What Matters Now

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, the head of Realign for Palestine, an Atlantic Council project that challenges entrenched narratives in the Israel and Palestine discourse.
Before Alkhatib gives us an overview of the conditions on the ground right now in the Gaza Strip, he speaks to social media allegations that he is a "Zionist" or "pro-Israel stooge" because of his staunch anti-Hamas stance and willingness to engage with Israelis and Jews.
He speaks to how the "pro-Palestine industrial complex" marches in lockstep to condemn and blame Israel, giving two examples: the recent Haaretz report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warned about the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on southern Israel and the unreserved acceptance of the narrative portrayed in the new film "NAZA."
Alkhatib goes through the recent claims made against Netanyahu and explains how, in his assessment, there are other agendas at work by a variety of actors. Something doesn't add up, he says.
Turning to "NAZA" and its unprecedented 25-minute standing ovation, Alkhatib again turns the spotlight on the double standard the world employs when discussing Hamas versus Israel.
"Ironically, Israelis are believed when they criticize their government and their military and their people and their army, but Palestinians against Hamas in Gaza... they're not believed. They're called traitors, or they're silenced or they're viewed as inconvenient, by the same people that gave that long standing ovation," he says.
"It's enraging to me that Hamas is afforded the benefit of the doubt," he says, adding that residents of Gaza are likewise enraged that they remain held captive by a terrorist regime that is given a "pass" by the international community and pro-Palestine activists.
Finally, Alkhatib announces that his new short book, "Hamas and its Two Million Hostages" -- part memoir, part an attempt to explain how Hamas's stranglehold on the people in the Gaza Strip is only tightening -- will soon be translated into Hebrew. (Arabic is also in the plans.)
And so this week, we ask Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, what matters now?
What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with the head of the Israel Democracy Institute, Yohanan Plesner.
As millions of Israeli voters will cast a fateful ballot on October 27, what are the top three issues driving them to the polls -- and why?
Plesner, a former member of Knesset for the now-defunct Kadima party, begins the program by explaining the purpose and goals of the IDI, which he calls a "think-and-do-tank."
We learn about the overabundance of parties that officially registered this week, the use of joint party "lists" to reduce wasted votes and how a politician's word may be somewhat flexible, leading to broken promises.
Even after a vote is cast, the challenges in setting up a stable coalition are immense. It is not at all clear that we're not about to head to another series of inconclusive elections, warns Plesner.
And so this week, we ask Yohanan Plesner what matters now.
What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt.
As antisemitism surges worldwide by some 900% over the past decade, Greenblatt explores how the 113-year-old organization's mission to protect Jews has -- and has not -- evolved to meet the new challenge.
In light of the drastic uptick in hate, Borschel-Dan jokes that the ADL commands more money than a very small sovereign state (she erroneously names Nauru) and asks if the organization has failed in its mission.
Greenblatt assures her that a $100 million annual budget is a drop in the bucket against well-oiled hate machines funded by petrol states and says the ADL, like all other Jewish organizations, is working to regain its footing in a post-October 7 world.
We learn how the foundational anti-hate body has had to make some tough choices and how it is increasingly leaning on AI to reinforce its human staff.
And so this week, we ask Jonathan Greenblatt what matters now.
What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with author Yossi Klein Halevi.
The Hartman Institute senior fellow, writer and thinker joins us in our Jerusalem studio for a probing conversation about Jewish extremism.
Klein Halevi is the author of the 1995 "Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist," based on his time spent as a disciple of far-right racist firebrand Meir Kahane. He is uniquely poised to delve into the psyche of the violent fringe terrorizing West Bank Palestinian and shaking members of the settler movement.
We discuss the throughline between the era that spawned Kahane and his followers and today's national traumas that are spurring extremists to believe Kahane was right all along.
Through Kahane's vanities and human frailties, Klein Halevi realized that the cult of personality was dangerous and unhealthy. We ask, what happens if adherents believe their racist violence is actually in the service of God?
Klein Halevi, optimistic that these youth can be awoken, sets out conditions that could, slowly, allow for their transformation.
And so this week, we ask Yossi Klein Halevi, what matters now.
What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with CEO of Community Security Service Richard Priem.
While guarding his Dutch synagogue as a 17-year-old, Priem knew there were two places where Jews wouldn't experience antisemitism: Israel and the United States. Whereas in Europe, where Jews regularly must go through security checks and metal detectors before entering community events, he was sure the Jewish State and the Goldene Medina were different.
That "age of security" for US Jewry changed around the time of the Pittsburgh Tree of Life shooting, he said.
This is where his NGO steps in: Founded in 2007, the not-for-profit aims to empower Jewish volunteers and strengthen their communal security toolboxes to prevent attacks and de-escalate situations as they arise.
As Priem, a former paratrooper in the IDF puts it, who better to preemptively ascertain something is amiss than the community regulars themselves?
In this episode, we hear real-life examples of how CSS volunteers saved lives. Later, Priem lays out a hypothetical plan to secure Borschel-Dan's upcoming speaking gig in Chicago.
We learn about the need for "digital hygiene" and how a force of thousands of volunteers -- and growing -- are allowing Jews to be loud and proud again.
And so this week, we ask Richard Priem, what matters now.
What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.