Jonny Gould's Jewish State

David Collier is an extraordinary researcher and his facts and figures on Labour antisemitism and the deligitimization of Israel have at times, dominated the news agenda. In this interview profiling his work and background, we get behind the computer screen to reveal more about the man and his mission. He says his undercover work online has revealed extraordinary levels of Jew hate within the highest corridors of British politics. He explains antizionism as nothing more than antisemitism. David’s most recent projects include lodging a complaint against the publisher, Pearson over an anti-Israel textbook about the Middle East, which he says has been lifted in large part from Wikipedia - and a report into Amnesty, which he says obsesses about Israel. While they overspend time and resources on the conflict in Gaza, David says they’re missing out on enormous disasters elsewhere. He doesn’t mince his words over the EHRC investigation into the Labour Party either, which he worries will not tell it like it is:

US Special Envoy Elan Carr spoke to Parliament in his role as the United States' leading diplomat in the fight against antisemitism. The address was hosted by Henley MP John Howell and I was given the honour of presenting Elan on behalf of Our Soldiers Speak and quite a platform to explain what the organization is about. In this tough yet uplifting speech, Elan clearly defines the three disparate sources of antisemitism, describing its 21st Century manifestation and how if not confronted, tyranny follows for everyone, not just Jews. Jonny produces these podcasts to support Israel and the Jewish diaspora. You can help support him here at http://www.buymeacoffee.com/jonnygould Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Col. Richard Kemp has "seen evil at first-hand" and says fighting it "becomes personal". In this wide-ranging interview, Richard discusses his military career over three decades, starting in Northern Ireland, culminating in Whitehall as a senior government advisor and as commander of British Forces in Afghanistan. This episode opens with Jeremy Corbyn claiming we in the West don’t understand Iran’s “inclusivity, tolerance and acceptance of other faiths, traditions and ethnic groupings”. But Richard’s response is withering. He says Iran is the world’s greatest threat and predicts growing menace from Russia, China and ongoing Sunni extremism. He explains his unwavering respect for and friendship with Israel and warned of "hundreds of years" of damage that Britain could have self-inflicted had Jeremy Corbyn become Prime Minister. Col. Richard Kemp speaks in measure with the immense experience of a senior soldier and the gravitas of a world authority. It made for a fascinating interview and memorable meetin

Palestinian Mudar Zahran is Jordan's self-styled opposition leader but lives in exile in the UK after denouncing his country as an apartheid state. In his absence, he was found guilty by a Jordanian military court of inciting hatred against the Hashemite kingdom, which handed down a sentence of imprisonment and hard labour. But he continues to speak out against the 82-strong royal family who rule over the majority Palestinian populous and believes one day, he’ll return to Jordan as president in a bloodless coup, which will herald new peace and cooperation with Israel. His view of Palestinian identity makes mockery of Jeremy Corbyn's so-called support for his people. He even accuses the British Labour leader of “hating Jews more than any love for the Palestinians”. Mudar also predicts President Trump’s plans for Iran as the theocratic terror state sponsors rebellion and destabilization across the Middle East. Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support him at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-b

Ashley Blaker and Bennett Arron are the two most prolific Jewish standup comedians in the UK. Their journeys are different but their comic routines are both rich in life experience and observation. As Ashley says, ”Jews are funny people”. Bennett grew up in Port Talbot in the town’s last Jewish family. His father ran a glazing business staying there long after the rest of the community had moved on to Swansea, Cardiff and Manchester. He says his dad remembers a time when he couldn’t get a seat in the synagogue. Ashley is a ba'al teshuva; highly observant but not born religious. He was a BBC comedy producer directing among other shows, Little Britain, but changed direction in 2015 becoming a standup the day before his 40th birthday. They both say comedy has changed rapidly even in the last decade, so how do they find laughter among new and diverse audiences? LISTEN as I go behind the punchlines with these two thoughtful and talented funnymen. Jonny Gould's Jewish State is supported by Dangoor Education

My guest today is legendary BBC Panorama documentary maker, John Ware. John has yet more revelations and assesses his view of Jeremy Corbyn since his Panorama programme, "Is Labour Antisemitic?" was aired on primetime BBC1. “What we transmitted is not everything we have. There’s a sizeable iceberg beneath the surface”. I like and respect John because as a libel barrister once told him, ”report the facts, don’t rant!”. And it’s his evidence-based journalism that make his documentaries so robust. In this candid interview recorded in the days after the show was shown, John revealed how "livid" he was at Labour's allegations that he was “motivated to mislead”, predicted how it panned out and delivered his own verdict on whether the Labour leader is antisemitic. (Cover picture by Inc. Monocle) I make these podcasts voluntarily. If you enjoy them, please consider helping me at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤cy_code=GBP&source=u

US Special Envoy Elan Carr’s White House role is to monitor and combat global antisemitism. But the tragedies of the Pittsburgh and Poway synagogue attacks have ensured his focus has become more domestic. He was appointed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in February 2019. Mr Carr's message is like Jonny Gould's Jewish State's: unity; for the Jewish community to stand together to fight anti-Jewish hatred - and to bridge the gap in an increasingly polarized America to work on bi-partisan solutions. He is an Iraq war veteran, a former deputy US attorney in LA and a Republican in an historically Democratic district of the House of Representatives. Elan is of Iraqi Jewish heritage and served the US military in Baghdad, lighting Chanukah candles and leading Shabbat services in the palace of deposed President Saddam Hussein. We discuss issues of free speech, protected and unprotected speech plus where he sees the role of the IHRA definition of antisemitism in the future protections of Jewish people, and by ex

Hen Mazzig is truly a modern Israeli. A social media manager for major corporations and a writer and campaigner. Born in Israel in 1989 to a Mizrahi family originally from Iraq and Tunisia, Hen campaigns for the advancement of Israeli Jews from the east and LGBTQ rights as an openly gay man. He actually came out in the IDF serving in Ramallah and Jerusalem in a humanitarian role. His life experience includes being blown out of an ice-cream shop by a suicide bomber when he was 12. It was an attack which killed a grandma and her granddaughter. Identity is a huge part of modern day political discourse, where it seems being a Jewish progressive puts you at odds with non-Jewish ones. In doing so, I encounter the word, “pinkwashing” for the first time. We unpack some complicated concepts because I think it's important we all understand where both Israel and antisemitism is going in the 21st Century. Hen's very engaging and I learned a lot about parallel histories and Jewish lives to my own. Jonny produces these pod

This episode is dedicated to the 60,000 British Jews who fought for their country during 1939 to 1945. One of them, Stanley Fisher (100-years-old in August 2024), is my first cousin Samuel Posaner's great-grandfather - and we met by chance at Samuel’s Bar Mitzvah in Birmingham in the very 75th anniversary week he landed on Normandy’s beaches in 1944. Stanley is living history. Not only a teenage soldier arriving in Arromanches in the week of D-Day, he also fought at Arnhem, a terrible and bloody defeat for the allies - and then witnessed the shocking aftermath of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. He says it gave him nightmares, silencing him from telling his wartime story for decades. Eventually though, a desire to recount his experiences prompted him to speak up - for the benefit of the next generation. It's a profound privilege to bring his story to a wider audience. With thanks to Ben and Rachel Posaner, Esmond Rosen and of course, Stanley who came to the Bar Mitzvah with his wife Evelyn,

Author, historian and campaigner Lyn Julius promotes the culture, history and lives of Mizrahim, the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa. Mizrahi is the Hebrew word for Easterners - and their exodus from Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Morocco, Lebanon, Iran and Algeria has perhaps been overlooked in the last century. After 3,000 years of vibrant Jewish life, interspersed with persecution and exile, the Mizrahim are all but erased from those countries. Most live in Israel now - but there's also a diaspora in the UK, France, Canada and the USA. So what can and should we learn from the sudden flight from their generational homes? Lyn's book "Uprooted: How 3,000 Years of Jewish Civilization in the Arab World Vanished Overnight" is the culmination of a decade of research. It's a story we mustn't ignore. This podcast also contains Hillel Neuer's famous "Where are your Jews?" audio by his kind personal permission. Jonny produces these podcasts in support of Israel and the Jewish diaspora. Would

My guest is a fourth generation smoked salmon purveyor and a former EU politician (if not a European Union supporter). Lance Forman was elected as a Brexit Party MEP in the 2019 European election, which he says shouldn't have happened in the first place. He accuses the political class of being fast and loose with extremist rhetoric, while being cowardly in making the big decisions lest they lose votes. He plots a 115-year history of the family business, H Forman & Son and describes the challenges of succession, planning and adapting to modern times. He harks for a return to the days of Margaret Thatcher, says Nigel Farage is "Maggie in men's clothing" and "antisemite" Jeremy Corbyn and allies' vision of "Britain as Venezuela" needs preventing. He's proud to be a Jewish member of the party, shrugging off the unpleasant daubing of a swastika on his factory shutter by what he describes as an “extinction rebellion” supporter. Jonny produces these podcasts in support of the Jewish diaspora and Israel. You can

You can help support the show at http://www.ko-fi.com/jonnygould Today's guest is distinguished academic, medic, historian and legislator, Lord Leslie Turnberg. Born in Salford in 1934 to Polish and Romanian immigrant parents, Leslie grew up to enjoy a successful career in medicine including presidency of the Royal College of Physicians. He took his place in the House of Lords when Tony Blair was prime minister and now speaks with authority in the upper chamber on medicine, the NHS and Israel. Agile of mind with a lifetime of experience and achievement, Leslie has applied his considerable intellect to becoming a historian. To mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration, he wrote a book on its place in today's Middle East. In an extensive conversation, we discuss the history of Israel's formation, the key Zionist characters, those who helped them, today's Palestinians - and as a Labour peer, what he thinks of the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support

Tuvia Tenenbom, theatre director, playwright, author, academic and unapologetic, uncompromising Jew. For six months in 2019, he travelled the length and breadth of Britain, uncovering “a deep psychological Jew hate”. He warns the Anglo-Jewish community’s in denial - just as they are in Poland, where he also gives examples. His UK experiences make up the fifth book in a series, The Taming of the Jew, which was released towards the end of 2019. He spoke to many voices in British Jewry and found a refusal to admit to the extent of antisemitism. He says, "I feel like a plumber, clearing out the sewage. I don't want to do antisemitism - but I have to." Tuvia says that if Jews hide their identity, they face extinction. He says Israel needs to be cherished, it's the future but losing it would spell the end of Jewish life in the world - but for a few isolated Chasidim. I met him in the week he visited a pub in Derry, Northern Ireland, creating world headlines as the regulars openly told him, “Hitler hadn’t finished t

Today we focus on champions of law and football. We talk to CEO of UK Lawyers for Israel, barrister Jonathan Turner and David Bolchover, author of a biography on Bela Guttmann, “The Greatest Comeback”. Jonathan describes the remarkable successes of his organisation despite limited manpower and resources and David recounts the ultimate Jewish football hero, Bela Guttmann, who survived the Holocaust to become a twice-winner of the European Cup with Benfica. Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤cy_code=GBP&source=url

Yaakov Peri has dedicated his life to public service. As director of Shin Bet, Israel's internal security, he was answerable only to the Prime Minister and oversaw the agency for nearly seven years. He was also in the opposition Yesh Atid party from 2013 including a spell as Minister for Science, Technology and Space. Yaakov tells me his hopes for peace with Palestine, the deeply problematic situation with Hamas in Gaza, how the flurry of Israeli elections will shape the future and changes to the Basic Law, which concern his instincts for equality. Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤cy_code=GBP&source=url

My two guests are MPs taking the fight to Jeremy Corbyn over antisemitism. While Ian Austin became the ninth MP to leave Labour since Corbyn became leader, John Mann MP says he'll "have to be thrown out". But both are united in their fight against his leadership. I share with Ian a deep respect and affection for the Black Country, where he's MP for Dudley North, and we discuss our shared heritage of family who sought refuge from the Holocaust in the industrial Midlands. Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤cy_code=GBP&source=url

In this episode, I focus on an industry at which Israel leads the world, HealthTech. In a matter of years, Israel's digital health industry has evolved from a small group of innovative start-ups to a rich eco-system around Tel Aviv. In a partnership of private and public sector investment, Israel's HealthTech industry is training AI algorithms, using massive data based on twenty years of medical records from half of Israel's population. This was presented at the third UK Israel Business HealthTech Forum at which I spoke to UKIB's Hugo Bieber, Clalit's Professor Ran Balicer and Eyal Gura of Zebra Medical Vision. Israel has the equivalent of four NHS’s serving its population with a top-up private sector with additional benefits. So what can Israel teach the UK about public healthcare provision? This is a good news story from the start-up nation! Jonny makes these podcasts in support of Israel and the Jewish diaspora and you can help support him at http://www.ko-fi.com/jonnygould Learn more about your ad choices

"Seek the peace and prosperity of the city of your exile, pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper", Jeremiah 29:7, recited to me by the remarkable Trevor Horn. The Grammy, Brit and Ivor Novello Award winning record producer, coined "the man who invented the 80s", gives me a very personal interview about his current projects, (touring and a new album) plus a rundown of his musical career and influences. He also discusses his journey into Judaism; something he says he "believes in more than anything else". It turns out Frankie goes to Synagogue! Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show with Gift Aid at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode goes some way to explaining the Jewish relationship with football, both today and in the twentieth century. My guests today are Ivor Baddiel, the comedy writer and biographer David Bolchover, who wrote "The Greatest Comeback", the amazing story of football's greatest Jewish hero, Bela Guttmann. If you've been to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, you'll almost certainly have heard the word, "Yid" chanted in support of Spurs - or worse, AGAINST them by opposition fans. You may have even chanted it yourself. But what does it mean exactly? Do you think it still has a place on football's terraces? Campaigner Ivor Baddiel and his brother David began a campaign eight years ago with a short film, "The Y Word" which explained that it's a derogatory term for Jewish people - like the P or N Word. The podcast includes an excerpt from Ivor and David’s short film, The Y Word starring Gary Lineker and Frank Lampard. Would you like to help Jonny in the production of these podcasts which support Israel and the

My two guests today are from very different parts of British society - but united in opposing Jeremy Corbyn and the scandal of antisemitism sweeping Labour. Jassem Tamim (pictured hugging our own James Marlow at the 2021 Israel Solidarity Rally in Kensington, London) is a Sunni Muslim originally from Morocco, who considers his opposition to antisemitism as payback to Britain for the tolerance and acceptance he's found since moving here. He also believes it's his Islamic duty to defend Israel and Jews. And Richard Millett is the longtime activist who the Labour leader famously called “lacking English irony”. I ask both of them what the hard-left takeover of Labour has done to Britain? LISTEN to their insightful answers and fascinating stories here. Jonny produces these podcasts to support Israel and the Jewish diaspora. Want to help him? Buy him a coffee here. You can help support the show at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=BW4GZLQCCL29Y&item_name=Podcast+production+¤