Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleWelcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with author Yossi Klein Halevi.
The Hartman Institute senior fellow, writer and thinker joins us in our Jerusalem studio for a probing conversation about Jewish extremism.
WATCH the full episode here:
Klein Halevi is the author of the 1995 “Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist,” based on his time spent as a disciple of far-right racist firebrand Meir Kahane. He is uniquely poised to delve into the psyche of the violent fringe terrorizing West Bank Palestinian and shaking members of the settler movement.
More from What Matters Now
September 17, 2026Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib: Hamas is to blame for October 7 and Gaza's ‘collateral damage’
September 10, 2026Yohanan Plesner: 3 existential issues facing Israel’s voters
September 4, 2026Jonathan Greenblatt: Surging antisemitism brings ADL to a moment of reckoning
August 12, 2026Richard Priem: The ‘age of security’ has ended for US Jews
August 5, 2026Dan Ben-David: Israel is on the brink of a spiral of collapse
We discuss the throughline between the era that spawned Kahane and his followers and today’s national traumas that are spurring extremists to believe Kahane was right all along.
Through Kahane’s vanities and human frailties, Klein Halevi realized that the cult of personality was dangerous and unhealthy. We ask, what happens if adherents believe their racist violence is actually in the service of God?
Klein Halevi, optimistic that these youth can be awoken, sets out conditions that could, slowly, allow for their transformation.
And so this week, we ask Yossi Klein Halevi, 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 Yitzchak Ledee.
Check out the previous What Matters Now episode:
The Times of Israel Community.