In the third episode of the The Israeli - Jewish Conflict podcast, UCLA Professor David Myers, who explores Jewish history and culture, speaks candidly about the about the complexity of a man who supports Israel, feels connected to it, and once even considered making Aliyah, yet in the past two years has felt increasingly alienated from the moral standards the country has displayed in light of the war in Gaza. “The claim that Israel guarantees the security of Jews around the world is now in question,” he says, “not only because of October 7, but because Israel’s actions have fueled antisemitism worldwide.” Myers calls for reexamining new models of connection between Israel and world Jewry, especially among younger generations: “Perhaps Israel no longer needs to be so central to Jewish education in the United States.” A painful conversation with a Jew in pain.

In the second episode, I’m speaking with an Israeli guest  - Rotem Oreg, the founder of the organization Librael, (https://www.librael.org)  which aims to promote the ideas of a democratic and liberal Israel among American Jews. We talk about the different perceptions he’s encountered regarding the relationship between Zionism and liberal values, about how to talk about Israel without triggering antagonism, and about what he’s discovered that some American Jews don’t always know about Israel. * that and more - in the second episode of The Israeli–Jewish Conflict .

In the very first episode, I talk to Noa Fay, a Columbia University student who has become a leading voice in the struggle of Jewish students confronting violent campus protests – protests directed at Israel, and at them, simply for being Jewish.