The Israel Connexion

12 Sep 2024, 3pm The Israel Connexion I catch up once again with Gidi Grinstein, an Israeli societal entrepreneur. He is the founder of the Reut Group, a non-partisan not-for-profit research, strategy and leadership group. We spoke on the eve of "Peace Week", the anniversary of major milestones in Israel's modern history – Oslo, the Abraham Accords and Camp David. My previous extensive interview with Gidi Grinstein can be heard here. This is the full interview with Gidi Grinstein.

12 Sep 2024, 10am The Israel Connexion The new drive to introduce “Anti-Palestinian Racism” to “equity and inclusivity strategies” throughout a number of Western countries must be a wake-up call. I speak with Shauna Small, a principal of an elementary school in Canada, who has written an article for the ‘Future of Jewish’ newsletter. in which she says that, “Codifying so-called "Anti-Palestinian Racism" in Canada is harming Jewish Canadians and infringing on our rights, liberties, and safety.”

11 Sep 2024, 5pm The Israel Connexion The new drive to introduce “Anti-Palestinian Racism” to “equity and inclusivity strategies” throughout a number of Western countries must be a wake-up call. I speak with Shauna Small, a principal of an elementary school in Canada, who has written an article for the ‘Future of Jewish’ newsletter. in which she says that, “Codifying so-called "Anti-Palestinian Racism" in Canada is harming Jewish Canadians and infringing on our rights, liberties, and safety.”(0:36-32:16) I catch up once again with Gidi Grinstein, an Israeli societal entrepreneur. He is the founder of the Reut Group, a non-partisan not-for-profit research, strategy and leadership group. We spoke on the eve of "Peace Week", the anniversary of major milestones in Israel's modern history – Oslo, the Abraham Accords and Camp David. My previous extensive interview with Gidi Grinstein can be heard here. (32:22-57:25)

4 Sep 2024, 7pm The Israel Connexion Elliott Abrams is senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in Washington, DC. He served as deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor in the administration of President George W. Bush, where he supervised U.S. policy in the Middle East for the White House, and as Special Representative for Iran and Venezuela in the administration of Donald Trump. We will be discussing the US-Israel relationship and what may be the impact of the US presidential elections on that relationship. (0:36-23:27) I will also be talking about the schism in Israel society, between those who are pushing for a ceasefire deal to get the release of the hostages and those who say that Israel must consider foremost its national security. (23:34-56:52)

28 Aug 2024, 6pm The Israel Connexion Catherine Perez is the Executive Director of We Believe in Israel which is BICOM's pro-Israel advocacy organization in the United Kingdom. We Believe in Israel  has been mounting some important campaigns opposing any move by FIFA to ban the Israel Football Association; the resumption of funding to UNRWA; any moves to block arms sales to Israel. (This is the full version of the interview with Catherine Perez)

28 Aug 2024, 5pm The Israel Connexion Catherine Perez is the Executive Director of We Believe in Israel which is BICOM's pro-Israel advocacy organization in the United Kingdom. We Believe in Israel  has been mounting some important campaigns opposing any move by FIFA to ban the Israel Football Association; the resumption of funding to UNRWA; any moves to block arms sales to Israel.   (0:50-33:17) Michael Gencher is the Executive Director of StandWithUs Australia, which has been established as an arm of StandWithUs, an international, non-partisan education organization that supports Israel and fights antisemitism. (33:23-56:38)

21 Aug 2024, 5pm The Israel Connexion Dr Gadi Taub is an Israeli historian, author, screenwriter and political commentator. He is a senior lecturer in the School of Public Policy and the Department of Communications at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Taub is also an internationally recognized voice in the discourse on Zionism and illiberalism. I speak with Gadi about the complex political situation in which Israel finds itself today. (0:45-34:26) Tal Rabani is a 3rd year computer science student at Monash University, who has been instrumental in establishing a chapter of Students Supporting Israel (SSI) at Monash. He is joined by Ilan Sinelnikov, a founding member of SSI, which has been growing exponentially in the aftermath of Oct 7th. (34:32-55:21)

14 Aug 2024, 8pm The Israel Connexion Dr Adi Schwartz is an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the Misgav Institute for National Security. He is a research fellow at the Ben-Gurion Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism, and at the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism. Together with Dr. Einat Wilf, he authored the book The War of the Right of Return: The Battle Over the Palestinian Refugee Problem and How Israel Can Win It. We will take a look at the possibilities of the elimination of UNRWA.(0:36-35:15) Celina di Veroli is an undergraduate student, one of maybe 10 Jewish students at the University of Sydney, who braved a very large gathering of students on campus last week, who voted resoundingly for anti-Israel motions. She wrote an extraordinarily expressive article describing her experience at the student meeting. (35:22-55:13)

7 Aug 2024, 5pm The Israel Connexion Professor Dennis Altman is Vice Chancellor's Fellow at LaTrobe University. His most recent books are God Save the Queen: The Strange Persistence of Monarchies, and Death in the Sauna. Professor Altman wrote a response Crying antisemitism drowns out the real problem to an article Lived experience, paranoia and slippery antisemitism written by Deborah Stone, the editor of The Jewish Independent. I invited Professor Altman to dig deeper into his response to Deborah Stone. (0:37-34:37) Gil Hoffman is an Israeli-American journalist and political correspondent who serves as executive director of Honest Reporting. He was previously chief political correspondent for the Jerusalem Post. I caught up with Gil Hoffman to focus on the endeavours of Honest Reporting since Oct 7th. Honest Reporting is an Israeli media advocacy group. A pro-Israel media watchdog, it describes its mission as "combatting ideological prejudice in journalism and the media, as it impacts Israel". (34:44-54:51)

31 Jul 2024, 5pm The Israel Connexion Professor Gregory Rose teaches international law of the sea and maritime regulation and enforcement at the University of Wollongong. He also publishes on the regulation of counter-terrorism and political violence, particularly the handling and transfer in international military operations of detainees and international legal cooperation for law enforcement in the area of national security. I speak with Greg about the recent judgment by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), that has called upon Israel to end the occupation of the so-called Occupied Palestinian Territories including East Jerusalem. (0:36-34:32) J-United is a Melbourne-based grassroots Jewish activist network that has emerged into prominence in the community, in response to the spate of antisemitism that is occurring in our society following the Oct 7th massacre committed by Hamas. I speak with Simonne Whine who is one of founders of J-United.(34:29-

24 Jul 2024, 8pm The Israel Connexion Labor Friends of Israel are dedicated to fostering strong connections between the Australian Labour movement and the state of Israel. Their mission is to promote understanding, and encourage collaboration between Australia and Israel. I speak with co-convenor Mike Kelly on the eve of their official launch after having announced that former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and former Labor Senator Nova Peris have agreed to serve as the inaugural patrons of the national body. (0:39-25:26) Michael Ben-Gad is Professor of Economics, City, University of London.  His research focuses on Dynamic Macroeconomics with applications to taxation, public debt, the economic effects of immigration, national security as well as the emergence of multiple equilibria in models of economic growth and the incorporation of compositional data into econometric models. He has also researched and written widely on defence and national security issues, publishing in a variety of academic journals. He has also been a member of Israel's National Security Forum. (25:32-58:07)

17 Jul 2024, 4pm The Israel Connexion Talking about the plight of the Jews in France is Dr. Dov Maimon, a Senior Fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), leading the "Grand Strategy toward Islam" project, the "Israel-Diaspora New Paradigm" project and the Institute's activities in Europe. He is also the author of the action plan for bringing the developing mass migration of French Jews to Israel. Born in Paris, he earned a Ph.D. in Islamic and Medieval Studies from the Sorbonne University. He is a laureate of the prestigious prize "Grand Prix du chancelier des universites 2005" awarded to the best French PhD work in Literature and Human Sciences. Formerly a high-tech industry entrepreneur, Dov is teaching at the School of Business Administration of the Ben Gurion University. The Australian government has been failing to deal with antisemitism. I show the neglect by Labor to carry through with the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism and how an ABC radio presenter, who just happens to be Jewish, can be complicit with antisemitism.

11 Jul 2024, 12pm The Israel Connexion Professor Kobi Michael is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, and a visiting professor at The International Centre for Policing & Security – the University of South Wales UK.  He is also an expert associated with the Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy. He served as deputy director general and head of the Palestinian division in the Ministry of Strategic Affairs. He has published 20 books and monographs and more than 100 academic articles and book chapters. We will discuss Israel 2.0, a flagship project of the Misgav Institute, designed to provide grand vision for the State of Israel over the coming decades.

10 Jul 2024, 4pm The Israel Connexion Professor Kobi Michael is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, and a visiting professor at The International Centre for Policing & Security – the University of South Wales UK.  He is also an expert associated with the Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy. He served as deputy director general and head of the Palestinian division in the Ministry of Strategic Affairs. He has published 20 books and monographs and more than 100 academic articles and book chapters. We will discuss Israel 2.0, a flagship project of the Misgav Institute, designed to provide grand vision for the State of Israel over the coming decades. (0:35-29:47) Argentina doesn't often come within our purview in Australia. With all eyes on Israel at the moment we tend to ignore what is going on in other Jewish communities around the world. Argentinian president Javier Milei is showing a strong affinity toward Israel and the Jewish people. Being on the verge of the 30th anniversary of the bombing of their community centre, that has been blamed on Iran, there is much to discuss. I speak with Rabbi Yosi Baumgarten, the grandson of the first emissary of the Lubavitcher rebbe to Argentina Rabbi Berel Baumgarten and Argentinian Jewish community member Silvio Bergman. (29:54-57:57)

3 Jul 2024, 5pm The Israel Connexion Adam Butt of Counsel, instructed by Levitt Robinson Solicitors, will be imminently launching class action proceedings to protect and defend Jewish students, academics and staff at the University of Sydney and seek redress against the propagators of antisemitism. I spoke about this class action with senior partner Stewart Levitt, who exhorts the community to donate support financially. Stewart is known as one of Australia’s leading practitioners in securities class actions and banking/finance and insolvency litigation, having instigated and conducted the Storm Financial litigation against major banks. (0:46-37:43) Joint interview in Hebrew with Ronen Martin-Cohen, who is the J-AIR presenter of the show 'Peace of Mind'. (37:50-57:06)

28 Jun 2024, 8pm The Israel Connexion For decades, since the glorious military victory in the Six Days War (1967), Tzvi Elpeleg used every possible public stage to voice his concern about the Israeli government policy, led by the iconic one-eyed Moshe Dayan, who was considered to be the architect of this military victory that took 6 days.  This policy aim was to treat the Palestinians in the Gaza strip and the West Bank in a democratic and ‘enlightened’ way. The Israeli western assumption, led by Dayan, that this kind and generous approach would bring the Palestinians closer to their Israeli neighbors, was the ultimate mistake done by the Israelis, leading, sixty years later, to the horrors of October 7th.

28 Jun 2024, 7pm The Israel Connexion Jonathan Spyer is a British-Israeli analyst, writer, and journalist of Middle Eastern affairs. He is director of research at the Middle East Forum, editor of Middle East Quarterly magazine, a fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, a freelance security analyst and correspondent for Jane's Information Group, and a columnist for The Jerusalem Post. Tensions on Israel’s northern border have escalated to the point where Israel has declared that it is ready for all out war against Hezbollah if necessary. What might trigger such an eventuality and what could be the consequences of such an escalation? Is the threat real or are we seeing the use of strong rhetoric as a deterrent against an all out war?

26 Jun 2024, 5pm The Israel Connexion Jonathan Spyer is a British-Israeli analyst, writer, and journalist of Middle Eastern affairs. He is director of research at the Middle East Forum, editor of Middle East Quarterly magazine, a fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, a freelance security analyst and correspondent for Jane's Information Group, and a columnist for The Jerusalem Post. Tensions on Israel’s northern border have escalated to the point where Israel has declared that it is ready for all out war against Hezbollah if necessary. What might trigger such an eventuality and what could be the consequences of such an escalation? Is the threat real or are we seeing the use of strong rhetoric as a deterrent against an all out war? (0:31-27:47) For decades, since the glorious military victory in the Six Days War (1967), Tzvi Elpeleg used every possible public stage to voice his concern about the Israeli government policy, led by the iconic one-eyed Moshe Dayan, who was considered to be the architect of this military victory that took 6 days.  This policy aim was to treat the Palestinians in the Gaza strip and the West Bank in a democratic and ‘enlightened’ way. The Israeli western assumption, led by Dayan, that this kind and generous approach would bring the Palestinians closer to their Israeli neighbors, was the ultimate mistake done by the Israelis, leading, sixty years later, to the horrors of October 7th. (27:53-56:56)

24 Jun 2024, 11am The Israel Connexion Air Doctor connects travelers to a global network of over 25,000 professional medical practitioners, including GPs, paediatricians, dentists, ophthalmologists, dermatologists, gynaecologists, and orthopedic specialists, spanning 75 countries. I speak with co-founder Jenny Cohen Derfler.

19 Jun 2024, 9pm The Israel Connexion Former ABC director Joe Gersh has called out the public broadcaster for not examining the current explosion of antisemitism in Australia. Gersh affirms that he is a supporter of a “strong, independent and impartial” ABC. “It is a matter of deep concern to me, as a member of the Jewish community, as a former ABC director, and as an Australian citizen that our national broadcaster has not fully understood and dealt with what I believe has reached crisis proportions.” Includes audio clips demonstrating ABC anti-Israel bias (0:37-40:32) Michael Starr is the Diaspora Affairs correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, covering global Jewish affairs, antisemitism, and radical anti-Israel activities. I will be speaking with him about his role. Previously, Starr was the legal affairs and police affairs correspondent. Starr is a veteran of the October 7 war and earned a BA in government and diplomacy and an MA in security studies at Reichman University. (40:39-57:18)