Does it Matter What the World Thinks?

Haviv Rettig Gur in conversation with Tal Becker
Tal Becker, Haviv Rettig Gur
Dr. Tal Becker is a Vice President at the Shalom Hartman Institute, where he leads educational initiatives on Israel and the Jewish world. In this capacity, he is a leading member of the Institute’s iEngage research seminar which produces the premier educational program on Israel engagement in North America, working to strengthen and re-imagine the relationship between Israel and World Jewry. He served, until recently, as the Legal Adviser of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign

Haviv Rettig Gur

“These are strange times to be a Jew. Jews are in many ways safer and stronger than ever, but face a surge of antisemitism unlike anything seen in generations. This includes a hatred of Jewish collective identity on the progressive left as well as hatred of Jews as Jews in millions of online posts each day and in the mainstream platforming of neo-Nazis like Fuentes and Carroll by the Tucker Carlsons of the West.

These people aren’t engaged in criticism of Israeli actions or of the Gaza war, but ride the wave of legitimate critique to advance something uglier, darker, and older.

What does this return of the old hatred mean? Were some of the more pessimistic Zionist thinkers right in their pessimism about the world? Do we hunker down together as Israelis or Jews and turn our backs on the world and its bigotries?”

Listen to the full conversation on Ask Haviv Anything

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