Franklin Foer on why fatalism isn't a strategy for American Jews

Bibi’s dash to remake Israel, Rahm Emanuel’s warning and a wedding to beat the odds

Donald Trump declares the Iran ceasefire dead, while a new poll has alarming news for Benjamin Netanyahu: New York's trenchantly anti-Israel mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is more popular with American Jews than he is.   This week, Yonit and Jonathan break down the collapse of the fragile Iran deal and why "amateur hour" US negotiators may have doomed it from the start. They unpack the Knesset's last-minute push to exempt the ultra-Orthodox from military service — as soldiers testify in tears about the price of a three-year war — as well as the less noisy bills eroding Israel’s judicial independence. Plus: Rahm Emanuel's blunt warning about Israel's "content problem," and the wedding of two returned hostages that gave the week its one unambiguously happy ending. 💛 Become a friend of the pod: Patreon: https://bit.ly/UnholyPatreon 🌐 Our website: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ 📺 FOLLOW UNHOLY YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGlvtS7As7WHh7YtmU5SMUQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unholypodcast/ X: https://x.com/unholypod Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/unholypod.bsky.social   🎧 LISTEN TO UNHOLY Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/unholy-two-jews-on-the-news/id1548441108 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2m2UnLfiAyOehtF1bsv98W   🎙️ THE HOSTS Yonit Levi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yonitleviofficial/ X: https://x.com/LeviYonit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yonit-levi/ Jonathan Freedland Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanfreedland/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jonathanfreedland.bsky.social   📩 Contact: unholy@unholy-media.com 🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/unholypod Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Danielle Haas on NGOs, Antisemitism & Institutional Bias

A new report accuses the world's most trusted human rights organizations of a problem that goes far beyond anti-Israel bias: antisemitism, and a culture that pushes out Jewish staff for naming it. This week, Yonit and Jonathan talk to Danielle Haas, a former senior editor at Human Rights Watch who spent 14 years inside the organization before co-founding EiGHT, a watchdog created to scrutinize the watchdogs. Drawing on interviews with over 70 staffers across nine major NGOs, the report documents internal messages calling for "liberating the world from Zionism," leadership reposting inflammatory rhetoric, and a pattern of employees being sidelined the moment they raised concerns.   00:00 Introduction to the Conversation 01:30 Danielle Haas's Background and Experience 03:43 Insights from the New Report on NGOs 07:58 Striking Findings and Internal Messaging 11:31 Challenges Faced by Jewish Employees 17:19 Lack of Accountability in Human Rights Organizations 21:08 Cultural Shifts and Generational Changes 24:46 Association with Militant Organizations 27:20 The Future of Human Rights Organizations 33:00 Reflections on Personal Experience and Change 💛 Become a friend of the pod: Patreon: https://bit.ly/UnholyPatreon 🌐 Our website: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ 📺 FOLLOW UNHOLY YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGlvtS7As7WHh7YtmU5SMUQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unholypodcast/ X: https://x.com/unholypod Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/unholypod.bsky.social   🎧 LISTEN TO UNHOLY Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/unholy-two-jews-on-the-news/id1548441108 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2m2UnLfiAyOehtF1bsv98W   🎙️ THE HOSTS Yonit Levi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yonitleviofficial/ X: https://x.com/LeviYonit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yonit-levi/ Jonathan Freedland Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanfreedland/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jonathanfreedland.bsky.social   📩 Contact: unholy@unholy-media.com 🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/unholypod Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

1,000 Days, Election Maneuvers & America at 250

A thousand days after October 7th — and Benjamin Netanyahu wants to talk about unity. This week, as Israel edges closer toward elections, Yonit and Jonathan discuss a prime minister campaigning on togetherness after- say his critics- a long career spent dividing Israelis against each other, and trace the strange alliance between Israel's nationalist right and the ultra-Orthodox parties who for the most part reject Zionism on principle.   Zohran Mamdani keeps doubling down on Israel and AIPAC, six months into his mayoralty — and sees no reason to slow down. And as America turns 250, Jonathan asks an uncomfortable question about what happens to a constitution when the people meant to enforce it simply don't.   Plus: our Chutzpah award goes to a finance minister taking credit for something he objected to while our Mensch of the week pulls off an unexpected feat of German diplomacy - and language. 💛 Become a friend of the pod: Patreon: https://bit.ly/UnholyPatreon 🌐 Our website: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ 📺 FOLLOW UNHOLY YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGlvtS7As7WHh7YtmU5SMUQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unholypodcast/ X: https://x.com/unholypod Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/unholypod.bsky.social   🎧 LISTEN TO UNHOLY Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/unholy-two-jews-on-the-news/id1548441108 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2m2UnLfiAyOehtF1bsv98W   🎙️ THE HOSTS Yonit Levi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yonitleviofficial/ X: https://x.com/LeviYonit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yonit-levi/ Jonathan Freedland Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanfreedland/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jonathanfreedland.bsky.social   📩 Contact: unholy@unholy-media.com 🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/unholypod Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jason Burke on Iran, Entebbe - and how to fight global terror

A wave of antisemitic terror swept across Western Europe this spring — and one man appears to have been behind it all. This week, Yonit and Jonathan hear the full, remarkable story as they sit down with Jason Burke, The Guardian's international security correspondent and terrorism expert. He describes how a single Iraqi-Iranian dual national is accused of leveraging both social media and teenage criminals to orchestrate what looked like a series of scattered attacks but was, in fact, a coordinated proxy campaign. And they discuss the broader questions: has the long arm of Iranian terror been constrained at all by US-Israeli military action? Did October 7th represent a strategic break from Iran's usual playbook — or was it a tactical aberration? And as the 50th anniversary of the raid on Entebbe approaches, was that operation a turning point in the long history of global terrorism - and what can be done now to beat back the menace of terror?   00:00 Introduction to Jason Burke and His Work 02:23 Profile of Mohammed Bakr Saad, Al-Sadi 05:13 Al-Sadi's Operations and Recruitment Methods 07:50 The Arrest of Al-Sadi and His Plans in the US 12:42 Impact of Al-Sadi's Arrest on Terror Operations 15:26 October 7th: An Evolution or Aberration in Terrorism? 19:06 The Role of Qatar in Terror Financing 22:55 Countering Terrorism: Challenges and Strategies 26:05 The Significance of the Entebbe Raid 30:03 Convergence of Leftist and Islamist Terrorism 33:01 The Evolution of Terrorism and Its Future   💛 Become a friend of the pod: Patreon: https://bit.ly/UnholyPatreon 🌐 Our website: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ 📺 FOLLOW UNHOLY YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGlvtS7As7WHh7YtmU5SMUQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unholypodcast/ X: https://x.com/unholypod Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/unholypod.bsky.social   🎧 LISTEN TO UNHOLY Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/unholy-two-jews-on-the-news/id1548441108 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2m2UnLfiAyOehtF1bsv98W   🎙️ THE HOSTS Yonit Levi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yonitleviofficial/ X: https://x.com/LeviYonit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yonit-levi/ Jonathan Freedland Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanfreedland/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jonathanfreedland.bsky.social   📩 Contact: unholy@unholy-media.com 🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/unholypod Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Reality bites: Trump, Bibi and the Mamdani Effect

The new reality of Washington’s relationship with Israel is slowly sinking in — and it’s not pretty. As JD Vance grows visibly chummier with Qatar and Pakistan than with Israeli officials, Yonit and Jonathan discuss the likely impact of the shift and whether Israel’s old assumption — that an American president will always have its back — has to be discarded for good. Then: as the Mamdani effect ripples through New York’s primaries, sweeping in a slate of politicians sharply critical of Israel, the two debate who’s really to blame.   Plus: Keir Starmer’s resignation and likely successor, two former Israeli PMs along with a veritable platoon of former and current IDF commanders denounce settler violence in the West Bank - and a Jewish American comic genius reaches a milestone.   00:00 The World Cup and Jewish Connections 04:25 Israel's Changing Geopolitical Landscape 16:02 Shifts in American Politics and Israel's Position 24:04 The Nuances of Anti-Semitism and Political Shifts 29:13 Israeli Politics: Elections and Controversies 35:47 The Resignation of Keir Starmer and Its Implications 43:23 Celebrating Mel Brooks: A Comedy Legend 💛 Become a friend of the pod: Patreon: https://bit.ly/UnholyPatreon 🌐 Our website: https://unholy-podcast.lovable.app/ 📺 FOLLOW UNHOLY YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGlvtS7As7WHh7YtmU5SMUQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unholypodcast/ X: https://x.com/unholypod Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/unholypod.bsky.social   🎧 LISTEN TO UNHOLY Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/unholy-two-jews-on-the-news/id1548441108 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2m2UnLfiAyOehtF1bsv98W   🎙️ THE HOSTS Yonit Levi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yonitleviofficial/ X: https://x.com/LeviYonit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yonit-levi/ Jonathan Freedland Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanfreedland/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jonathanfreedland.bsky.social   📩 Contact: unholy@unholy-media.com 🔗 All links: https://linktr.ee/unholypod Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.