The Black American Playbook and Philosopher-journalist Bernard-Henri Lévy
Being Jewish with Jonah Platt
Jonah Platt
4.9 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 9 December 2025
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this thought-provoking episode of Being Jewish with Jonah Platt, Jonah sits down with world-renowned philosopher, author, and war correspondent Bernard-Henri Lévy (known as BHL) for an insightful conversation about the meaning of Jewish solidarity after October 7th and the collapse of moral reasoning in the West. Drawing on five decades spent on the frontlines of conflicts from Bosnia to Bangladesh, Lévy reflects on the role of the witness, the fragility of democracy, and the shattering implications of October 7th.
From Hamas to ISIS, Sudan to Ukraine, BHL draws sharp parallels between the world’s genocidal movements and the West’s habit of resisting them “just enough to help the victims survive, but never enough to let them win.” Together, Jonah and BHL explore the central arguments of his new book, Israel Alone: Israel’s unprecedented isolation, the return of antisemitism dressed in the language of antizionism, and the collapse of ethical reasoning on university campuses and in public life.
BHL speaks candidly about why jihadist groups must be militarily defeated, how antisemitism differs from other forms of racism, the challenges of Jewish life in France, and why Israel’s democracy remains a modern miracle, despite being tested by decades of war.
In the episode they discuss:
- Iranian Missile Attacks and Global Reactions
- The Necessity of Defeating Hamas
- The Defeat of Al Qaeda and Isis
- BHL’s time in Afghanistan and Rwanda
- The Resilience of Israeli Society
- Diverse Communities in Israel
- Understanding Antisemitism
- Antizionism as the Only “Acceptable” Form of Modern Antisemitic
- The Role of Hate in Human History
- Criticism vs. Antisemitism
- Sudan's Genocide and Racist War
#BernardHenriLevy #BHL #JonahPlatt #BeingJewishPodcast #IsraelAlone #JewishIdentity #Antisemitism #October7 #MoralClarity #Philosophy #HumanRights #Israel #JewishPeople
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Mentioned In The Episode:
The Bloodlands of Africa - by Bernard-Henri Lévy
‘A very bad year’: Despite Gaza truce, academic boycotts pile on, threatening Israel’s future
Flare-Burning Protesters Disrupt Israel Philharmonic Concert in Paris, Four Arrested
US helps defend Israel from Iranian missile attack
France says it intercepted drones targeting Israel during Iran war
Israel: A Democracy Like No Other in the Middle East
Myth: Israel is an “apartheid state.”
Hamas Is Weakened But Not Defeated — The Truth Behind Gaza’s Ceasefire
Al Qaeda: Background, Current Status, and U.S. Policy
Iraqi Forces Liberate Mosul From ISIS
How Qatar became Trump’s key ally in his Middle East peace efforts
Antisemitism in America: My Campus Tour
Bernard-Henri Lévi tweet from Hostage Square
In France, Bernard-Henri Lévy fights a lonely battle on behalf of a solitary Israel
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Shalom, Kavarim, Banot, and welcome to another very special episode of the world's number one Jewish podcast. |
| 0:08.1 | I have to ask for a small favor. |
| 0:10.4 | As an independent show, we don't have a massive marketing machine behind us. |
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| 0:24.0 | head over to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, find this show, and leave me a five-star rating and a short |
| 0:30.0 | written review. I love seeing all of your thoughtful and generous feedback. Some of it has even |
| 0:35.0 | made it onto the show and may again. And as of this recording, |
| 0:38.5 | we are just eight ratings away from hitting 500 on Apple. Crossing that threshold would be a huge |
| 0:44.3 | milestone for us. It's a small mitzv on your part, but it really is the fuel that allows us to |
| 0:50.0 | keep these amazing conversations going. So thank you in advance. Unless you don't leave a rating, |
| 0:56.1 | in which case you're a butthead. This is audible. No, I'm just kidding. It's me, but I got some of you |
| 1:01.5 | didn't I? All right, let's get serious. The Jewish community is living through a new normal. |
| 1:07.8 | For the first time in generations, we understand what it looks like when a society of |
| 1:11.9 | otherwise sane, seemingly intelligent people are captured by the intoxicating sweep of anti-Jew |
| 1:17.9 | ideology. For the first time, we understand what it feels like to be completely misunderstood, |
| 1:24.0 | demonized, hated. Not by everyone, but by some. And because most of us have never been |
| 1:29.9 | here before, we don't know what to do about it. We're running around like a chicken with its head |
| 1:33.9 | cut off, or perhaps more appropriately, with its neck being broken after being whirled around by |
| 1:38.6 | a from woman before Yom Kippur, as is tradition. We also understand we were wrong in thinking these were special times |
| 1:45.7 | in history, that humanity had moved beyond its susceptibility to such choreographed and |
| 1:50.4 | predictable strategies to do us harm. But instead, we see this is yet another chapter in a long |
... |
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