Day 694 - Legal expert Menachem Rosensaft: Israel is not committing genocide

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

The Times of Israel

News

4.4 • 864 Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with legal expert on genocide Menachem Rosensaft.

Rosensaft is an adjunct professor of law at Cornell Law School and lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School, where he teaches the law of genocide -- since 2008 at Cornell and since 2011 at Columbia. A dedicated pro-Israel US Jewish leader, Rosensaft is the general counsel emeritus of the World Jewish Congress and has been part of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, most notably sitting with PLO leader Yasser Arafat alongside four other American Jewish leaders in 1988, after which Arafat said he recognized the State of Israel's right to exist.

Rosensaft discusses the important legal and rhetorical distinction between genocide and crimes against humanity or war crimes, feeling that the definition's precision is being diluted in popular use. We learn about the history and evolution of Raphael Lemkin's definition of genocide and the ripple effect it has caused.

He emphasizes that Israel cannot be held out as the sole villain in the ongoing war, and explains how Hamas exhibits genocidal intent and ideology. However, the statements from a handful of far-right Israeli politicians is making South Africa's December 2023 legal case accusing the Jewish state of genocide much harder to win.

Finally, he rails against the Israeli government's weaponization of the word "antisemitism" for all dissent against the Jewish state, but doubles down on the need for an ongoing peace process leading to a Palestinian state.

And so this week, we ask genocide legal expert Menachem Rosensaft, what matters now.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Menachem Rosensaft (courtesy) / Palestinians stand on the edge of a crater after Israeli military strikes in a tent camp for displaced people near Al-Aqsa Hospital, in Deir al-Balah, August 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the Times of Israel's What Matters Now, a weekly podcast diving into one issue affecting Israel and the Jewish world right now.
0:12.0	I'm your host, Deputy Editor Amanda Borschal Dan, today here with adjunct professor of law and lecture in law, Menacham Rosenzaf.
0:21.5	Menacham, thank you so much for joining me today.
0:23.7	Thank you very much for having me.
0:25.2	It is such a pleasure.
0:26.6	You reached out to me because you wanted to get across to our listeners
0:30.2	the important legal and rhetorical distinction between genocide and crimes against humanity
0:36.5	and war crimes as well.
0:38.4	So we are going to discuss all of that and much more after the break.
0:47.7	In this episode of Jewish Crossroads, I speak with Elon Goldenberg,
0:51.5	one of the few policymakers who has shaped U.S. policy on Israel
0:55.3	across both the Obama and Biden administrations.
0:58.7	He reflects on the good decisions and the mistakes of the Biden administration during the war,
1:03.7	and he argues that 2026 Israeli elections could be a tipping point for the relationship between Israel and American jury.
1:12.0	If you get a different government, there is a real opportunity to turn the page.
1:17.4	It's not going to mean American Jews and Israelis, Jews completely align on everything.
1:23.2	Like, if it's like a Bennett-led government, like, you know, you're still going to have challenges, obviously.
1:27.5	But, you know, when the people who are playing the role of Itamar, Ben-Govir and, like, Smotridge,
1:33.5	Belizalzalzumetrij, are, you're Lepid and your-Jer Golan.
1:37.4	Like, that's a different Israeli government.
1:40.2	That can start to move things to a better place.
1:49.8	Yeah. back and start to move things to a better place. And we're back. I'm Iman Borssel, Dan, here with Manacham Rosenzaft.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 26 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times of Israel, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Times of Israel and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.