Lahav Harkov is the Senior Political Correspondent for Jewish Insider, formerly of the Jerusalem Post, and most importantly - a repeat offender on AAJ. She’s here to answer all our current affairs questions, and some of our stupid questions too. We cover the potential of a war with Iran, an upcoming election in Israel (If you think American politics are crazy…), and the notorious Blue Square Superbowl ad that will save us all from antisemitism.

🟦 🟦 🟦 Shield against mean comments 🟦 🟦 🟦

Follow Lahav on X, check out her writing on Jewish Insider, and listen to her podcast, Misgav Mideast Horizons.

Also:

* What’s the difference between Donald Trump and a reform rabbi?

* Ehud Barak is the Mandy Patinkin of Israel.

* Kosher pizzagate.

* What are Trump and Bibi gossiping about?

* What’s the verdict on the Iran attack from June?

* War or no war?

* Think American politics are crazy? That’s cute. Listen to what’s going on in Israel.

* Hostages on Dancing With the Stars.

* The Robert Kraft Blue Square question… what do you think about the ad? and the ADL, while we’re at it?

* What’s the relationship between Israel and Russia?

* Putin bought what in Tel Aviv???

* The (orthodox) Jewish question.

* Haredi Bridgerton.

* The dairy wars.

What’s this?? Is it your birthday? Or are you just getting two episodes in one week because we love you so much?? As Jews around the world gather to celebrate Tu B’Shvat and the New England Patriots, we caught up to discuss everything that’s on our mind.

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* We make it 1 minute and 25 seconds before talking about Mandy Patinkin.

* A brave conversation about the things that everyone agrees about.

* Uterus shaped challas.

* Our grandparents didn’t survive Auschwitz to eat sourdough bread.

* I could climb that tower.

* An exciting day at 770.

* Stop condemning antisemitism when it’s easy.

A conversation about morals on edJEWcation

* Hashem is a Patriots fan.

* In defense of vaping.

* Wait what is Tu B’Shvat again?

* Everyone is home…now what?

A reminder to join us in the Substack chat, and leave us a 5 star review and comment on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Last one to do it is an antisemite!

Chaya Leah’s adorable cousings Moishe and Luigi (please don’t sue, Nintendo)

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Eylon Levy is a former Israeli Government Spokesman and one of Israel’s most recognized faces on the global stage since October 7th. A graduate of Oxford and Cambridge (which is like Harvard in the UK - ybt), he founded the Israeli Citizen Spokesperson Office, a grassroots campaign which gives citizens an opportunity to take part in the global information war. He also hosts the new show “Eylon The Record” which you should definitely check out, and you may even recognize some of the guests from previous AAJ episodes!

Find Eylon on X, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

We talk to Eylon about the reasons Israel is losing the media war, why not everything is a PR problem, what messages actually work, and his relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu (never met him).

MUCH MORE ON SUBSTACK

Yassine Meskhout is a public defender, a Moroccan, an anarchist, a liberterian, a cyclist (*shudder*) and now, our new best friend. We’ve become obsessed with his writing since his viral November 2023 essay “The Jewish Conspiracy To Change My Mind” and the banger, “Why I write About the Jews”. We talk to Yassine about working with criminals, trying to figure out why some of his friends were celebrating on October 7th, why ICE shouldn’t shoot Mandy Patinkin, and how his father, who believes Israel created ISIS, also believes the Jews should have their own state.

Check out substack for a fun Israeli-Moroccan inspired Spotify Playlist!

Also:

* First things first - would an ex-Jew fool Hitler?

* Escaping the lack of McDonalds in Morocco through the diversity lottery.

* DJ Smack-that-ass, Esq.

* The life of a public defender - eleven magic words.

* The system works, mostly.

* Minnesota, ICE, and what expectations we should have from law enforcement.

* Trying to understand the celebrations of October 7th.

* Doubling down on Islam as a kid

* This amazing story about Yassine’s father:

* Western leftists - please find meaning elsewhere.

* The hard truth Jews need to hear - not everyone is an antisemite, some of them are just stupid.

* How to protest well.

* Everyone needs to stop being so confident.

* Leave a white woman, take a white woman.

Much more on Substack!

Iran, Lebanon and Syria, Oh My!

Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a fellow at the The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), hailing from Beirut via Baghdad and all the way to Washington DC. We talk about how he learned Hebrew by chatting with Israeli soldiers on the lebanese border, why he was wrong about the new leader of Syria, and why peace with Israel can only help the Arab and Muslim world.

Follow Hussain on X and keep up with his work at the FDD!

Also:

* Does everyone in Lebanon hate us? Only 3 out of 4 people.

* Seeing Israel beyond the F-16s, through AM radio and pop culture.

* The most dangerous thing Hussain ever did - read an Israeli newspaper on the Columbia campus.

* Holding our breath for Iran.

* But don’t hold your breath for Syria.

* Some advice for dealing with idiots.

* Coming soon - Hussain’s book, The Arab Case For Israel!

* The are only three Christians left in Baalbek, Lebanon - and that’s bad for Muslims.

* The uselessness of the UN Peacekeeping Force.

* Can Israeli and Saudi Arabia make it work?

* Bring in George Clooney!

* Our $7,000 aren’t a match for Qatari money.

Iran who? Venezuela what? The hottest place you need to know about right now is a little Muslim democracy in the horn of Africa called Somaliland. Recently, Israel just became the first country to recognize Somaliland as it cements its independence from Somalia, and we are now all in the honeymoon phase. We invited our new best friend Saeed Ibrahim, founder and editor of Somaliland Chronicle, to answer our hard-hitting geopolitical questions like “where is Somaliland?” and “what do you eat there?”

Saeed took us through the history of the region, the longstanding bond with Israel, the reactions on the street (they like us! They really like us!), the relationships with their not-so-nice neighbors, and why countries should be on their oxygen masks first before they help others.

But first, where are we?

Also:

* How are the daycare centers?

* Come for the camels, stay for the sea cucumbers.

* Oh, a real genocide.

* Houthis be maaaadddd.

* Location, location, location.

* Any kosher hotels?

* How can we be good allies?

* Do you know who Mandy Patinkin is?

* A Hebrew lesson - Um Shmum!

* The African Union? Please.

Good for the Jews is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Here are some celeberations on the streets of the capital Hargeisa after the recognition:

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And a visit from Israel’s Foreign Minister:

Thank you for listening! If you made it this far, it is your duty to the people of Israel and Somaliland to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. It will really help us gain independence. Just click on the button below and hit those 5 stars.

Last night we went Live on Substack with our listeners and AAJ BFF and The Free Press contributer, Eli Lake. Bummed you missed it? Want to watch a video version? Subscribe for free at askajew.substack.com

Read Eli’s latest about Venezuela, Iran and others, “Why the Venezuela Operation Won’t Embolden America’s Enemies” at The Free Press.

Our podcast daddy Michael C. Moynihan is back from the dead for a long (and long awaited) discussion on conspiracy theories, antisemitism, dumb people, and why you shouldn’t end every conversation with a Jew with: BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PEDOPHILES??

Anyway, it’s not too late to update your 2026 resolutions, and our guest’s advice is to maybe this year, dislike yourself a little bit more. Not in a self-harm way of course, but a bit of self-hatred never hurt any writer, let’s put it that way.

Also:

* The Talmud is very oxen heavy

* Maybe the Somali daycare thing isn’t that bad, or maybe we are just afraid they’ll come after Yeshiva’s next.

* Christopher Hitchins didn’t hate religious people.

Oh great, we made it 23 mins before talking about Mandy Patinkin

* An argument about sexual assault.

* Would you go back in time and punch Mandy Patinkin?

* Holcoaust books for everyone.

* Why should Moynihan’s Goyishe daughter care about antisemitism?

* Antisemitism explains dumb people.

* Why does Europe suck?

* The Intellectual broken windows theory.

* But what about the peaophiles???

* Knowledge is something ((they)) aren’t telling you.

* The book I refered to is Kindly Inquisitors by the dear Jonathan Rauch, buy it immediately and also listen to our episode with him.

* Wait, Zionists killed Kennedy now?

* Antisemitism is just math.

* People should really learn to to hate themselves more.

All of the love to The Fifth Column community!! We love you, Michael loves you, we all love each other. None of us would be doing this without you. <3

Good for the Jews is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.