Antisemitism is on the rise, and Jewish communities around the world are ever more fearful for their safety.

Meanwhile, the conversations in the media around how to tackle this growing problem are more often than not divisive and oversimplified.

So I reached out to Rabbi Daniel Epstein, former Chief Rabbi at the Western Marble Arch Synagogue in London and now in Australia, to have what we knew would be a tough discussion. We have been in an ongoing conversation for over two years about many of the issues you will hear in this episode.

Let us know what you think in the comments.

Is the UK-US Special Relationship over, or has it just changed beyond recognition? This week, Britain's own ambassador to Washington admitted the US’s special relationship is "probably Israel." Meanwhile, Trump has rebuked Starmer over Iran, and King Charles flew to Washington on a charm offensive.

I sat down with a former senior British diplomat in the United States and former Ambassador to Iran Sir Richard Dalton, to get a real--and brutally honest--perspective.

We cover:

→ Is the Special Relationship with the US still intact?

→ What the King Charles state visit actually achieved

→ The UK's role in a world reshaped by Trump and the Middle East

→ What British foreign policy should look like right now

Lebanon is a tiny country of almost 6 million people, and it's always found itself being used as a proxy battleground between different states and actors around it. The Palestinian Liberation Organization set up camp there in the 1970s to fight Israel from Lebanese territory. The Syrians for years under the Assad regime had a strong military presence in Lebanon, described as a de facto occupation that finally ended in 2005. And of course, you have longstanding Iranian influence in Lebanon through Hezbollah, the Lebanese, Islamist Shia organization that is Iran's partner and proxy in the region. And whose massive arsenal of weapons has allowed it to operate essentially as a state within a state.

All of these different factors have caused instability throughout the years in Lebanon and successive Lebanese governments have struggled to maintain a monopoly over the use of force, or to really maintain full control over their own country.

After the October 7th attacks by Hamas on Israel in 2023, Hezbollah fired rockets into Northern Israel, and that started a renewed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that's lasted until today. On April 16th, a ceasefire was brokered by the United States between Israel and Lebanon. Just a couple of days before that, the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in Washington DC met for what was a historic meeting. Their second meeting in Washington is scheduled for April 23rd, and the ceasefire is meant to expire on April 26th.

Is this a moment where Lebanon could turn the page, or is it doomed to remain in endless cycles of conflict? Can it ever resolve the issue of Hezbollah's arms? Or is the state simply too weak? And what can countries do to support Lebanon?

I'm Jasmine El-Gamal, and this is the view from here where every week we take you behind the headlines and into the lives of the people living them.

To unpack all these questions this week, I spoke to Faysal Itani, a risk analyst and a Middle East expert at the Middle East Policy Council and a professor of security studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

What does the Islamic Republic really want? As the US imposes a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz in order to ratchet up the pressure on Iran, the two sides still seem intent on trying to find a way to make negotiations work and to bring an end to this destructive war that's affected so many in the region and worldwide. The question is, who is making the decisions inside of Iran? And what do they really want?

We know what the US says it wants. It wants the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and it wants Iran to vow never to seek a nuclear weapon. The Iranian side is a bit more complicated and opaque. Is it about economic issues? Is it about maintaining control of the of Hormuz? or is it about something else altogether?

I'm Jasmine El-Gamal, and this is The View From Here, where every week we take you behind the headlines and into the lives of the people living them.

This week, I spoke to Iranian analyst Hamidreza Azizi. He's a foreign policy and security expert and currently a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, working in the Africa and Middle East research division. Previously, he served as an assistant professor of regional studies at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran from 2016 to 2020. He holds a PhD in regional studies from the University of Tehran, although has not been able to return home for several years now.

In just two days, we've gone from President Donald Trump threatening to destroy all of civilization in Iran, to a ceasefire agreement and vice President JD Vance now headed to Islamabad, Pakistan for negotiations with the Iranians.

But in the meantime, Israel is pounding Lebanon. On April 8th, the IDF conducted 100 strikes across Lebanon in 10 minutes scenes of absolute terror and carnage. Iran says that it will not go through with the negotiations as long as Israel continues to conduct these strikes. Israel and Vice President Vance are saying that Lebanon was never part of the deal. The Pakistani Prime Minister, as the mediator is saying it was. So what happens now?

I'm Jasmine El-Gamal, and this is the view from here where every week we take you behind the headlines and into the lives of the people living them.

To unpack all of this, I spoke to Israeli analyst Danny Citrinowicz. Danny spent 25 years in Israeli defense intelligence studying Iran and Hezbollah. He now works at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel.

Who are the Houthis in Yemen and why did they wait weeks after the war between Israel, Iran, and the US started in order to get involved?

How did they originate? Where did they come from? What do they want? Are they really just a proxy that does whatever Iran tells them to? Or are they an organization that has their own objectives and are only allied with Iran when it also suits their own purpose?

I'm Jasmine El-Gamal, and this is the View From Here, where every week we take you behind the headlines and into the lives of the people living them.

This week, Jasmine spoke to Baraa Shiban, a Yemeni analyst who has lived with the Houthis, negotiated with them and has spent years trying to figure out exactly what makes them tick. They talked about the recent history of Yemen, how the Houthis evolved into the organization that they are right now, what they really want out of their relationships with Iran, with Hezbollah in Lebanon, how they feel about Saudi Arabia, the United States and Israel and so much more.

The war between Iran, Israel, and the US doesn't show any signs of slowing down. Despite reports of a flurry of diplomacy this last week, there are also reports of a US military operation and potentially a ground invasion increasingly imminent.

Now as these three parties to the conflict continue to play games of brinksmanship, the Arab Gulf States are looking increasingly vulnerable, stuck between Israel, Iran, and the US. They tried to prevent the war, and now they seem to be split between whether they should go on the offensive with Israel and the US or whether they should continue to try to convince the US President to wind it down.

This week Jasmine spoke to Mohamed Baharoon, the Director General of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center about the UAE's position, whether this war has really impacted the Gulf's ability to attract investors to be a safe place for people to live and work and visit, and what options the UAE and the Gulf have moving forward. Are they doomed to be pawns in future conflicts between Israel and Iran, or between the US and Iran? Or is there something they can do to shape the future--as peacemakers?

Episode Notes:

Dubai Public Policy Research Center: https://www.bhuth.ae/en

The UAE: Principles of the 50: https://u.ae/en/about-the-uae/uae-in-the-future/the-principles-of-the-50

This week we're talking about Iran and what it means for the slain Supreme Leader's son to be chosen as his successor.

Fourteen days into the war, there still doesn't seem to be any kind of off ramp or any kind of vision for how this war ends. And in the meantime, more and more damage is being done to the region, not just to Iran, not just to the US and Israel those are all parties to the conflict, but also across the Gulf, across Lebanon and we can't see an end.

To unpack the rapidly unfolding events in the Middle East, Jasmine spoke to Iranian-American analyst Negar Mortazavi, a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington Dc and host of The Iran Podcast, and Ilan Goldenberg, Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer at J Street and former Middle East advisor to Vice President Kamal Harris. Ilan and Jasmine were also colleagues at the Pentagon during the Obama administration.

They discussed possible scenarios for ending the war, the lasting impact on the Gulf states, how Israel's upcoming elections could start a pathway towards de-escalation in the region, and as always, the human cost of the war and how Iranians have been impacted.

Negar's Podcast (The Iran Podcast): https://www.negarmortazavi.com/iran-podcast

Ilan's Substack: https://ilangoldenberg.substack.com/