distaste for its strident public advocacy against Israel against its role as a strategic ally. Tobin is joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by journalist Aaron Magid, the author of the biography The Most American King: Abdullah of Jordan.   Magid, who worked in Amman for several years as a reporter says that it’s hard to measure the popularity of Jordan’s King Abdullah since its people have no say in their government. But he points out that Abdullah has skillfully navigated a dangerous political and strategic landscape by seeking to mollify the approximately half of his country’s population that is Palestinian with criticisms of Israel. At the same time, the half-British and American-educated king (who at the time of his accession to the throne in 1999 spoke better English than Arabic) has managed to closely align his country with the United States. And he is dependent on the close cooperation between his security services and those of the United States and Israel, without which it is unlikely that he would still be on the throne.   The author points out that the regime in Jordan is far less repressive than other Arab and Muslim countries but it is not a democracy. And he has maintained the peace treaty with Israel that his father King Hussein agreed to in 1994 despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of Jordanians, both Palestinian Arabs and “East Bankers” would prefer that it be abrogated. Magid says that hatred for Israel and Jews is pervasive in Jordanian society with copies of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf being sold on the streets of its cities. By contrast, sale of Magid’s book, which is by no means highly critical of Abdullah, is banned in the kingdom.   Jordan receives $1.45 billion a year in aid from the United States and Magid says the reason why Abdullah managed to hold onto power during the Arab Spring protests of 2011 is because, unlike, for example, Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, the U.S. didn’t discard him. In return for that money, Jordan allows the American troops to be stationed on its territory and assists the U.S. in dealing with threats, including shooting down Iranian missiles that were aimed at Israel in 2024.   While friends of Israel had good reason to be outraged over some of the statements Jordan has made about the Palestinian war on Israel, such as Queen Rania’s denial of the atrocities committed on Oct. 7, 2023, Magid says that is part of the price Israel pays for having a tacit ally on its border. He also notes that the reason why Jordan hasn’t extradited Palestinian terrorist murderer Ahlam Tamimi to the United States is that Washington has never prioritized the issue. That allows Tamimi, who took part in the 2001 Sbarro Pizza bombing in Jerusalem in which 16 people were murdered, including 15-year-old American Malki Roth, to evade justice.   Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
• Ep. 206: Subversion from both sides undermining Trump and the West 29.01.2026 57dk

  Progressives and far right conspiracy mongers have more than just antisemitism in common. According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, those trying to subvert President Donald Trump’s agenda consist of not only the left-wing “resistance” leading an insurrection in Minneapolis. The same goal motivates China and its various allies and  business partners like Qatar.   Tobin is joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by journalist Lee Smith, author of the new book, The China Matrix: The Epic Story of How Donald Trump Shattered a Deadly Pact. Smith believes that over the past quarter-century, a bipartisan coalition of Republicans and Democrats have helped the Chinese Communist Party via a disastrous trade deficit and allowing fake CCP companies to list on U.S. capital markets. Trump has sought to address this problem with some success via tariffs. TikTok poses a danger to U.S. national security via its ability to influence Americans. The pending sale of the platform, however, raises questions about whether the interests of large GOP donors who profit from dealings with Beijing will undermine Trump’s efforts to shift the focus of U.S. foreign policy to dealing with the threat from China.   Smith also thinks it’s vital for the U.S. not to let the Islamist regime in Iran, which is a key ally of China, escape from its current predicament caused by mass protests seeking its overthrow. He argues that China’s influence operation in the United States in which officials below the national level, like Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are being targeted by them to support their policies, is a real danger.   The author is concerned that lobbying by business interests and others will pressure Trump not to follow up on efforts to exert maximum pressure on Tehran. He also throws cold water on the idea that there is any deal to be made between the United States and Iran. He worries that by giving Tehran time via negotiations that will never lead anywhere, the theocrats will wriggle out of their current predicament.   He’s also worried about the rise of antisemitism on the right and the way those, like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, are seeking to stop American action against Iran is very troubling. Even more dangerous are the questions raised about the intentions of Carlson’s friend Vice President JD Vance, who seems not to understand the role that Israel plays in American interest and in advancing American peace and prosperity in a vitally strategic region of the world.   He’s equally worried about the ability of Qatar not only to buy influence in the United States but to get support inside the Pentagon.   Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.
• Ep. 205: ‘Open borders’ advocacy enables antisemitism and violence 22.01.2026 1sa 16dk

  What’s been going on in Minneapolis is no coincidence, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin. The city which is in a virtual state of insurrection against the federal government’s efforts to enforce immigration laws is also the place where a massive fraud was perpetrated against American taxpayers by Somali immigrants with ties to a jihadist group and which is also represented by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)one of the country’s leading antisemites. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by investigative journalist Ben Weingarten, Newsmax contributor and author of American Ingrate: Ilhan Omar and the Progressive-Islamist Takeover of the Democratic Party. Weingarten says that events in Minnesota demonstrate what he calls the failed “progressive model of governance,” which combines advocacy for open borders and non-enforcement of immigration laws with corruption. Moreover, he says that some of the same forces that are creating mayhem there were similarly part of the activism that produced the “mostly peaceful” riots of the Black Lives Matter summer of 2020 and the pro-Hamas antisemitic protests since Oct. 7, 2023. Weingarten also breaks down his recent reporting about President Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace and the supposedly apolitical Palestinian technocrat that has been tapped to lead the reconstruction of Gaza. According to Weingarten, Ali Shaath is, like all those who have been part of the corrupt Palestinian Authority, not a supporter of peace with Israel. Rather, he is someone who supports the ongoing war to destroy the Jewish state embraced by most Palestinians and is unlikely to do anything that would prevent Gaza from being turned back into a terrorist fortress from which the Jewish state could be attacked. The journalist also analyzes U.S. policy toward Iran and says that predictions that the Trump administration may be ready to embrace a policy of negotiation and appeasement toward the Islamist regime are premature. He also commented that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s memoir detailing the way he was vetted by the staff of former vice president Kamala Harris for their party’s vice-presidential nomination illustrates the serious antisemitism problem in the Democratic Party, which is even more significant than the troubling outbreak of Jew-hatred on the right. Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.   Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.