Think Twice with Jonathan Tobin

JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin speaks with author and JNS columnist Fiamma Nirenstein about antisemitism in Europe. Nirenstein says that accusations about new Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni being an antisemite or fascist are untrue. She argues that the left now constitutes a greater threat to Jews than the right.

In her view, the United Nations is a factory for antisemitism and the so-called “human rights” organizations are spewing lies about Israel and the Palestinians. The writer says the future of Jews in Europe is problematic. “I’m always pessimistic about the future of Jews outside of Israel.” Nirenstein also believes that the left’s control of popular culture outlets as well as much of the media accounts for the growth of anti-Zionism among the general populations in Europe as well as undermining Jewish support for Israel.

A false narrative about the new government’s extremism, spread by both Lapid and left-wing rabbis, will aid the cause of anti-Zionists, not just Netanyahu’s critics.

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Antisemitism of all sorts, Bibi, Ben-Gvir, Zelenskyy and, of course, Trump, owned the headlines in a year full of surprising twists and some names that just don’t go away.

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JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin speaks with Commentary magazine executive editor Abe Greenwald about the future of conservatism. They discuss the need for Republicans to get to the post-Trump era as soon as possible while holding on to his populist spirit and not reverting to the policies of the failed establishment the former president displaced. Both think that Trump was the only person who could re-elect Biden in 2024.

Going into the Trump-Kanye West controversy, Greenwald says he was particularly troubled by Dave Chapelle’s Saturday Night Live monologue on the subject in part because of the way it ignored African-American violence against Jews. But more than that, Chapelle said Jews shouldn’t blame blacks for their problems. That was, Greenwald says, “preposterous,” because it was West who blamed the Jews for his problems.

The JCPA used to pretend to work for communal interests while promoting partisan political causes. Now it’s steering the Jews down a woke path of self-destruction.

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After leftists spent two months claiming outrage over groups vowing never to let Zionists speak on campus was overblown, the Department of Education is investigating.

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The festival of lights needs to be celebrated as a fight against the idols of woke popular culture, not a blue-tinsel version of Christmas.

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We now know that Twitter shut down coverage of stories and muted conservatives—and the ADL was all for it.

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In this week’s episode of Top Story, JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin speaks with Newsweek opinion editor Josh Hammer about the war in Ukraine. While both condemn Russia’s illegal and brutal aggression, they note the widespread acceptance of the notion that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a defender of democracy and freedom even though his government is actually engaging in repression of dissent and religious freedom.

The two break down the way politics and the Russia collusion hoax have worked to influence American opinion about the need for America to fund the war rather than seeking to stop it. Zelenskyy and Ukraine’s dubious comments about the Holocaust and pressure campaign to force Israel to join the war are also discussed They then turn to the rise in antisemitism in the United States and the tragic failure of the Anti-Defamation League.

The autobiography of Israel’s longest-serving prime minister demonstrates everything we like and dislike about him, but also explains why he remains necessary.

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