Think Twice with Jonathan Tobin

Totalitarian regimes such as those led by Communists and Nazis have something in common with jihadist terrorist organizations and politically fashionable leftist movements. They all use propaganda, scare tactics, the law and social isolation and pressure to convince people to passively accept the unacceptable as not just normal but an inescapable imperative. That’s a key insight of radio host Buck...

The United States and Israel achieved unprecedented military success in their campaign against that started earlier this year on Feb. 28. But, according to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, the American decision to stop the war due to the economic pressure Iran was able to exert via its menacing of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz revealed a bitter truth about the West’s ability to defend itself...

With Israelis set to go to the polls in a few months, an issue that has been on the backburner since Oct. 7 will probably again be provoking public debate in the Jewish state. An effort to reform Israel’s Supreme Court and judicial system enraged the opponents of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in 2023 and is likely to be on the agenda again. Joining JNS editor-in-chief Jona...

The forces behind the mainstreaming of anti-Jewish conspiracy theories have gained a foothold in both major political parties. And according to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, there’s no sign of them being driven back to the fever swamps of the far left and the far right where they belong. Or at least not for the foreseeable future. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by columnis...

What can American Jews do to successfully respond to the surge of antisemitism that followed the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023? The answer, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, may be to channel the spirit of activism that characterized the movement to free Soviet Jewry in the 1970s and 80s. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by scholar and author...

The problem for democracies throughout the ages has always been the rage and impatience of mobs with any limits on their power to act on their impulses. According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, such movements have become a major factor driving not just divisive politics  and threats to liberty but also antisemitism. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by law professor, Fox Ne...

Israel has been put on trial every day throughout its history. But according to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, the case against it—including blood libels about it committing “genocide” or being an “apartheid state”—are nothing but myths and lies that can be systematically exposed and refuted by simple research and legal logic. He’s joined on this week’s episode of Think Twice by federal Judge...

In the aftermath of the horror of Oct. 7, 2023, one of the most discouraging things for embattled American Jews was the relative silence from Hollywood. An industry that was never slow to speak up about all sorts of other causes and filled with Jewish artists seemed curiously unconcerned about the assault on Israel and the subsequent surge of antisemitism. As JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin say...

Why are so many young Americans saying they support communism and do they understand that the anti-Zionist lies they are swallowing were cooked up by Soviet propagandists a half-century ago? Those are the questions JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin is asking about the willingness of ignorant Americans who are embracing the Marxist war on the West. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice...

The trouble with most reporting and commentary about the war the United States and Israel have waged against Iran is obvious, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin. Liberal Journalists and members of the foreign policy establishment are so deranged by their hatred of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they’d rather the Iranian Islamist terror regime wi...

The problem facing Jews today, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, is that blood libels about Israel aren’t just being mainstreamed as they are becoming unchallenged tropes of popular culture. He’s joined in the week’s episode of Think Twice by scholar and educator Naya Lekht who argues that it’s a mistake to think that the current surge of antisemitism dates back only to the aftermath of the...

Jews around the world are reeling from the unprecedented surge of antisemitism that followed the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. They may feel helpless when confronted by the way the Jew-haters have mainstreamed tropes of antisemitism in order to demonize Israel and its supporters. But, says JNS editor-in-chief, the answer to this problem is not to give up. J...

At the heart of much of the opposition to the war the United States and Israel are waging to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and spreading Islamist tyranny with terror is a conspiracy theory. Both left-wingers and some on the right still believe in myths about Israel or the Jews manipulating American foreign policy, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin.   He’s joined in this week’s epi...

Jews shouldn’t have to choose between fighting antisemitism and bolstering Jewish identity. According to JNS editor-in-chief, the assertion of New York Times columnist Bret Stephens that the Jewish community should stop doing the former and concentrate on the latter is a false choice. They need, he says, to continue to do both, though, admittedly the critique of Jew-hatred is often badly executed....

According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, at the heart of much of the opposition to the joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran is general ignorance about the fanatical nature of the Tehran Islamist terror regime. Rooted in religious fanaticism, their sponsorship of terrorism and nuclear ambitions are non-negotiable to a government of theocratic tyrants. That makes it imperative that Washington c...

The main question to be asked about President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is not the immediate one about whether or when the United States will attack Iran, important though that may be. Rather, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, it’s understanding that, his critics’ claims notwithstanding, far from being isolationist, Trump’s approach is one of selective use of force only when he perceive...

Is it possible for Israelis to overcome the differences that nearly tore the country apart before the Oct. 7, 2023 Palestinian Arab terror attacks? JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin points out that the divisive debate about judicial reform which helped encourage Hamas to strike on Oct. 7, was part of a culture war that pits liberal secular elites against the religious and nationalist communities...

It's time to stop worrying about accusations of Islamophobia when discussing Muslim antisemitism. According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, reporting and commentary on the shocking levels of Jew-hatred among Muslims has been silenced out of fear of accusations of racism and prejudice. But most of what is labeled Islamophobia is just truth telling about the way conspiracy theories and hate s...

According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, understanding the anomalous position of the kingdom of Jordan requires balancing distaste for its strident public advocacy against Israel against its role as a strategic ally. Tobin is joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by journalist Aaron Magid, the author of the biography The Most American King: Abdullah of Jordan.   Magid, who worked in...

Progressives and far right conspiracy mongers have more than just antisemitism in common. According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, those trying to subvert President Donald Trump’s agenda consist of not only the left-wing “resistance” leading an insurrection in Minneapolis. The same goal motivates China and its various allies and  business partners like Qatar.   Tobin is joined in this week...

What’s been going on in Minneapolis is no coincidence, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin. The city which is in a virtual state of insurrection against the federal government’s efforts to enforce immigration laws is also the place where a massive fraud was perpetrated against American taxpayers by Somali immigrants with ties to a jihadist group and which is also represented by Rep. Ilhan Omar...

How much has the world learned since Islamist terrorists murdered Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002? According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks there was a consensus that Islamist terrorism was beyond the pale. But the surge of support for Israel’s destruction after the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab terror attack on the Jewish state on Oct....

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been playing a double game in the Middle East and with the United States, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin. Turkey continues to back Hamas in Gaza. It also hasn’t halted its intervention in Syria, where it has a vested interest in suppressing Kurdish autonomy in order to undermine that people’s efforts to throw off repression inside Turkey. But the...

Jonathan Tobin doesn’t hold back! In this year-end "Think Twice" AMA episode, JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin takes aim at the Heritage Foundation’s flirtation with antisemitic voices, calling out conservative personalities like Tucker Carlson and J.D. Vance and exposing the mainstreaming of Jew-hatred from the left and right. He names names, tackles the rise of anti-Zionism in American politic...

Will the failure of leading conservatives to disassociate themselves from the increasingly antisemitic former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and even more extreme figures like Candace Owens lead to the movement being hijacked by hatemongers? That’s the question posed by JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin in the wake of the shocking defense of Carlson by Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts in...