Ajc Passport

In a shocking move last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the dissolution of the current Knesset. With early elections now set for April 9th, join us as Lahav Harkov, Senior Contributing Editor of The Jerusalem Post, dives into recent developments, analyzes the political turmoil, and suggests what we can expect in the short months leading up to the elections for the 21st Knesset.

Remain in the West Bank or withdraw from the territories? Micah Goodman, director of Beit Midrash Yisraeli-Ein Prat and senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, tackles this controversial debate in his book, Catch-67, which was recently published in English. Goodman navigates us through the complexity of this issue and explores alternatives for moving forward on this week’s AJC Passport.

Earlier this week, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights released its second survey on discrimination and hate crimes against Jews in the EU. The survey’s troubling results are a reminder of the pervasive problem of anti-Semitism in Europe. Katharina von Schnurbein, Coordinator on Combating Anti-Semitism for the European Commission, joins us to discuss the findings from this survey. Our second conversation is with AJC CEO David Harris, who joins us to share his insights on how European governments have reacted to anti-Semitism and the need to step up efforts to confront it.

Is it possible to bring stability and reconstruction to Gaza? Ilan Goldenberg and his team from the Center for a New American Security and the Brookings Institution set out to answer this question in their new report, "Ending Gaza’s Perpetual Crisis: A New U.S. Approach." Ilan Goldenberg, Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, joins us to discuss the report's recommendations and the state of U.S. policy towards Gaza. We are also joined by Julie Fishman Rayman, AJC Director of Political Outreach, to help guide us through the incoming freshman class in Congress.

One in three Europeans knows little or nothing about the Holocaust, one in four thinks Jews have too much influence in finance, and one in five thinks Jews have too much influence over the media and global politics. A devastating new report by CNN has found that antisemitism is alive and well in Europe. Joining us to discuss the troubling findings is CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward, who led the network’s investigation. Our second guest is AJC Europe Director Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, who joined us to discuss how European governments have been responding to antisemitism across the continent and what steps still need to be taken.

This week, Israel experienced the worst bombardment since 2014 as Hamas fired over 450 rockets into cities and communities across southern Israel. The assault left one dead and scores wounded as tens of thousands of Israeli families huddled in bomb shelters. After a ceasefire was reached, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced his resignation in protest of the agreement, destabilizing the governing coalition and drawing calls for a new election. Joining us this week to discuss the security dimensions of the latest round of fighting is AJC Jerusalem Director Avital Leibovich. Our second guest is Jerusalem Post Chief Political Correspondent Gil Hoffman, who joins us to discuss the political fallout of the week’s events.

In a dramatic election that saw a record number of voters flock to the polls, both parties had reason to celebrate. For the first time in over eight years, Democrats will take control of the House. In the Senate, Republicans have expanded their control of the chamber. Joining us this week to discuss the trends of the election and what it means for U.S.-Israel relations is Norm Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and author of One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported. Show notes: Norm’s book: https://www.amazon.com/One-Nation-After-Trump-Disillusioned/dp/1250164052/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1504014479&sr=8-1&keywords=norman+ornstein&linkCode=sl1&tag=aeor-20&linkId=cd84123a5a3664f2cb56fa463965d22a

In the wake of the horrific attack at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday that left eleven dead and six wounded, AJC launched a global campaign called #ShowUpForShabbat to show solidarity with Pittsburgh’s Jews and send the message that Jews will not be intimidated away from their synagogues. Joining us to discuss the tremendous response to the campaign is AJC Associate Execute Director and Managaing Director of Global Communications Avi Mayer. Our second guest is Fernando Lottenberg, President of the Confederation of Jewish Communities of Brazil (CONIB), who joins us to discuss the recent election of Jair Bolsonaro, a controversial right-wing populist who was elected President of Brazil this week.

This week on AJC Passport, we talk about Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan’s visit to Israel and what it means for relations between the Jewish state and China. We’re joined by Mercy Kuo, President of the Washington State China Relations Council and member of the advisory council of AJC’s Asia Pacific Institute to discuss the visit and China’s growing influence in the Middle East. Our second conversation is from one of our first episodes. It features The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins on Vice President Mike Pence’s Evangelical faith and the role Evangelicals play in U.S.-Israel relations.

The grisly murder of Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago has prompted unprecedented backlash in Washington, D.C. against the Saudi government. Joining us to discuss the fallout is Hady Amr, a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution and former senior diplomat in the State Department under President Obama. Our second conversation is with AJC Berlin Ramer Institute Director Deidre Berger, who joined us to discuss Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent visit to Israel as well as issues of rising political extremism in Germany. Show notes: Good for the Jews article:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/opinion/sugihara-moral-heroism-refugees.html

In a surprise move earlier this week, Nikki Haley announced that she would be stepping down from her role as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. The statement prompted an immediate flurry of speculation in D.C. and on social media regarding her next steps. For the pro-Israel community, Haley’s departure also raises questions on who will replace her as America’s voice at the UN and whether the next ambassador will be able to fill Haley’s shoes in combating rampant anti-Israel bias at the UN. Joining us to discuss Haley’s departure is Ron Kampeas, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s Washington Bureau Chief. We’re also joined by Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations, to discuss the AJC-convened Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council (MJAC) and the successful passage of a hate crimes bill backed by both AJC and MJAC. Show notes: Article from Good for the Jews: https://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/272249/the-flight-of-the-righteous-gentile

At the height of the Second World War, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill articulated a vision of a world living at peace, with free trade, human rights, and democracy at its center. After the war, their nations helped bring that vision—dubbed the Atlantic Charter—into being, creating the world we know today. But now, seven decades later, the charter and the global system it envisioned are under assault. This week on AJC Passport, we’re joined by journalist, author, and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution James Kirchick to do a deep-dive into what’s undermining the transatlantic alliance and the close ties between fellow liberal democracies. We’re also joined by AJC Associate Executive Director for Policy Jason Isaacson to discuss AJC’s newest initiative to reaffirm the transatlantic partnership with the help of a few prominent friends. Show notes: James's Yale campaign in the WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/im-running-to-restore-yale-values-1528054042 AJ

Each year, leaders from around the world descend on New York City for the UN General Assembly. For the NYPD, these world leaders leave behind a slew of unpaid parking tickets. But for AJC, that all of them are in one place presents an unparalleled opportunity to advocate for the Jewish people globally. Our guest this week is our chief advocate, AJC CEO David Harris, who joins us to explain what happens at the UN General Assembly and what AJC does when it meets with visiting leaders behind closed doors.

Twenty-five years ago this week, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat joined U.S. President Bill Clinton on the White House lawn to sign the Oslo Accords, the first-ever peace agreement between the two sides. This week, the Trump administration announced that it is closing the PLO’s office in Washington, D.C. What happened? We’re joined by Aaron David Miller, Vice President for New Initiatives and Middle East Program Director at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Miller previously served as a peace process advisor to U.S. administrations of both parties. He joins us to talk about the legacy of the Oslo Accords, the Trump administration’s decision to shutter the PLO’s D.C. office, and the future of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

This week on AJC Passport we’re bringing you a special segment: a deep dive into the Mossad’s use of targeted killings. Joining us to discuss the secretive agency’s tactics is Ronen Bergman, an investigative journalist and New York Times Magazine staff writer who spent years combing through archives and conducting interviews with Mossad officials to write the best-selling book Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations. Our second guest is AJC Asia Pacific Institute Director Shira Loewenberg, who joined us to discuss controversial Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to Israel.

The Trump administration is cutting $200 million in aid meant for the Palestinians. The move comes on the heels of previous cuts to U.S. funding for projects in the Palestinian territories. We sat down with Tamara Cofman Wittes, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. State Department, to analyze what impact the cut will have and what it reveals about the administration’s strategy. Our second guest is Josh Glancy, a correspondent for the British publication The Sunday Times. Glancy recently wrote a searing indictment of Jeremy Corbyn in The New York Times following the latest anti-Semitic scandal involving Corbyn where a 2013 video that was discovered showed him questioning whether ‘Zionists’ were truly British. Josh Glancy’s article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/27/opinion/jeremy-corbyn-anti-semitism-labour-britain.html John McCain’s speech at AJC Global Forum 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=183&v=

Is a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the offing? How did the United States and Turkey—NATO allies—find themselves in a trade war? We answer those questions and more on this week’s edition of AJC Passport. Joining us to talk about the Gaza ceasefire, growing election talk in Israel, and his biography of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is Haaretz writer Anshel Pfeffer. We are also joined by Dr. Henri Barkey, a professor at Lehigh University and former Middle East Program Director at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson Center, who describes his harrowing encounter with the Turkish government after the attempted coup in 2016 and how the country found itself at odds with the U.S. government. Show notes: Anshel’s Netanyahu biography: https://www.amazon.com/Bibi-Turbulent-Times-Benjamin-Netanyahu/dp/0465097820

If you’re a high school senior or the parents of one, you’re about to embark on a wonderfully stressful journey: picking the right college. If you’re Jewish, that comes with a few extra considerations: Is there a Jewish a cappella group? How’s the kosher food? What about BDS on campus? To answer these questions and more, we spoke with Laura Adkins and Aiden Pink, two young journalists at The Forward who designed a comprehensive guide that ranks over 200 colleges across the country based on what they offer Jewish students. Show notes: The Forward College Guide: www.forward.com/college Rabbi Aaron Lerner’s Essay: http://jewishjournal.com/opinion/189597/

As we recorded this episode on Thursday morning, southern Israel was battered by rockets from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Our guest, former IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel (res.) Peter Lerner, briefed us on the attacks before diving into the topic of the week: the Druze community’s protest against the Nation-State Law and why he joined it. Our second guest was AJC Washington Director Alan Ronkin, who discussed how AJC joined forces with the Urban League to speak out against white supremacists ahead of this weekend’s racist rally in our nation’s capital. Peter’s piece: https://forward.com/opinion/407409/israel-s-nation-state-bill-shamed-the-minorities-who-give-us-pride/ Alan’s statement with the Urban League: https://www.ajc.org/news/greater-washington-urban-league-and-american-jewish-committee-ajc-stand-united-against-hate

Is President Trump trying to get Iran to come back to the negotiating table? During a press conference on Monday with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Trump indicated that he would be ready to meet with Iranian leaders without preconditions. We therefore decided to open up the AJC vault and share with you a conversation we recorded with Emily Landau, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, who talked about precisely this strategy. Landau leads the institute’s Arms Control and Regional Security Program and is an expert on Iran’s nuclear efforts. Our second segment is on a topic that comes up regularly and generates a fair amount of anxiety: Jewish demographics in Israel and America.