Episode 60: Does it matter what the world thinks? A conversation with Dr. Tal Becker

23 snips

Nov 16, 2025

Dr. Tal Becker, Vice President of the Shalom Hartman Institute and former legal advisor to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, offers profound insights into the current landscape of antisemitism and Zionism. He discusses the paradox of Israel's strength amid rising delegitimization and the cultural roots of modern antisemitism. Tal explores the tensions within Zionism between engagement and retreat, arguing for the importance of maintaining agency. He also addresses enduring Jewish questions of safety and acceptance while advocating for proactive engagement with the world.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Powerful Yet Story-Vulnerable

Israel feels simultaneously regionally powerful and narratively vulnerable in the West after recent military successes.
Tal Becker says legitimacy and the appeal of delegitimizing stories remain unresolved despite military gains.

INSIGHT

Two Strains Within Zionism

Zionism contains a persistent tension between returning to the world and shielding from it.
Becker frames that tension as alternating Zionist emphases, not a single doctrine.

INSIGHT

Herzl's Pessimism Still Resonates

Herzl argued emancipation would still lead to fierce anti-Semitism, particularly in cultured societies.
Becker agrees Herzl was right that Israel would not automatically cure anti-Semitism.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

These are strange times to be a Jew. Jews are in many ways safer and stronger than ever, but face a surge of antisemitism unlike anything seen in generations. This includes a hatred of Jewish collective identity on the progressive left as well as hatred of Jews as Jews in millions of online posts each day and in the mainstream platforming of neo-Nazis like Fuentes and Carroll by the Tucker Carlsons of the West.

These people aren't engaged in criticism of Israeli actions or of the Gaza war, but ride the wave of legitimate critique to advance something uglier, darker and older.

What does this return of the old hatred mean? Were some of the more pessimistic Zionist thinkers right in their pessimism about the world? Do we hunker down together as Israelis or Jews and turn our backs on the world and its bigotries?

We put the question to the ever wise Dr. Tal Becker, vice president of the Shalom Hartman Institute and a preeminent international law expert who served as legal advisor to the Israeli foreign ministry.

His response, as ever, is a poignant conversation on the meaning of these strange times in the larger arc of Jewish history and Zionism.

This episode is cosponsored by Sue Levin in honor of her father Frank Levin, who passed away on January 23, 2025 at the age of ninety-eight. "Frank, a World War II veteran, spent his entire life in Buffalo, New York, devoted to his family, his local community and his religion. He would be shocked and thrilled to know that his daughter Sue, a terrible Hebrew school student growing up, is now finally diving in and learning so much about history and current events from Haviv’s tremendous podcast."

This episode is also cosponsored by an anonymous sponsor in honor of the memory of William Isadore Eisberg, who along with the sponsor’s father enlisted in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor and was killed in action during WW2 in the battle of Tassafaronga in the waters off Guadalcanal in 1942. In addition to William Eisberg, this episode is dedicated to all the Jewish soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines past and present who serve in US Central command, and alongside Israel are protecting our most basic freedoms.

If you like what we do here, please join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join in our great discussions where listeners share news and valuable resources, and take part in our monthly livestreams where Haviv answers your questions live.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.