Think Twice with Jonathan Tobin

JNS
JNS
  • 4.8 (129)
  • News Commentary
  • Weekly

The Internet and mainstream media are inundated with misinformation and superficial hot takes. That’s why you’re not getting the full story. Take another look with JNS Editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin as he takes deep dives into the most critical stories and controversies impacting the Jewish world with insightful commentary and fascinating interviews. If you want to understand the bigger picture and the context of the issues that really matter, this show is for you. Thanks for listening to Jonathan Tobin's podcast. If you appreciated today’s discussion and want to dive deeper into the issues shaping Israel and the Jewish world, join our community by subscribing to our newsletter. Your engagement keeps our journalism thriving. Your support is crucial. Support us with a donation to ensure we can continue delivering in-depth reporting: Donate Now!

  1. 1d ago

    What will break the Israeli electoral stalemate? | Ep. 240

    Who were the real winners and losers of the Israeli election? On the  day after the voting, JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin was joined on this week’s episode of Think Twice by JNS Senior contributing editor Ruthie Blum to break down the results and discuss the implications.   According to Blum, the fact that neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition partners nor that of the “anyone-but-Bibi” alliance of parties led by former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, retired Gen. Gadi Eisenkot gained a majority, creating an impasse. But the biggest winners on Oct. 27 were clearly the Arab parties, which appeared to have won a record number of Knesset seats.   Both Tobin and Blum said the pressure from the left and many in the international community for Eisenkot to join forces with the Arab parties in one way or another in order to topple Netanyahu. But allowing parties that are not merely anti-Zionist but which identify with Israel’s enemies which seek its destruction into the cabinet is not merely shocking; it’s a threat to the Jewish state’s security at a time of ongoing war.   Blum said Eisenkot’s call for the IDF and the security services to thwart any efforts of the current caretaker government that is led by Netanyahu to continue the war against Iran and its terror auxiliaries is outrageous. It will also set up a possible conflict with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has made it clear he wants Israel’s government to help him “finish the job” of ending the nuclear threat from Tehran.   While neither Netanyahu or Eisenkot had a clear path to a government, they agreed that the prime minister was in a stronger position and not just because his faction won more seats. All of Eisenkot’s options for breaking the stalemate, whether by deals with the Arabs, a unity government with Netanyahu or one with the haredi parties will damage him politically in the long run. Netanyahu can stand his ground and be ready to try again in new elections early next year if no government is formed and may do better the next time.   The prime minister’s advantage, Blum says, stems from the fact that although it is vilified in the liberal press in Israel and the United States, the Likud Party remains the largest because its positions on security and other issues are more in touch with the center of Israeli public opinion. Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

  2. Oct 22

    Are Jews breaking up with the Democrats? | Ep. 239

    American Jews have been among the most ardent and loyal supporters of the Democratic Party for over a century. But as, JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin notes, as the party’s intersectional left wing base embraced hatred for Israel and even antisemitism in recent years, the argument for a shift in political loyalties is now being made by some who were closely identified with the Democrats. One such person is famed legal analyst and retired Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz, who joins Tobin on this week’s episode of Think Twice. A prolific author, Dershowitz has written a new book titled, Why I Quit the Dems And So Should You! The confessions of a reluctant Republican. In it, the 63rd book he has published in his career, Dershowitz, 88, documents the reasons why he left the Democrats after 70 years as an ardent and involved supporter of the party and many of its candidates. Dershowitz asserts that his beliefs are unchanged. But the Democratic Party has, he acknowledged, been gradually becoming more illiberal and woke. It is “a systemic problem.”   “I am a liberal, but I'm no longer a liberal Democrat, because I think that's an oxymoron,” Dershowitz says.   “I don't think Democrats are liberals. The reason I basically made the switch was not because [New York City Mayor Zohran] Mamdani got elected or because [Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Abdul] El-Syed was nominated, it's because [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer supported them. It's because the mainstream of the Democratic Party, which is testicularly challenged, wouldn't stand up against the anti-Semites in the Democratic Party. Whereas President Trump did stand up against some of the extremists in the Republican Party. So, for me,” he continued. “The issue is not the extremes; it's how the center deals with the extremes.” When asked about criticism from Democrats that prioritizing Israel and the battle against antisemitism makes Jews “single issue voters,” Dershowitz had a ready reply.   “We should become more single-issue voters. If I were living in Germany in 1932 and I were an environmentalist or a vegetarian or somebody who wanted full employment for Germany, I wouldn't care about those issues. I would care about Adolf Hitler. Seven thousand German Jews voted for Adolf Hitler,” Dershowitz declared. “I think the time has come for single issue voting. Anti Semitism is the most serious danger in the world today of bigotry.”   Dershowitz admitted that he was a “reluctant Republican” because he still agreed with the Democrats on many issues. He also held out the possibility that the Democrats could reject their antisemites as well as noting that the isolationist wing of the Republican Party, led by Vice President JD Vance, whom he says is “not pro-Israel” yet also “not antisemitic” worries him.   The legal authority also said that he had recently reconnected with his friend Larry David after the “Seinfeld” producer and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star publicly broke with him because Dershowitz had represented President Donald Trump. Now that David has denounced the Democratic Socialists who have hijacked the Democratic Party, the two have, he said, reconciled.   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.

  3. Oct 15

    Is there a final solution to the Jewish problem? | Ep. 238

    What if all the clever ideas about dealing with antisemitism, including focusing on Holocaust education, are failing? That’s the question posed by JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin with respect to the unprecedented surge in Jew-hatred. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by Dara Horn, author of the seminal 2021 collection of essays, People Love Dead Jews: Reports From a Haunted Present and the new The Solution to the Jewish Problem: A Love Story for the Living. Horn says that since the publication of her People Love Dead Jews, she’s become a magnet for Jews who want to share their stories of how they’ve been impacted by the surge of antisemitism. Because of this, she’s been dubbed by family members as the “Antisemitism Lorax,” a reference to the Dr. Seuss book. Because of this, she’s spent the past few years researching efforts to combat Jew-hatred and come to some firm conclusions. One is that Holocaust education, while important in and of itself, is not curing the world of antisemitism or achieving the goal of many involved with it to teach non-Jews to be nicer to people. To the contrary, since it doesn’t teach about Jewish civilization or about Jew-hatred per se, it does little or nothing to deal with the problem. She also believes that American Jews are wrong to believe that the so-called “golden age” of American Jewry after the Second World War was the result of non-Jews deciding not to be antisemitic because of the Holocaust. Instead, it was created by American Jewish activism which asserted the rights of Jews to be treated as equal partners. The problem was that the implicit deal that Jews sought to make with the non-Jewish world created more trouble in the long run. The “Gentleman’s Agreement,” which was the name of a famous novel and Oscar-winning 1947 film about antisemitism—hinged on the idea that Jews are like everyone else rather than a group whose civilization was always based on their being different. Antisemitism thrives, Horn says, because it is not so much a virus as “lie” that tells people that the Jews are to blame for whatever it is they fear most. That applies to every variety of Jew-hater, including those at Harvard University, where she served on the ill-fated Antisemitism Advisory Group. The only effective answer to it—the “final solution” that she references in the title to her book—is for Jews to stop trying to make others like them and instead concentrate on educating themselves and others about their own heritage. The answer today, she says, is the same that has sustained Jews throughout their 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.

  4. Oct 8

    Jews were betrayed after Oct. 7 | Ep. 237

    A half century ago, the Soviet Union and its Third World allies passed the infamous “Zionism is racism” resolution at the United Nations. Today, the same propaganda is regurgitated by academics, liberal media and pop culture figures who think they’re enlightened supporters of human rights. According to historian Gil Troy, who joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin on this week’s episode of Think Twice, the reason is the spread of “anti-racist” ideology that spreads antisemitic blood libels about Israel.   Troy, who wrote the definitive study of the struggle against the “Zionism is racism” resolution, sees the spread of toxic left-wing ideas has undermined both Israel’s international standing and that of American Jews. This was evident in what he calls the “triple double cross” of liberals and feminists who betrayed Israel after Oct. 7 by taking the side of the Palestinians who murdered, raped and kidnapped Israelis. What happened should have brought moral clarity about jihadi foes to American views of the conflict but instead it created division between the United States and Israel.   While Troy is worried about the way far-left Israeli-haters are taking over the Democratic Party, he believes figures like Michigan Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is a greater threat to his party than he is to the Jews. The reason is that the shift to the far left is likely to damage Democrats in 2028 if not in 2026.   Nevertheless, Troy says it was far more important for Israel to win on the battlefield after Oct. 7 than to win public relations or diplomatic battles.   Analyzing the upcoming Israeli election, Troy says the divide among citizens of the Jewish state is primarily tribal and causing the two main camps that are supporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the one hand, and his chief opponent, former Gen. Gadi Eisenkot on the other, to create what may well be a stalemate in the vote. He says it’s unfortunate because there is a broad Zionist consensus on the issues of security and even on the drafting of Haredim. Though many Israelis would like the two main blocs to come together, it’s not clear that either leader can escape the necessity of allying themselves with allies on the right or the left.   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.

  5. Oct 1

    Ep. 236: Is Jewish unity in a polarized nation possible?

    At a time when most Americans have lost the ability to listen to people with opposing views on political issues, how can a fractious Jewish community that is also split on denominational lines to pull together. That’s the question posed by JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin. He believes that Jewish disunity has been exacerbated by the capture of the political left—which is still supported by the majority of Jews—by anti-Israel and antisemitic “progressives.” This puts even more pressure on Jewish liberals to conform to fashionable opinion on the left that poses a threat to their community’s interests and safety.   He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by DePaul University Law Professor Roberta Kwall, author of the new book, Polarized: Why American Jews Are Divided And What To Do About It. She believes that a vital Jewish center can be reconstituted if people realize that the things that unite them are still greater than those that seek to tear them apart.   Part of the problem is that Israel, which was once thought to be a unifying factor is now the greatest source of division with many unaffiliated or liberal Jews no longer supportive of it with a small but well-publicized minority actively opposed to Zionism.   At the core of her effort is a statement of largely anodyne principles that she believes the overwhelming majority of Jews agree on. Among them is support for the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish and democratic state as well as the legitimacy of criticizing its government.   But for Kwall, just as important is the need to re-emphasize education and the importance of tradition to reinforce Jewish identity. In such a context, it will be easier for Jews who disagree on politics or aspects of Israeli policy to listen to each other and find common ground.   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.

  6. Sep 24

    Ep. 235: Three principles that allow the IDF to succeed can change your life

    The secret to the success of the Israel Defense Forces involves many factors but according to JNS Israel military correspondent Yaakov Lappin, it involves creating a culture as much as the courage of its soldiers, air crews and sailors and their effective use of cutting-edge technology. Lappin, who has written about this in his recently published book, Blue Team Dynamics: Three Proven Leadership Principles Inspired by IDF Sources for Business and Life, joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin on this week’s episode of Think Twice to discuss how this works.   The book is based on years of research and interviews dating back to 2018. According to Lappin, the three principles that are the foundation of IDF culture involve the importance of after-action review of everything they do, cultivating the ability to switch from the routine to an emergency mode and encouraging the need to recognize how to manage long-term change inside an organization. As he notes, the same ideas can help individuals or non-military organizations and businesses also succeed.   Lappin concedes that many of these lessons were forgotten by Israel’s military and intelligence establishment as well as their political masters prior to the catastrophe of Oct. 7, 2023, which occurred almost exactly 50 years after the IDF suffered another disaster that was also rooted in organizational failure. With respect to Oct. 7, Lappin says the mistake came from a basic human failing in which, “the human mind adopts and falls in love with a narrative” that is very difficult to break out of. This overrode the culture that should have prevented the complacency that led to the Hamas and Palestinian terrorists being able to carry out the worst mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.   Prioritizing after-action detailed post-training and combat analysis started inside the Israeli Air Force but it has spread to the other branches of the military now too. That involves creating a culture where admitting mistakes of any kind is not only permitted but lauded as necessary, especially where it concerns commanders.   The necessity of knowing when to switch to emergency mode was actually highlighted by the way many in the IDF responded to Oct. 7. Those efforts ensured that the grievous damage inflicted by Hamas was limited and then allowed the Israelis to defeat the terrorists. Nevertheless, it’s still true that the IDF failed to anticipate this “black swan” event and that the procedures which should have prevented that mistake which involve looking for “black feathers,” rather than the swan itself, didn’t happen.   According to Lappin, the “Blue Team” approach, which refers to the creation of two groups dedicated to both planning IDF actions and those that seek to examine and defeat those plans as an enemy would, must also be credited for the amazing triumphs Israel achieved after Oct. 7 in Lebanon and against Iran. And as he notes, the very same ideas have also been applied by IDF veterans in their post-military careers in business and technology.   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.

  7. Sep 17

    Ep. 234: Jews must stop cowering and starting fighting back

    JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin wants to know what’s the bigger problem? Is it the global surge of antisemitism? Or is it the passivity of some Jews who recoil from active defense against their attackers or the willingness of others to actively collaborate with those who seek their destruction?   He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by Tablet magazine editor-at-large Liel Leibovitz who answered by speaking of his outrage at the reaction of American and European Jews to efforts to harm them. He was particularly incensed by the fact that when a deranged man entered a New York City synagogue and disrupted services and attacked a congregant, not a single person present attempted to restrain him or defend the person who was assaulted. Instead, they simply sat back and waited for security to rush in and save them.   He believes this is symptomatic of Diaspora Jewry’s inadequate response to their current dilemma. “If that's all you've got, then what you have isn't a congregation. What you have is a hospice.”   “If Zionism taught us anything, and indeed if Judaism taught us anything,” he continued. “It’s that our expectation should never ever be to be safe. Our expectation should always be to be free. Free people have the door wide open. Free people welcome everyone that wants to come in. Free people are armed and trained and ready to defend themselves against their haters. This is a very normal state of being, applicable everywhere, it seems, except for the mainstream American Jewish community, which still harps on about risk management. Well, you know, that way lies doom.”   Leibovitz discussed Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s advice to Jews that they should prioritize the interests of the Democratic Party over their own safety and even the existence of Israel by supporting an antisemite like the party’s U.S. Senate candidate, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. She was, he asserts, “speaking the quiet part out loud.” That is something, he says, that most of the leadership of American Jewry has failed to do.   According to Leibovitz, “the inconvenient truth is that by deed, if not by word, every single one of our so-called communal leaders practice the same exact thought process” as Nessel. He says that when it comes to “the most pressing issues that actually affect the well-being of Jews today”—such as supporting the Trump administration’s effort to root out DEI policies that enable antisemitism in academia, immigration and the threat from Islamists—they are acting like Nessel. They are prioritizing liberal partisan political stands, not the interests or even the defense of the community.   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.

  8. Sep 10

    Ep. 233: A referendum on Netanyahu or his opponents?

    The Oct. 27 Israeli election will be a referendum on the record of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But according to JNS contributing editor Ruthie Blum, the voters will also be registering their verdict on whether they believe the promises of his opponents. Blum joins JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin on this week’s episode of Think Twice to analyze the upcoming vote.   According to Blum, many Israelis may be tired of the prime minister, who has now served for 15 out of the last 17 years as his country’s premier and for 18 years in total. But the campaign will also test the appeal of the apparent new leader of the opposition bloc, former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. The general has mainstream appeal and has the sympathy of the nation after losing his son during the war in Gaza.   As Blum notes, Eisenkot is trying to sound as much like Netanyahu as possible when it comes to issues like the war against Iran and its terrorist proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah while still blaming the prime minister for Oct. 7. Yet the military establishment he embodies just as, if not more responsible for Israel being surprised by Hamas. More than that, his record as chief of staff shows that he is clearly on the left though not trying to sound like it. And contrary to the promises that have been made, the opposition may well hope to bring in the Muslim Brotherhood-connected United Arab List to help them form a government now that it has one Jewish member on its list of candidates.   Israelis are, she says, exhausted by the war and sick of the divisiveness that it engendered. But a key factor in determining the outcome will depend on which of the various smaller parties (38 different lists registered before the deadline) will be able to garner the necessary 3.5% of the vote in order to make it into the Knesset. If the right, left or Arab splinters and votes are “wasted” by being cast for parties that don’t qualify, that may make the difference in whether Netanyahu or Eisenkot will be able to form a government.   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.

See All (246)

4.8
out of 5
129 Ratings

About

The Internet and mainstream media are inundated with misinformation and superficial hot takes. That’s why you’re not getting the full story. Take another look with JNS Editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin as he takes deep dives into the most critical stories and controversies impacting the Jewish world with insightful commentary and fascinating interviews. If you want to understand the bigger picture and the context of the issues that really matter, this show is for you. Thanks for listening to Jonathan Tobin's podcast. If you appreciated today’s discussion and want to dive deeper into the issues shaping Israel and the Jewish world, join our community by subscribing to our newsletter. Your engagement keeps our journalism thriving. Your support is crucial. Support us with a donation to ensure we can continue delivering in-depth reporting: Donate Now!

Information

More From JNS

You Might Also Like