Think Twice with Jonathan Tobin

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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

    Ep. 187: A new surge of college antisemitism this fall?

    Jewish students should expect to be confronted by more pro-Hamas mobs and antisemitism when returning to college this fall, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin.  With legacy media mainstreaming Hamas propaganda and blood libels against Israel,  it’s likely that the surge of antisemitism throughout American education that began after the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, will continue in the coming months. He’s joined in the week’s episode of Think Twice by Cornell Law professor and Legalinsurrection.com founder William Jacobson who says it’s “going to be a very hot fall” with respect to anti-Israel activity. Jacobson believes that the pro-Hamas movement is in retreat as a result of Trump’s crackdown, which has caused many schools to act swiftly to quash antisemitism on campus, lest they lose federal funding. But given the widespread belief in the lies about Israel committing “genocide” in Gaza, antisemitic groups like Students for Justice in Palestine will be even more aggressive than in the past two years. It will be up to colleges and universities to ensure that those who break the rules and engage in illegal activity in the name of “Palestine” are held accountable. Israel-haters have, Jacobson says, co-opted the entire left-wing movement, sidelining causes like Black Lives Matter and making activism for the destruction of Israel their main goal. This movement is being aided with funding from Qatar and other malign actors and is also seeking to co-opt the right via influencers like Tucker Carlson. But, he says, their main target is America itself and not just the Jews. “If you wanted to destroy the United States from inside, what would you do differently than the left and now the Islamists are doing to our educational system, which is pitting students against each other based on skin color and identity group? And that's what the mainstream Jewish community refuses to address.  Jacobson says that Trump’s attempts to broker deals with universities like Harvard and Columbia is having an impact on the spread of antisemitism, in part, because of the decline in foreign students who have been a big part of the problem. But he cautions that enforcement of the provisions of those agreements are key, since these institutions are hoping to wait out Trump and go back to their discriminatory policies once he leaves office. The key to the problem is ridding the system of the plague of the woke catechism of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) which is at the core of the spread of anti-Jewish prejudice because it falsely identifies Jews and Israel as “white” oppressors. He criticized those mainstream liberal Jewish groups that refuse to oppose DEI.  Jacobson said he’s not sure whether the education system can be saved. “We need to now figure out how we protect ourselves from the universities, not how we reform the universities. I do not believe that universities can reform themselves, at least not the so-called elite universities where we're having most of these problems.” 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.

    1h 2m

  2. AUG 21

    Ep. 186: The threat from the death cult of Islam

    According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, Americans and many in the West seem to be blind to the threat posed by radical Islam and Islamist movements. Thanks to the successes of a red/green alliance that unites Marxists and Islamist antisemites who both hate the West, this attitude is leading to a fundamental shift that undermines the national identity of some nations and calls into question their willingness to defend civil liberties. This also involves not just tolerance for antisemitism and hatred for the state of Israel but legitimization and mainstreaming of the worst sort of anti-Jewish hate. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by Ben Poser, the executive editor of White Rose Magazine, which has devoted its most recent issue to a discussion of what it describes as “the death cult of Islam.” Poser believes that in the name of tolerance and pluralism, many in the West fail to understand that jihadist terror groups and their advocates aren’t so much distorting Islam as they are a reflection of its basic beliefs and texts. Moreover, the claim by Muslim apologists that the word “jihad” is merely about internal struggle rather than faith-based commitment to aggression and terror against non-Muslims is a deception. Poser points out that the notion that the West is uniquely or even solely guilty for slavery or imperialism is not just wrong. It also ignores the fact that historically the Muslim world was just as responsible for such practices and, unlike the West, never repented for its crimes. Indeed, as he notes, slavery continues to this day in the Islamic world though few in the West care to notice it. He says Western societies need not violate their own principles of civil liberties in order to defend their values against those who seek to impose Muslim practices that are antithetical to liberty and democracy. Moreover, they need to recognize that the while the red-green alliance seems to be solely focused on vilifying Jews—in which they falsely accuse Israel of genocide which is what the Islamists of Hamas seek to do—it is also a threat to the entire West and not just Israel and its supporters. It is, Poser declares, necessary to understand that groups like the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) that masquerade as a Muslim civil rights group, is directly linked to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood terrorists. The Brotherhood should, he says, be designated as a terrorist group, by the United States government. Washington should also stop treating Qatar, which funds these groups and is itself deeply implicated in the Islamic terror and indoctrination, as an ally rather than a dangerous foe. #geopolitics #news Chapters 00:00 The Nature of Islam and Its Perceived Threat 03:49 Understanding the Focus of White Rose Magazine 08:14 The Historical Context of Jihad 12:39 The Concept of Jihad: Internal Struggle or Conquest? 24:41 Islam's Compatibility with Western Civilization 31:26 Historical Perspectives on Slavery and Guilt 36:12 The Red-Green Alliance: Ideological Intersections 41:14 The October 7th Massacres and Ideological Jihad 43:35 Persecution of Christians in the Muslim World 50:36 Modern Slavery and Western Ignorance 54:56 The Rise of American Muslim Organizations Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you liked this episode, watch more Think Twice here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsksduy16U5Kb-ZQdW5aIj7xGhY1kk6i0&si=ar3F8TsXM898lAJi

    1h 3m

  3. AUG 14

    Ep. 185: Forget about aid for Gaza and hasbara; Just win the war!

    If Israel’s plan for the “day after” the current war against Hamas ends is to secure a future of peace by pouring aid into the Gaza Strip, then JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin says Israel’s leaders are being delusional. That’s the same foolish mindset that led the entire Israeli military, intelligence and political establishment to believe that Hamas wouldn’t jeopardize the flow of cash and aid into the Strip by attacking as they did on Oct. 7, 2023. He’s joined in the week’s episode of Think Twice by Hudson institute scholar and Tablet magazine editor-at-large Liel Leibovitz who says that Israel’s leadership, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political opponents lived in “dream palaces” in which they bought into the conceptzia that led them to think, “that all we have to do is find the correct amount of U.S. dollars to pay the Palestinians in Gaza and Hamas would basically transform itself into the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.” According to Leibovitz, the lesson of Oct. 7 and of the previous century of history is that the idea that Israel is, as its leadership always says, not at war with the Palestinian people, is a delusion. It is, he says, “absolutely straightforwardly false. Israel's war is 100% with the Palestinian people and we know this from the records of every single hostage who's returned” and spoken of how they were held and abused by ordinary Palestinian civilians, not terrorists. “We are fighting a war against a population that is hellbent on destroying us for no apparent reason. They are not kind of under the spell as some of our self-appointed intellectual and moral betters like to tell us.” Nor is it, he asserts, “because of some generational trauma or the ‘occupation’ or living in Gaza. They are pursuing a very distinct and easy to understand faith that tells them that in their midst, there is a usurper, the Zionist entity and it must be destroyed.  Leibovitz also believes that the emphasis in the pro-Israel community on winning the information war against the Hamas propaganda with better hasbara is another delusion. He says that Israel should forget about hasbara because the Western media is not interested in facts or truth. The only thing to do is to win the war and defeat Hamas and not worry about the “day after.” He also points out that the arguments against defeating Hamas in order to save the remaining hostages simply isn’t rational because it will endanger more Israelis and these efforts to pressure the government to surrender to the terrorists just makes a deal even less likely. The writer also believes the efforts by some Jewish groups including the Jewish Federation in New York City to aid Gazans is indicative of a delusional effort to demonstrate their empathy for the Palestinians that will accomplish nothing. The same is true, he says, of what the Anti-Defamation League is doing. Leibovitz thinks the mainstream Jewish organizations’ failure to respond to the post-Oct. 7 surge in antisemitism illustrates their moral bankruptcy and the need to replace them with groups that actually serve the community’s interests and defend the Jewish people. 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.

    1h 4m

  4. AUG 7

    Ep. 184: The Muslim Brotherhood’s threat to North America

    Not enough attention is being paid to the way foreign funders and supporters of terrorism are infiltrating into North America. That’s the conclusion JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin draws from a new report about the growing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood produced by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP).  He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by ISGAP’s founding director and president, Charles Asher Small. According to Small, the Muslim Brotherhood is a century-old reactionary Islamist movement whose goal is to complete the work of Adolf Hitler and kill Jews and destroy the state of Israel. It’s just as interested in waging war on the West. To that end, it has spawned the Hamas terrorist movement and, with the financial assistance of Qatar, is also spreading its influence in the West. As ISGAP’s research revealed, the Brotherhood has made an impact in the United States as front groups like the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) pose as civil rights organizations while spreading hate for Jews. But it has made even greater inroads in Canada. There it has weaponized that country’s liberal political culture and lack of First Amendment free speech protections to promote the idea that any criticism of Muslim antisemitism is Islamophobia and illegal. As Small relates, it has led many Jewish groups and leaders to be silent on a growing problem of Jew-hatred. That is compounded by the fact that many Brotherhood associated groups are now also receiving money from the Canadian government. Small also discussed the way Qatari money is spreading antisemitism in higher education, something that is also advanced by the presence of so many foreign students from countries where Islamist views are normative. He says it’s important for groups that are advocating terror and being funded from the Middle East to be banned and cut off from funds. Similarly, universities should not be allowed to import Jew-hatred while bolstering their finances. 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.

    58 min

  5. JUL 31

    Ep. 183: The Mickey Marcus story: We need Jewish heroes more than ever

    Patriotism seems to be out of style in the United States and many young people are also being influenced by toxic woke ideas that falsely smear Israel as an illegitimate “apartheid” state. That’s why JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin believes we need examples of Jews who dedicated their lives to serving both America and Israel more than ever. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by author Steven Ossad, whose latest book is dedicated to retelling the story of one of the greatest of American Jewish heroes: David “Mickey” Marcus, the West Pointed-trained American Jewish officer who helped lead Israeli troops in the War of Independence.   Marcus is the most famous of the foreign volunteers who joined the fledgling forces of the newborn Jewish state in 1948. Ossad’s new book, Chasing The Shadow: Mickey Marcus’s 200 Days of Destiny is the first book in English dedicated to this subject to be published in 60 years. Speaking of his subject, the author says Marcus was the son of Romanian immigrants to the United States who “made it” in the era in between the two world wars. He graduated from West Point where he won acceptance from his classmates as a collegiate boxing champion. He then went on to a career in the law and the administration of New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia before returning to the service prior to America’s entry into World War Two. He was a highly-ranked Pentagon staff officer and played an important role in the occupation of Germany and the prosecution of Nazi war criminals.   But in early 1948, he accepted an offer from the head of the government of what would soon become the state of Israel to organize and train the troops of the Haganah as it transitioned from an underground militia to an army of a beleaguered nation that was about to be invaded by five nations. He would go on to be the first Jew to be given the rank of aluf or general in 2,000 years and command the IDF’s troops that successfully lifted the siege of Jerusalem before being killed on the evening of a cease-fire in the conflict in a tragic friendly fire incident.   According to Ossad, Marcus is a symbol of the shared national security interests of the United States and Israel and a symbol of the democratic values of an army that fights a common enemy. He also noted that in the current atmosphere of hatred for Israel and antisemitism, he had a very difficult time finding a publisher for the book before the University of Missouri finally accepted it. Chapters 00:00 Reviving American Jewish Heroes 03:25 The Life and Legacy of Mickey Marcus 11:42 Mickey Marcus: Myths and Realities 17:42 The Formation of the Israel Defense Forces 23:21 Mickey Marcus's Impact on Jewish Identity 29:54 Mickey Marcus and Military Training Manuals 32:10 Truman's Recognition of Israel 35:56 Mickey Marcus's Role in the 1948 War 42:14 The Battle of Latrun and Its Significance 47:49 Mickey Marcus: A Symbol of US-Israel Relations 53:59 The Legacy of Mickey Marcus and His Story   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.

    1 hr

  6. JUL 24

    Ep.182: Alan Dershowitz: America needs to know this about The Epstein Tapes

    According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, Americans may be failing the Jeffrey Epstein Rorschach test. He says the eagerness of so many people to not merely jump to conclusions about the notorious case but to use it as a vehicle to promote antisemitism says a lot about contemporary America as well as the way Jew-hatred has been mainstreamed by the corporate media and popular culture. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by famed legal scholar and author Alan Dershowitz. The retired Harvard Law School professor is someone who has been in the middle of the Epstein controversy as one of his attorneys and was at one time one of those falsely accused of participating in his crimes. That charge was retracted by his accuser. He says he wants all the material related to the case released by the government. But he warns though that those who anticipate that there are some terrible secrets yet to be revealed will probably be disappointed.

    53 min

  7. JUL 17

    Ep. 181: Israeli military analyst: What the generals got horribly wrong

    With talk of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire/hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas in the news, JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin is asking whether the proposed agreement will allow the terrorists to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Israel’s two main goals of the post-Oct. 7 war—freedom for the hostages and the eradication of Hamas—are still mutually exclusive. He says it remains to be seen whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can insist on the sort of tough terms that will ensure that the Jewish state’s security isn’t compromised by an agreement that lets the terrorists survive the war they started with unspeakable atrocities. He’s joined by Israeli military analyst Elliot Chodoff who says that after 22 months of fighting, the Israel Defense Forces are exhausted and are ready for a break in the fighting against Hamas in order to rest and refit its units. He also says that although the terrorist group is not wiped out, the IDF has “smashed” its military formations and capability. What is left are guerilla forces that harass Israeli soldiers and is what he calls the “thug” level, in which operatives of the Islamist group intimidate the population of the Gaza Strip. Those thugs will likely prevent the creation of a planned “humanitarian city” in the southern sector of Gaza as well as any hope of realizing President Donald Trump’s idea of turning the area into a resort. Chapters 00:00 Ceasefire Negotiations and Hamas's Future 02:53 IDF's Achievements and Costs of War 05:59 Political Dynamics and Military Strategy 08:43 Challenges of Urban Warfare and Guerrilla Tactics 11:46 Economic Implications of Prolonged Conflict 27:15 Taxation and Economic Challenges in Israel 29:35 IDF's Mistakes and Successes: A Critical Analysis 33:39 Intelligence Failures: Understanding the October 7th Attack 38:31 Iran's Strategic Position and Future Threats 50:32 Syria's Role and the Future of Israeli Relations 53:02 The Abraham Accords: Prospects for Saudi Recognition

    1h 4m

  8. JUL 10

    Ep. 180: Guy Benson: The dirtbag alliance hates Israel and America

    Anti-Israel extremists on both the left and the right are becoming more vocal and dangerous. But, according to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City primary and the rebuff of Tucker Carlson by President Donald Trump, demonstrates that the left is far more dangerous right now. He’s joined on this week’s episode of Think Twice by Townhall.com political editor and Fox News Radio host Guy Benson who is deeply troubled by the way so many people have sympathized with the murderers, rapists and kidnappers of Hamas rather than democratic Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks. Chapters 00:00 The Shift in Democratic Support for Israel 03:39 The Rise of Extremism in Political Discourse 09:37 The Impact of Zoran Mamdani's Candidacy 17:46 The Intersection of Identity Politics and Extremism 23:36 The Broader Cultural War and Its Implications 28:54 The No Kings Movement and Its Implications 33:36 Bipartisan Responses to Foreign Policy 40:56 The Rise of Extremism in Political Discourse 49:41 Evaluating Trump's Second Term 54:56 Concluding Thoughts and Future Outlook

    57 min
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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!

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