Jonny Gould's Jewish State
Jonny Gould
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The podcast of record. High profile guests and their deepest thoughts and perspectives. Ambassadors, politicians, artists, musicians, generals, journalists, even a Mossad agent. Apple Podcast Number 1’s all over the world. Subscribe now.
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Mar 14, 2023
108: Gary Lineker, BBC impartiality and Jewish concerns about the rush to get him back on TV
The unedifying scurry by BBC management to get Gary Lineker back on air after suspending him, diffuses both a row with its staff and kicks the can into the long grass.
A couple of tweets by the BBC’s lead football presenter brought down the entire coverage of the Corporation’s TV and radio sport for a weekend.
Lineker compared the government’s language on immigration as "not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 1930s”.
He was suspended by the BBC’s Director General, Tim Davie on the grounds of breaking impartiality guidelines.
In this special episode, we mop up the layers of unresolved issues that have fallen by the wayside in the rush to appease Gary and chums to get BBC Sport back onair.
Listen now for exclusive quotes from Panorama documentary maker John Ware, Theresa May’s former Chief of Staff, Nick Timothy, prominent journalists Nicole Lampert and Jonathan Sacerdoti, author of The Greatest Comeback, David Bolchover, Alex Hearn, Director of Labour Against Antisemitism and CEO of UK Lawyers of Israel, Jonathan Turner.
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Mar 2, 2023
107: Brighton & Hove, actually: BNJC’s vision and ambition for a brand new community in Sussex
A shining light in the shimmering city.
“If you build it, they will come”, said Kevin Costner in the baseball movie, Field of Dreams – and that’s the vision for BNJC, Brighton & Hove’s new Jewish community synagogue and residential property development.
There are around 4,000 to 5,000 Jewish people in the East Sussex city and this audacious project is an attempt to revitalise Brighton & Hove’s Jewish community.
The foundations were laid in 2015 and now it’s open. BNJC has a beautiful modern synagogue with a tranquil feel, surrounded by 45 flats and houses built in a tower and around a mews courtyard,
There are 55 underground parking spaces.
The bar/cafe and restaurant with a kosher kitchen has the capacity to cater for your simcha of upto 220 people.
There’ll be a nursery onsite from the get-go as the aim is to encourage young families to live down on the Sussex coast.
Let’s hear more from CEO Marc Sugarman in this episode.
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Feb 25, 2023
106: The Abrahamic Family House, UAE’s permanent expression of pluralism as they prepare for COP28
Big things are happening in the United Arab Emirates, really big things.
As the nation which reached out to Israel in the most expansive expression of peace yet with an Arab partner, it’s time Jewish people understood more about this nation.
Abu Dhabi is the stage for a new era of religious pluralism. The Emirati capital has opened the Abrahamic Family House, a beacon of mutual understanding, coexistence and religious peace.
It consists of a mosque, church, synagogue and educational center.
In this episode, we hear from the Chief Rabbi of the UK and the Commonwealth, Ephraim Mirvis at the opening of the first purpose-built synagogue in the Arab world for a century - and a few words from Pope Francis, who conducted mass in front of 130,000 Catholic faithful in Abu Dhabi.
It’s also the year of COP28 in the capital and we hear from the president-designate, His Excellency Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who spoke about the future transition of the United Arab Emirates’ energy industry.
Mr Al Jaber serves as the UAE's special envoy for climate change and the Emirates' state oil producer — the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
In this episode, His Excellency explains the need to balance the realities of providing the world with oil and gas today while creating a new future of clean energy tomorrow.
You don’t have to be Jewish to engage with Jonny Gould’s Jewish State.
It’s a venture out for those who want to know more about the world which affects them and for non-Jews, who interact with Israel and Jewish people in the most positive and progressive way.
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Feb 21, 2023
105: Israel's judicial reform: cool heads to prevail, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs' Dan Diker
Israel's judicial reform row is proving an awful spectacle for the watching world.
I wanted to find voices of moderation and considered opinion - and in particular, within the ruling Likud Party: is there anyone willing to stand up to Benjamin Netanyahu over the division this is causing?
As a diaspora Jew, I look on in dismay at the threat to unity of the Jewish people.
And not saying for a moment the judiciary doesn't need reform. It's just the way this is unfolding which is causing such upset.
Benjamin Netanyahu's government are trying to force legislation "down the throat of half of the population", according to Israel's former ambassador to the US, Danny Ayalon.
Danny also appears in this episode with his views, a Likud grandee confronting this issue. There's also comment from Jerusalem's deputy mayor, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum.
Just as bad has been some Jews in the diaspora publicly dissociating themselves with the Jewish State. Never. Not in this podcast.
We also talk about the long-awaited arrival of Sudan to the Abraham Accords table plus the "untenable" violence from the Palestinians against everyday Israelis.
Then there's a definition of Jeremy Corbyn's version of political antisemitism and in the shifting sands of Middle Eastern diplomacy, what on earth has happened to Oman, who seem to have fallen under the spell of Iran's mullahs.
LISTEN to this fascinating, passionate, eyewitness conversation with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs' new president, Dan Diker.
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Feb 12, 2023
104: Emily Schrader: everyday Iranians love Israel! Bibi's Knesset reforms and Two State peace hopes
Emily Schrader was back in London with Yoseph Haddad on a whistlestop UK speaking tour, which included a nasty confrontation with pro-intifada students on campuses in London and Nottingham.
Scroll back an episode for one of his energetic and hopeful speeches from the tour.
Emily is an American-Israeli journalist and opinion former, a regular on the Jerusalem Post and the co-host of TV show, Headlines with the Haddads, an explainer on the Middle East to American audiences and tackling biogotry misinformation.
In planning our conversation, we decided this time to take a snapshot of where the Middle East is on Iran. Emily is in touch with normal Iranian people everyday, thanks to the marvels of social media.
We also unpack what a two state solution can look like in the era of the Abraham Accords – and wave a magic wand over the constitutional crisis drummed up by the Netanyahu government who want to take advantage of Israel’s unwritten constitution and plan to make the Knesset superior over the judiciary.
A move to greater democracy or an illiberal elite, who won’t look after Israel’s minorities?
LISTEN to this captivating and informed conversation.
Jonny Gould’s Jewish State is brought to you with Dangoor Education.
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Feb 8, 2023
103: Yoseph Haddad: Arab Israeli defending a Jewish and democratic State of Israel
Yoseph Haddad is an Arab Israeli who believes with body, mind and soul in his country.
And by his country, I mean the State of Israel,
Yoseph joined up with StandWithUs UK at one of London’s oldest continuous communities, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in west London.
Being counterintuitive, Yoseph is the target of constant protest, even death threats – some substantial - as he advocates for both a Jewish and democratic state.
A smallish opposition greeted his arrival at University College London. Campuses are at the epicentre of anti Zionism and Palestinianism.
Yoseph was born in Nazareth and raised in Haifa, he served in the IDF’s elite Golani battalion and served in the 2006 Lebanon War.
He was badly injured and lost friends and comrades beside him in battle.
He was a commander, which means an Arab commanding among others, Jews. Because as he says, it’s the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces, not the JDF, it’s not exclusively Jewish.
He runs Together Vouch for Each Other, an organisation building bridges between Arab and Jewish Israelis and to aid Arab mobility in Israeli society.
Yoseph is a captivating speaker, and I recorded his speech for this latest episode.
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Jan 26, 2023
102: ⚽️ The Greatest Comeback, Bela Guttmann’s glory with David Bolchover
This is a truly heroic story which starts in Holocaust disaster and heads to the glory of winning Europe’s greatest football prize.
David Bolchover is the author of a biography on Bela Guttmann, “The Greatest Comeback, From Genocide to Football Glory”.
David recounts the story of Bela, the ultimate Jewish footballing hero, who survived to become a twice-winner of the European Cup with Benfica and the inspiration for one Portugal’s greatest stars, Eusebio.
Jonny Gould’s Jewish State is brought to you with the support of Dangoor Education.
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Jan 24, 2023
101: Uri Geller: "Israel was the making of me"
Uri Geller went around the world, found and fame and fortune and has now returned home to Israel.
Before Gal Gadot and Lior Raz, who was Israel’s biggest celebrity?
Uri magnetised the world - literally - with his amazing feats of showmanship.
Jonny Gould’s Jewish State wouldn’t be complete without a record of the life of Uri Geller!
So what’s he doing now? Where is he? How did he attain such huge fame and notoriety and I ask him if Israel is the only place he could’ve possibly come from?
He’s also furious with Harry Kane. Find out how and why in this thrilling episode!
Jonny Gould's Jewish State is supported by UK Toremet.
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Jan 19, 2023
Trailer: Radio! A new era for Jonny Gould’s Jewish State
A new era has started for your favourite Jewish podcast: http://www.jewishstate.radio
Jonny Gould's Jewish State is now also a 24-hour radio station.
Featuring the best interviews from the series and the very latest news from the Middle East and beyond, Jonny Gould's Jewish State Radio aims to engage an even bigger audience who want to hear different perspectives on Israel and the Jewish diaspora.
Tell your friends about Jonny Gould's Jewish State and its brand new radio station.
Where do you find it? Just click on:
http://www.jewishstate.radio
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Jan 12, 2023
100: John Ware: Three years. Three cases. Three wins.
John Ware is the BBC Panorama documentary maker who took on the Corbynites - and won.
His 2019 documentary “Is Labour Antisemitic?”, which was aired on BBC1, launched three long years of bitter legal struggle.
It’s unusual for a journalist to sue for defamation - but everything was at stake for John - from his own reputation to the basic principles of journalistic process.
So John sued the Labour Party, Jewish Voice for Labour and a fellow journalist, Paddy French - and with great fortitude and resilience won through.
It’s not entirely over.
John needs to collect the damages awarded from those who defamed him and now Al Jazeera have produced what he calls “agenda journalism” in a 17 minute segment of a documentary, which vilifies a young man by the name of Luke Stranger. We highlight that in this episode too.
John’s not earned a penny for twelve months: defamation is a harrowing weight on one’s mind. Not to mention the headspace one also needs to keep up with the news as a working journalist.
But he’s back on the saddle and preparing to make another Panorama documentary on - Brexit!
Find out how much the legal process cost those who defamed him, who they were in this gripping insider’s view.
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Jan 1, 2023
99: Dr. Einat Wilf: "Antizionism is an assault on Jewish life in the places where Jews exist"
“Being a Zionist is the path to peace”.
There is hope in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Dr Einat Wilf is a deep thinker on the Israel’s ever present challenge: the pursuit of existence in peace and security.
It was an honour to host the Q and A session for StandWithUs UK as Einat addressed London's South Hampstead Synagogue.
She was born in Jerusalem, raised in a Labour Zionist family and completed her Israeli military service as an Intelligence Officer with the rank of Lieutenant.
Einat then went to Harvard University, got a BA in government and fine arts before earning an MBA from INSEAD in France and a PhD in political science at Wolfson College, Cambridge.
Einat describes herself as a Zionist, a feminist and an atheist.
She says The Abraham Accords has created a competing narrative in the Arab world. We’re hearing it in the Gulf from a new generation of peace loving Arabs who recognise the path to growth - economic and spiritual.
I expressly heard it myself on my…
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Dec 17, 2022
98: Winston Marshall: Mumford’s Wise Son
Mumford and Sons were huge. Over 14 glorious years, Winston Marshall and his friends rocked stadia in front of hundreds of thousands of adoring fans and headlined Glastonbury!
If you remember all the bearded hipsters and the tweed the kids were rocking, it’s likely they were listening to the Mumfords on their AirPods.
But Winston left the band in 2021 after tweeting about Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy, a book written by American journalist Andy Ngo.
At first, Winston apologised for praising the book and decided he’d take a break from the band "to examine his blindspots".
But a few months on, he then defended his support for Andy Ngo, and wrote about the reaction to his apology for the tweet. He then announced he was leaving Mumford & Sons permanently to exercise free speech without involving his former bandmates.
It was a moment of sadness as he expected he’d be playing with the guys he grew up with until retirement age.
So now he’s cast as…
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Dec 8, 2022
97: Jonny in Abu Dhabi: Amjad Taha, "The Abraham Accords is the miracle in the Middle East""
This is the second podcast of discussions from a first ever trip to the United Arab Emirates.
I attended the Global Media Congress in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi, an impressive showcase of regional media with a clear message:
“The UAE is reaching out to the world in peace and cooperation”.
Amjad Taha is a well-known influencer in the Gulf Cooperation Council with a significant following on social media.
The author of The Deception of the Arab Spring, an adviser to key institutions in the Arab world, Amjad was part of the first Bahrain UAE youth delegation to visit Israel as the ink was drying on the historic Abraham Accords.
So what drives the UAE and how is this impacting its foreign policy?
Also, in this episode, James Cleverly, Britain’s Foreign Secretary on his trip to Abu Dhabi, with a very personal experience of why the UAE and the partners of the Abraham Accords are such key allies.
This episode of Jonny Gould’s Jewish State is brought to you with Strategico, t…
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Nov 23, 2022
96: Jonny in Abu Dhabi: Loay Alshareef, “Jews and Muslims destined to come together”
What do you know about the United Arab Emirates? Want to know more of Israel’s newest and perhaps most important partner in peace?
I’ve just returned from my first ever trip to an Arab nation.
I went to the capital, Abu Dhabi, to the Global Media Congress, a highly impressive showcase of regional media - with exhibitors from further afield including the Philippines, Russia, Azerbaijan - and Israel.
It’s a place where East meets West.
My guest today is typical of the spirit of big heartedness.
His name is Loay Alshareef and he gave me a very personal guided tour of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, in which we talked about the differences between Islam, Judaism and Christianity - but more importantly their parallels, what binds us as people of faith - in a world where secularity can sometimes get ahead of itself.
The majesty and craftsmanship of this 21st-century wonder is breathtaking, The extravagant chandeliers in each room, the beautifully etched windows including the 99 Ko…
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Nov 11, 2022
95: Fleur Hassan-Nahoum: Jerusalem, Israeli law and order, Abraham Accords, Qatar and me
Fleur Hassan-Nahoum is Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem with an ambitious eye on the future.
Her flying visit to the UK gave us a chance to chat on Jonny Gould’s Jewish State for the second time.
Another year to go in office in Jerusalem, but will she stand for another term?
There’s a Likud government to be a part of - and given her unique background, what about becoming an ambassador?
She has strong diplomatic skills with her experience In Jerusalem in dealing with diverse communities.
And Fleur comes from Gibraltar with English and Spanish as mother tongues (she’s the daughter of Gib’s first ever Chief Minister).
Fleur also co-founded the UAE-Israel Business Council and we discuss the “baby steps” towards societal change in the conservative Arabian Gulf.
Let’s also have a sober talk about Smotrich and Ben Gvir, the extreme end of Netanyahu’s comeback government. What are they really about? Is Bibi actually the root to a more stable Israel?
Why has the deal with Hezbo…
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Oct 26, 2022
94: "I moved around Iran’s elites, I met with the Ayatollah. I'm Jewish”. Catherine Perez-Shakdam
You’ve never heard a story like this.
Catherine Perez-Shakdam lives in the UK. She’s also lived in France, Yemen and Iran.
While living in Tehran and married with kids, she mixed in the regime classes, socialising, even going on pilgrimages to Iraq.
Nothing unusual about that, you say.
But Catherine is Jewish, of French Sephardi background.
As an outsider in plain sight, Catherine never revealed her Jewishness - obviously - so got up close to the leadership. She says it’s a deeply political and ideological regime, not religious. Even Nihilistic.
In Yemen, Catherine started writing articles critical of the Saudis which came to the attention of Iran.
And while living there, she travelled with President Raisi on his private plane during election campaigning - and asked for and got a private audience with the Ayatollah Khamanei.
This is Catherine’s highly revealing and detailed story of what drives Iran’s ruling class.
It’s a forensic eyewitness of a regime, which she…
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Oct 9, 2022
93: Israel-Lebanon maritime border dispute and Iran protests: Edy Cohen’s verdict
The decades old Israel-Lebanon maritime border dispute is making headlines again with the planned Israeli start-up for drilling for offshore gas in Karish in the Mediterranean.
But escalating rhetoric from Iranian-sponsored Shiite terror group Hezbollah threatens war.
Their leader Hassan Nasrallah claims some of Karish sits north of Lebanon’s border line.
Western Europe needs Mediterranean gas since Russia invaded Ukraine. Germany and their like need to extricate themselves from Putin’s weaponisation of energy.
Can Israel avoid war to become a regional energy power?
And what about the Iranian protests at the same time as America attempts to renegotiate the JCPOA deal in Vienna?
Edy Cohen’s a native Arab speaker, born and raised in Beirut, now living in Israel.
He has over half a million followers across the Arab world.
He tweets Israeli and Jewish perspectives to the Muslim neighbourhood, delving deeper than almost anyone.
Edy deals in absolutes, in realpolitik and it…
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Sep 21, 2022
92: Jason Greenblatt: will Biden unmake Trump’s Middle East peace? In the Path of Abraham
Jason Greenblatt joins us for a second time as he looks on at how the Abraham Accords has matured since those historic signings in 2020.
In our last instalment, Jason had just left Washington DC after co-writing President Trump’s "Peace to Prosperity Plan for Palestinians and Israelis" with Jared Kushner and US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.
It was a breakthrough document which helped seal the first four Abraham Accords agreements.
Now he’s here to discuss his book, “In the Path of Abraham: How Donald Trump Made Peace in the Middle East - and How to Stop Joe Biden from Unmaking It”.
Throughout our two interviews, Jason’s instinct for families and the worlds that revolve around them - on both sides - has always been at the fore: that each person he’s negotiated with is also a family man with roots, dreams and a future.
I’d like to think this interview has a texture of two people who’ve come to know each other a bit better. I’ve come to respect Jason’s wor…
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Sep 12, 2022
91: Queen Elizabeth II: A British Jewish tribute to Her Majesty and what the future may hold
The Elizabethan Age draws to a close.
Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest serving monarch passed away peacefully at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire on Thursday 8th September 2022 after 70 years on the throne.
Her loss is indescribable and her passing has sparked the most extraordinary outpouring of grief from across the world.
But what did she mean to her Jewish subjects? Will the nation’s temperature change? Is the end of the Elizabethan age a symbol of the end of the post World War II settlement? Will King Charles live upto his role? And where does Israel fit into it?
As the nation comes to terms with the loss of the Queen, Jonny Gould covers the whirlwind of constitutional events and political change.
The episode also includes audio tributes from the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Lord Stuart Polak, Lord David Wolfson, the Right Hon. Grant Shapps and international royal correspondent, Jonathan Sacerdoti. I also have a lovely anecdote from Israeli President, Isaac H…
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Sep 2, 2022
90: Hillel Neuer: “The Saudis, the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan and Egypt want MORE Israel, not less Israel”
Hillel Neuer is so often the lone voice talking truth to power at a United Nations seemingly on interminable mission creep. Western countries are loosening their resolve in countering dictatorships.
And worse still, power groups inside the UN Human Rights Council are trying to silence him.
Hillel is Executive Director of UN Watch, the human rights NGO based at the UN in Geneva.
Since 2009, he’s headed the annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, a renowned international gathering which provides a platform to courageous pro-democracy dissidents who put their lives on the line to demand fundamental freedoms in oppressive regimes.
I was invited to host and interview Farida Khalaf, the Yazidi girl who escaped Isis.
As America's vaccum is filled by China at the UN, Hillel says the repurposing of the United States' goals must start back home.
What hindrance is the UN to Israel, which so often gets a rum deal in Geneva?
And what future does the free world have? Is Hillel…
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Aug 5, 2022
89: Julie Burchill: "Without Jewish people, we'd all be sitting in caves grunting"
She’s one of Britain’s most successful and irreverent writers.
I met Julie Burchill at one of her favourite places on the Sussex coast - in Hove, actually, her home town for the last 27 years.
Julie started her glittering career at the NME in 1976, aged 17 and left when after just two years as she thought that people in their twenties who still wrote about music were ‘sad old men'.
Since then she’s had number one best-selling novels, won an Emmy and been condemned in the House of Commons. Now, in her sixties, she proclaims she’s in glorious decline - but still a cracking little scribbler.
And there’s another consistent dimension to her writings. She’s always loved Jews and Israel.
For a while she learned modern Hebrew at night class and even joined a synagogue.
We got together to promote her brand-new substack articles, www.julieburchill.substack.com and in particular her new novella, the Judgement of Solomons, the story of an unlikely Aliyah between an Israeli and…
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Jul 14, 2022
88: Jonathan Freedland: The Escape Artist, Rudolf Vrba. The teenage Jew who escaped Auschwitz
Only four Jewish prisoners ever escaped the vicious SS guards, their ferocious dogs, rows of tall electrified fences and men on watchtowers wielding automatic weapons of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
But Walter Rosenberg, just 19-years-old used knowledge, cunning and patience to do what no Jew had done before. He and Alfred Wetzler, in his early twenties, escaped from Auschwitz.
But Walter, later to become Rudolf Vrba, hasn't been legendized like others who emerged from what became known as the Holocaust. Until now.
Because his audacious breakout with Fred saved the lives of 200,000 Jews, mostly from Budapest.
They revealed Europe’s depraved undertaking to destroy its Jews - and warn those yet to be uprooted - Hungary’s Jews - of their inevitable destruction - if they got on trains bound for “new lives in the east” as they were told.
Even if those in power had known about the mass extermination of the Jews for sometime, their vivid Auschwitz attracted mass media and exerted politica…
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Jun 29, 2022
87: Ukraine: Kharkiv's Jews humanitarian crisis: Rabbi Mendel Moskowitz
Our guest today is a Rabbi raised in Kharkiv, Ukraine from the age of 6 months, it’s pretty much all he’s known.
Rabbi Mendel Moskovitz moved there with his parents as a baby as his family serve as Chabad emissaries to rebuild Jewish life in Kharkiv, following the fall of Communism.
Graduating as a rabbi in Sydney, Australia, Rabbi Moskovitz returned home with his wife, Chani.
There he raised three children, and served as a Rabbi to Ukrainian youth for 7 years, until war changed everything.
Now he is ambassador to The Jewish Relief Network Ukraine.
I’m making this appeal on behalf of the vital work of this charity completely voluntarily, without fee or personal gain.
He highlights acute Jewish suffering to the world and raising funds for the incredible work being done by Chabad to provide vital humanitarian relief.
JRNU is the umbrella organization for operations in Ukraine, providing food, medicine and medical care, housing and even security.
Donate now at www.…
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Jun 13, 2022
86: Douglas Murray: The War On The West: how to prevail in the age of unreason
Our guest today is Douglas Murray, best-selling author of The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity and Islam and The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity - and now The War On The West, how to prevail in the age of unreason.
All the narratives and assumptions which underpin our understanding of the western societies we grew up in are under attack - from within.
Much of it is being fought through the prism of race.
Douglas examines how Western civilisation and its achievements in culture, science medicine and free thought, not to mention how these were so hard fought for and won, are being challenged by universities, corporations, broadcasters and the church, in what looks like a wilful self-immolation.
And these anti-Western attacks also go after Jews and Israel.
But what’s the purpose of it? When will this debt be paid off by Western nations and their majority populations? What’s the end game - and what are the consequences? Is this how civilisations come to…
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May 25, 2022
85: Ron Dermer and Ed Husain: The first steps on the road to the Abraham Accords
Ambassador Ron Dermer and Ed Husain addressed a live audience for StandWithUs UK, which I hosted in Central London.
These two friends were instrumental in creating the pathway which led eventually to the Abraham Accords.
This was no ordinary occasion and I won’t forget posing the questions, just as those in attendance will remember being there.
We talk about Israel’s relationships with Russia, the Jews in Ukraine even Russian coordination in Syria over Israel’s security issues.
Then there’s Iran and the JCPOA nuclear treaty, BDS and diaspora Jewry, Jeremy Corbyn and a growing theme of Jonny Gould‘s Jewish State: the relationship between Islam and Judaism and how it can bind people in a region where religion is so important.
Sit back and enjoy a gripping conversation with two of the world’s most well-informed people on the biggest diplomatic breakthrough of our age.
Help support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State (including Gift Aid) at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast
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May 15, 2022
84: Len Khodorkovsky: from Ukrainian refugee to the US State Department, an American story.
Len Khodorkovsky is an American story.
The same one repeated throughout generations of Jewish history.
And his comes from today’s Ukraine where in 1981, young Len and his refusenik parents and grandparents fled the Soviet Union for the USA.
Because by 2017, Len took an oath of office in the US State Department. “That’s quite a trajectory”, he says with understatement.
The poignancy is there’s bound to be another Len, barely a teenager trying to escape Ukraine (and even Russia) as we listen - destination unknown - just heading west.
Len served at the US State Department as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Public Affairs. He was also a Senior Advisor to the US Special Representative for Iran and the Chief Marketing Officer of America’s economic diplomacy.
It was his two decades as an advertising executive which led to this extraordinary period.
And it’s this creative approach which he says gave the Trump administration a greater dynamic to problem-solve than the…
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May 12, 2022
83: National Jewish Assembly: Anglo Jewry's new leadership organization
The National Jewish Assembly's held its inaugural reception for brand new members and interested parties at London's Jewish Museum in Camden Town.
CEO James Marlow and Chairman and founder Gary Mond were joined by members of the new advisory board to outline their plans and directions.
So why has this all come about?
What’s wrong with Anglo-Jewish leadership which they think needs to be addressed? Is it just a column of disaffected right wingers as certain media have insinuated?
I caught up with both James and Gary, who set the record straight, outline their hopes and ambitions for the group and explain the three foundational pillars on which it's based.
Jonny Gould’s Jewish State is supported by UK Toremet.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free.
You can help support the show with Gift Aid at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast
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May 4, 2022
82: Israel Bonds, Invest in Israel: Arnon Perlman's life in public service
Our guest today is Israel Bonds executive director of sales and operations in Europe and Latin America, Arnon Perlman.
It’s never been easier or more accessible to invest in the State of Israel. This episode explains how (and you can follow the link below to do so).
Arnon’s led a life of public service in Israel. Before joining Israel Bonds, he served as prime minister Ariel Sharon’s head of communications for four years, on duty and on call at every waking (and sleeping hour) and he pays a touching tribute of deep respect and love for his former boss.
Arnon gives us his personal recollections of one of Israel’s most important figures in history.
He was also consul general of Israel’s Consulate in Shanghai, China.
Stay tuned for his experiences and takeaways from living in China, their place in the world and how they view themselves.
Jonny Gould’s Jewish State is brought to you with Israel Bonds, Invest in Israel, Invest in Israel Bonds.
Invest now:
💵 Buy online…
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Apr 27, 2022
81: Finding Abraham: Malcolm Green's Abraham Accords-inspired tour through Israel
Malcolm Green, filmmaker, innovator and storyteller who targets new audiences with new medium.
“Finding Abraham” is his latest movie: how the most important diplomatic breakthrough of our age is filtering down to ground level across the Middle East.
It follows a trip through Israel with the “Leaders of Tomorrow, a group from Israel, Bahrain, the UAE, Egypt and Morocco recording their reaction to what they see - and to each other.
Our conversation is twice as long as the movie because we delve deeper into its themes, discussing the characters, the region, Malcolm’s own background and how his views have changed while making his many films across the world.
“Finding Abraham” has won a multitude of film awards across the world and is available to watch now on YouTube and Vimeo.
Jonny Gould’s Jewish State is proudly supported by Dangoor Education.
Help support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State (including Gift Aid) at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast
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Apr 6, 2022
80: The Imam of Peace, Mohammad Tawhidi: Without Israel, Islam “loses a fundamental pillar”
"If you erase the Jewish connection with the Holy Land, where does it leave us? Islam just floats in the air".
Our guest today has an unequivocal message of peace between Muslims and Jews and his solution comes from faith and identity - from religion, not secularity.
His name is Imam Mohammad Tawhidi, also known as the Imam of Peace. He has an extraordinary outreach in the world, with over 800,000 Twitter followers plugged into his worldview.
In the secular west and its historical colonies with national borders, is it possible to unite them through faith? The Abraham Accords suggest this is a key to a lasting peace.
But what about the Palestinians? Where do they fit in? Is it true the gulf Arabs don’t even regard them as Arabs, let alone a Muslim cause? And is antisemitism behind the world’s support for them?
Get your head around this fascinating theological conversation with Imam Mohammad Tawhidi.
Help support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State (including Gift Aid) at https://www.…
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Mar 27, 2022
79: Edy Cohen: Israel’s supreme leader in Arabic
When it comes to Israel, there’s no more powerful a journalistic voice across the Arab world than Edy Cohen. This is his one-man story.
You likely won’t have heard of Edy, but note the name, because he tweets mostly in Arabic.
Edy has half a million Twitter followers, almost exclusively in the Middle East and North Africa.
Educating, informing, entertaining, even mocking Arabs in the colloquial language of the street - his mother tongue.
He was born in Beirut in Lebanon, as were his parents and grandparents. fluent in Arabic, French and fine in English as you’ll hear, his engaging style gets him loads of airtime across MENA.
The Israeli Ministry of Exterior find his outreach powers annoying and exclude him from their work.
Perhaps his less than diplomatic approach to reportage is the key reason.
But the truth is he exists in this social media era and he cuts through into Arab eyes and ears.
Listen now to this serious BUT unofficial Hasbara giant.
Help support Jonny Gould…
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Mar 12, 2022
78: Tuvia Tenenbom: “Call yourself a progressive? What a chutzpah!”
When Tuvia Tenenbom’s in London, it’s always a pleasure to catch up with him.
The Taming of the Jew, Tuvia’s book on British antisemitism and Anglo Jewry’s approach to it was showcased at London’s Jewish Book Week.
And while his dim view of British Jewish leadership is pretty much the same as when he was finalising his findings back in 2019, the world has moved on and he has plenty of new observations to make.
His view of progressives and woke culture, the standard of journalism across the western world and the sudden outbreak of war in the Ukraine are all covered in another gripping and vital conversation.
Listen here to the one and only, Tuvia Tenenbom.
Jonny Gould’s Jewish State is brought to you with UK Toremet.
 Help support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State (including Gift Aid) at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast
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Mar 5, 2022
77: Professor Alan Dershowitz: “Free speech for me, but not for thee” and his BBC’s cancellation
What an excitement to have a very sudden opportunity to talk to Professor Dershowitz.
My friend Lawrence Ryz dropped him an email on my behalf, he said “yes”, I sent him a Zoom and off we went.
And the conversation was as vibrant as it was rich in anecdotes. Just need to talk to him again after this.
Among the Jeffrey Epstein/Prince Andrew trial, we discuss how free speech is being imperilled on university campus and he accuses BBC News of “advocacy not journalism”.
He also tells a great golf joke about the Lubavitcher rebbe!
All human life is here, listen now to Professor Alan Dershowitz.
Help support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State (including Gift Aid) at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast
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Feb 26, 2022
76: Emily Schrader and Yoseph Haddad come to London
Yosef Haddad and Emily Schrader educate the world and rebut the lies told about the State of Israel.
They’re an Israeli couple who are engaged to be married, but that doesn't mean they're a Jewish couple.
Yoseph is an Arab Israeli from Nazareth while Emily, who’s Jewish is originally from Seattle, Washington in the US.
They are both implacably committed to the Jewish and democratic State of Israel.
Yoseph volunteered three years of his life to serve in the IDF (in the elite Golani battalion) and Emily made Aliyah when she was 23.
They are highly regarded throughout the world for confronting the misinformation that libels the Jewish state in media, parliaments and educational elites every day.
They came to London, where they met the Israeli ambassador, Tzipi Hotovely and headed to London’s Speaker’s Corner to take on antizionists and terrorist supporters.
They then flew to Ireland and Yoseph spoke in the Irish parliament. 
This is an in-depth conversation in whi…
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Feb 20, 2022
75: The Wolf of Baghdad: Carol Isaacs' colourful history of Babylonian Jews
“I’m a proud Babylonian Jew”.
Carol Isaacs is an author, cartoonist, accordionist and keyboard player.
This is a wonderful creation matched by a wonderful conversation with Carol.
And she’s poured every part of her extraordinary musical and graphic gifts into recounting her family‘s history in Babylon across 2,600 years.
“The Wolf of Baghdad” is a vivid, vital recollection of Jewish life and culture stretching back generation after generation in what is now modern day Iraq.
Jews lived there long before Christianity and Islam spread among its people.
Our episode includes the stirring music, created and performed by Carol in a conversation detailing her inspirations and the drive behind creating it.
Both the Wolf of Baghdad and Jonny Gould’s Jewish State are proudly supported by Dangoor Education.
All the music in today’s episode is performed and composed by Carol Isaacs.
Buy the 📀 here: https://www.thesurrealmccoy.com/product/the-wolf-of-baghdad-dvd-rom/
H…
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Feb 12, 2022
74: El Al Israel Airlines: Israel's skies are open again, book with confidence
As Israel's skies reopen to the world, it's time to reacaquaint ourselves with Israel's national airline, El Al.
This is the story of two torrid years for the airline industry, just as things were getting really good for air travel in early 2020.
So how did El Al deal with the darkest days of Covid lockdown, what lessons did they learn from this unprecedented business crisis - and what's in store for passengers now we're all invited back on board?
Meet El Al Israel Airline's Oranit Bethalachmi, regional manager for Western Europe and Africa as Israel's skies reopen.
Book your flight now at elal.co.uk
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Feb 5, 2022
73: The Right Hon. Dr. Liam Fox MP on the front foot with the Abraham Accords
While the Prime Minister fended off opposition derision and revolt from a few of his own backbenchers with his statement on Sue Gray’s pandemic partying, I was upstairs awaiting our guest who was in the chamber listening to Boris’ party piece.
But it was peace of quite another kind I’d come to Parliament to talk about - with The Right Honorable Dr Liam Fox MP, chair of the UK Abraham Accords Group.
The Abraham Accords is a pact which normalises relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
We discuss the rapid pace of change it’s bringing to the Middle East, how Dr. Fox explains Britain’s role "on the front foot" and speaking as a former Trade and Industry Secretary in charge of negotiating new trade arrangements, how strategic it is to Britain in the post-Brexit era.
Today’s theme tune is 9th Power by Henyao.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free.
You can help support the show with Gift Aid at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast
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Jan 25, 2022
72: Jon Medved: Israel Scaleup Nation and OurCrowd's venture investing platform
Did Saul Singer and Dan Senor imagine their best-selling book, Start-up Nation, would reframe Israel’s brand - even its perception - right across the world?
The book describes our guest today as “one of Israel’s legendary business ambassadors… whose taken on a role that anywhere else, would typically belong to the Chamber of Commerce, Minister of Trade, or Foreign Secretary.”
But what is it that drives Israel’s extraordinary economic miracle and investability?
And what extra dividends will peace and normalisation with the Arab world bring to the Middle East?
Welcome to Jonny Gould’s Jewish State, Jon Medved, CEO of Our Crowd.
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Jan 8, 2022
71: Ben M Freeman: Jewish Pride, Rebuilding a People
Are you a member of a mainstream Orthodox Jewish community? Do you regard yourself as a “liberal” whether your political views are left or right?
How should we include Jewish LGBTQ+ people in our communities? At the moment, they live on the fringes of the mainstream, neither included or excluded. Is that fair? Would it be so difficult to accommodate or recognise a union of two Jewish people of the same sex?
Or would it bring the whole tent of Jewish values down with it? Is it the job of Judaism to resist secular trends - or is acceptance of same sex unions permanent societal progress?
I’m putting this out there because the life choices presented to people in society clash with traditional, mainstream Jewish organisations, if not the values of the Jewish people who make up their membership.
Ben M Freeman is a thoughtful, respectful, proud Jew and Zionist, who’s adding a key voice and ideas to the community.
This is also about every Jew expressing pride in the…
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Jan 4, 2022
Israel Briefing 4 with James Marlow: What's Biden's game with Iran in Vienna?
What has happened to American foreign policy since Joe Biden took the presidency from Donald Trump?
Is every despot in the world emboldened by the shocking withdrawal from Afghanistan?
And what does this mean to Israel as it faces the existential threat of Iran edging closer to nuclear capability?
As the latest round of JCPOA talks between Iran and the US continue in Vienna, Israel correspondent James Marlow brings his latest “Israel Briefing 4” to Jonny Gould’s Jewish State.
Help support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State (including Gift Aid) at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast
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Dec 24, 2021
70: Tom Tugenhadt MBE MP: Israeli Palestinian conflict has nothing to do with Arab civil rights
He’s the youngest ever chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee with a military career served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tom Tugendhat MBE MP is an Arabic speaker and a fervent supporter of Israel who names of one the Jewish state’s Prime Ministers as a political hero(ine), Golda Meir.
He takes this opportunity to pay tribute to the small band of Jewish soldiers serving in the British military. This episode remembers Lieutenant Paul Mervis from the 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, who was killed near Sangin in northern Helmand, Afghanistan in June 2009.
He’s campaigning for the Law of Treason to apply to terrorist atrocities committed at home by British citizens after the unspeakable murders of fellow MPs Sir David Amess and Jo Cox and according to our mutual friend, Nick Timothy, former chief of staff at number 10, he’d make a great Foreign Secretary.
I met Tom for the first time a few months before this interview as he helped launch EMAN, the Extremist Monitoring Analysis Ne…
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Dec 14, 2021
69: BBC standoff with Britain’s Jewish community
A crowd of around 250 gathered to hear Gideon Falter of the Campaign Against Antisemitism demand of the BBC, “Where is the proof? Tell the truth”.
This is about a bus load of Jewish people heading down London’s Oxford Street in high spirits, dancing and singing celebrating Chanukah - only to be attacked by an aggressive group of men shouting anti-Zionist jibes, banging their shoes against the bus windows and panels, performing Nazi sieg heil salutes and then chasing the bus down the road.
But the BBC covered the incident claiming they’d heard conclusive proof of an anti-Muslim slur which had come from inside the bus.
All this from a video recorded by someone in the vehicle.
BBC London TV went further and broadcast speculation that the slur might’ve even triggered the group of men into attacking the bus in the first place.
Joining Gideon on the stage was Fiyaz Mughal OBE of Muslims Against Antisemitism who reminded the crowd that bias against minorities also extends to…
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Dec 12, 2021
68: Beatie Deutsch: marathon champ, charedi mum: “mental & spiritual strength unlocks the physical”
Beatie Deutsch, elite marathon runner, Israel’s three-time national champion, Olympic and World Championships hopeful, face of the Adidas “Impossible is Nothing” campaign - and Orthodox Charedi mother of FIVE.
She won the 2021 Tiberias Marathon, which she called “a useful practice run”.
Her running style and extraordinary pace isn’t the first thing one notices. She wears modest clothing and covers her hair while she runs.
Her values attracted Adidas to seek her out, joining Lionel Messi, David Beckham and Beyoncé on the roster. For a multinational corporate that usually shies away from G-d and spirituality, this is quite the departure.
In this extraordinary episode, Beatie also discusses manifestation as part of spiritual and psychological race preparation.
🎙Jonny Gould’s Jewish State is brought to you with Dangoor Education.
🎸MUSIC: the brilliant Audiobinger’s The Journey.
Help support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State (including Gift Aid) at https://www.dono…
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Nov 23, 2021
67: President Isaac Herzog meets Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the UK’s Jewish leadership
President of Israel Isaac Herzog’s visit to Great Britain in November 2021 set a new high mark in the nation-to-nation relationship.
His Excellency met the Prince and Princess of Wales, who themselves just returned from a Royal tour of the Middle East in Jordan and Egypt and an exhibition at Chelsea FC, honouring elite Jewish athletes murdered in the Holocaust,
President Herzog departs the chair of the Jewish Agency to become Israel’s head of state, pledging to strengthen diaspora ties to his nation.
As you’ll hear his family spent over a century in the UK before moving to Israel and says his British-Jewish heritage shapes his identity and his mission as President.
The brilliant new theme tune on this episode is by Danya Vodovoz.
🎶 SoundCloud: soundcloud.app.goo.gl/m9c5y4czU5F7Pn…
🎙Bandcamp danyavodovoz.bandcamp.com
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Nov 14, 2021
66: Ambassador Neil Wigan: "Fundamental rights to free speech excludes intimidation"
Today’s guest is the UK Ambassador to Israel, His Excellency Neil Wigan.
Britain and Israel have never been closer. Values are converging in the post-Brexit and the Abraham Accords eras: two nation states with common values, industries and defence challenges.
And Ambassador Wigan is the embodiment of that; he’s married to an Israeli, Yael and they have two children.
There’s some straight talk coming up in this episode, like when is the British embassy joining the US in Jerusalem?
But he’s under no illusion of the existential threat posed by Hamas and others in the south and Hezbollah in the north.
🎙Listen to the UK Ambassador to Israel, His Excellency Neil Wigan.
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Oct 29, 2021
65: Ambassador Michael Oren: “We are living in the age of miracles”
Ambassador Dr. Michael Oren: solider, diplomat, ambassador, politician, author, journalist, opinion leader.
Dr. Oren was Israel’s ambassador to the US for four years until 2013, during fraught years where allies felt a personal enmity to one other, President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Born into small town upstate New York in 1955, young Michael swapped the wealth and confidence of post-war America for a front seat in what he calls the nation of miracles.
His childhood was influenced by his father and uncle’s US Army service in World War II and the terrible discovery of what the Nazi enemy had done to the Jews of Europe.
But young Michael set about mapping out his life ambition to be Israel’s ambassador to the States, making Aliyah at 24.
And for all the challenges Israel faces, Michael’s arch-optimism is based on lessons from Jewish history.
🎧LISTEN to Ambassador Dr. Michael Oren.
Jonny Gould’s Jewish State is supported by Dangoor Education.
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Oct 17, 2021
Israel Briefing 3 with James Marlow: The race to be the Jewish Agency’s new chair
In this special Israel Briefing number 3, Jonny Gould’s Jewish State Israel Correspondent, James Marlow joins us to talk about the race to become the next Jewish Agency chair.
The Jewish Agency is the bridge between the diaspora and Israel and prospective candidates are keener than ever to build and sustain relationships between Jews at home and abroad.
You’ll hear the latest from James as the race hots up and from two frontrunners for Israel’s most important job behind that of the country’s President and Prime Minister.
Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan Nahoum and His Excellency Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2013.
Isaac Herzog stepped down as chairman in July 2021 to be sworn in as the 11th president of the State of Israel.
Support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State:
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/JonathanLGould
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Oct 12, 2021
64: ‘Judge’ Robert Rinder LIVE: “There are millions of people of goodwill, allies of Jewish people”
This is Jonny Gould’s Jewish State live at JW3.
Had it not been for the pesky pandemic, live shows would’ve been a far more frequent occurrence for yours truly.
So it’s with great pleasure that we present this show in aid of Jewish Blind and Disabled with Robert Rinder LIVE in the main theatre at JW3.
In this frank and funny conversation, Rob reveals how his hit daytime show, Judge Rinder was originally pitched as a remake of 70s courtroom drama, Crown Court.
He also discusses his lifechanging attitudes from his deeply moving episode of “Who Do You Think You Are”, which told the story of his grandfather’s miraculous escape from a Nazi death camp.
And there's more than a smattering of Yiddish in our exchanges - and the customary debate over their precise meanings!
It’s not too late to make a donation to Jewish Blind & Disabled. On the night we raised a phenomenal £95,000 in the room.
Donate now at https://www.jbd.org/donate
And you can support Jonny Gould’s Jewi…
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Sep 24, 2021
63: Ambassador Dore Gold: the art of diplomacy and how peace with Jordan came about
Ambassador Dr. Dore Gold has spent his professional life as a diplomat and trusted senior prime ministerial advisor pursuing peace and security for Israel with willing Arab partners.
Born in Hartford, Connecticut, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and family.
Dore Gold was Israel’s ambassador’s to the UN in the late 90s. He advised on the Madrid peace conference in 1991 before leading Likud’s dialogue with the Hashemite kingdom in Jordan which led to peace in 1994.
This was a direct response to the ruling Labour Party’s dialogue with the PLO.
Ambassador Gold was also a key figure in the closure of the PLO’s office in East Jerusalem, a concession insisted upon as Israel opened talks with Yasser Arafat as part of the Oslo Accords.
Since the turn of the millennium, he’s been president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs with his deep experience of US–Israel policy.
A supporter of the Abraham Accords, he doesn’t believe the change of administration in Washing…
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Aug 22, 2021
62: Melanie Phillips: “Israel, the West’s last man standing”
Our guest is journalist, author and social commentator, Melanie Phillips.
She was once a committed diaspora Jew, pledged to contribute to life and society in her native UK.
Moving to Israel was not on the radar; why would it be when she lived in the “goldener mediener”, a “golden country” in Yiddish, where Jews could live and prosper?
Today she’s an arch-Zionist, living mostly in Jerusalem with her husband, the BBC’s former legal affairs correspondent Joshua Rozenberg.
This episode chronicles Melanie’s change of mindset, using her story to illustrate what’s been happening to Anglo Jewry since the end of World War II.
We also ponder the modern Conservative Party, why she thinks the BBC see her as the “acceptable face and voice of lunacy” and whether zealotry can ever be a positive influence.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free.
You can help support the show with Gift Aid at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast
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Jul 14, 2021
61: Tim Marshall: The Power of Geography, "compromise is a beautiful word"
Our guest today is former TV and radio foreign correspondent, now acclaimed best-selling author on geopolitics, Tim Marshall.
His latest book, The Power of Geography, Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World discusses the many changes in a globalised and multipolar world.
I’ve known Tim for over thirty years. Our paths have crossed radio and TV newsrooms at Independent Radio News, LBC and Sky News in London and we stayed in touch as he became a bestselling author on geopolitics.
He’s one of the media’s good guys, staying clear of political commentary, instead seeing the world from the viewpoint of the people and places he observes.
That makes for the integrity of his commentaries and analysis.
Understanding people from their perspectives is in such a short supply in today’s social media rage!
We can learn a lot from Tim’s generosity of spirit.
Enjoy this episode with Tim Marshall.
And support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State:
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/JonathanLGo…
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Jun 21, 2021
60: Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely: Israel’s first female ambassador to the United Kingdom
Our guest today is Her Excellency, Tzipi Hotevely, Israel’s first female ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Her Excellency’s honeymoon as Israel’s new ambassador to the UK didn’t last long.
Israel’s world leading vaccine rollout (Episode 52) dominated headlines as Ambassador Hotovely took the reigns in London from Mark Regev in August 2020.
Then the fourth Gaza War ignited wicked antisemitism on our streets.
I ask what Israel’s mission can do to help Britain’s diaspora.
She was born in Rehovot in 1978, the daughter of ardent Zionist immigrants from Soviet Georgia. As with Ambassador Regev (Episode 31), we talk about social mobility in Israel, the dynamism of the economy.
Tragically, anti-Zionism exists among young Jewish people across the West, in the US. And here too.
Heads are being turned by media and peer pressure.
But while 75% of American Jews support Israel as a Jewish state, 85% say it’s “important or very important” to stand up for the “oppressed o…
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May 30, 2021
59: Upheaval: The Journey of Menachem Begin. Director Jonathan Gruber
In these troubled times, are we looking back with increased respect to Menachem Begin’s leadership?
My guest today is film director Jonathan Gruber, who’s movie “Upheaval, The Journey of Menachem Begin” was released on June 7th.
Menachem Begin helped build then mould today’s State of Israel, a tireless fighter for all Jewish people.
They say his life, both pragmatic and miraculous made him a man of contradictions and nuances.
But wasn’t that just because he was charged with such grand responsibility on so many levels? Some events went spectacularly right, some tragically wrong.
But throughout, his courage of conviction and unwavering values shone through.
I’m joined by the movie’s director, Jonathan Gruber to discuss his film of one of Israel and the Jewish people‘s most important figures of the 20th century.
LISTEN TO MOVIE DIRECTOR, JONATHAN GRUBER.
Support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State:
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/JonathanLGould
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May 19, 2021
58: Gaza: Israel and the Jewish diaspora under attack
Israel’s latest Gaza conflict in the spring of 2021 lasted eleven brutal days but tragically, there’s no sign it’ll be the last.
Israel’s citizens endured a pace and ferocity of Hamas rockets unprecedented in the four conflicts dating back to 2008.
Yet over 90% of the 4,200 murderous missiles were shot out of the sky by the Iron Dome radar defence system.
Today’s episode is a detailed media briefing by both the IDF and Israeli police BEFORE the assembled journalists distilled what was said to the public.
According to the IDF, 680 of the rockets fired from Gaza actually landed inside the strip, an astonishing 16%, putting their own citizens at the same risk as Israel’s.
It’s also been horrifying for the Jewish diaspora, facing hordes of thugs loudhailing murderous intimidation at Jewish people from their cars in London and fighting on the streets of Europe and North America.
And for the first time, Israel’s war was fought on both sides of its Gaza border as Israeli…
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Apr 26, 2021
57: Je Suis Sarah Halimi, London: Solidarity with French Jews outside the French Embassy
Jewish communities and friends right across the world came together in solidarity with French Jews in sorrow and outrage at the murder of Dr. Sarah Halimi.
Episode Lineup:
(02:01) Muslims Against Antisemitism’s Liz Arif-Fear
(02:25) Karine Gould
(07:10) Maureen Lipman
(11:43) Sophie Wiesenfeld
(13:22) Hen Mazzig
(16:44) Raphael Landau
(19:35) Gideon Falter
The 65-year-old retired medic and teacher fell victim to a heinous and brutal attack before being thrown to her death over the balcony of her Paris apartment.
The Court of Cassation, the highest in the French Republic, ruled Kobili Traore couldn’t face trial as he was high on marijuana while committing the most gruesome and sustained attack on his neighbour.
All this despite being a violent drug dealer and known antisemite. He’d verbally abused Sarah and her daughter in the lead up to the murderous crime.
Jonny Gould and his wife, Karine went to the rally organised in the UK by the Campaign Against Antisemitism.
Despit…
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Apr 11, 2021
56: Shaun Bailey: Conservative candidate for London Mayor’s views on Israel and Jewish Londoners
Our guest today is the Conservative Party candidate for London mayor, Shaun Bailey.
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Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/JonathanLGould
I spent more time in a modest queue of journalists observing Shaun Bailey than I did actually talking to him directly. But it was just as instructive.
As a Tory, Shaun is the best-placed candidate to beat Sadiq Khan in London’s mayoral election on May 6th 2021.
But what chance does he have? He’s not particularly well-resourced by his party which means it’s more down to him to drive his own campaign.
But as you’ll hear, he counts himself as a characteristic London “hustler”, insisting his town is not necessarily a Labour city.
He makes an impression with his honesty, but is he too unguarded to be a unifying London politician?
With many thanks to Hendon Ward councillor Nizza Fluss, who organized his appearance with representatives of Shomrim and Hatzola at Hendon and Golders Green, Shaun answered my que…
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Mar 25, 2021
55: Tuvia Tenenbom’s “The Taming of the Jew” is British Jewry’s wakeup call
Our guest today is renowned author, playwright and journalist, Tuvia Tenenbom.
Tuvia tells unvarnished, uncomfortable truths.
He challenges what you actually believe to be true, confronts what you think you believe in.
Some Jewish people are scared by him. Some rant back and threaten him as a form of denial.
Leadership runs from him.
The Taming of the Jew is his latest book on the outward antisemitism he encountered while travelling the British Isles.
Utterly unrepentant, listen to Tuvia’s view of British Jewry.
Hear which Lord threatened to sue Tuvia if he published what he told him in their interview and the shock at how some Jews are actually colluding with their accusers.
You can buy his latest book, The Taming Of The Jew by Tuvia Tenenbom here: https://amzn.to/3rATAcc
Support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State:
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/JonathanLGould
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jonnygould?fan_landing=true
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Mar 8, 2021
54: Can Israel's political system be salvaged? Ambassador Danny Ayalon and Dr. Nachman Shai
Our guests today are Member of Knesset, Professor Nachman Shai PhD and former Israel Ambassador to the USA, Danny Ayalon.
With thanks to Rozita Pnini, Benjamin Anthony and Alan Langer of the MirYam Institute.
This episode is not so much about Israel’fourth election in under two years, but more the promise of what it may lead to.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s built his coalitions on the ultra-religious - but Covid’s disrupted their society. Some are moving into secular academia and productive jobs, while Arab Israelis, 20% of the population are reaching the higher echelons of Israeli society for the first time, thanks to Bibi the pragmatist.
Israel’s longest serving prime minister changes course without causing the upheaval that comes with it.
🎧LISTEN to our prestigious guests for some stunning predictions on the “tragedy of Netanyahu” and the emancipation of Israeli Arabs brought about by the Abraham Accords and Bibi’s investment in society.
Let me inform, educate and…
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Feb 25, 2021
53: Bristol's Jewish students confront University over “end Zionism” professor
Bristol University's reputation is being tarnished by their inaction over a conspiracy theorist professor who calls for an end to Zionism in lectures.
Sign Bristol JSoc’s petition to get hate off campus.
https://www.change.org/p/university-of-bristol-get-david-miller-off-bristol-uni-campus?recruiter=false&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_medium=whatsapp&utm_content=washarecopy_27419266_en-GB%3A0&recruited_by_id=79c19f40-724e-11eb-8412-03bf4eda2f17
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Professor David Miller's called for "an end to Zionism in the world", a dogwhistle which has attracted support from Chris Williamson and Asa Winstanley, whose supporters have trolled Sabrina Miller and other Jewish students incessantly on social media.
I've handed the mike to Sabrina to tell the story of their struggle and included clips from the #HateOffCampus rally they organised by government advisor on antisemitism,…
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Feb 16, 2021
52.1: Col. Richard Kemp OBE: Israel’s vaccine success and Biden’s foreign policy priorities
This is the extended interview with Col. Richard Kemp, of which excerpts appeared alongside other world-class experts in the previous episode 52 on Israel's world leading vaccine rollout.
I’ve produced this full version of the interview with Richard because we discussed wider global issues beyond just Israel’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
We go on to the continuing threat of Iran’s nuclear aspirations and if the Islamic theocracy will only be emboldened by the new Biden Administration.
Richard also pays tribute to the outgoing Trump Administration - in particular Jared Kushner, Ambassador David Friedman and Jason Greenblatt, recalling as eyewitness how Israeli PM Netanyahu’s 2015 address to the US Congress proved the kernel which grew into the Abraham Accords.
There’s also the growing threat of China, which he says “affects the whole world”.
LISTEN TO COL. RICHARD KEMP 🎧
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Jan 19, 2021
52: Israel's world-leading Covid vaccine rollout
How has Israel built a world-leading reputation in combatting the Coronavirus threat?
Why do foreign governments look to Israel for their lead?
It all started with the incredible vaccine rollout in the summer of 2020.
A deep faith in science and healthtech, a militarised efficiency, a high price on the value of life and a commitment to innovation and a unifying national cause.
I’ve spoken to leading figures from the worlds of medical research and innovation, national security, diplomacy, politics and journalism.
We hear from Israel’s chief researcher in its largest healthcare organisation, Clalit’s Ran Balicer, Colonel Richard Kemp, the UK’s former national security chief who chaired Cobra, responsible for coordinating national intelligence including MI5 and MI6.
His Excellency Mansoor Abulhoul, the UAE’s ambassador to the UK, who declares the vaccine rollout as the early dividend of the Abraham Accords.
And journalist, writer, author and hawklike watcher of the Middle…
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Dec 22, 2020
51: Brendan O'Neill: Israel and the hard-left, Israel and the EU
Our guest today is Spiked Online's chief political writer, Brendan O’Neill.
Brendan is one of the English-speaking world’s foremost political commentators.
He came to fore as the excruciating drama of Britain’s departure from the European Union edged on (and on).
I first spoke to Brendan leading up to the 2016 referendum when I was talkRADIO’s evening show host. I’ve watched him ever since, battling away for the 17.4m who voted Leave.
In a Jewish and Israel podcast, I frame our discussion around the hard-left and its changing attitude to national self-determination, Israel and the anti-Zionist antisemitism which has followed.
We also draw the obvious parallels between Brexit and Israel the nation state and discuss the woke left’s cancellation of Julie Burchill, also an outspoken supporter of Israel and the Jewish people.
There’s football’s “taking the knee”, being Irish in the UK. buying your council house and civil liberties in the era of Covid.
“I didn’…
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Dec 15, 2020
Israel Briefing 2 with James Marlow: Mossad did kill Iran’s nuclear chief, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh
Jonny Gould's Jewish State presents Israel correspondent, James Marlow for a special report on the fallout from the assassination of Iran's chief nuclear scientist.
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This is Israel Briefing 2, the second in a series of major event reporting from International Affairs and Middle East specialist, James Marlow. Not just Jonny Gould’s Jewish State Israel correspondent, but also a contributor for ITN, Al Jazeera and LBC Radio. James has written about this subject for the Times of Israel and Spiked-On-Line.
So much has changed so suddenly in the Middle East. Now Joe Biden has replac…
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Dec 1, 2020
50: Jewish Telegraph at 70: Editor Paul Harris on the day he took his family into Arafat’s lair!
Today’s guest is Paul Harris, editor, proprietor and chief executive of the Jewish Telegraph newspaper.
My own modest fiftieth anniversary episode is overshadowed by a more significant birthday, the Jewish Telegraph, the north of England (and Scotland’s) foremost community newspaper is 70.
Paul Harris is the editor, proprietor and chief executive.
Every week - and for the last seventy years, he and his mother and father before him have published the newspaper.
Started in Manchester on their dining room table with a borrowed typewriter and £50 capital, it’s grown into a newsroom and advertising platform with 4 regional offices in Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds and Liverpool.
He regales us with some great stories over the years involving Yasser Arafat, Michael Jackson and Sharon Osbourne, although they weren’t all in the same room together!
If I told you the one about Paul interviewing the PLO leader inside his Tunis compound while on a family holiday and who he took into the…
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Nov 19, 2020
49: Labour Against Antisemitism: Corbyn loses the whip but is Starmer doing enough to change Labour?
Today’s guests are Euan Philipps and Emma Picken of Labour Against Antisemitism.
Support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State:
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Jeremy Corbyn spent just nineteen days suspended from the Labour Party after the Equality and Human Rights Commission's report delivered a damning verdict into the party's victimization of its Jewish members.
But as Corbyn was restored to the membership, new leader Sir Keir Starmer refused to return the parliamentary whip to his former boss.
But even that is open to review.
The factional war between Labour’s hard-left and moderates is now in full flow, but what will the outcome be - and can…
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Oct 28, 2020
48: Justice for Malki: Arnold Roth calls for Tamimi's extradition and BBC apology to Arabic audience
Arnold Roth, father of teenager Malki, murdered in a suicide bombing, calls for extradition from Jordan of the attack’s planner and for the BBC to apologise to its Arabic audience for “toxic distortions” of her characterisation.
This episode also includes our own James Marlow, an eyewitness to the aftermath of this evil act of terrorism in Jerusalem.
Petition: www.change.org/extraditetamimi
Charitable work in the name of Malki Roth: www.MalkiFoundation.org.uk
Malki Roth, just 15-years old, was one of 15 victims of a suicide bomber at the Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, orchestrated by Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi, who drove the bomber to the site.
Tamimi was sentenced to 16 life terms by Israel for her role in the attack, but was one of the prisoners freed in exchange for the release of Gilad Shalit in 2011.
She lives freely in Jordan and openly boasts about how she orchestrated the suicide mission, while at the same time presenting herself as a victim.
Arnold Roth is…
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Oct 15, 2020
47: UAE Ambassador Mansoor Abulhoul: The Abraham Accords of Israel UAE peace
Today’s guest is His Excellency, Mansoor Abulhoul, UAE ambassador to the UK.
Support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State:
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“Normalization" is possibly the most understated word to describe the seismic changes triggered by the Abraham Accords of September 2020.
Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain entered a new era of peace and understanding, brokered by President Donald Trump's US Administration and signed at the White House.
The speed by which the peoples of Israel and the UAE are realising the opportunities made possible by diplomacy is quite breathtaking.
Expressions of religious similarity and mutual un…
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Sep 25, 2020
46: Eva Schloss: Anne Frank's stepsister, "I forgive the Nazis"
Today’s guest is Anne Frank’s stepsister, Holocaust survivor and world renowned speaker, Eva Schloss.
Eva Schloss, step-sister of Anne Frank, forgives the Nazis.
Aged just 11, her happy family life in Vienna was cancelled as the Germans annexed Austria, turning the populous against the Jews in an instant.
She describes this national mood change as “unbelievable”. Non-Jewish friends suddenly shunned her and her older brother was severely beaten by classmates.
With her family, she fled for her life through Belgium and Holland, as the Nazis mercilessly hunted Europe’s Jews.
Young Eva had to adapt to new schools, languages and countries and was bullied by fellow children and even teachers.
Eventually, betrayed by a Dutch underground agent, she was captured and sent to Auschwitz. In 1945, barely alive, she was rescued with her mother by Soviet troops.
Her father and brother were killed.
But the 91-year-old survivor says, “Forgiving is most difficult because the human con…
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Sep 11, 2020
45: Ambassador Ferenc Kumin: The Hungarian Holocaust and Israeli allies
Today’s guest is His Excellency, Ferenc Kumin, Hungarian ambassador to the UK.
“We (Hungary) feel a moral drive to strengthen our ties to Israel and the Jewish community. And when you have that moral drive, it makes it easier, you don’t hesitate”. The words of the new Hungarian ambassador to the UK, Ferenc Kumin.
It's been quite a summer covering Israel and it started for me with this remarkable interview with His Excellency, Ambassador Ferenc Kumin at the Hungarian Embassy in London.
With Israel, Bahrain and the UAE agreeing to normalization, Muslim-majority Kosovo also establishing diplomatic ties and with Serbia pondering moving their mission to Jerusalem, a reset of positions, some deeply entrenched is now due from nations across the world.
There are still present day problems of antisemitism in Hungary, but there is both an awareness and willingness to confront it.
I was touched by Ambassador Kumin's sincerity and knowledge of Hungarian Jewish history as we discussed…
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Aug 7, 2020
44: Lecture cancelled, Stephen Lamonby: James Marlow interviews
A university lecturer at Southampton Solent was sacked for telling his course leader, “I believe that Jewish people are among the cleverest in the world. They are much maligned because of it.”
Stephen Lamonby remarked to Dr. Janet Bonar that people from different countries had become good at certain things owing to “high exposure”. He said that Germans are good at engineering because they are “exposed to a high level of industry from an early stage in their lives”.
When Dr. Bonar, an engineering lecturer, mentioned her degree in physics, Mr Lamonby said that Jewish people had “a particular gift” for the subject. He used Albert Einstein as an example and asked Dr Bonar if she was Jewish. She took offence and called Mr. Lamonby a racist.
Mr. Lamonby was sacked by the University and an employment tribunal dismissed his claim. Judge Colm H. O’Rourke said: “A Jew told they are good at physics — because they are a Jew — may well consider that as demeaning their pe…
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Aug 4, 2020
43: Reimagining Trevor Horn: a lockdown tribute to “the man who invented the 80s”
This a rework of the Trevor Horn episode from 2019.
As lockdown looms large over 2020, this is a tribute to his creative vibrancy throughout the previous year: the worldwide concerts and ambitious records.
And it’s updated to include the orchestral album with Rod Stewart and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which followed “Reimagining the 80s”, a 65-piece rework of the best songs by stars from the decade.
I was lucky enough to see Trevor in concert during this prolific period of creativity at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
But I’ll always remember this very personal discussion because of how we discussed his deep connection to both Judaism and the synagogue community of South Hampstead in London.
We also talk about his own background growing up in County Durham. His father came from a family of teachers, his mother from mineworkers and the class snobbery which emerged from that seems a world away from his life now.
I’m always proud when an interviewee tells me at t…
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Jul 25, 2020
42: Katharine Birbalsingh and Inaya Folarin Iman: Immigrant pride in Britain
This is the second episode of a two-part series on the future of Britishness, patriotism and the nation state.
In Part 1, Trevor Phillips talked of “mission creep” in diversity and Karen Harradine distinguished between power and influence, arguing that though Trump and Johnson were in power on both sides of the Atlantic, many of our institutions were influencing against them.
Today, headmistress Katharine Birbalsingh discusses the unifying call of Britishness for those of us lucky to live here.
And writer and campaigner Inaya Folarin Iman says identity politics discounts humanity and its sheer potential and possibilities.
Katharine came to prominence a decade ago at the Conservative Party conference, when she spoke in support of the party's education policies. She slated a "culture of excuses, of low standards ... a sea of bureaucracy ... [and] the chaos of our classrooms", “because it keeps poor children poor."
Katharine confronted the prevailing culture in education to s…
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Jul 20, 2020
41: Trevor Phillips and Karen Harradine: “Taking the knee” and “cancel culture”
Cancel culture, editorial purges and your sporting heroes kneeling before kickoff.
Why should sport be a promotional platform to institutionalize potentially divisive ideas?
Unlike other countries, English football's popularity was built on its competitive integrity and little else.
I just want to watch Aston Villa lose in peace in an ideologically free zone and wonder to myself why the jobs market excludes me.
What is antiracism and is it the same as being against racism? - and if not, what exists between those definitions? Is antisemitism the elephant in the vaccuum?
If we all agree racism is a problem is change even possible when the establishment of public sector, charities, even sports governing bodies are rushing to be associated with an organisation which also wants to defund the police and crush capitalism.
Not to mention their plan for Israel.
And is the silent majority of Britain made up of factory workers, lollipop ladies and warehouse operatives miffed to be told the…
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Jun 30, 2020
40: Nick Timothy: Solidarity, philosemitism and China
Today’s guest is Theresa May's former joint chief of staff, Nick Timothy.
Many will recall a bushy beard during his time running Mrs. May’s administration; a style of grooming by which the tabloids dubbed him, “Brummie Rasputin” but they’ll have to find a new nickname for him now!
Nick formulated and wrote policy in the Home Office before ascending to the corridors of Number Ten where he wrote Mrs. May’s 2017 General Election manifesto.
But he didn't see out her premiership, taking the hit with Fiona Hill for her disastrous 2017 election campaign, an experience he calls "both brutal and chastening".
His career continues as both a columnist for the Daily Telegraph and author of "Remaking One Nation: The Future of Conservatism", in which he outlines a restoration of civic capitalism as the way to bring a bruised and divided country together.
We also discuss the problems of globalisation, the West’s future relations with China which he's long warned about, lessons learn…
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Jun 16, 2020
39: Jason Greenblatt: Peace to Prosperity in the Middle East: straight to the heart of the deal
Jason Greenblatt is the co-architect of the peace plan which changed the course of the Middle East during 2020.
In January 2017, he was appointed Assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Negotiations.
With presidential advisor and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner and US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, they drafted “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People”.
Officially he’s left his role as one of President Trump’s chief Middle East peacemakers. But in practice, it’s quite another matter.
“It's like that line from the Eagles' song, 'you can checkout anytime you like, but you can never leave'", says today’s prestigious guest of “Hotel California”.
He admits to still being involved despite leaving the White House in September 2019.
The following February, Jason joined the board of Our Crowd, a crowdfunding investment platform aimed at projects in the Middle East,…
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May 31, 2020
38: Red Sea Spies: Mossad and their Ethiopian Jewish brothers: Raffi Berg and "Dani"
How many acts of heroism never come to public attention because of the modesty of the heroes themselves?
This is a first-ever audio interview in English with one such man. His name is "Dani', the Mossad commander in charge of “Operation Brothers” for five drama-filled years from 1978.
Without doubt, this is one of Israel's finest hours; a Mossad mission to emancipate thousands of Ethiopian Jews from the dangers of revolution and persecution.
But this is also about partnership and brotherhood. Mossad would never have achieved this lethally dangerous, giant humanitarian mission without the equal determination of the Ethiopian Jews themselves, to realise a generational longing to return to Israel, the land of their forefathers.
"Dani" only agreed to this interview on condition that his full identity wouldn't be revealed. And while he's partially emerged out of the shadows, I'm told many of his Mossad colleagues remain completely anonymous.
“Operation Brothers” was a mission t…
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May 14, 2020
Israel Briefing 1 with James Marlow: Another new government, Iran in Syria, Pompeo China warning
As Jonny Gould’s Jewish State grows, so does the challenge to deliver relevant content to a bigger audience.
I have now expanded into news coverage as Israel gets a first government in 18 months after three exhausting elections.
This is “Israel Briefing”, the first in a new series on Jonny Gould’s Jewish State, as James Marlow becomes our Israel correspondent.
On Israel's 72nd anniversary, Binyamin Netanyahu leads yet another government as PM, the Trump Administration urges him to scale down business with China, while reports of Iran’s withdrawal from Syria appear to have been somewhat overstated.
James also reveals the brinkmanship behind forming the next government, an enlarged 36 ministries as splintering parties seek cabinet responsibility but the merger of the UN and US Ambassador roles.
If you like what you hear today, please share generously on Facebook, Twitter and email.
Jonny makes these podcasts for free and if you enjoy his shows, you can help support him at…
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May 4, 2020
37: Fauda Netflix: Itzik Cohen and Lior Raz, Israeli drama popular in surprising places
Israel is fast emerging as a hub for international TV drama. Netflix is syndicating a host of Israeli hit shows across 192 countries. It was unthinkable even five years ago that the Startup Nation would add cultural ‘soft power’ to its already established high-tech rollcall of global successes.
Fauda was thought just to be of interest to an Israeli audience. Originally only in Hebrew and Arabic, it's the story of the IDF's special units who go deep behind enemy lines to combat terror and rescue hostages.
Among the mainstays of all three series is co-creator and lead, Lior Raz who plays Doron Kabbilio (and other undercover aliases) and his Shin Bet commander, Itzik Cohen, the long suffering Captain Gabi Ayub.
I caught up with Itzik, locked down in Tel Aviv, who explained with great passion the role of the actor in such a realistic show.
Lior Raz comes courtesy of Roger Bennett of Men In Blazers. Thanks and Courage, Roger.
Jonny Gould's Jewish State is brought to you with Dangoo…
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Apr 14, 2020
36: Unorthodox Netflix: Deborah Feldman, the Real Esty
Today’s guest is author and the creative power behind the Netflix smash hit Unorthodox, Deborah Feldman.
This has become the runaway most-listened to episode of Jonny Gould's Jewish State so far.
Unorthodox on Netflix has become the must-watch drama everyone seems to relate to. It’s a highly moving portrayal in English, German - and Yiddish.
It’s about a pregnant teenager fleeing her ultra-orthodox Jewish community in New York for a new and uncharted life in Berlin.
The series heroine, Esty Shapiro, played by Shira Haas is fictitious - but the story mostly isn't. It's a version of the life of Deborah Feldman, who now lives in the German capital having grown up in Brooklyn in a Satmar community.
Deborah's book chronicles her own exodus from Williamsburg and I tracked her down to her Berlin home, which was easier than normal during lockdown!
It's an intense interview covering many topics, including the role of women in orthodox communities, how the current Jewish generation d…
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Apr 7, 2020
35: Prof. Gerald Steinberg, NGO Monitor: Durban and the perversion of Human Rights
My guest today is Professor Gerald Steinberg, founder and CEO of NGO Monitor.
The values of Human Rights are part of modern-day international conflict. Modern warfare is also fought through social media, the United Nations and via NGOs or non-governmental organizations.
"Soft power can be very deadly, I've seen it with my own eyes", says today's guest Professor Gerald Steinberg, founder of NGO Monitor.
And so often, the central battlefield of NGOs is between Israel and the Palestinians.
Gerald set up NGO Monitor in 2001 because he saw the need to "vigorously challenge" and end the promotion of "politically and ideologically motivated anti-Israel agendas by NGOs”.
In this fascinating episode, we discuss in detail the change in how Human Rights is conducted and where organizations such as BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) started.
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Mar 23, 2020
34: Israel Advocacy, Joseph Cohen: Zionism's Angel of the North
My guest today is Joseph Cohen, Zionist campaigner and creator of the Israel Advocacy Movement’s extraordinarily powerful viral videos .
Joseph Cohen’s Israel Advocacy Movement is helping to change perceptions of Israel and Judaism.
Amid rising antisemitism and antizionism, Joseph hopes his work will inspire others to follow his lead.
His YouTube and Facebook videos have been viewed millions of times and been retweeted by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Joseph's unusual background gives him a deep understanding of working class England and his study of the similarities between Islam and Judaism provides his outreach work with additional authenticity.
I’m calling Joseph “Zionism’s Angel of the North”, a tribute to his background as the child of a hippy commune in a Durham pit village.
The town in which he grew up was part of the “red wall”, which overwhelmingly voted Conservative at the 2019 General Election, as Boris Johnson inflicted the worst elect…
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Mar 10, 2020
33: Ed Husain, Islam & Israel: “Bashing Israel is the Muslim liberal's last refuge. It's gotta go!"
"I can go freely to the Western Wall or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, why can't our Jewish and other friends go to the Temple Mount?"
Ed Husain is a vital voice from the British Muslim community with his many speeches and articles on tolerance and pluralism.
He was a teenage Islamist who embraced Muslim nationalism but started life in his father's more peaceful, religious mosque. Now he’s a steadfast opponent of the creed of the extremist.
He's the author of The Islamist, an account of his five years as an activist here in the UK - and The House of Islam: A Global History, which discusses the classical tenets of Islam and the ways in which they're being distorted by political Islam.
Ed explains how the West's thirty million Muslims must acquaint themselves with life in a secular state where they're no longer the dominant population or conqueror.
I released this podcast on Purim, which Ed mentions. It’s his wish that modern-day Persia, now Iran, should return to the days of…
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Feb 26, 2020
32: Yaakov Lappin, Europe's refugee crisis II, “The Virtual Caliphate”, the online threat to Europe
This episode opens with a stark warning to Europe’s leaders: a second refugee influx looks increasingly likely.
Yaakov Lappin is a military analyst and researcher whose book, “The Virtual Caliphate” predicted the emergence of ISIS as they then swept through Iraq and Syria.
He was alarmed at how easily accessible IS was online and how it led readily to the radicalization of so many young western Muslims.
And he says though ISIS have been defeated militarily, the threat of both extreme Sunni and Shia terrorism must be countered or Europe could face another mass influx of refugees.
In this wideranging discussion, Yaakov also unpacks the opportunities which Donald Trump's Deal Of The Century offers plus a new IDF leadership system he's helping to develop.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. To make a donation to his efforts, go to https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤cy_code=GBP&source=url
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Feb 13, 2020
31: Ambassador Mark Regev: Israel’s modern story
Ambassador Mark Regev embodies the modern Israeli story. Leaving his native Australia at 22 without family or contacts waiting for him, he praises Israeli mobility which aided his rise to the top of diplomacy.
Armed with mother-tongue English, his ability to communicate Israel to billions of people is both of great advantage personally and nationally. He pays tribute to the pioneer generation of Israeli orators, led by South African-born Abba Eban and his stirring command of language.
Ambassador Regev hopes the Palestinians reject ‘rejectionism’ and recognise the opportunities provided by Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century”. Three Arab governments were present in the White House as it was unveiled.
He asks why the Palestinians aren’t also celebrating 72 years of independence as the UN partition laid it out.
We also discuss the Palestinian issue as a vehicle for antisemitism, statistically and substantively - and the roots of leftist Jew-hate in Voltaire, Dostoyevsky an…
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Feb 11, 2020
31.1: Brexit and Israel, Ambassador Mark Regev on the UK's relationship with Israel post-Brexit
This is an excerpt from Ep 31, the full interview with Israel's Ambassador to the UK, Mark Regev.
In this ‘preview clip’ Ambassador Regev tells Jonny Gould that growing trade is but part of a burgeoning relationship between Israel and the UK, which can only grow post-Brexit.
Bilateral trade stands at $18bn both ways so Israel was quick off the mark to complete a deal to continue trade seamlessly after the 2020 transition.
Security co-operation and collaboration between the two independent nations makes the citizens of both safer according to Ambassador Regev. IDF pilots and the RAF have been training together because Britain values Israel’s aircraft combat experience.
Look out for the FULL interview, Episode 30, with Ambassador Mark Regev on Jonny Gould's Jewish State.
Jonny makes these podcasts for free. If you’ve listened to a couple or more of the series, you can support him at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast…
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Feb 6, 2020
30: Anthony Scaramucci: “I’m a Zionist, but there’ll be no peace without symmetry”
The former White House Communications Director, Anthony Scaramucci is a political celebrity.
He’s making a career out of his ten days in the Trump Administration.
The Mooch was heading to Pennsylvania to campaign for Mike Bloomberg’s short-lived Democratic Party bid for the Presidency.
And in advance of that, he was in London addressing an intimate invitation-only crowd at the Four Seasons, Ten Trinity Square Hotel.
After a wide-ranging discussion about why he turned against Trump (he spoke out against the President's rebuke to "the squad", the four Democratic congresswomen who he said should "go back and help fix the totally broken crime-infested places they came from"), I caught up with him for a one-to-one chat about the Deal Of The Century, President Trump’s plan for a new settlement in the Middle East.
Jonny makes these podcasts for free. You can help him by giving it at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+produc…
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Feb 3, 2020
29: Col. Richard Kemp OBE in Israel: The Deal Of The Century, IDF’s Muslims, Iran post Soleimani
This is my second meeting with Richard and delighted to tell you it took place in Tel Aviv. He's a regular visitor to Israel and gives generously of his time to so many people and institutions helping to make the country stronger.
Our trips to Israel coincided and he graciously made time to sit down with me amid his many engagements.
There have been two significant, perhaps gamechanging events since we first met in September 2019; Donald Trump's much anticipated Deal Of The Century was launched and the US assassinated Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani. Can the Palestinians be persuaded to stop saying “a thousand times no?” Could Iran’s proxies continue their retaliation against America and its allies - including Israel?
We hear Richard’s take on both.
Plus listen for his extraordinary meeting with two IDF soldiers, both Muslim Arabs. He unpacks the huge personal sacrifices they've made, why they enlisted in the first place and the impact it’s had on their lives in Eas…
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Jan 16, 2020
28: Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Jerusalem’s Rock from Gibraltar
“Jerusalem is the laboratory for the regional solution”.
Fleur Hassan-Nahoum has been Jerusalem's Deputy Mayor since November 2018.
I met her in London as she prepared to join a cross-party delegation in the House of Lords urging Britain to cease funding UNRWA to which they’ve just pledged a further £65.5 million. It’s supposed to aid Palestinian refugees yet funds the “glorifying of martyrdom” to Palestinian schoolchildren.
With age-old communities in Israel’s capital living side-by-side, Fleur wants to close the gap between equal opportunities and equal rights, particularly in East Jerusalem.
Born and bred in Gibraltar, Fleur says it’s her “oracle” for harmony and believes her Anglo-Spanish Jewish background helps her fulfill her job.
She's not been without controversy, lending Katie Hopkins a helping hand to promote her movie, “Homelands” and attending a far-left Emek Shaveh event but she can't stand political correctness and is happy to argue her po…
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Dec 19, 2019
27: Baroness Ruth Deech: Why the Holocaust Memorial shouldn't be built in Westminster
Baroness Ruth Deech gave me more than I bargained for in this wide-ranging interview. I asked a question, she replied with 120% of an answer.
Ruth discusses the rise of British antisemitism, the post-Holocaust record of Poland, campaigning to ease tough abortion laws, restoring university maintenance grants to aid social mobility and the role of the BBC.
Baroness Deech tells me:
• about her lack of surprise at Sir Richard Evans’ decision to vote for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour before claiming to change his mind after an open letter in the New Statesman by Anthony Julius. Sir Richard, a world authority on the rise of Nazism, was an expert defence witness of Deborah Lipstadt when holocaust denier David Irving sued her and her publisher for libel.
• she believes EU Council President Donald Tusk should “sort his own country out first before interfering in ours”.
• leaving Europe will be “absolutely excellent because we will not be sucked into anti-Jewish sentiment sweeping…
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Dec 8, 2019
26: Together Against Antisemitism rally as Corbyn’s General Election loomed
To say this gathering at Parliament Square organised by Campaign Against Antisemitism attracted a cross-section of society is an understatement. All the present to show their support for the Jewish community.
The anxiety ahead of the poll was palpable in the crowd.
This episode includes excerpts from rousing speeches made by TV Judge Robert Rinder and actor and writer Tracy-Ann Oberman.
It seems the Jewish community has many friends. Listen to Pakistan’s Christian community in support of Israel, comedian Al Murray who has a personal history of opposing antisemitism, Jewish and Zionist activist Damon Lenszner and Jewish communist, Jonathan Silberman who stood in the 2019 General Election against David Lammy in Tottenham.
Jonathan might be workers first but he also fights antisemitism on the left and supports Israel’s right to exist. Communism isn’t for most - but give him a listen. In calling himself a communist, he might just be more intellectually honest about himself - w…
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Nov 15, 2019
25.1: Mrs. Thatcher LIVES! Zoom Rockman's Churchill and Steve Nallon's Thatcher
As an extra to the Zoom Rockman interview, I was delighted to bump into Steve Nallon, the unforgettable Spitting Image voice of Mrs. Thatcher during her years as Prime Minister. Steve was there to add his support to Zoom's Portraits of Churchill launch at the Hyatt Regency Churchill Hotel in London. Relive his great impression from back in the day with updated political gags - and very funny Ann Widdecombe and Homer Simpson impressions too.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support him at patreon.com/jonnygould
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Nov 14, 2019
25: Teenage Kicks: Zoom Rockman and Harry Markham
I'm giving this episode over to two brilliant 19-year-olds who energize the worlds around them.
Zoom Rockman’s a magazine & newspaper satirist, a cartoonist and commissioned artist who at such a tender age has already left the Beano for Private Eye and from the Savoy to the Churchill hotels, where his distinctive sketches of Sir Winston Churchill now grace the walls.
Harry Markham’s a self-declared "unapologetic” Zionist, who confronts Jew-hate on university campuses. While that role is important to him, he stresses an even greater emphasis in wanting to shake both Jews and Israelis into a greater appreciation of Zionism.
I repeat, they’re both just 19.
LISTEN to this episode to hear how this time and place is producing such inspiring young Anglo-Jews.
I make these podcasts voluntarily. If you enjoy them, please consider helping me at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤cy_code=GBP&source=url
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Oct 31, 2019
24: David Collier (Mishtal), Fighting for UK Jewry: Labour’s toxic Corbyn era
David Collier is an extraordinary researcher and his facts and figures on Labour antisemitism and the deligitimization of Israel have at times, dominated the news agenda.
In this interview profiling his work and background, we get behind the computer screen to reveal more about the man and his mission.
He says his undercover work online has revealed extraordinary levels of Jew hate within the highest corridors of British politics. He explains antizionism as nothing more than antisemitism.
David’s most recent projects include lodging a complaint against the publisher, Pearson over an anti-Israel textbook about the Middle East, which he says has been lifted in large part from Wikipedia - and a report into Amnesty, which he says obsesses about Israel. While they overspend time and resources on the conflict in Gaza, David says they’re missing out on enormous disasters elsewhere.
He doesn’t mince his words over the EHRC investigation into the Labour Party either, which he worries…
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Oct 25, 2019
23: US Special Envoy Elan Carr LIVE from Westminster addressing Parliament on antisemitism
Our Soldiers Speak and the Henry Jackson Society jointly presented Special Envoy Elan Carr to Parliament in his role as the United States' leading diplomat in the fight against antisemitism.
The address was hosted by Henley MP John Howell and I was given the honour of presenting Elan on behalf of Our Soldiers Speak and quite a platform to explain what the organization is about.
In this tough yet uplifting speech, Elan clearly defines the three disparate sources of antisemitism, describing its 21st Century manifestation and how if not confronted, tyranny follows for everyone, not just Jews.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support him at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤cy_code=GBP&source=url
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Sep 26, 2019
22: Col. Richard Kemp OBE: fighting evil becomes personal
Col. Richard Kemp has "seen evil at first-hand" and says fighting it "becomes personal".
In this wide-ranging interview, Richard discusses his military career over three decades, starting in Northern Ireland, culminating in Whitehall as a senior government advisor and as commander of British Forces in Afghanistan.
This episode opens with Jeremy Corbyn claiming we in the west don’t understand Iran’s “inclusivity, tolerance and acceptance of other faiths, traditions and ethnic groupings”.
But Richard’s response is withering. He says Iran is the world’s greatest threat and predicts growing menace from Russia, China and ongoing Sunni extremism.
He explains his unwavering respect for and friendship with Israel and warned of "hundreds of years" of damage that Britain could have self-inflicted had Jeremy Corbyn become Prime Minister.
Col. Richard Kemp speaks in measure with the immense experience of a senior soldier and the gravitas of a world authority.
It made for a fasci…
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Sep 16, 2019
21: Mudar Zahran: all roads lead to Jordan for a Palestinian homeland
Palestinian Mudar Zahran is Jordan's self-styled opposition leader but lives in exile in the UK after denouncing his country as an apartheid state.
In his absence, he was found guilty by a Jordanian military court of inciting hatred against the Hashemite kingdom, which handed down a sentence of imprisonment and hard labour.
But he continues to speak out against the 82-strong royal family who rule over the majority Palestinian populous and believes one day, he’ll return to Jordan as president in a bloodless coup, which will herald new peace and cooperation with Israel.
His view of Palestinian identity makes mockery of Jeremy Corbyn's so-called support for his people. He even accuses the British Labour leader of “hating Jews more than any love for the Palestinians”.
Mudar also predicts President Trump’s plans for Iran as the theocratic terror state sponsors rebellion and destabilization across the Middle East.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support him…
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Aug 29, 2019
20: Ashley Blaker and Bennett Arron, UK Jewish laughs: standup and be counted!
Ashley Blaker and Bennett Arron are the two most prolific Jewish standup comedians in the UK. Their journeys are different but their comic routines are both rich in life experience and observation.
As Ashley says, ”Jews are funny people”.
Bennett grew up in Port Talbot in the town’s last Jewish family. His father ran a glazing business staying there long after the rest of the community had moved on to Swansea, Cardiff and Manchester. He says his dad remembers a time when he couldn’t get a seat in the synagogue.
Ashley is a ba'al teshuva; highly observant but not born religious. He was a BBC comedy producer directing among other shows, Little Britain, but changed direction in 2015 becoming a standup the day before his 40th birthday.
They both say comedy has changed rapidly even in the last decade, so how do they find laughter among new and diverse audiences? LISTEN as I go behind the punchlines with these two thoughtful and talented funnymen.
Jonny Gould's Jewish State is s…
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Jul 24, 2019
19: John Ware, BBC Panorama: “Is Labour Antisemitic? Corbyn and the EHRC investigation
My guest today is legendary BBC Panorama documentary maker, John Ware.
John has yet more revelations and assesses his view of Jeremy Corbyn since his Panorama programme, "Is Labour Antisemitic?" was aired on primetime BBC1.
“What we transmitted is not everything we have. There’s a sizeable iceberg beneath the surface”.
I like and respect John because as a libel barrister once told him, ”report the facts, don’t rant!”. And it’s his evidence-based journalism that make his documentaries so robust.
In this candid interview recorded in the days after the show was shown, John revealed how "livid" he was at Labour's allegations that he was “motivated to mislead”, predicted how it panned out and delivered his own verdict on whether the Labour leader is antisemitic.
(Cover picture by Inc. Monocle)
I make these podcasts voluntarily. If you enjoy them, please consider helping me at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcas…
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Jul 15, 2019
18: US Special Envoy Elan Carr: The White House fight against antisemitism
US Special Envoy Elan Carr’s White House role is to monitor and combat global antisemitism.
But the tragedies of the Pittsburgh and Poway synagogue attacks have ensured his focus has become more domestic.
He was appointed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in February 2019.
Mr Carr's message is unity; for the Jewish community to stand together to fight anti-Jewish hatred - and to bridge the gap in an increasingly polarized America to work on bi-partisan solutions.
He is an Iraq war veteran, a former deputy US attorney in LA and a Republican in an historically Democratic district of the House of Representatives.
Elan is of Iraqi Jewish heritage and served the US military in Baghdad, lighting Chanukah candles and leading Shabbat services in the palace of deposed President Saddam Hussein.
We discuss issues of free speech, protected and unprotected speech plus where he sees the role of the IHRA definition of antisemitism in the future protections of Jewish people, and by extension s…
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Jul 4, 2019
17: Hen Mazzig, Bad Progressive or True Progressive? the Mizrahi soldier
Hen Mazzig is truly a modern Israeli. A social media manager for major corporations and a writer and campaigner.
Born in Israel in 1989 to a Mizrahi family originally from Iraq and Tunisia, Hen campaigns for the advancement of Israeli Jews from the east and LGBTQ rights as an openly gay man.
He actually came out in the IDF serving in Ramallah and Jerusalem in a humanitarian role. His life experience includes being blown out of an ice-cream shop by a suicide bomber when he was 12. It was an attack which killed a grandma and her granddaughter.
Identity is a huge part of modern day political discourse, where it seems being a Jewish progressive puts you at odds with non-Jewish ones. In doing so, I encounter the word, “pinkwashing” for the first time.
We unpack some complicated concepts because I think it's important we all understand where both Israel and antisemitism is going in the 21st Century.
Hen's very engaging and I learned a lot about parallel histories and Jewish lives to…
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Jun 18, 2019
16: British Jews in World War II: Normandy, Arnhem and Bergen Belsen: Stanley Fisher's story
This episode is dedicated to the 60,000 British Jews who fought for their country during 1939 to 1945.
One of them, 93-year-old Stanley Fisher is my first cousin Samuel Posaner's great-grandfather - and we met by chance at Samuel’s Bar Mitzvah in Birmingham in the very 75th anniversary week he landed on Normandy’s beaches in 1944.
Stanley is living history. Not only a teenage soldier arriving in Arromanches in the week of D-Day, he also fought at Arnhem, a terrible and bloody defeat for the allies - and then witnessed the shocking aftermath of the liberation of Belsen concentration camp. He says it gave him nightmares, silencing him from telling his wartime story for decades.
Eventually though, a desire to recount his experiences prompted him to speak up - for the benefit of the next generation.
It's a profound privilege to bring his story to a wider audience.
With thanks to Ben and Rachel Posaner, Esmond Rosen and of course, Stanley who came to the Bar Mitzvah with his wife E…
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Jun 4, 2019
15: Lyn Julius, Uprooted: 3,000 years of Jewish life in Arab lands is over
Author, historian and campaigner Lyn Julius promotes the culture, history and lives of Mizrahim, the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa.
Mizrahi is the Hebrew word for Easterners - and their exodus from Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Morocco, Lebanon, Iran and Algeria has perhaps been overlooked in the last century.
After 3,000 years of vibrant Jewish life, interspersed with persecution and exile, the Mizrahim are all but erased from those countries.
Most live in Israel now - but there's also a diaspora in the UK, France, Canada and the USA.
So what can and should we learn from the sudden flight from their generational homes?
Lyn's book "Uprooted: How 3,000 Years of Jewish Civilization in the Arab World Vanished Overnight" is the culmination of a decade of research. It's a story we mustn't ignore.
This podcast also contains Hillel Neuer's famous "Where are your Jews?" audio by his kind personal permission.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help su…
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May 16, 2019
14: Lance Forman, smoking salmon, leaving Europe.
My guest is a fourth generation smoked salmon purveyor and EU politician (if not a European Union supporter).
Lance Forman was elected as a Brexit Party MEP in the 2019 European election, which he says shouldn't have happened in the first place.
He accuses the political class of being fast and loose with extremist rhetoric, while being cowardly in making the big decisions lest they lose votes.
He pots a 115-year history of the family business, H Forman & Son and describes the challenges of succession, planning and adapting to modern times.
He harks for a return to the days of Margaret Thatcher, says Nigel Farage is "Maggie in men's clothing" and "antisemite" Jeremy Corbyn's vision of "Britain as Venezuela" needs preventing.
He's proud to be a Jewish member of the party, shrugging off the unpleasant daubing of a swastika on his factory shutter by what he describes as an “extinction rebellion” supporter.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show at h…
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May 7, 2019
13: Lord Leslie Turnberg, Balfour Declaration and the formation of the State of Israel
Today's guest is distinguished academic, medic, historian and legislator, Lord Leslie Turnberg.
Born in Salford in 1934 to Polish and Romanian immigrant parents, Leslie grew up to enjoy a successful career in medicine including presidency of the Royal College of Physicians. He took his place in the House of Lords when Tony Blair was prime minister and now speaks with authority in the upper chamber on medicine, the NHS and Israel.
Agile of mind with a lifetime of experience and achievement, Leslie has applied his considerable intellect to becoming a historian. To mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration, he wrote a book on its place in today's Middle East.
In an extensive conversation, we discuss the history of Israel's formation, the key Zionist characters, those who helped them, today's Palestinians - and as a Labour peer, what he thinks of the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/…
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Apr 17, 2019
12: Tuvia Tenenbom, “stand up for your rights or face annhilation”
Tuvia Tenenbom, theatre director, playwright, author, academic and unapologetic, uncompromising Jew.
For six months in 2019, he travelled the length and breadth of Britain, uncovering “a deep psychological Jew hate”. He believes the Jewish community’s in denial - just as they are in Poland, where he also gives examples.
His UK experiences make up the fifth book in a series, which was released towards the end of 2019.
He spoke to many voices in British Jewry and found a refusal to admit to the extent of antisemitism. He says, "I feel like a plumber, clearing out the sewage. I don't want to do antisemitism - but I have to."
Tuvia believes that if Jews hide their identity, they face extinction. He says Israel needs to be cherished, it's the future but losing it would spell the end of Jewish life in the world - but for a few isolated Chasidim.
I met him in the week he visited a pub in Derry, Northern Ireland, creating world headlines as the regulars openly told him, “Hitler ha…
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Apr 9, 2019
11: Bela Guttmann’s Greatest Comeback and UK Lawyers for Israel’s Greatest Hits
Today we focus on champions of law and football. We talk to CEO of UK Lawyers for Israel, barrister Jonathan Turner and David Bolchover, author of a biography on Bela Guttmann, “The Greatest Comeback”.
Jonathan describes the remarkable successes of his organisation despite limited manpower and resources and David recounts the ultimate Jewish football hero, Bela Guttmann, who survived the Holocaust to become a twice-winner of the European Cup with Benfica.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤cy_code=GBP&source=url
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Mar 26, 2019
10: Shin Bet chief, Yaakov Peri: Israel's unseen shield of security
Yaakov Peri has dedicated his life to public service. As director of Shin Bet, Israel's internal security, he was answerable only to the Prime Minister and oversaw the agency for nearly seven years.
He was also in the opposition Yesh Atid party from 2013 including a spell as Minister for Science, Technology and Space.
Yaakov tells me his hopes for peace with Palestine, the deeply problematic situation with Hamas in Gaza, how the flurry of Israeli elections will shape the future and changes to the Basic Law, which concern his instincts for equality.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤cy_code=GBP&source=url
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Mar 11, 2019
9: Labour antisemitism, Ian Austin MP and John Mann MP: fighting back inside the corridors of power
My two guests are MPs taking the fight to Jeremy Corbyn over antisemitism.
While Ian Austin became the ninth MP to leave Labour since Corbyn became leader, John Mann MP says he'll "have to be thrown out". But both are united in their fight against his leadership.
I share with Ian a deep respect and affection for the Black Country, where he's MP for Dudley North, and we discuss our shared heritage of family who sought refuge from the Holocaust in the industrial Midlands.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤cy_code=GBP&source=url
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Mar 5, 2019
8: Israeli HealthTech: the remarkable rise of digital health impacting the lives of millions
In this episode, I focus on an industry at which Israel leads the world, HealthTech. In a matter of years, Israel's digital health industry has evolved from a small group of innovative start-ups to a rich eco-system around Tel Aviv.
In a partnership of private and public sector investment, Israel's HealthTech industry is training AI algorithms, using massive data based on twenty years of medical records from half of Israel's population.
This was presented at the third UK Israel Business HealthTech Forum at which I spoke to UKIB's Hugo Bieber, Clalit's Professor Ran Balicer and Eyal Gura of Zebra Medical Vision.
Israel has the equivalent of four NHS’s serving its population with a top-up private sector with additional benefits.
So what can Israel teach the UK about public healthcare provision?
This is a good news story from the start-up nation!
Jonny makes these podcasts for free and you can help support him at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZL…
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Feb 26, 2019
7: Trevor Horn, Frankie Goes To Synagogue: pop and Jewish ideals
"Seek the peace and prosperity of the city of your exile, pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper", Jeremiah 29:7, recited to me by the remarkable Trevor Horn.
The Grammy, Brit and Ivor Novello Award winning record producer, coined "the man who invented the 80s", gives me a very personal interview about his current projects, (touring and a new album) plus a rundown of his musical career and influences.
He also discusses his journey into Judaism; something he says he "believes in more than anything else".
It turns out Frankie goes to Synagogue!
Jonny produces these podcasts for free.
You can help support the show with Gift Aid at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast
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Feb 25, 2019
6: Champions League Jews, Ivor Baddiel & David Bolchover: "Y Word" & football's greatest Jewish hero
This episode goes some way to explaining the Jewish relationship with football, both today and in the twentieth century.
My guests today are Ivor Baddiel, the comedy writer and biographer David Bolchover, who wrote "The Greatest Comeback", the amazing story of football's greatest Jewish hero, Bela Guttmann.
If you've been to White Hart Lane, you'll almost certainly have heard the word, "Yid" chanted in support of Tottenham - or worse, AGAINST them by opposition fans.
You may have even chanted it yourself. But what does it mean exactly? Do you think it still has a place on football's terraces?
Campaigner Ivor Baddiel and his brother David began a campaign eight years ago with a short film, "The Y Word" which explained that it's a derogatory term for Jewish people - like the P or N Word.
The podcast includes an excerpt from Ivor and David’s short film, The Y Word starring Gary Lineker and Frank Lampard.
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Feb 11, 2019
5: Jassem Tamim and Richard Millett, British Islam and English Irony: the fight for values
My two guests today are from very different parts of British society - but united in opposing Jeremy Corbyn and the scandal of antisemitism sweeping Labour.
Jassem Tamim (pictured hugging our own James Marlow at the 2021 Israel Solidarity Rally in Kensington, London) is a Sunni Muslim originally from Morocco, who considers his opposition to antisemitism as payback to Britain for the tolerance and acceptance he's found since moving here. He also believes it's his Islamic duty to defend Israel and Jews.
And Richard Millett is the longtime activist who the Labour leader famously called “lacking English irony”.
I ask both of them what the hard-left takeover of Labour has done to Britain?
LISTEN to their insightful answers and fascinating stories here.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤cy_code=GBP&source=url
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Jan 24, 2019
4: Grandma Olga’s Holocaust story: From Hitler's Vienna to Birmingham's Freedom
Dov Forman and her great-grandmother Lily Ebert have co-written a book, “Lily’s Promise” about her Holocaust story.
But 35 years before, I recorded the same idea with my own grandma.
Grandma Olga’s recorded voice and when and where we recounted her life story will always be my most treasured episode.
This is her eyewitness testimony of leaving Nazi-occupied Vienna for a new and as yet, uncharted home in the UK. She rebuilt her life in Birmingham where I grew up and where back in 1984, we recorded a chat on cassette in her front room. At the time, she was 77 and I was just 17.
The motivation to record this way back then was to explain, to my as yet unborn children, who we are and how we got here.
Grandma began life in England as a 32-year-old housemaid in a faraway London suburb before meeting my fellow refugee grandpa at a friendship club in Birmingham. They got married and lodged in an upstairs room next to Sutton Town's football ground.
Eventually, they managed to bu…
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Jan 19, 2019
3: Labour Against Antisemitism and Grandma's Holocaust Testimony
This is a very special episode for me. I rediscovered an old cassette I’d recorded of an interview with my late Grandma in 1984, when she was 77 - and I was 17. Thursday afternoons were always lunch at Grandma and I’d always wanted to record her voice for future Gould/Posaner generations.
She narrates her own escape from Hitler's Vienna in 1938 and arrival in Birmingham.
It’s her story of rebuilding family life destroyed by tyranny, the upheaval of leaving a place that made her - mixed with the heartache of saying goodbye to her parents, who she would never see again. She learned years later, they were murdered in a Polish death camps.
There's also an extensive interview with Euan Philipps, spokesperson for Labour Against Antisemitism on his tireless campaign against the worst excesses of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour and what he hopes will happen.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=B…
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Jan 4, 2019
2: Mark Lewis: Libel Lawyer, Campaigner and new Israeli
Mark joins me to discuss moving to Israel with his fiancée, Mandy Blumenthal, what prompted their decision to leave the UK and the Israeli health system which promises him the world’s best treatment for Multiple Sclerosis, a condition he’s had since his twenties.
He’s had a remarkable legal career, the highlight was when he represented more than 120 victims of phone-hacking and exposed the News of the World’s role in the scandal.
When specialist hacker, Glenn Mulcaire and royal reporter, Clive Goodman, were both charged in 2006, Mark noticed what others had missed.
Although the charges related were mostly to youngsters of the Royal Family, Mark was concerned that Mulcaire’s wider targets included five others, among them the chairman of the professional footballers Association, Gordon Taylor. “I saw the news and thought ‘They hacked Gordon to get that story’.” He calls it his “light-bulb moment”.
Mark exposed the full scale of criminality inside Murdoch’s…
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Dec 3, 2018
1: The New State Solution, statehood for Palestinians through divorce?
“We ought not deal in the soft bigotry of low expectations of the Palestinians” – Benjamin Anthony, CEO, MirYam Institute.
This is the first podcast in a series on Jewish and Israeli issues - so let's start with the biggest of them all: peace with the Palestinians.
Brigadier General Amir Avivi (ret.) and Sgt. Benjamin Anthony of The New State Solution were in London to meet Egyptian officials to discuss their plan to create a Palestinian state from Gaza to North Sinai.
Egypt is key to realising their vision as they would have to cede land for the New State.
But then so is the agreement of the Arabs of the West Bank and the Gazans too.
Can they do it? Is there a window of opportunity opening with the thawing of relations with Saudi and Oman? Listen to the opportunities they believe are available.
Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤c…
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