Josh Szeps on Israel, Antisemitism and the War Over Moral Clarity

Josh Szeps joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about Israel, Gaza, antisemitism, Zionism, Jewish identity and why the debate has become so exhausting and distorted. We talk about whether Jews outside Israel are being forced to answer for the Israeli government, what anti-Zionism really means, the failure of the peace process, Netanyahu, Gaza, drones, Palestinian leadership, the pressure to “circle the wagons,” and whether it is possible to criticize Israel without giving ammunition to people who hate Jews. Josh Szeps hosts one of the biggest shows on Substack, Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps, where he has funny, bullshit-free conversations with people like Sam Harris, Jimmy Carr, Bari Weiss and Mark Normand about subjects that the mainstream media fails to discuss honestly. He has been on Joe Rogan's show seven times, he was a founding host of HuffPost Live in New York, then went on to get cancelled from his own top-rating talk radio show on Australia’s national public broadcaster. He's a columnist for Australia's most prestigious newspaper, the Australian Financial Review, and a major media figure Down Under. https://x.com/joshzepps?lang=en https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/about Chapters: 00:00 Intro and Josh Szeps joins the show 03:06 Josh’s background, Australia, and his previous Israel controversy 07:12 Jokes, parenting, kids, porn and the internet 12:59 Antisemitism, Australia, and the post-October 7th climate 15:36 Anti-Zionism, Israel’s legitimacy, and the meaning of a Jewish state 22:07 Palestinian refugees, Arab countries, and the right of return 27:26 Gaza, drones, October 7th, and whether Israel had another choice 30:29 Josh’s controversial “abandon Israel” column 38:16 Circling the wagons, Jewish identity, and criticizing Israel from the diaspora 47:58 Anti-Israel backlash, boycotts, and Jews being blamed for Israel 54:16 Kristof, the dog allegations, and the difficulty of discussing ugly claims honestly 01:08:35 The flotilla, Israeli detention, and skepticism toward activist claims 01:11:23 War crimes, double standards, history, and modern technology 01:13:05 Uyghurs, Kurds, ethno-states, and why Israel gets singled out 01:17:00 Media collapse, audience capture, and trying to have sane conversations 01:18:29 Finkelstein, complexity, and final thoughts