Ask Haviv Anything

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur).

And be sure to check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/haviv.rettig.gur/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@haviv.rettig.gur).

—

Ross Douthat, author and New York Times columnist, joins the podcast to discuss this fraught moment in the US-Israel relationship. We discuss Netanyahu’s role in shaping Trump’s regime-change gamble in Iran, the limits of American willingness to absorb prolonged pain, how American identification with Israel – and not just hostility or bigotry in some political spaces – makes policy disagreements feel uniquely personal and intense. We also dig into Israel’s failure to explain its wars, especially in Gaza, and the rise of conspiracism on the American right.

Ross comes to the conversation shortly after interviewing Vice President JD Vance on, among other things, the strained state of the US-Israel relationship. He offers some direct advice: Israelis must argue specifics, engage the center-left, and tell their story clearly, or risk losing reasonable supporters they cannot afford to lose.

--

Israel became the Startup Nation by turning talent into strength. Ideas into industries.

For more than a century, the Technion has trained the engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs who transformed Israel into the Startup Nation and delivered breakthroughs that changed the world.

Now Technion scientists are advancing the next wave of innovation to help power Israel’s next chapter.

Israel. Engineered by the Technion.

Join us. Visit https://ats.org/rebuild .

--

If you like what we do here, please consider joining our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything or our Substack at https://havivgur.substack.com/. You can also Buy Me a Coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur. It helps us keep the lights on. Patreon and Substack are also the platforms where you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join our great discussions where listeners share news and valuable resources, and take part in our monthly livestreams where Haviv answers your questions live.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur).

And be sure to check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/haviv.rettig.gur/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@haviv.rettig.gur).

—

Donald Trump has gone further against Iran than any American president before him -- and then, almost overnight, pivoted toward a ceasefire, negotiations, and open frustration with Israel. What's happening? What does it all mean for Iran's nuclear ambitions, American power, the US–Israel alliance, and the future of war?

In this episode, we sit down with Matthew Continetti of the American Enterprise Institute to unpack the emerging Iran deal, the politics inside the Trump administration, JD Vance’s rising influence, the strategic meaning of the Strait of Hormuz crisis, and why missiles, drones, and interceptors may define the next generation of warfare.

Matthew Continetti is the director of domestic policy studies and the inaugural Patrick and Charlene Neal Chair in American Prosperity at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) as well as a columnist for the Wall Street Journal's "Free Expression" newsletter. He has been published in The Atlantic, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, The Free Press, National Review among other outlets. Mr. Continetti is the author of three books, including, most recently, The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism (Basic Books, 2022).

--

This week’s episode is sponsored by Cyril Khazan from Woodmere, New York, who asked to dedicate the episode "to the memory of my dad. Raised in the dark shadow of Babyn Yar, amid post-Second World War rampant antisemitism, he still taught me open-mindedness, inclusivity, and pride in being Jewish, warts and all. Thank you for upholding these values on your podcast."

Thank you, Cyril.

--

If you like what we do here, please consider joining our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything or our Substack at https://havivgur.substack.com/. You can also Buy Me a Coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur. It helps us keep the lights on. Patreon and Substack are also the platforms where you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join our great discussions where listeners share news and valuable resources, and take part in our monthly livestreams where Haviv answers your questions live.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur).

And be sure to check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/haviv.rettig.gur/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@haviv.rettig.gur).

—

In this episode, Batya Ungar-Sargon joins the show to discuss her provocative new book, "The Jews and the Left." We dive deep into the unique history of Jews in America -- a history that looks nothing like the conditional emancipation of European Jewry. Batya argues that American Jews were never an oppressed minority, but rather founding partners in the American project whose rights were viewed as God-given from the start, and why Jews don't know that history. We unpack why the Jewish community historically aligned with the Democratic party, the impact of Foucault and "woke" ideas on elite institutions, the strategic failure of Jewish institutions to understand the problem and push back, and why it is time for American Jews to stop bowing to ideologues who despise them. Batya argues this is a moment for reclaiming history, rejecting victimhood, and standing up with agency.

--

This week’s episode is sponsored by Cyril Khazan from Woodmere, NY, who asked to dedicate the episode "to my wife Masha, love of my life, who keeps reminding me that the best things in life ain't things. And thanks to her for pointing me at your great podcasts!"

Thank you, Cyril.

--

If you like what we do here, please consider joining our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything or our Substack at https://havivgur.substack.com/. You can also Buy Me a Coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur. It helps us keep the lights on. Patreon and Substack are also the platforms where you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join our great discussions where listeners share news and valuable resources, and take part in our monthly livestreams where Haviv answers your questions live.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur).

And be sure to check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/haviv.rettig.gur/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@haviv.rettig.gur).

--

Welcome to our new short-form episodes interspersed with the regular interviews and lectures that dive into an often-asked question about Israel, Jews and the Middle East.

Our current episode tackles the latest flare up between Israel and Iran. We ask the obvious question: will this war ever be over?

If you appreciate what we do here, please consider joining our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything or our Substack at https://havivgur.substack.com/. You can also Buy Me a Coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur. It helps us keep the lights on. Patreon and Substack are also the platforms where you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join our great discussions where listeners share news and valuable resources, and take part in our monthly livestreams where Haviv answers your questions live.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur).

And be sure to check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/haviv.rettig.gur/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@haviv.rettig.gur).

—

Is Trump winning or losing the negotiations with Iran? How long can America sustain the mutual blockade in Hormuz? How long can Iran? And who will blink first?

To answer these questions, Haviv sits down with Iran analyst Rich Goldberg, former director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction at America’s National Security Council and now a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, to unpack the real state of Iran's military, nuclear and economic position after months of conflict. We ask whether Iran's nuclear program has been set back decisively, whether the regime can survive the mounting economic pressure, and whether America can sustain that pressure with Hormuz closed.

And more broadly: Was this war a fundamental pivot in the effort to contain Iran, or just one more battle in the long war to check a regime that still seeks to dominate the region, export its ideology, and destroy the Jewish state?

--

This week’s episode is sponsored by the Technion, Israel’s premier technological university.

Israel became the Startup Nation by turning talent into strength. Ideas into industries.

For more than a century, the Technion has trained the engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs who transformed Israel into the Startup Nation and delivered breakthroughs that changed the world.

Now Technion scientists are advancing the next wave of innovation to help power Israel’s next chapter.

Israel. Engineered by the Technion.
Join us. Visitats.org/rebuild.

--

If you like what we do here, please consider joining our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything or our Substack at https://havivgur.substack.com/. You can also Buy Me a Coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur. It helps us keep the lights on. Patreon and Substack are also the platforms where you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join our great discussions where listeners share news and valuable resources, and take part in our monthly livestreams where Haviv answers your questions live.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.