AJC Passport Archives

This week on AJC Passport, Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL), the Democratic co-sponsor of the anti-BDS bill recently passed by the House, discusses President Trump’s characterization of Jewish Democrats as "disloyal," as well the controversial move by the Israeli government to bar Reps. Omar and Tlaib from entering Israel. We also sat down with Dr. Kurt Graham, director of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, to discuss President Truman’s role in the birth of Israel in 1948.

We sat down with AJC CEO David Harris to discuss the short- and long-term implications of Israel's decision to bar two U.S. congresswomen, Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, from entering the country due to their support for the anti-Israel boycott movement. We were then joined by Senator Ben Allen, who chairs the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, to discuss the high-profile controversy surrounding the state’s proposed Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.

Dr. Steven Bayme, AJC’s Director of Contemporary Jewish Life, recently returned from a fact-finding mission in Israel. He sat down with us to share what he learned on his trip and to discuss the current state of Israel-Diaspora relations. Then on “The Battle for Balfour,” we are joined by Benjy Rogers, AJC Associate Director for Policy and Middle East Initiatives, to discuss the latest political developments in Israel ahead of the September 17 national election.

This week on AJC Passport, Endy Zemenides, Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, and AJC’s Political Outreach Director Julie Fishman Rayman break down the Democratic debates and the quadrilateral relationship of Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the U.S.

Dina Siegel Vann, Director of AJC's Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs, joins us to discuss her most recent trip to Buenos Aires to mark the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA). Then, JTA Washington Bureau Chief Ron Kampeas joins us to break down recent Israel-related legislation on Capitol Hill and the feud between President Trump’s and four Democratic congresswomen.

Earlier this week, AJC Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer Jason Isaacson shares an inside look on the high-level U.S. Department of Justice Summit on Combating Antisemitism and the U.S. administration’s increased efforts to combat resurgent antisemitism. We were also joined by Tyler Gregory, Executive Director of A Wider Bridge, who shared his thoughts on Israeli Education Minister Rabbi Rafi Peretz’s controversial statements on gay conversion therapy, accusations of “pinkwashing,” and Israel’s first openly gay cabinet minister.

Director of Interfaces and Synergy at The Jewish Agency for Israel Pnina Agenyahu updates us on the latest developments on the Ethiopian Israeli protests and discusses how Israel is addressing the challenges facing its Ethiopian community. Ambassador Bilahari Kausikan, former Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, joins us to discuss the strengthening ties between Singapore and Israel.

Harriet Schleifer, the first woman to lead AJC as its president, joins us to discuss her new role and share her vision for the future of AJC. This week, we're bringing you another conversation recorded on the sidelines of AJC Global Forum 2019 with Michael Anton, a former deputy assistant to President Trump and one of the foremost proponents of his agenda.

U.S. State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Elan Carr, British Member of Parliament for the Labour Party John Mann, and European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Director Michael O’Flaherty, joined us on the AJC Global Forum stage to address this question. Listen as they share their insights on the dangers of rising antisemitism and the need to step up efforts to confront it. 

Dr. Remko Leemhuis, Assistant Director for Policy and Public Affairs at AJC’s Berlin Ramer Institute for German-Jewish Relations, joins us to discuss Hezbollah’s nefarious activities in Germany and the urgent need to designate the Iranian proxy in its entirety as a terrorist organization. We also caught up with Bill Kristol, founder of The Weekly Standard and a leading political analyst, and he shared his insights into American politics and U.S. foreign policy in the Trump era.

This week, we bring you backstage where we sat down with Dr. James Carafano, Vice President at The Heritage Foundation, for an exclusive conversation on U.S. foreign policy under President Trump, including immigration reform and the Middle East peace process. Then, we’re joined by AJC Jerusalem Director Lt. Col. (Res.) Avital Leibovich to explain why Israel is heading back to the polls for an unprecedented second election in a single year.

British Members of Parliament Joan Ryan and Ian Austin sat down with us for a special episode of AJC Passport. Recorded in front of our largest-ever live audience, our conversation with Ryan and Austin centered on the rampant antisemitism plaguing the Labour Party and how they’re fighting back.

This week, we spoke to two members of Congress from Florida, Representative Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Representative Brian Mast (R-FL), and discussed the importance of pro-Israel support on both sides of the aisle and the need to confront the threat of antisemitism in America.

Former U.S. State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Hannah Rosenthal joined us to discuss her time in government and her work fighting hatred of the Jewish people around the world.

The recent flare-up between Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza and Israel over saw more than 650 rockets slam into Israel’s south, killing four Israeli civilians and paralyzing much of the country. Joining us today is AJC Jerusalem Director Avital Leibovich to fill us in on the latest round of violence and its aftermath. Then we’ll hear a conversation with Congressman Eliot Engel, Chairman on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, recorded last week during a special AJC Passport live show in New York.

Imam Mohamed Magid, spiritual leader and executive director of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center, joins us to discuss Islam in America and the state of Muslim-Jewish relations. Also joining us is AJC Transatlantic Institute Director Daniel Schwammenthal to analyze what went wrong at The New York Times when its international edition published an antisemitic cartoon last week.

With AJC Global Forum 2019 rapidly approaching, we’re throwing it back to last year’s Global Forum in Jerusalem. There, we recorded the first-ever AJC Passport live show in a room filled with hundreds of college students. Journalist Matti Friedman joined us to discuss one of the least reported-on angles of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the press that covers the struggle. Drawing on his years of experience as an AP reporter and editor, Friedman talked with us about how the editorial process shapes coverage of the conflict.

September 11 was a traumatic and defining moment for Americans, so it comes as little surprise that questionable comments about the attack by a controversial member of Congress would generate a firestorm. JTA Washington Bureau Chief Ron Kampeas joins us to explain the war of words between Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and President Trump.

Israelis went to the polls earlier this week to elect the members of the 21st  Knesset and choose a prime minister. Days after the polls closed, the final results have been announced. On this special post-election episode of AJC Passport, we are joined by David Makovsky, former senior advisor to the Secretary of State’s Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations and Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and AJC Jerusalem Director Avital Leibovich to break down the results of the election and what impact it will have on the future of Israel.  

Brian Levin, Director of California State University’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, joins us to share his latest findings, analyze the trends in hate crimes in the United States, and explore effective responses. Then Haaretz journalist Allison Kaplan Sommer joins us to discuss the social media bots scandal and share her prediction of who will be Israel’s next prime minister.

The African American and American Jewish communities have a long and storied history of cooperation. But is there still a shared Black-Jewish agenda today? Joining us is Dr. Lonnie Bunch III, Founding Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, to discuss the past, present, and future of Black-Jewish relations in America.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador swept into office as president of Mexico with great fanfare and big promises. Joining us today to discuss what we can expect from López Obrador’s presidency is Dina Siegel Vann, director of AJC’s Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs.

Ella Rose, former National Director of the Jewish Labour Movement, joins us to discuss the political fallout after seven members of the British Parliament resigned from the Labour Party, citing what they called “institutional antisemitism. Then, on "The Battle for Balfour," Walla! News Political Correspondent Tal Shalev joins us to discuss the latest political developments in Israel ahead of the April 9 national election.

Rabbi David Rosen joins us this week from the Vatican, where he is accompanying a senior AJC delegation in meetings with Pope Francis and other high-level Church officials. We spoke with him about the history of Catholic-Jewish relations, the breaking news that the Church will unseal WWII-era archives, and the future of interreligious dialogue.

Mitch Landrieu’s second term as Mayor of New Orleans may have ended in 2018, but the impact of his eight years in office will be felt for years to come. He joins us now to discuss his PI trip, the value of centrism in America’s political discourse, and what’s in store for the 2020 presidential race.

Last May, we were joined by Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, to talk about his experience visiting Israel as part of our annual AJC Project Interchange delegation of U.S. mayors. Since then, Buttigieg took a giant leap onto the national political stage when he declared his candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and we are rerunning this pertinent interview to share his thoughts on Israel and what the Democratic party stands to learn from the Jewish state.

AJC CEO David Harris joins us to discuss the recent controversy surrounding Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's tweets. AJC Paris Director Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache also joins us to discuss the staggering statistics and AJC’s role in urging French authorities to redouble their efforts to tackle the sources of antisemitism.

Leading public opinion researcher and political strategist Mark Mellman joins us to address a question being asked by many and discuss how his newly-formed group, the Democratic Majority for Israel, plans to counter those trying to pull the party away from the Jewish state. Also joining us is AJC Assistant Director of International Relations Holly Huffnagle to give us an inside look at the Special Envoy’s vital role in fighting antisemitism and shares her thoughts on Elan Carr, who was nominated by Secretary Pompeo to fill the role earlier this week.

Last week, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself president after years of economic turmoil in the country. Dany Bahar, an Israeli and Venezuelan economist serving as a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution, joins us to break down these developments and what it could mean for the future of Venezuela and its Jewish community.

This week on AJC Passport, we hear from two leading Jewish figures who support the aims of the Women's March, but disagree on whether to participate in light of the ongoing antisemitism scandals surrounding its leadership. Carly Pildis, political organizer and contributing editor at Tablet Magazine, and Rabbi Sarah Bassin, Assistant Rabbi of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, discuss their decisions and suggest ways to mitigate tensions between the Jewish community and the leaders of the Women’s March.

On this week's episode, we were joined by two freshman members of Congress, Representative Donna Shalala (D-FL) and Representative Van Taylor (R-TX). We talked with them about the key issues they plan to tackle while in Congress, including strengthening U.S.-Israel relations and building bipartisanship.

The BDS movement has climbed its way up the Hill in the form of a bill targeting proponents of the anti-Israel boycott campaign. On this week’s episode, AJC General Counsel Marc Stern sheds light on the bill and other legislative measures against boycott efforts; and AJC Transatlantic Institute Director Daniel Schwammenthal discusses the state of the relationship between the EU and Israel and the steps needed to mend it.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the dissolution of the current Knesset and will hold early elections on April 9th. Join us as Lahav Harkov, Senior Contributing Editor of The Jerusalem Post, dives into recent developments, analyzes the political turmoil, and suggests what we can expect in the short months leading up to the elections for the 21st Knesset.

This week on AJC Passport, Micah Goodman, director of Beit Midrash Yisraeli-Ein Prat and senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, tackles the controversial issue regarding the West Bank in his book, Catch-67.

This week on AJC Passport, we’re joined by Katharina von Schnurbein, Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism for the European Commission, to discuss the troubling results from an EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) survey of Jews across Europe. AJC CEO David Harris also joins us to discuss how European governments respond to antisemitism.

This week on AJC Passport, we’re joined by Ilan Goldenberg from the Center for a New American Security to discuss his new report on the reconstruction of Gaza, and AJC Director of Political Outreach Julie Fishman Rayman to discuss the new members of Congress.

This week on AJC Passport we talk about CNN’s shocking report about antisemitism in Europe with CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward and AJC Europe Director Simone Rodan-Benzaquen.

This week on AJC Passport, AJC Jerusalem Director Avital Leibovich and Jerusalem Post Chief Political Correspondent Gil Hoffman join us to discuss the rocket bombardment on southern Israel and the political fallout of the week’s events.

This week on AJC Passport, Norm Ornstein joins us to discuss the outcome of the U.S. midterm election.

This week on AJC Passport we were joined by AJC Associate Executive Director Avi Mayer to discuss AJC’s response to the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and CONIB President Fernando Lottenberg to talk about the election of Jair Bolsonaro as Brazil’s new right-wing populist president.

This week on AJC Passport we talk about Sino-Israeli relations and pro-Israel Evangelical Christians.

This week on AJC Passport, we’re joined by Brookings Institution Visiting Fellow Hady Amr to discuss the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and AJC Berlin Ramer Institute Director Deidre Berger to discuss Chancellor Merkel’s recent visit to Israel and of the challenges of extremism in Germany.

This week on AJC Passport, we’re joined by JTA’s Washington Bureau Chief Ron Kampeas and AJC Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations Rabbi Noam Marans to discuss Nikki Haley’s decision to leave her post at the UN and the passage of an AJC-backed hate crimes bill.

This week on AJC Passport, we’re joined by journalist and author James Kirchick and AJC Associate Executive Director for Policy Jason Isaacson to discuss the forces challenging the transatlantic alliance and what AJC is doing to reaffirm the partnership.

AJC CEO David Harris joins us this week on AJC Passport to talk about the UN General Assembly and the AJC Diplomatic Marathon.

This week on AJC Passport, we’re joined by peace negotiator Aaron David Miller to discuss the legacy of the Oslo Accords and the Trump administration’s decision to close the PLO’s D.C. office.

This week on AJC Passport, we dove into the secretive world of Mossad targeted killings and examined the first-ever visit of a Philippine head of state to Israel.

This week on AJC Passport, we talk about cuts in U.S. aid to the Palestinians and why Jeremy Corbyn’s latest antisemitic scandal is driving Jews out of the British Labour party.

This week on AJC Passport, we talk about a possible Gaza ceasefire and a potential early election in Israel, and we learn what caused the current spat between the United States and Turkey.

This week on AJC Passport, we dove into the world of ranking colleges for Jews with Laura Adkins and Aiden Pink of The Forward.

This week on AJC Passport, we talk about the rocket attacks against Israel, discuss protests against the Israeli Nation-State Law, and learn about AJC’s efforts to combat white supremacists’ upcoming rally in our nation’s capital.

This week on AJC Passport, we talk about the strategy to get Iran back to the negotiating table and explore the demographics of the world’s two largest Jewish communities, found in Israel and America.

This week on AJC Passport, we talk about what Israel means to the far left and how the Jewish state saved Syrian White Helmets.

This week on AJC Passport Andrew Weiss joins us to talk about the Trump-Putin summit and Dr. Steven Bayme discusses the nation-state bill that just passed in Israel.

We talked to AJC General Counsel Marc Stern about U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and with University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler about Israel and American universities.

We’re joined this week by Dina Siegel Vann, Director of the AJC Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs, to discuss the surprising election results in Mexico and by Agnieszka Markiewicz, Director of AJC Central Europe, to discuss recent changes to Poland’s Holocaust law.

We talk to former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov this week on AJC Passport.

MK Stav Shaffir debated Mayor Oded Revivi of the West Bank settlement of Efrat on the question of “One State or Two States, Is There a Solution?"

This week’s episode was recorded in front of a live audience in Jerusalem with journalist and author Matti Friedman.

This week on AJC Passport we're joined by Yossi Klein Halevi to discuss his latest book, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor.

We spoke with Jason Isaacson, AJC Associate Executive Director for Policy and Managing Director of Government and International Affairs about what Congress is doing to better fight rising antisemitism. We also talked with Emily Soloff, AJC National Associate Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations, on how anti-Israel activists have hijacked the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

We spoke with Mayor Pete Buttigieg about what lies ahead for the Democratic party when it comes to support for Israel and we talked to AJC’s Stephanie Guiloff about a disturbing rise in antisemitism in Chile.

This week on AJC Passport we spoke with the Jerusalem-based New York Times correspondent Isabel Kershner about recent violence out of Gaza.

On this week’s AJC Passport, we spoke with Mark Dubowitz about the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran deal and with Dr. Matthew Levitt about Lebanon’s recent elections and escalating tension between Israel and Iran.

On this week’s AJC Passport we discuss the European perspective on the future of the Iran nuclear deal as we approach the deadline for President Trump to waive sanctions on Iran.

2,000 Jews, Muslims, Christians, and others rallied in response to a bizarre antisemitic assault last week…against a young Arab man who had donned a kippah to prove to his Jewish friend that it was safe to wear one on the streets of Berlin.

To celebrate 70 years of Israeli independence, we spoke with Israeli MK Tzipi Livni, historian Francine Klagsbrun, and AJC CEO David Harris.

In this week’s episode, we delved into CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s qualifications to serve as Secretary of State, and examined the future of the Iran nuclear deal.

In this week’s AJC Passport, we spoke with Ambassador Dennis Ross about the protests in Gaza, and with Haaretz correspondent Amir Tibon on the short-lived deal to solve the asylum seekers issue.

Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Elliott Abrams joins us to discuss the new appointments in the Trump administration.

Labour MP John Mann joins us to discuss the ongoing antisemitism scandal that has ensnared Jeremy Corbyn and Britain’s Labour Party.

Why won’t the Women’s March condemn Louis Farrakhan? We talked with Adam Serwer, Senior Editor at The Atlantic, to find out.

We talked with former U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro about the decision to recognize Jerusalem, the state of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and what President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu want from one another.

Examining antisemitic trends around the world.

AJC Passport’s latest episode examines the Munich Security Conference

Join us for a conversation with North Korea expert Jamie Metzl, a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, on North Korea’s Olympic charm offensive. Then, we talk with Lt. Col. (res.) Avital Leibovitch, Director of AJC Jerusalem, about the recent violent flare-up on Israel's northern border.

The strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship has long been rooted in bipartisan support for an alliance based on shared interests and values. But is the bipartisan consensus on Israel fading away? In this episode of AJC Passport, we speak with Tamara Cofman Wittes, Senior Fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at The Brookings Institution. Our second guest is Dr. Steven Bayme, AJC's Director of Contemporary Jewish Life, who discussed present-day American Jewish attitudes towards Israel.

On the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Polish government initiated a bill making it illegal to assert that Poland or Polish citizens bear responsibility for Holocaust crimes. Under this legislation, even the utterance of the words “Polish death camps” can be punished by up to three years in jail. The move has sparked outrage around the world, especially in Israel. In this week's episode, we talk to Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich on the reaction in the Polish-Jewish community and to AJC's Gosia Szymanska Weiss regarding the political and diplomatic fallout.

Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Israel last week and was warmly received. Throughout his political career, Pence has cited his Evangelical faith as the foundation of his support for the Jewish state. Our guests are McKay Coppins, staff writer for The Atlantic, who recently profiled Pence for the magazine, as well as Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC’s Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations. Join us as we examine the dynamics undergirding Evangelical support for Israel.

In 2017, far-right parties rode a wave of anti-immigrant and xenophobic sentiment to new electoral heights across Europe.

It's been three years since an Islamist terrorist attacked Hyper Cacher, a kosher supermarket in Paris, murdering four Jews. In this episode, we examine how the French government, society, and Jewish community have responded since the attack.

Year one of the Trump administration is in the books. How did it approach Israel and the Arab-Israeli peace process? Did the administration's Middle East policy evolve as the year wore on? We explore both questions this week.

In this episode, we examine the surprisingly muted reaction in Europe and how the Iranian diaspora has responded.