Episode 88: America's "24% problem" with young antisemitism, with Jonah Platt
Ask Haviv Anything
Haviv Rettig Gur
4.9 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 February 2026
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Is American Jewish identity weakening before our eyes? Are American Jews, caught in a whirlwind of hatred directed both at Israel and at the Jews themselves, turning their backs on their Jewish identity?
Jonah Platt joins the podcast to talk about the growing numbers of Jews moving in the opposite direction: From quiet assimilation to unapologetic, intentional pride. We confront the sobering data on the rise of antisemitism among Gen Z and discuss Jonah's defiant hope that the "switched-on" generation will reclaim its story -- both in Hollywood and beyond. A great deal depends not on the young, but on their parents. American Jews must move past defensive anxiety to become a "pillar of fire" for their children.
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Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Ask Haviv Anything. |
| 0:06.5 | I'm really excited to have Jonah Platt here. |
| 0:08.9 | Jonah is an actor, singer, a Jewish advocate, and hosts a podcast literally called Being |
| 0:14.9 | Jewish, which was started in October 2024 and really dives deep into this moment with all kinds of different, with all kinds of |
| 0:22.8 | different American Jews and also non-Jews, but talks about the issues that American Jews deal with. |
| 0:29.1 | He himself has credits on stage, film, television, he comes from an entertainment family, |
| 0:35.4 | and also a family deeply involved in the Jewish community. |
| 0:39.6 | The, uh, this podcast being Jewish, it has won awards, uh, in the United States and you |
| 0:45.6 | interview, you know, every sort of Jew there. I mean, and, and also, as I said, non-Jews, |
| 0:50.8 | entertainers, writers, uh, business people, artists, rabbis, all kinds of diverse people |
| 0:57.5 | from all over. And I'm really excited to have you here to talk about, to talk about this moment |
| 1:02.2 | with American Jews. I always have this sense that I really understand what's happening to |
| 1:05.9 | American Jews because I keep meeting American Jews. I'm in the States probably every six |
| 1:10.3 | weeks or so now. But I meet people who come to my Jews. I'm in the States probably every six weeks or so now. |
| 1:11.9 | But I meet people who come to my talks. |
| 1:14.6 | I meet people who invite me. |
| 1:16.7 | I meet a self-selecting group of American Jews, |
| 1:19.1 | which are, I think, hyper-aware, knowledgeable about Israel. |
| 1:23.3 | And I don't know how representative that is |
| 1:26.5 | of what all the different parts of the American |
| 1:29.3 | Jewish community feel and are experiencing American Jews as millions of people with very |
| 1:33.9 | diverse cultures and political views, et cetera. So we're going to get into it. Before we do, |
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