Israel’s “Culture of Cruelty” Inspires the Far Right Worldwide, Says Pankaj Mishra
The Intercept Briefing
The Intercept
4.8 • 6.3K Ratings
🗓️ 22 March 2025
⏱️ 42 minutes
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Summary
After breaking a two-month ceasefire, Israel launched an assault on Gaza on Tuesday, killing more than 400 people in pre-dawn strikes. The death toll continues to climb as airstrikes persist, and Israel pushes forward with a ground invasion. At least 200 children have been killed in recent attacks, according to UNICEF.
The assault — the deadliest in over a year — came after Donald Trump gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the green light to break the ceasefire. Netanyahu has warned, “This is only the beginning.”
Author Pankaj Mishra argues Israel operates within a “culture of impunity,” emboldened by global far-right movements that admire Israel’s “brazen cruelty.”
This week on The Intercept Briefing, reporter Jonah Valdez speaks to Mishra about his latest book, "The World After Gaza,” which examines how the war on Gaza isn’t just another conflict — it’s a turning point reshaping global politics, exposing institutional failures, and forcing a reckoning over who sets the rules on the world stage.
“Some of the worst people in the world today are drawn to Israel," Mishra says. “Not because they believe in Zionism, not because they are protective of Jewish population of Israel, but because Israel again represents to them — embodies this opportunity to take whatever you can and hold on to it using extreme violence if necessary.”
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Intercept Briefing. I'm Jonah Valdez, your host this week. |
| 0:08.0 | I thank President Trump for his unwavering support for Israel. |
| 0:12.0 | Our lives with the United States has never been stronger. |
| 0:16.0 | After breaking the two-month ceasefire, Israel launched a nine-hour assault on Gaza, |
| 0:21.9 | killing more than 400 people in pre-dawn strikes on Tuesday. |
| 0:26.0 | And on Thursday, new Israeli strikes killed at least 85 others. |
| 0:30.9 | More than half of those killed were women and children, |
| 0:33.8 | according to Gaza's health ministry. |
| 0:36.1 | The attack, the deadliest, and over a year, came after Trump gave Israeli Prime Minister |
| 0:41.7 | Benjamin Netanyahu the green light to break the ceasefire. |
| 0:45.5 | Well, the Trump administration and the White House were consulted by the Israelis on their |
| 0:52.4 | attacks in Gaza tonight. Netanyahu has warned, this is only the beginning, and as we speak, Israel has sent ground |
| 0:59.8 | troops back into the Gaza Strip and continues to kill dozens more Palestinians. |
| 1:05.2 | As Israel relaunches its assaults on Gaza, we're going to zoom out with a special guest, |
| 1:10.5 | Pankaj Mishda. |
| 1:11.8 | He has a new eye-opening book, The World After Gaza. |
| 1:15.3 | He writes about how Gaza isn't just another conflict, but a real turning point that's |
| 1:20.4 | reshaping global politics, exposing cracks and institutions, and making us question, |
| 1:26.5 | who gets to set the rules on the world stage. |
| 1:30.5 | Welcome to the show, Pankash. |
| 1:32.2 | Thank you, Ja. |
| 1:33.1 | Your latest book, The World After Gaza, analyzes Israel's current genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza |
... |
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