Does sharp criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza inevitably shade into antisemitism? In the days after the December 14 Bondi terror attacks, Australian leader Anthony Albanese faced fierce criticism -- from the conservative opposition at home and from Benjamin Netanyahu abroad -- over how his government had responded to rising tensions and Jewish community fears. Those scenes, including the angry public reception the Prime Minister received at Bondi, have become emblematic of how raw and polarised the atmosphere has become.

All of this is unfolding alongside a conflict in Gaza that generated mass protests across cities from London to New York to Sydney -- demonstrations that supporters describe as humanitarian, and critics fear can blur into hostility toward Jews. These matters are put to Professor John Mearsheimer from the University of Chicago and former Singaporean diplomat and policy maker Kishore Mahbubani. Future episodes feature Nicholas Eberstadt on global depopulation and Max Hastings on global disorder.

Tom Switzer is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a prolific commentator on politics and international affairs. His writing and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times (international), The Australian, and across ABC and Sky News, where he has been a regular presenter and panellist. For 30 years, since 1995, he has worked at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, the London-based Spectator magazine, and the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, which he headed from 2017 to 2025. He is the host of Switzerland, a long-form interview series exploring global politics, modern history, and the ideas shaping the world.

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