Think Twice with Jonathan Tobin

Activist Elana Fishbein of No Left Turn in Education joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to discuss the grassroots effort to halt the spread of critical race theory teachings in the school. The two talk about the way woke doctrines are distorting education in America, the way it grants a permission slip to anti-Semitism and how parents can organize to fight back.

Kenneth Marcus (Former Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights and Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law) joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to discuss the plague of anti-Semitism on college campuses and his efforts to use the law to fight it.

NGO Monitor head Gerald Steinberg joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to discuss the way Palestinian non-governmental organizations are used as fronts by Palestinian terror groups and the way international human rights groups work to promote lies about Israel.The two discuss the recent Israeli decision to designate six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist groups and how the international human rights network has discarded its idealistic origins and now acts in concert with the United Nations and its Human Rights Council to assist the war on the existence of the Jewish state.

Author Dara Horn joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to discuss the way sympathy for dead Jews gives the world a permission slip for hating live ones. The two talk about her new book "People Love Dead Jews: Report From a Haunted Present" and topics like the role that the memory of Anne Frank plays in granting the world absolution for the Holocaust, the dishonest effort to claim that “The Merchant of Venice” isn’t anti-Semitic, 'Jewish heritage' tourism and myths about name changes at Ellis Island.

Journalist and social media influencer Bethany Mandel joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on children, anti-Semitism and the way woke ideology is undermining respect for women.The two discuss the way those pushing restrictive pandemic policies have disregarded their impact on children, vaccine mandates, how social media distorts the discussion about anti-Semitism, why Israel is singled out and the way women’s rights are trashed by left-wing activists.

Strategic analyst and former Bush administration senior figure Michael Doran and JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan S. Tobin discuss the reason behind the Biden administration’s appeasement of Iran.The two talk about American foreign policy in the aftermath of the Afghanistan debacle, how Iran has been strengthened and its threats to neighboring countries, as well as the challenge to the United States from China and the legacy of the Bush administration.

Intelligence analyst and military veteran Michael Pregent joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to discuss the debacle in Afghanistan and the implications of the triumph of the Taliban for American security and for its allies.The two talk about the incompetence and misguided hopes that led to the Biden administration’s decision as well as how these events will impact international terrorism, the threat from Iran and trust in the United States by both friends and foes. They also touch on what lessons Israel needs to learn from recent events.

Law professor and human rights activist Anne Bayefsky joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to discuss the Apartheid Israel lie and the way the United Nations has helped promote anti-Semitism and delegitimization of Israel.The two discuss how the 2001 UN Durban Conference on Racism became the vehicle for anti-Semitic activism and resurrecting the canard that Zionism is racism. They also talk about the UN has become the home base for efforts to demonize Israel and the way the Biden administration’s devotion to multilateralism is giving a pass to the world body’s anti-Semitism.

Author and academic Ruth Wisse joins JNS editor-in -chief Jonathan Tobin to discuss how to understand anti-Semitism, the revival of Yiddish and her new memoir.The two discuss Wisse’s analysis of how anti-Semitism is being legitimized and why so much of the Jewish community is incapable of responding effectively to this challenge. They also delve into how academia has become the springboard for so much Jew-hatred, why anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, how leftists are using Yiddish to attack Israel, which writer had the greatest impact on her career, her most important choice and the importance of Jewish learning.

Historian, novelist and former Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to discuss America’s disaster in Afghanistan and the U.S.-Israel relationship.The two discuss the impact of America’s withdrawal from the Middle East on Israel and its Arab allies, U.S. policy toward Iran, the impact of critical race theory and intersectional ideology on American support for Israel. He also talks about how Israel’s new coalition government is working, Benjamin Netanyahu, how the Knesset works and what it’s like to be a writer of both novels and history books.

Former U.S. envoy for combatting anti-Semitism Elan Carr joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to discuss what needs to be done to halt the rise in Jew-hatred.The two talk about whether former President Donald Trump enabled anti-Semitism, extremism on the Internet and confronting Jew-hatred on both the left and right. They also discuss critical race theory, his successor at the State Department, whether Hungary’s government is anti-Semitic and his experiences as the son of a Jewish immigrant from Iraq and an Iraq war veteran.

Journalist and author Naomi Schaefer Riley joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to discuss the damage that critical race theory is doing to children. The two discuss the impact radical and woke ideas about race are having on kids and how cancel culture works. They also explore what we’ve learned about the role that both intermarriage and the decline of faith are having on both society in general and the Jewish community.Music credit: Dolce Suono Ensemble

Washington Examiner magazine editor Seth Mandel joins JNS editor in chief Jonathan Tobin to talk about why the ADL is failing to confront anti-Semitism, polarization and home schooling.The two discuss how the ADL is abandoning its role as an anti-Semitism watchdog in favor of partisan advocacy, the need to emphasize that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, whether the Democratic Party is being ‘Corbynized,’ the dangerous impact of polarization in American politics and why more people are turning to home schooling their children.

Author and commentator Liel Liebovitz joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to talk about whether Jews are white, the right Jewish answer to anti-Semitism and the disconnect between Israelis and Americans.The two discuss the impact of critical race theory and ideas about white privilege on the way Americans think about the Middle East. They also talk about the revival of Jewish traditions in unfamiliar settings, the essential Jewishness of Stan Lee and Leonard Cohen, the spiritual dimension of video games and what Israelis and Americans don’t understand about each other.

Historian and author Gil Troy joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to talk about how toxic theories about the past are fueling anti-Semitism and undermining Jewish identity and support for Israel.The two discuss how partisanship has given a pass to the spread of destructive ideas like critical race theory and intersectionality and how such ideologies give a permission slip to anti-Semitism. They also speak about how battles over history are impacting Jewish identity in the United States and ties with Israel and the role that Zionism and important stories – such as that of Natan Sharansky — should play in Jewish life.

In this week’s episode, the Tikvah Fund head and foreign-policy veteran of the Reagan, Bush and Trump administrations joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to talk diplomacy, democracy and the future of American Jewry.The two discuss President Joe Biden’s strategies and his attempt to get closer to Iran and the Palestinians, the foreign-policy establishment in the Trump administration and the greatest threats to the American Jewish community.

In this week’s episode of Top Story, Fox News contributor and former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to talk about the politics of support for Israel.They analyze the way the two political parties have changed in their attitudes toward Israel and what, if anything, can be done to restore a bipartisan consensus on the Middle East. In addition, they delve into what's behind a surge in anti-Semitism and how to fix a dysfunctional American political culture. This is an episode you don't want to miss!

In this week’s episode of “Top Story,” JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin is joined by Shoshana Bryen, Senior Director of the Jewish Policy Center and editor of inFOCUS Quarterly. They discuss what to expect from the Biden administration’s efforts to reinstate the Iran nuclear deal and its approach to the Middle East as well as why efforts to appease the Islamist regime and the Palestinians won’t advance peace or American interests.

In Episode 6 of “Top Story With Jonathan Tobin,” JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin discusses the swearing-in of Israel’s new government and the ousting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He asks whether it can survive and what it will mean if it does.

In Episode 5 of “Top Story With Jonathan Tobin,” JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin is joined by columnist Melanie Phillips.Together they discuss the recent surge in anti-Semitism and examine the way that radical ideas like critical race theory and the demonization of Israel by leftist elites and Islamist groups have facilitated Jew-hatred in both Britain and the United States.

In episode 4 of “Top Story With Jonathan Tobin,” JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin is joined by JNS Jerusalem bureau chief Alex Traiman to discuss the possible end of the Netanyahu era as rivals Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid close in on a coalition agreement that will end the prime minister’s time in office. They consider the implications of a new government on Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship as well.

In Episode 3 of “Top Story,” JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin is joined by columnist and editor Ruthie Blum who discusses the way smearing Israel legitimizes anti-Semitism and Hamas. They analyze the way the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and the associated ideologies of critical race theory and intersectionalism have given a permission slip for anti-Semitism and the demonization of Israel, especially in the aftermath of the latest conflict with Hamas terrorists.

In this week’s episode of “Top Story with Jonathan Tobin,” the editor-in-chief of JNS explores reasons for the protests against Israel involving a controversial court case and the status of Jerusalem, as well as the way some in the Democratic Party have adopted a false narrative about the Jewish state oppressing Palestinians. He explains why in this story, as in so many others, understanding history and what it means matters if you want to get to the truth.

The first episode of JNS podcast Top Story with Jonathan Tobin. This week, JNS Editor-in-chief Jonathan S. Tobin explains the ramifications of revelations that former Secretary of State and current U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry was sharing Israeli military intelligence with the Iranians.