Podcast Summary: Ask Haviv Anything

Episode 62: Hard times make strong Jews. Live in London with Daniel Schwammenthal
Host: Haviv Rettig Gur
Guest/Co-panelist: Daniel Schwammenthal
Date: November 20, 2025
Location: Finchley United Synagogue, London

Episode Overview

This special live episode, recorded at Finchley United Synagogue in London, features Haviv Rettig Gur and guest Daniel Schwammenthal in an expansive, candid Q&A with a community audience. The conversation—often passionate, humorous, and occasionally raw—spans Israel’s recent war, the ongoing meaning of anti-Semitism in Europe, prospects for Israeli politics, internal societal challenges, and British debates about identity and multiculturalism. Directed by audience engagement, the episode is a tapestry of current historical reflection, dense with insights on Jewish resilience in "hard times," as well as the wider fate of the West.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The State of the Gaza War and Its Aftermath

Timestamps: 04:25 – 13:28

• Is the Gaza war over?
  • Haviv argues the large-scale (kinetic) phase is "functionally over," but the deeper contest for who controls Gaza and how continues.
  • Quote (Aviv, 04:28):
    "There are two forces in this world that wants this war to be over. One is the Trump administration... But there's an even more powerful one... which is that all Israelis want it to be over."
• Comparison to Lebanon: Gaza under Hamas now resembles southern Lebanon under Hezbollah: control without full responsibility, where Hamas acts as a shadow government, especially controlling resources and vetoing appointments to any transitional authorities.
• The world seeks to rebuild Gaza, but Hamas's ability to sabotage any process that doesn’t guarantee its own power keeps Gaza’s future uncertain.
  • Quote (Aviv, 09:50):
    "We’re in a very weird situation in which it is more in the Israeli interest to rebuild Gaza at this moment than it is in Hamas’s interest to allow that process to move forward if they can't control it."

Hostages and Shifting War Goals

• The current deal (hostages returned and partial Israeli control of Gaza) was never on offer a year ago; previous ceasefire proposals would not have demilitarized Gaza or returned all hostages.
  • Quote (Aviv, 13:28):
    "This isn’t a good end to the war... The moral horror at images of dead children is absolutely the correct, decent reaction to a war like that. The profound and ridiculous and deeply undermining manipulation lies in the fact that that is the only war anyone will ever see images of."

The War’s Profound Impact on Israeli Society

Timestamps: 19:36 – 24:14

• Vulnerability and Resilience:
  • Israelis rediscovered both their vulnerability (shattered sense of security post-October 7) and their immense collective strength, having survived existential threats constructed over decades by adversaries like Hamas and Iran.
  • The panel views Iranian policy as “wasting the nation’s wealth on a theological vendetta.”
• Quote (Aviv, 23:14):
  "All these enemies had spent a generation preparing our destruction and they fell like dominoes the second we stood up. We learned that too."

Israeli Political Landscape: Elections, Corruption, and the Next Generation

Timestamps: 24:14 – 39:08

• Imminent Elections?
  • Fault-lines over the draft law (ultra-Orthodox exemption) are likely to prompt elections soon.
  • Both Netanyahu and Lapid are maneuvering to control the narrative (draft law vs. security).
  • Quote (Aviv, 27:41): "Lapid himself is a liberal, deep liberal... Why is he suddenly staking out this... shocking position? Because he wants a referendum on the draft law."
• Generational Divide & Corruption:
  • Current political elites (Netanyahu/Barak/Olmert generation) are described as venal compared to heroic founders like Ben-Gurion and Begin, who ended their careers with little to their name.
  • Youth today, shaped by shared trauma and service, "know they're better" and will eventually sweep away the old guard, though current party mechanisms keep them out.
• Party System Dysfunction:
  • Most parties are “internal dictatorships;” few real primaries exist, and the institutional vigor that once allowed new talent to rise up through local Likud chapters is gone.
  • Quote (Aviv, 39:08): "It’s not a politics that can absorb new people, unfortunately. But you know, these new people, this new generation, they’re Israelis. They're going to find a way."

The Palestinian Authority, British Decline & Multicultural Confusion

Timestamps: 39:22 – 50:44

• PA’s Irrelevance in Gaza:
  • Both Israelis and Palestinians reject the PA as a meaningful alternative to Hamas; it is deeply hated and lacks legitimacy.
  • Quote (Aviv, 41:47): "If he [Abbas] comes and takes over Gaza... he would actually create more opposition to him than Tony Blair would at this point in Gaza."
• Britain’s Managed Decline & Identity Debate:
  • Haviv sees Britain's debate on multiculturalism as fundamentally confused, having replaced a “rich vessel of national culture” with an empty neutrality.
  • Advocates for a multiracial but not multicultural society, warning, "not having your own [culture], not believing it... there has been an elite project in Britain... to empty identity of distinctiveness and culture." (43:04–46:01)
  • Immigrants, he argues, integrate best when the receiving society has confidence and a defined identity.

Europe, Morality, and the Return of Old Anxieties

Timestamps: 47:02 – 51:19

• Europe’s post-WWII “niceness” is superficial—an artifact of homogeneity after the destruction/expulsion/genocide of minorities, not a tested virtue.
  • Quote (Aviv, 49:25): "Europe turned nice... because there were no minorities left... Now, suddenly, Europe has large minorities. What's happening to European politics? They're radicalizing."
• The importance of identity confidence: When nations lose a sense of self, the spiral of cultural confusion and scapegoating can take over—immigration is safe if, and only if, the host knows who it is.

Internal Israeli Challenges: Haredi Community, Economics, and Catastrophic Renewal

Timestamps: 51:43 – 63:49

• Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Dilemma:
  • Imminent collapse of the Haredi economic model—unsustainable for the nation to continue supporting a community where large numbers do not participate in the workforce or military, and politics inhibits reform.
  • Israel’s core dynamic: only reforms after catastrophic failure (“falling off the cliff”).
  • Quote (Aviv, 55:17): "We are post-traumatic from complete collapse... We build world leading astonishing things only after, okay, we go off the cliff."
• National Service:
  • Proposes a model where non-military Haredim could serve via medical or civil national service, but laments lack of will among leadership.
• Prediction:
  • Catastrophic breakdown is ahead—then creative rebuilding.

Anglo Jewry, British WWII Mythology, and the Abraham Accords

Timestamps: 63:55 – 68:41

• Britain’s Mixed WWII Legacy:
  • While Churchill’s stand against Hitler saved Europe, Britain’s behavior towards Jews (e.g., Kindertransport) is critically re-examined; even acts celebrated as charity involved moral costs (orphans).
• Gulf States & Attitudes towards Israel:
  • Abraham Accords are seen by Gulf elites as a move away from self-destructive anti-Israel obsession—a marker of “competence” in Arab societies.
  • Quote (Aviv, 67:05): "They [the Saudis] want competence. One of the correlates... of failure, is obsession with Jews."

Social Media, Rising Antisemitism & Perception Management

Timestamps: 69:12 – 80:14

• ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) and Generational Change:
  • Trends on social media are “real” in the sense of shaping opinions and organizing social energy, especially among youth.
  • Drawing on Herzl, Haviv frames anti-Semitic eruptions as products of deep, latent social dynamics—when alignment between reality and public vocabulary frays, “moral entrepreneurs” emerge (for good or ill).
• Quote (Aviv, 70:08): "Antisemitism is about me, the anti-Semite, and my own story of myself. It always is. It's never about the Jew."
• Warning of American Realignment, Generational Radicalization:
  • Cites polarization—young Americans radicalizing both left and right, with implications for Israel’s support.

The West’s Relationship to Israel: Strategic, Not Emotional

Timestamps: 75:14 – 80:14

• America’s support for Israel is described as strategic (“the bear hug,” to keep Israel secure and disinclined to escalate), not as an act of “love”; if lost, Israel would adapt.
  • Quote (Aviv, 75:14): "We don’t depend on America... [If] we lose America, it's not a disaster... If the west abandons us, we should be more worried about our enemies than us, because they will see it as A moment of opportunity. They will do the stupid thing they always do and they will be crushed worse because we will be more desperate."

The “Genocide Libel” and the Golden Age for Jews

Timestamps: 80:14 – 93:28

• Genocide and Accusational Overload:
  • Terms like ‘genocide’, ‘colonialism’, and ‘imperialism’ have been made meaningless by overuse against Israel—trivializing authentic cases and setting the stage for moral confusion.
  • Quote (Aviv, 80:56): "It’s ridiculous. And the tragedy of it, of course, is that it overwhelms not us, but the words."
• Antisemitic Logic and Double Standards:
  • Rejects the premise that diaspora Jews are collectively culpable for Israel’s actions—a standard never applied to Muslims (or others) for regimes acting “in their name.”
  • Quote (Aviv, 84:28): "There are actual genocides by regimes in the Muslim world... Anybody beating down the doors of the Muslim community...? If you suggested such a thing, they would call you a bigot. You know why? Because you'd be a horrific bigot."

How Should Jews Respond?

Timestamps: 91:49 – 108:26

• Can't Win the Debate, So Don’t Stand in Judgment:
  • The campaign against Israel/Jews is not about facts, or even about Israel itself, but about using Jews as a societal organizing idea. Jews can't and shouldn't try to "win" in this debate; the only answer is to sustain their identity and community together—"stand shoulder to shoulder."
  • Old doctrines—of Christianity, Islam, Marxism, today’s progressive left—have long imagined Jews as standing in the way of history’s redemption.
  • Quote (Aviv, 108:26): "If we stand shoulder to shoulder and stop standing in judgment before anybody else, we will not just survive, we will thrive."

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "There are two forces in this world that wants this war to be over... the Trump administration... [but] all Israelis want it to be over." (Aviv, 04:28)
• "We build world leading astonishing things only after... we go off the cliff." (Aviv, 55:17)
• "Europe turned nice... because there were no minorities left." (Aviv, 49:25)
• "It's not a politics that can absorb new people, unfortunately. But... this new generation, they're Israelis. They're going to find a way." (Aviv, 39:08)
• "You don't have the numbers to drive the algorithm. We're never going to win the debate." (Co-speaker/Panelist, 90:07)
• "[Genocide] is not a common feature of genocides... rarely have the genocidaires elected three times governments to retreat and hand territory and independence to the genocide in democratic election." (Aviv, 81:42)
• "The campaign against us is a construct that is built to explain the entirety of the world... Zionism is police brutality... Zionism is the worst kind [of colonialism].” (Aviv & Co-speaker, 92:10–92:44)
• “Fuck them.” (Aviv, 83:07) — Habiv reacts rawly to the idea Jews should accept their new status as pariahs.

Important Segments & Timestamps

• Gaza War Analysis: 04:25 – 19:36
• Impact on Israeli Society: 19:36 – 24:14
• Elections & Political Cynicism: 24:14 – 39:08
• PA & Multiculturalism: 39:22 – 51:19
• Haredi Challenge & National Reform: 51:43 – 63:49
• Britain, WWII & Middle East Realignment: 63:55 – 68:41
• Antisemitism on Social Media: 69:12 – 80:14
• Genocide Libel & Double Standards: 80:14 – 93:28
• Advice to Jewry / Zionism’s Core Lesson: 91:49 – end

Tone & Style

The discussion is frank, often unsparing, yet deeply connected to Jewish historical consciousness. Both guests combine erudition, accessibility, and humor (“don’t worry, my dad’s a rabbi…”; “Jews are good with money apparently”). Haviv’s style is provocative but never glib—he invites hard questions, embraces discomfort, and blends storytelling with analysis.

Final Thought

The episode circles back to its central motif: hard times breed strong Jews. Facing global antisemitism, internal division, political decay, and external threats, Jewish resilience and ability for renewal are emphasized—not as abstract virtues, but as proven strategies forged in catastrophe.
"Everything is going to be okay... We're only going to have us... If we stand shoulder to shoulder, that's enough." (Aviv, 108:26)

For full context and depth, listeners are encouraged to consult the episode and join the conversation on Patreon—where, as Haviv notes, “Nothing is off limits.”