Daily Briefing May 27 - When the antisemitism volcano erupts, who is to blame?

Welcome to our 100th episode! Tune in Sunday through Thursday to hear ToI editors and reporters quickly catch you up on what’s important today

Welcome to the 100th episode of The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Today’s panel comprises editor David Horovitz and culture editor Jessica Steinberg, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

As the Israeli news cycle moves from the 11-day conflict with Gaza called Operation Guardian of the Walls to more mundane matters of coalition politics, Jews in the Diaspora are left to struggle with a lingering eruption of antisemitism. Horovitz brings some insights from a recent interview with former head of the Anti-Defamation League Abe Foxman.

Even as rockets hammered down from Gaza, racist rioting hit the streets of mixed Jewish-Arab cities and towns, setting the stage for Arab rapper Sameh Zakout and Jewish educator Uriya Rosenman’s “Bo Nedaber Dugri” (Let’s Talk Straight), a six-minute, 28-second rap. Steinberg discusses the song’s impetus, long gestation, and “luckily” timed release.

Israeli television exports are drawing ever-increasing fans. Will Kan’s “Hamefakedet” (“Dismissed”), about an all-female unit of army misfits, make for another hit?

Next, the tables are turned and Horovitz grills Borschel-Dan about a recent article she wrote on a study of ancient “bad Judaeans” who apparently didn’t get the memo that they weren’t supposed to eat non-kosher fish.