Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you remember, Candice Owly went off went off about
the Israeli Iran conflict and specifically Benjamin in Yahoo and
the Jewish community. In her own eloquent way. Of course,
she had her say, the Anti Defamation League has theirs.
(00:22):
Wait till you hear what it has to say, what
he has to say, as in the CEO of the
Anti Defamation League sit down with yours truly. Coming up next,
steven A. Smith Show in the House. What's up, everybody?
(00:50):
Welcome to the latest edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show,
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(01:10):
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(01:32):
straight shoot book dot com to get yourself a copy.
Once again, that straight shoot the book dot com to
get yourself copy. Obviously, there Israeli Iran conflict that's taking
fold and it's a very very big deal in this world.
And we'll be getting into all of that, especially when
I talk to Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Antidefamation League,
in just the second. But before we even get to that,
(01:53):
I've got to get to the latest news because we've
got to get there some news about the ongoing war
between is real and they're on. Yesterday, President Donald Trump
showed visible anger as the ceasefire he broke it between
the two countries appeared to grow more for a job.
Take a listen to what President Trump had to say
yesterday when asked by reporters about the situation with Israel
(02:14):
and Iran. Take a look Israel.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
As soon as we made the deal, they came out
and they dropped the load of Bob's the likes of
which I've never seen before, the biggest load that we've seen.
I'm not happy with Israel. You know, when I say, okay,
now you have twelve hours, you don't go out in
the first hour.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
It just drop.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Everything you have on them. So I'm not happy with them.
I'm not happy with Iron either.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
But I'm really.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Unhappy if Israel's going out this morning because the one
rocket that didn't land, that was shot perhaps by mistake,
that didn't land, I'm.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Not happy about that.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
You know what, We basically have two countries that have
been fighting so long and so hard that they don't
know what the fucks they're doing. Do you understand that?
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Wow, most of the eyre was actually directed towards Israel,
which he said unloaded on Iran as soon as the
White House made a deal. Hours later, President Trump took
credit for brokern piece between Israel and Iran, framing the
recent ceasefire as a direct result of the US air
strikes on Iran's nuclear sites. Here's what he wrote on
(03:18):
truth Social Quote. Both Israel and Iran wanted to stop
the war. Equally, it was my great honor to destroy
all nuclear facilities and capability and then stop the war.
End quote. That's what he wrote. Listen, Israel needs to
(03:38):
be careful because you have a lot of people on
the left. Of course, some members of the extreme right
who are nationalists. The Steve Bannons, the Tucker Callsons of
the world, the Mars Retailer Greens of the World, and others.
They're nationalists. They don't want our country involved in warfare.
They want us to prioritize our own interests instead of
(04:00):
that of Israel or any other nation for that matter.
Then you have those on the left that are of
the mindset that Barack Obama would not have done this,
he would have found a more diplomatic solution to engage with.
Joe Biden would not have done it. Even George W.
Bush might not have done it, or Clinton might not
have done it. They'll bring up stuff like that as
(04:22):
an example. Either way, you slice it. If Trump is
speaking out against Israel in any way after doing what
he did in terms of using our air force and
our navy to bomb nuclear sites in Iran that he
believed was facilitating developing the nuclear weapon. If he's calling
(04:45):
out Israel, he's essentially accusing them of being too aggressive.
And if you're accusing them of being too aggressive with Iran,
how long will it be before folks start regurgitating the
same cries about how they're too excessive in Gaza with
the Palestinians. That's what we have to be careful of.
(05:10):
If you're Israel, you have to be careful about that
because with net and Yahoo, who is considered by some
to be a warhawk looking for any excuse under the
sun to attack any sworn enemy in his eyes, the
support that you've garnered from folks around the world, but
(05:32):
specifically and especially America, if that's diluted in any way,
you don't know what that can materialize into for Israel.
Four members of the Jewish community. That's what he has
to take it to consideration. That's just the point to
(05:53):
bring up today in light of what you just saw
the forty seventh President of the United States echo, that's
just a nugget leading towards a bigger conversation, and that
bigger conversation is involving anti Semitism, its root, its cause,
(06:15):
its impact. It's a point that can't be ignored. But
in the end it's leads to it leads to a
bigger conversation, a conversation that must be had, not just
because of what's going on with Iran and Israel, not
just because of what's going on in the Gaza, in
the Gaza Strip and beyond, but also what's going on
(06:36):
on college campuses and throughout the streets of America. At
least in the eyes of the Jewish community. You're hearing
anti Semitism, You're hearing those words, you're hearing that phrase,
that word a lot more these days. And there are
folks in the Jewish community that says, this is real,
(06:58):
it's worse than it has ever been, or place is
worth Itan it has been in the last several decades,
to be more accurate. And then you have those who say,
just because you're criticizing the Jewish community and some of
the things that Prime Minister Benjamin Yahoo has been doing
and what he's done to displace Palestinians, calling some of
(07:24):
what he has done labeling it as murder. Some have
used the word genocide and other things like that. He's
a very incendiary words And to get to the root
of the matter to the heart of the matter. You
can't just talk to the Canvas Owens of the world,
who was just on this show a few days ago
and made hub points clearly known. You also got to
(07:47):
talk to somebody like my next guest. He is here
to discuss this. He is the CEO of the Anti
Defamation League. He has mister Jonathan Greenblack back with more
to Stephen is Myths Show in a minute. All right, everybody,
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Joining me now to discuss This is the CEO of
the Anti Defamation League, mister Jonathan Greenblat. Since becoming CEO
(09:15):
of the ADL, green Blat has modernized the organization while
focusing on the mission to fight the defamation of Jewish
people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.
Jonathan green Blat in the house. What's going on, sir,
Welcome back to the stephen A. Smishaw. How you doing.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Always good to see you.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
You know, just so much to get into right now.
We've seen so much being said, so much happening in
the world. Your take on exactly what is transpiring between
Israel and Iran at this particular moment in time.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Look, in many ways, I would describe what's happening between
Israel and Iran as one of those forever wars that
we hear a lot about, except that this forever war
was declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran forty six
years ago, you know Stephen A. Forty six years ago,
after the Islamic Revolution, the regime declared death to Israel,
(10:08):
death to America.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
And they've been waging an overt and covert.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
War against the Jewish people, the Jewish State of Israel
and you know, the United States of America for nearly
half a century.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
They've committed terror acts.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Around the world, some of which ended up murdering scores
of Jewish people, a number of which I'm talking about
places like iSER Baijan, or they murdered people in Bulgaria,
in Argentina.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Of course, in Israel.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
And they've had plots thwarted Highland, iSER Baijan, Kenya, India,
and it goes the list goes on. And look, the
reality is, they tried to assassinate President Trump, They've tried
to commit incidents here in the US.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
So I don't like war.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I don't think countries should be in conflict. I want
to see peace around the world. But you have a
government in Iran which has been dedicated openly explicitly to
destroying the Jewish states. So something was bound to happen.
As they were racing toward a nuclear weapon. I'm only
glad that after twelve days, hopefully we have a ceasefire
(11:22):
and pathway to a long term piece.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
So in short, you are completely in support of Israel
and the United States taking this position in the bomb
of the nuclear sites of Iran.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Correct, I am?
Speaker 4 (11:35):
I mean, look, I would rather use diplomacy, but they
demonstrated time and against ephen A that they weren't willing
to play ball. It's not enough to say or at
the table. The truth is, while they were at the table,
they were continuing to develop missiles, continuing to enrich uranium.
And look, I'm not an expert on the half life
of you know, fisile material, but I do know about
(11:58):
anti semitism and hate. While they were quote unquote negotiating
with US, steven A, they were funding terror groups across
the region. They were working to destabilize US interests around
the world. So I just think you gotta walk the
walk and talk the talk. If you're just talking to
talk but you're doing something else behind you know, behind
your back, that's not in good faith. So again, diplomacy
(12:23):
is much preferred to conflict, but sometimes you need a
little bit of conflict to make the diplomacy effect.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
What about those who would look at a guy like
Benjamin Nett and Yahoo, who obviously is the leader of
the Prime Minis for Israel, and they can track back
to nineteen ninety six where he's saying Uran is close
to a nuclear weapon two thousand, same thing, two thousand
and five, same thing, twenty ten, twenty eleven, two thousand
and fifteen, twenty eighteen, and obviously twenty twenty and especially
(12:53):
twenty and twenty four leading up to the election. This
is something that he's been on the record, regardless of
the administration saying.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
So.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I saw John Stewart on The Daily Show, I don't
want to say joking, even though obviously is a comedic
shows on Comedy Central, and he was telling jokes that
had people laughing. But he was basically pointing out how
we've heard this before on many occasions from mister net
and Yahoo. So how serious are we to take it?
What about those who would make that argument against net Yoo.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
Look, the fact of the matter is that developing a
nuclear weapon is that like you know, popping a thing
of hot pockets in the microwavey, it takes years, It
takes time, and over the years, Benjamin and Yahoo and
others not just him have been saying this was imminent,
and America and Israel and the West have worked to
(13:43):
slow it down to or outright try to stop it.
They tried sanctions, didn't work, they tried cyber didn't work.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
They tried the.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
JCPO WA was sort of working, and then Trump got
out of it. So look, he has been saying it,
stevene because it takes time to get there. But what
would the world look like today if the Iranians were
using nuclear weapons to stop, you know, shipping trade in
the states of hormones?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
What would that be like?
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Jonathan answered that question. Answer that question directly in your estimation,
in the estimation of the Anti Defamation League, in the
estimation of the Jewish community. How would the world look
if Iran had a nuclear weapon? The picture for us,
paint the picture book.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
I want to be clear, like I can't say I
speak for the whole Jewish community, but ABL is the
oldest and I hate organization in the world. We can
find an anti Semitism, racism, extremism for more than one
hundred and twelve years.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
And here's what I can say.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Iran is the largest state sponsor of anti Semitism, extremism.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Tear in the world.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
Not just my opinion, right, it's the facts that's presented
to us by the US State Department, by the CIA,
by the British government and others. And so what would
the world look like if your organization funding his Bullah
and Hamas and the Hoopis and the others had a
nuclear I am McLean sword they could wave over the
head of the West. And you know what would it
(15:04):
look like for the Jewish state of Israel. Look, Israel's
the size in New Jersey. What would it mean if
our strongest ally, what would it mean if our if
a key trading partner, What would it mean if a
country with whom we share our values has a nuclear
gun pointed at its head?
Speaker 3 (15:19):
I mean, I just got to say we're willing to.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
Get engaged in other countries around the world where we
think US interests are compromised or challenged.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
This could not be a clearer case.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
And keep in mind one other thing, Stephen Aka, It's
not just about Israel. Like the Iranians have killed hundreds
of Americans in Saudi in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Syria.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
They tried to assassinate President Trump. They took American hostages
again and again. They've worked against our interests. So this
isn't like just a Jewish fight, stephen A.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
Your audience needs to know this is an American fight,
because Iran has made it an American fight. Now, look,
that doesn't mean it's a fight between the American people
and the Iranian people, so far from it. The Iranian
people are extraordinary. But the Islamic Republic of Iran, this
despotic government that not only militates against America, that not
(16:11):
only for.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Men's hate against Jews, stephen A.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
They oppressed gays, they oppress women, other ethnic and religious minorities.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
They shoot their protesters in the head or arrest them
and mass they close the Internet, on and on.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
They repress their own people, let alone other groups around
the world.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
And that's why I think we have a problem with them.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Your thoughts on how much of this emanates from October seventh,
twenty and twenty three, when Amas has Blah and other
proxies obviously of Iran attacked Israel paint a picture of
what life has been like for the Jewish community, for
the state of Israel since that day.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
It is such a good and important question. One of
the things Jewish people around the world have learned is
when someone says they are going to kill, you believe them.
So when Hamas said it was dedicated to the destruction
of Israel, many in the Jewish day didn't take it seriously.
Many in the West didn't take it seriously. And then
(17:12):
we saw the genocidal rampage on oc Cobra the seventh.
Israel was unprepared for it and paid a heavy price.
Still there's fifty hostages being held in chains in dungeons
in tunnels under Gaza right now. And so in the
Orian regime, literally stephen A in Tehran, they had a
(17:32):
clock they erected, like a digital clock that was counting
down to the destruction of Israel. The Supreme Leader and
his religious speeches, and their political leaders and the military
leaders would say things like Israel is.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
A cancer, Israel is a tumor. The Jewish state will
be destroyed.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
And so I think after October seventh, Israel was reminded
of the price that you pay from naivete or wilful neglect.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
And so when Iran continues to and not only insist
that they will destroy the Jewish State when we.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Know they're working toward that goal by funding Hamas, by
arming Hazbela, by providing support for the Huthis, Israel felt
it compelled.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
If they're going before they have a nuclear weapon, let's
stop that in its tracks.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
I'll make one other really key point here, Okay, Israel
is not attacking schools or mosques, or hospitals, or shopping
malls or civilian centers. They're attacking military installations, rocket launchers,
and nuclear facilities. Contrast, that was what the Iranians are doing,
attacking there you go, mosques, synagogues, schools, shopping malls. They
(18:44):
shot up a hospital this morning in the south of Israel,
murdered somewhere between four to six people.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
They're killing Jews, Muslims, Christians.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
They're killing Israelis, They're killing Arabs, they're killing Bedouin. I mean,
they are indiscriminate in the missile fire against the Jewish state,
while Israel is focusing very precisely on only military targets.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
I mean, the difference could not be more stark.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
I want to make sure that I asked this question
in all fairness to the critics and the cynics out
there I don't happen to be one of them. I
don't know enough. I listened to critics, but I also
listen to somebody like you, who I've known for years,
and I'm proud to know. I will ask you this
question in all sincerity that somebody like you wanted to
rare individuals qualified to answer this. There's been a lot
(19:29):
of criticism being aimed in the direction of Israel, specifically
net and Yahoo, but obviously overall the state of Israel
in terms of what's been happening in Gaza in the
aftermath of October seventh. People are talking about women and
children being displaced, people being killed, the excessive amount of
bombing that Net in Yahoo and Israel has rained down
(19:52):
upon that area of the world, and how essentially it's
about expansion more so than anything else. This is what
critics have said. We see protests college campuses throughout the
United States. We've seen mainly primarily people on the right,
complaining about what's been transpiring at some of these universities,
(20:15):
which is why President Trump has received some of the
report the support rather than he has received. We also
see representatives, particularly on the extreme left, who clearly think
otherwise your thoughts about the arguments that are being made
against the state of Israel and net in Yahoo in
light of the displacement and the wreckage that exists in
(20:38):
that area of the world because of the bombings.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
So there's so much to unpack here.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
And I'm just going to say right off the bat,
how much I appreciate you and the show because you
tackle these things with an open mind, looking for the facts,
just trying to understand, and we need more.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Of that in our society today.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
So thank you literally for just probing, saying, hey, help
me understand.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
So couple things. Number One, Israel is not beyond reproach.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
The Jewish State certainly can be criticized like any other
state on the planet Earth. It's a myth to say
I get accused of anti Semitism if I criticize Israel.
I don't think there's a foreign policy topic more widely
discussed than what's going on in the Middle East. And
if you're looking for an organization that talks about's happening
(21:27):
in Israel and doesn't use anti Semitism to do it,
go to this website ADL dot org. Because we criticize Israel,
we criticize the prime minister and prior prime.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Ministers when we disagree.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
So there's nothing wrong with criticizing the policies, the politics,
the personalities in a particular government anywhere America, Israel, anywhere
in between. Now, secondly, what is also true is there
are double standards applied to the Jewish state that don't
get applied anywhere else. So, for example, you see these
(21:58):
protests like you were mentioning of what's happened since October
the seventh, okay, against Israel on college campuses. Can you
tell you about any mass protests? And by the way,
so estimates are the forty thousands some of the people
have been killed in Gaza, every loss, every person killed
is a tragedy. Now I will stipulate that according to
(22:18):
the Israeli estimates, about half the people killed are Hamas fighters.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Okay, So whether.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Or not you exactly believe that were that somewhere in
the range, and most other experts are saying much the same.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Look now at the Ukraine, where.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
There were there have been hundreds of thousands of people
killed by the Russians, no mass protests. Look at Syria,
stephen A, where again upwards of a million people were
killed by the Asada regime and in the CI war
that followed, no mass protests. Look at what's happened in
China over the decades where they repressed minorities, no mass protests.
(22:56):
So why is it that only the Jewish state gets
targeted this way? And remember that they you know, there
was a ceasefire in Gaza, if you will, stephen A
on October the sixth, there wasn't a single Israeli soldier
nor a single is really civilian inside Gaza, and then
of course what happened on the seventh. Now, I want
the fighting to end, I want the hostage come home.
(23:19):
I want Gaza to be rebuilt. That could happen like
this if Hamas would simply release the hostages and state
that they're willing.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
To make peace with But but Donathan, is that really
is that?
Speaker 3 (23:32):
Hold on? Is that really?
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Is that really really true? When we and I'm talking
about specifically net and Yahoo here, when you you we
know how dogged he is about eliminating Hamas Hezballah Iran overall.
He could you know when you call debt to Israel
debt to America and you spew that kind of heverviage
and you have proxies carrying out your deeds, your wishes
(23:54):
the way they have, along with the hoodies and others.
Net and Yahoo has made it very very clear he
wants to take care of them. So is it really
true that if fifty hostages didn't no longer remained in Gaza,
that we wouldn't be seeing these kind of actions from
Net and Yahoo and Israel in pursuit of Hamas.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Is that really true?
Speaker 4 (24:20):
The truth is is that there was no sort of
kinetic action happening in our Cober the sixth. And I
think again, if if Kamas said explicitly and openly, we'll
return all the hostages we took, old people, young people, men, women, boys, girls,
we'll return them all and we'll lay down our arms
and agree to negotiate a peace with Israel, then primester
(24:43):
in Yahoo or any Israeli leader would have no pretext
to do what they're doing.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
So, I mean, I appreciate the question of, like, what's.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
The hypothetical look like, but we don't even need to
think about the counterfactual because we've got the facts right
here and now they're unwilling to accept it.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
You which state is their neighbor?
Speaker 4 (25:01):
Now, let's be clear like uae Is, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain,
it seems that Saudi Arabia will be and many other countries.
It seems that Syria to the northeast of the country
is now willing to accept Israel. It is only Hamas,
which is a client state, if you will, are a
(25:21):
client organization.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
So I don't look if Israel wanted you know, people
accuse Israel of committing genocide. If that is I mean,
it's the worst executed genocide in human history. Israel has
the capabilities to do much more damage than they've chosen
to do. People call it ethnic cleansing. The Israelis have
not forceally taken anyone out of that enclave. They've told
them to move for their own safety's sake, but they're
(25:48):
not taking boats and shipping people away. And furthermore, the
reality is again that Israel has exercised supreme caution. Now
I want this Gaza rebuilt. I want peace between Israelis
and Palestinians. No one benefits from war except for the
Islamic Republic of Iran, except for the Muslim Brotherhood, except
(26:09):
for Hamas. The organizations which want conflict again. I want
peace in order to neutralize these threats once and for all,
so ordinary Palestinians, ordinary Israelis can live together, save in town.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I will say one other thing.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
I am very alarmed, stephen A, about the level of
anti Semitism in this country. Were commentators, as you were
alluding to, on the far right, like Tucker Carlson, or
like you know, Dave Smith, or frankly like canniz Owones
if you had on your show people on the radical left,
people like Meddi Hassan, people like Hassan Piker, people like
(26:44):
Max Blumenthal make wild claims that the Zionists control America,
that this is Israel's war and they're manipulating the United States.
Like that's bolgoney, And I think good people should call
that out every time because it foments anti Semitism and
hate right here at home.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Well, you brought up the name Candice Owens, who was
a guest on this show just last week, and let
me get you to respond to what she has to say.
I mean, she's got over four million subscribers on the
YouTube channel, over six million followers on Instagram alone. She's
very popular. Nobody can deny that and she's somebody on
(27:20):
the right. She's a voter and a supporter unapologetically of
Trump of most conservative causes, but on this particular issue,
she has been all in against Israel and then some
So let's hear what she has to say and get
your response to exactly what she has had to say
about Israel, and to some degree the Jewish community listen
(27:42):
to this.
Speaker 5 (27:43):
Well, it was very obvious that this war was going
to happen because the American foreign policy is dictated by Israel.
And it was problematic that Bibina and Yahoo was increasing
his rhetoric against Iran. And this is after they have
effectively seized land in Syria. They were cheering what happened
in Syria. We knew that it was going to end
up wind up with Christians being mass murdered, which is
(28:05):
what's happening right now, and what's happening in the Middle East.
For those who aren't clear on this is Israel is
simply is expanding its borders, whether that be by carpet
bombing women and children, which we have not had a
person with power effectively say that this is morally wrong.
Of course, and now it seems they also want to
(28:26):
annex the West Bank. What's happening in the West Bank,
which has nothing to do with Gaza, is the individuals
that live there are being traumatized by the IDF. And
so if you're paying attention, it's very clear that they
have become increasingly radical and they are effectively, as they
always do, using the American military to fulfill their foreign
policy interests. Because they are a small nation, they don't
have the bodies to be able to accomplish that. They
(28:49):
need the might of the American military to accomplish their
foreign Middle Eastern objectives. And so yeah, it was very
I am on record saying this for the last two years,
We're going to war with the one way or the
other because what bb Net and Yah who wants is
what bb Netanyah?
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Who gets flos Jonathan, your response to that.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
Lie after lie after lie after lie after.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Lie, give it to me.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
I mean, look, there's a lot to unpack in what
she said. Again, the Islamic public of Iran declared war
on America forty six years ago. They've slaughtered hundreds of servicemen, civilians, journalists, diplomats,
et cetera. They tried to kill the president of the
United States again, President Trump. Uh, they've tried to kill
(29:38):
and put fatwas out on people like former Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo, former US Abasador of the un John
Bolton State Department, specially Enway Brian Hook. I mean, this
is what they have done in just recent years. And
the reality is that to make these claims that israelis
art bit bombing, does she know what that word with
(29:59):
that ter even means, because you have literally no examples
of that whatsoever.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Israel hasn't taken any territory out of Syria.
Speaker 4 (30:07):
And maybe talking about the Goal on Heights, which Israel
took in nineteen sixty seven after the Syrian shot at
Israeli kid but Seemen, Israeli civilians lobbed mortars from that
high strategic plateau for decades against them, maybe.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
That's what she means.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Look, Israel has done more to protect religious minorities, including Christians,
including Drus in Syria and in Israel. The only country
in the Middle East where the Christian community is growing
is Israel, not in any of the neighboring countries. And lastly,
I'll just say these claims that like Israel needs America
to fight its wars. I mean, look at what the
(30:45):
Israeli military has accomplished in Gaza, taking out Sinwar, in Lebanon,
taking out the Hasbela leadership in Iran, taking out the
Iranian military command structure.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
You know, all over.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Israel has fought these words entirely on its own. Now,
it's certainly true that the Israeli military uses some American
military equipment, equipment for which they pay.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Most of the money that we give to Israel a
military aid.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
Israel's obligated to spend on US munitions, US equipment, US hardware.
So this is a very positive relationship and it gives
us a beachhead in the most you know, in this
very strategic part of the planet. So America doesn't fight
Israel's wars. But let me make sure that your listeners
are clear about this. It is antisemitic and a long
(31:34):
standing prist to accuse the Jews of manipulating events for
their own interests.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
You know.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
Again, the Russians use this to justify the massacres of
the Jews. The Nazis use this to justify the massacres
of the Jews. Air governments use this justify pushing out
and mastering the Jews after forty eight and now Candice
Owens is using it and it's not just irresponsible, it's incitement.
And so I don't care how many followers she has,
which she doesn't have, that her fingertips are the facts,
(32:02):
and a cursory understanding of these issues would lead you
to conclude that the claims that she's making are not
just spurious, they're just flat out wrong.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
More to Steven A. Smith Show with the one and
only Jonathan Greenblatt in a minute, Welcome back to Stephen A.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Smith Show.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Jonathan Greenblatt right here with the Anti Defamation League CEO
of the Anti Defamation League, right here with yours truly
on this show. I heard what you have to say
about Candice Owan's Let's talk about folks on the extreme right,
the Steve Bannons of the world, the Tucker Callsons of
the world, the Marjorie Tailor Greens representative to Marjorie Taylor
Greens of the world, and others who are adamant that
(32:50):
the United States shouldn't be involved. Let Israel handle this
matter on their own. Why do we have to get involved.
We need to be about America a first, more nationalistic
in our view and our actions as opposed to being globalistic.
Your thoughts about that.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
It's interesting because I think you're kind of making the
point that anti Semitism and anti Jewish hate is an
equal opportunity employer.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
And you have these folks in the MAGA movement.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
Now, look, President Trump has been extraordinary inter to the
support of the Jewish State, as have many of the
people in the current administration. But you have people around
them like Tucker Carlson, like Steve Bannon, who are I
think again, just wrong on the facts that have a
certain animis toward the Jewish State, which is very worrisome
to me. A nuclear armed Iran again, which has threatened
(33:39):
America for decades and decades and decades, is deeply problematic,
not just to us, by the way, or to the
Jewish State, but to our allies in Saudi Arabia, in
the United Arab Emirates, in Bahrain, all countries upon which
Iran has territorial ambitions, but of course as well in Cutter,
like I would ask Tucker else and if I could
(34:01):
tell us about your relationship with Cutter, help us understand
you know how your bills get paid. Cutter, is this
country that sort of acts in one hand as an
interlocutor between America and Israel and Camas and Iran, but
they're constantly playing both sides, and they've got very deep
pockets and have used that money and spread it around.
(34:22):
And I think the influence of Katari money is deeply
problematic on our public conversation. So I think that that's
part of what's going on here, part of what's driving
the animis some of these folks because cut Art is
a country that's that openly supported the Muslim Brotherhood, openly
supported Kamas for decades, stephen A.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
And so when your audience hears these comments, they.
Speaker 4 (34:45):
Need to pull back the curtain and realize what may
be behind it, whose agenda, whose motives, whose song is
really being sung?
Speaker 1 (34:53):
And that's why I love the fact that you highlight
what you believe in what you're classifying as you anti Semitic,
because I think it's incredibly important that we all understand
your definition of what anti Semitism is, because when somebody
like myself or others who are not Jewish hear these things,
we might say, Okay, they disagree with trying to think
green black, you know, they disagree with the anti Deformation League.
(35:15):
They might disagree with Benjamin at Yahoo, but we don't
go as far as to say anti semitic. So when
you say anti semitic, enlighten my audience as to what
really falls under that category. So we can enlighten everybody
and everybody can understand caause one of the things that
I'm a stick with for I can't stand somebody that's
not black talking to me about what I should believe
(35:37):
is racist.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
And is not.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Just like if you bring up anti semitism, where if
you're a Jewish individual, you have a right to classify
what is anti semitic. So long is this consistency amongst
I think everybody understands in the Black community what racism is.
I think everybody in the Jewish community should be unified
and aligned with what anti semitism is. Classify the fine
(36:00):
it for us so we'll all know.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
Let's do it.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
Anti Semitism is an irrational hatred of individuals or institutions
because of their Jewish identity, whether you define that as
their ethnicity, their faith, or even their nation.
Speaker 3 (36:19):
It is an irrational hatred of Jewish people.
Speaker 4 (36:22):
It often manifests a series of tropes or myths the
Jews have too much power.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
The Jews are always cheap.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
The Jews are not loyal to the country in which
they live. The Jews want to kill Christian people or
most people who are different than them. The Jews are
not legitimate, right Sometimes they say the Jewish religion isn't legitimate,
or the Jewish race is not legitimate, or they say
the Jewish state is not legitimate.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
But you see these myths stephen A that transcend culture,
that cross continents and look. Some Jews present as white
like I do.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
There are also Jews of color who present as might
present as African American or Asian American, or be of
a different kind of ethnic persuasion. There were Jews who
are deeply religious and observant. There were Jews who may
self define as atheist or like secular humanists and never
step foot in a synagogue. There are Jews who come
(37:20):
from Arab countries whose native tongue might be Arab or
Arabic or Kurdish, or from a Muslim countries where their
native tongue might be Turkish or Persian. But Jews as
a people have experienced hate over the century. So when
it comes to the state of Israel. What is anti
(37:40):
Semitic or what is just critical? There's nothing wrong, like
I said at the top, with criticizing policies of the
Jewish state, nothing wrong with critician policies of America.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
Criticizing President Trump.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
Criticizing America doesn't make you anti American, And criticizing policies
of the State of Israel or people in you head doesn't.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Make you anti Semitic. And here's where it crosses the line.
Speaker 4 (38:01):
It's something for you, stephen A, to think about, maybe
like a like a heuristic to use.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
Call it the three D test.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
Number one, do you not criticize Israel but demonize all
israelis hold all israelis responsible?
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Number two?
Speaker 4 (38:18):
Do you delegitimize the state of Israel? Do you suggest
it doesn't have the right to exist? Will you not
acknowledge its right to exist as a Jewish democratic state?
And then number three double standards? Do you apply double
standards to Israel? That is different than the way that
you treat other countries. So what I would tell you
is criticism of Israel crosses a line into antisemitism when
(38:43):
it invokes demonization, delegitimization, or double standards.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Is that the case, when we're talking about the Jewish state,
when people use what transpired in nineteen forty eight, immediately
in the aftermath of World War II, how they feel
palaestini Is were displaced, how this territory was granted to Israel.
When you look at the sixties and the lines that
were drawn at that particular moment in time, I believe
it was nineteen sixty seven sixty eight, like you pointed out,
(39:09):
to this very present day, when folks are using when
you see these protests on college campuses, when you see
pro Palestinian supporters or you know, Proalestinican supporters, pro Palestinian support,
when they're pointing to these folks that have been displaced
in what have you, and they're relating that to being
minorities in the nations and having a scratch and claw
(39:30):
and fight battles uphill because a power structure has taken
over what they believe should be rightfully theirs in a
civilized society. And that's their rationale behind questioning the state
of Israel. How do you, as a Jewish individual, the
CEO of the Anti Defamation League respond to that.
Speaker 4 (39:49):
Well, I think there's nothing wrong with peaceful protests. I
think there's nothing wrong with voising your opinion. I think
the's nothing wrong with saying free Gaza. But if your
idea of political protest is standing in in front of
a synagogue on Saturday morning while people are walking into
services and screaming free Gaza at them, these Jewish people
who just want to go pray, I have a problem
with that. I think there's nothing wrong with being on
(40:12):
a campus and expressively strong opinion and writing an op
ed and even camping out necessarily. But if your encampment
refuses to admit individuals who identify as Jewish unless they
say they're anti Zionist, I have a problem with that.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
You'll buy a litmus test to all Jews.
Speaker 4 (40:29):
If your idea of protest, again in an environment, is
I'm going to speak up and vandalize a synagogue. But
I would never think of vandalizing a Russian Orthodox church
if I was having in Ukraine, I have a problem
with that. So again, there's nothing wrong with protests, even ah,
but when you harass, when you vandalize, when you commit
acts of violence, again, holding all Jews collectly responsible for
(40:55):
something you don't like in the Middle East, that's a
big problem for me. And look, I don't mean that
in a theoretical way. Let's talk about what happened a
month ago when two individuals were shot in the back
twenty times when they walked out of the Capitol Jewish Museum.
Did not know where they worked, he did not know
what they thought, he did not know where they were from.
(41:15):
But they were targets for him because they came out
of the Capital Jewish Museum at a Jewish event, or
in Boulder, Colorado, where I was.
Speaker 3 (41:23):
I was in DC right after that attack.
Speaker 4 (41:25):
A week later, Yeah, this group of people were firebombed
by a person screaming and the Zionists Free Palestine. Now again,
when I say firebomb, he sprayed it then, using a
homemade flamethrower. And we're not talking about, you know, people
marching IDF uniforms. Okay, We're talking about elderly people who
(41:46):
were walking across a park to honor the hostages still
held in captivity in Gaza. So again, if this is
your if you say things like globalizing into Fada, which
is a slogan that promotes violence, the into Fada was
the violent attacks against Israelis killed more than a thousand
people when you say globalizing into fada, and then again
(42:08):
you subject Jewish people, irrespective of where they're from, or
how they think, or why they may both the way
they do, you subject the harassment. You vandalize their buildings
and their homes and their synagogues and their schools, and
then again you assault them with guns or with knives
or with flame throwers. I mean, this is not textbook
(42:28):
anti semitism. This is terrifying anti semitism.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
We need to rerect.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
What about the critics and the cynics that would point
to what is it? October twenty twenty three, if I
remember correctly, there was an Israeli strike on a church
and gaza that resulted in the deaths of Christians.
Speaker 3 (42:44):
This is what they said.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
I don't necessarily recall that, but I'm asking you about
that because I know you do. If it happens, what
about folks that will use that as an example to
point out what's transpiring in Palestinians.
Speaker 4 (42:55):
Yeah, I don't know the specifics of that, Okay, strike,
I'm not familiar with it, so I can't speak to it.
Speaker 3 (43:01):
Okay. You know, look like in a war, bad things happen.
Speaker 4 (43:05):
Again, the Israelis have tried have Indeed, they have gone
into hospitals because there are tunnels underneath where the militants
are hiding. They have gone into schools because they store
weapons and munitions again inside of them. And when the Israeli,
when the idea has made mistakes, they have investigations, they apologize,
they try to work it out. Hamas, they say openly
(43:28):
that they said it openly after the October seventhe tonight
they said, we will do this again and again and
again and again again. They butchered elderly people, they raped women,
They shot children in front of their parents. They shot
parents in front of their children. The level of depravity
knows no bounds. So again, the IDF and the democratically
(43:50):
elected government of Israel is accountable in the court of
law and in the court of public opinion. Hamas, you
know has Balla, the Islamic Republic of Iran, these aren't
democratic institutions. These aren't people who abide by the popular will.
They only rule by the law of the gun. And
(44:10):
that is very difficult when Israel has to face these
countries or these entities which declare their intent to destroy
the Jewish state. So that's not to say that Israel
is not perfect. They make mistakes, there's room to criticize.
I just think we need to make sure that we're
modulating appropriately and again not holding the country to double
(44:31):
standards that aren't applied to anywhere else in the way.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Before I let you get on out of here, just
a couple of questions and thanks again to town Think
green Blat, CEO to ADL, I really really appreciate your time.
Do you believe that things are going to get better?
I'm talking about any immediate. I'm not talking long term,
but any immediate. Do you believe things are going to
get better or worse in light of the Israel Iran
conflict taking place as we speak.
Speaker 4 (44:55):
Well, look, Jews around the world are not safe as
long as see Islamic Republic calls to murder Zionists, calls
to end the Jewish state by any means necessary, and
commits itself to this homicidal agenda.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
So I am hopeful.
Speaker 4 (45:15):
That this cease fire isn't a tactical play, but it
is the.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
Start of a strategic shift. If we could.
Speaker 4 (45:24):
See a change in the goals of the Islamic Republic
of Iran, that they would accept their Jewish neighbor, like
the Jewish State would accept their Islamic neighbor. I think
all things are possible. But unless they renounce their agenda
of extremism, unless they commit to stop funding terror and
(45:47):
to stop focusing on destroying their neighbor, then I worry
stephen A that this isn't a this is not more
than a pause, and that would be I think again
problematic for everyone. Everyone suffers, everyone suffers when this tyrannical government,
uh you know, continues its terror activities.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
What are we to make before I let you get
on out of here, what are we to make of
the fact that what President Trump was willing to do
on behalf of Israeli interest and American interest to be fair,
that he was willing to do something that one would
say Biden wasn't willing to do, that President Barack Obama
(46:27):
wasn't willing to do along with some of Trump's other predecessors.
What are do you what do you believe us outside
of the Jewish community should make a President Trump willing
to do something that others weren't willing to do, meaning
handling it the way that he handled it in terms
of electing to nuke the you know, to bomb rather
(46:49):
the nuclear sites that are that Iran, where Iran was,
Iran was obviously enriching, trying to enrich uranium and what
have you. What are we to make of that?
Speaker 3 (46:59):
So a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (47:00):
So number one, you know, number one again, presidents for
decades have had a stated policy they would not allow
the Iranian regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran to get
nuclear weapons. Why because of the threat that they pose
to America, to our allies, and to our interests around
the world.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
So that's been a state of politic for a long time.
Speaker 4 (47:20):
You know, I, may or man, I don't agree with
everything President Trump does, but I credit him with realizing
that diplomacy only works. You know, you only have peace
whose strength, and diplomasa only works if you're willing to
kind of give consequences when it fails. I mean, you
won't come to the table to negotiate if you think
there's no consequences to not doing it. And so the
Iranians for years, for years have played the game of
(47:43):
delay and deny and obsvocate. I mean, it's what they
have done for a long time at the negotiating table.
The IAEA said they were in violation. Human rights observers
for years have said they're killing protesters, they're shooting people.
The Israelities who clearly good intelligence. I mean literally, what
the Israelis have done in terms of penetrating the Islamic
(48:04):
Republic being on the inside is short of a miracle,
and it shows us they have great intelligence with happening
on the ground inside the regime. So when they say
they were this close to a bomb, I believe them
because they were able to hit these people, like in
their bedrooms at night, with such precision that only like
the Supreme Leader's closest confidants are wounded or killed, nobody else,
(48:28):
even in like the apartment building.
Speaker 3 (48:30):
It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (48:31):
So clearly, stephen A, they knew what they were doing,
and clearly Donald Trump listened to them. He did say
I'm going to give the Iranians sixty days to negotiate,
and then when the Iranians failed to develop or deliver
a meaningful proposal, he thought it was an America's interest
to take action. I respect his commitment and his willingness
to use force as a last resort. Now again, my
(48:56):
hope would be that Iran would realize the folly of
the approach. They would see the damage that Israel and
the United States have done. They would look at the
wreckage of their own economy, the anger of their own people,
the debris of their own nuclear that say, you know what,
we need to try something else. This is not working.
(49:18):
I hope and pray that they'll come to their senses.
Whether or not it's a supreme leader. I don't have
any faith in him, or it's other people inside the country,
but they need to try something different in order to
achieve a different outcome.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
Very very last question to you, anti Semitism today worse
than it was a year ago, two years ago, ten
years ago, all along the same lines.
Speaker 3 (49:45):
How would you classify it look.
Speaker 4 (49:47):
ADL is a data driven, evidence based organization. We've been
tracking anti Semitic attitudes, measuring attitudes, and tracking incidents for decades.
Speaker 3 (49:59):
We've been measuring attitudes for.
Speaker 4 (50:00):
More than sixty years, and in the last five years,
intense anti Jewish attitudes in the United States have more
than doubled as a share of the population from eleven
percent in twenty nineteen to twenty four percent last year.
That's stunning. And then we also track incidents. These are
(50:23):
acts of harassment, vandalism or violence. When I started in
the job in twenty fifteen, we had nine hundred and
forty that year. Last year, stephen A, we had nearly
nine thousand, four hundred.
Speaker 3 (50:36):
It's ten x and we hit record.
Speaker 4 (50:38):
One thing to worth noting for you and your audience,
we broke the record. We saw the highest number in
twenty nineteen, and then in U high and twenty one,
and then twenty two, and then twenty three and then
twenty four. I mean literally in five of the last
six years we've broken the record. So based on attitudes,
based on incidents, we are seeing some of the worst
(51:03):
indicators that we've ever tracked.
Speaker 3 (51:06):
But what that does for me is energize me to
do better.
Speaker 4 (51:10):
We've got to try new approaches, we've got to build
new partnerships, we've got to strengthen existing relationships. In this moment,
we have to keep in mind that it's always darkest
before the dawn, And I have tremendous conviction that with
determination and focus again, whether it's the Jewish and Black
community who have so much in common, our people are
(51:32):
so aligned on so much, there is richness, an opportunity
to work together to only build better outcomes for Jews
and for black people, but it better outcomes for all
of America.
Speaker 3 (51:43):
That's my sincere very.
Speaker 1 (51:45):
Last question, what does your data show was the cause
of those record breaking numbers? And is there a solution
inside it? If so, what is it? Last question?
Speaker 3 (51:59):
All things are in this Number one.
Speaker 4 (52:01):
I think we're living in a moment where our political,
our public conversation has really coursen. And so people, you know,
when systems fail, the haves and the have nots gap
grows people and systems aren't working again, people think they
can't get a break. They look for someone to blame,
(52:22):
and if you will, populists and some leaders scapegoat and
will blame small groups of people for what they think
is the problems of the world. You see some social
media influencers, by the way, and so number one, I
think there's a kind of blame game. Number two, extremists
feel emboldened when you can get millions of followers on
(52:42):
Instagram or on sub stack or on TikTok and ways
you never could before. And they're getting elected to office
and they're getting ad deals. So extremeist feel emboldened. And
then number three, social media. Social media is a super spreader,
not just anti semitism, anti black racism, other forms of bigotry.
You don't have to bleeds, it leads. And so you're
seeing stuff on Insta, on x, on, TikTok, on so
(53:06):
many of these platforms that only feeds, you.
Speaker 3 (53:09):
Know, the craziness.
Speaker 4 (53:10):
And by the way, as Jenai takes on, you know,
as things like Wikipedia become our only.
Speaker 3 (53:14):
Source of information, it's even worse.
Speaker 4 (53:17):
So you add those things together, a kind of polarization,
emboldened extremists, intensifying polarization, emboldened extremism, and social.
Speaker 3 (53:26):
Media becoming our number one source of information.
Speaker 4 (53:30):
That equation adds up to normalizing anti semitism. And I
think what's dangerous about that is, again, it affects.
Speaker 3 (53:37):
Jews for sure.
Speaker 4 (53:39):
Obviously we're only two percent of the population, but we're
sixty plus percent, sixty plus percent of like religiously inspired
hate crimes. We're fifteen percent of overall hate crimes.
Speaker 3 (53:52):
I mean, it's crazy, which is why we got to
deal with this. So what's the solution.
Speaker 4 (53:57):
Look, Number one, I think in order to deal with
this social media stuff, we need regulation. Again, I'm not
a fan of censorship, but you know, you could get
sued if you say something on ESPN that someone considers defamatory.
If you say it on social media, you're free to go.
So we just need social media to live by the
same rules that traditional media lives by, Like should be
(54:20):
liable if you commit liable, real simple. That's number one.
Number two, we need to really improve our education system.
Like we know already that our kids owner the Constitution,
but I think there's a way a lot of criticism
happens a DEI and I understand that, and there's things
I don't like about the DEI industrial complex, But diversity
helps our country. I believe in inclusion deeply, and I
(54:42):
think we need to rethink the kind of education we're
giving our kids so that they understand what it's like
to live in this incredibly heterogeneous, vibrant world where diversity
actually makes us better.
Speaker 3 (54:54):
And then number three, I think.
Speaker 4 (54:56):
We just need people need to speak up and say
something when they see something, like when you see anti
semitism or racism or sexism, like say something. It's not
pc to say something, you know, don't call somebody you
know the blank word, right, or don't say that all
Jews are like you know, not loyal to America. So
(55:18):
I think if people would speak up and like find
their kind of you know, their their self, express themselves
and speak their mind in a way that protects everybody,
speak up. I think, secondly again rethink education, and thirdly
address social media.
Speaker 3 (55:34):
Anything's possible.
Speaker 1 (55:36):
Jonathan Green that we It's been a while since we've spoken,
but I love talking to you. You know, you always
have a home here on this show. Anytime you want
to come on, you know you more than welcome. Is
great to see you again, great to talk to you again.
I'm always here for you. Feel free to reach out anytime, buddy,
and I'm sure I'll see you in.
Speaker 3 (55:51):
A very very near future.
Speaker 1 (55:52):
You take care of yourself, and I thank you so
much for giving me all the time that you've given
me to day.
Speaker 3 (55:56):
I really appreciate it. At the last minute, Thank you,
my friend, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (56:00):
All Right, the one and only Jonathan greenblatch for the
Anti Defamation League, the CEO. You heard it right there
from him. He would know what he's talking about. I'm
gonna leave y'all a soak on that because I don't
need to elaborate anything. I don't need to elaborate on
anything that he said. You heard him, you heard what
he had to say. Okay, it's an education. Appreciate it,
take it for what it is. Soak it all in,
absorb it, and watch it again and again and again
(56:22):
if you can, because obviously he dropped a lot of
knowledge there. That's it for this edition of The Stephen
Nate Smith Show. I hope you enjoyed it as much
as I do. I hope you walk away it's edified
as I feel I have, and I hope that you'll
continue to watch the show and certainly support the Anti
Defamation League. Look at what this man is saying. Do
your research and Jonathan green Blad or what he brings
to the table, and I think that we'll all benefit
(56:44):
from that. Until next time, everybody, I got to sign off.
I'm still traveling due to the NBA Finals and the
upcoming NBA Draft, so you'll see me ABC, ESPN, etc.
Until next time. You'll also see me right here on
YouTube as well, so I'm not going anywhere. This is
Stephen A. Smith Show. Sign it off until next time.
Peace and love everybody.
Speaker 2 (57:04):
By Body
Speaker 4 (57:09):
M.
If you remember, Candice Owly went off went off about
the Israeli Iran conflict and specifically Benjamin in Yahoo and
the Jewish community. In her own eloquent way. Of course,
she had her say, the Anti Defamation League has theirs.
(00:22):
Wait till you hear what it has to say, what
he has to say, as in the CEO of the
Anti Defamation League sit down with yours truly. Coming up next,
steven A. Smith Show in the House. What's up, everybody?
(00:50):
Welcome to the latest edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show,
coming at you as I love to do at the
very least three times a week over the digital areas
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(01:10):
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Second Chances and First Takes now and paperback. Just go
(01:32):
straight shoot book dot com to get yourself a copy.
Once again, that straight shoot the book dot com to
get yourself copy. Obviously, there Israeli Iran conflict that's taking
fold and it's a very very big deal in this world.
And we'll be getting into all of that, especially when
I talk to Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Antidefamation League,
in just the second. But before we even get to that,
(01:53):
I've got to get to the latest news because we've
got to get there some news about the ongoing war
between is real and they're on. Yesterday, President Donald Trump
showed visible anger as the ceasefire he broke it between
the two countries appeared to grow more for a job.
Take a listen to what President Trump had to say
yesterday when asked by reporters about the situation with Israel
(02:14):
and Iran. Take a look Israel.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
As soon as we made the deal, they came out
and they dropped the load of Bob's the likes of
which I've never seen before, the biggest load that we've seen.
I'm not happy with Israel. You know, when I say, okay,
now you have twelve hours, you don't go out in
the first hour.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
It just drop.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Everything you have on them. So I'm not happy with them.
I'm not happy with Iron either.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
But I'm really.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Unhappy if Israel's going out this morning because the one
rocket that didn't land, that was shot perhaps by mistake,
that didn't land, I'm.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Not happy about that.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
You know what, We basically have two countries that have
been fighting so long and so hard that they don't
know what the fucks they're doing. Do you understand that?
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Wow, most of the eyre was actually directed towards Israel,
which he said unloaded on Iran as soon as the
White House made a deal. Hours later, President Trump took
credit for brokern piece between Israel and Iran, framing the
recent ceasefire as a direct result of the US air
strikes on Iran's nuclear sites. Here's what he wrote on
(03:18):
truth Social Quote. Both Israel and Iran wanted to stop
the war. Equally, it was my great honor to destroy
all nuclear facilities and capability and then stop the war.
End quote. That's what he wrote. Listen, Israel needs to
(03:38):
be careful because you have a lot of people on
the left. Of course, some members of the extreme right
who are nationalists. The Steve Bannons, the Tucker Callsons of
the world, the Mars Retailer Greens of the World, and others.
They're nationalists. They don't want our country involved in warfare.
They want us to prioritize our own interests instead of
(04:00):
that of Israel or any other nation for that matter.
Then you have those on the left that are of
the mindset that Barack Obama would not have done this,
he would have found a more diplomatic solution to engage with.
Joe Biden would not have done it. Even George W.
Bush might not have done it, or Clinton might not
have done it. They'll bring up stuff like that as
(04:22):
an example. Either way, you slice it. If Trump is
speaking out against Israel in any way after doing what
he did in terms of using our air force and
our navy to bomb nuclear sites in Iran that he
believed was facilitating developing the nuclear weapon. If he's calling
(04:45):
out Israel, he's essentially accusing them of being too aggressive.
And if you're accusing them of being too aggressive with Iran,
how long will it be before folks start regurgitating the
same cries about how they're too excessive in Gaza with
the Palestinians. That's what we have to be careful of.
(05:10):
If you're Israel, you have to be careful about that
because with net and Yahoo, who is considered by some
to be a warhawk looking for any excuse under the
sun to attack any sworn enemy in his eyes, the
support that you've garnered from folks around the world, but
(05:32):
specifically and especially America, if that's diluted in any way,
you don't know what that can materialize into for Israel.
Four members of the Jewish community. That's what he has
to take it to consideration. That's just the point to
(05:53):
bring up today in light of what you just saw
the forty seventh President of the United States echo, that's
just a nugget leading towards a bigger conversation, and that
bigger conversation is involving anti Semitism, its root, its cause,
(06:15):
its impact. It's a point that can't be ignored. But
in the end it's leads to it leads to a
bigger conversation, a conversation that must be had, not just
because of what's going on with Iran and Israel, not
just because of what's going on in the Gaza, in
the Gaza Strip and beyond, but also what's going on
(06:36):
on college campuses and throughout the streets of America. At
least in the eyes of the Jewish community. You're hearing
anti Semitism, You're hearing those words, you're hearing that phrase,
that word a lot more these days. And there are
folks in the Jewish community that says, this is real,
(06:58):
it's worse than it has ever been, or place is
worth Itan it has been in the last several decades,
to be more accurate. And then you have those who say,
just because you're criticizing the Jewish community and some of
the things that Prime Minister Benjamin Yahoo has been doing
and what he's done to displace Palestinians, calling some of
(07:24):
what he has done labeling it as murder. Some have
used the word genocide and other things like that. He's
a very incendiary words And to get to the root
of the matter to the heart of the matter. You
can't just talk to the Canvas Owens of the world,
who was just on this show a few days ago
and made hub points clearly known. You also got to
(07:47):
talk to somebody like my next guest. He is here
to discuss this. He is the CEO of the Anti
Defamation League. He has mister Jonathan Greenblack back with more
to Stephen is Myths Show in a minute. All right, everybody,
listen up with all the big time sports action that's
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Joining me now to discuss This is the CEO of
the Anti Defamation League, mister Jonathan Greenblat. Since becoming CEO
(09:15):
of the ADL, green Blat has modernized the organization while
focusing on the mission to fight the defamation of Jewish
people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.
Jonathan green Blat in the house. What's going on, sir,
Welcome back to the stephen A. Smishaw. How you doing.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Always good to see you.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
You know, just so much to get into right now.
We've seen so much being said, so much happening in
the world. Your take on exactly what is transpiring between
Israel and Iran at this particular moment in time.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Look, in many ways, I would describe what's happening between
Israel and Iran as one of those forever wars that
we hear a lot about, except that this forever war
was declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran forty six
years ago, you know Stephen A. Forty six years ago,
after the Islamic Revolution, the regime declared death to Israel,
(10:08):
death to America.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
And they've been waging an overt and covert.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
War against the Jewish people, the Jewish State of Israel
and you know, the United States of America for nearly
half a century.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
They've committed terror acts.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Around the world, some of which ended up murdering scores
of Jewish people, a number of which I'm talking about
places like iSER Baijan, or they murdered people in Bulgaria,
in Argentina.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Of course, in Israel.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
And they've had plots thwarted Highland, iSER Baijan, Kenya, India,
and it goes the list goes on. And look, the
reality is, they tried to assassinate President Trump, They've tried
to commit incidents here in the US.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
So I don't like war.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I don't think countries should be in conflict. I want
to see peace around the world. But you have a
government in Iran which has been dedicated openly explicitly to
destroying the Jewish states. So something was bound to happen.
As they were racing toward a nuclear weapon. I'm only
glad that after twelve days, hopefully we have a ceasefire
(11:22):
and pathway to a long term piece.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
So in short, you are completely in support of Israel
and the United States taking this position in the bomb
of the nuclear sites of Iran.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Correct, I am?
Speaker 4 (11:35):
I mean, look, I would rather use diplomacy, but they
demonstrated time and against ephen A that they weren't willing
to play ball. It's not enough to say or at
the table. The truth is, while they were at the table,
they were continuing to develop missiles, continuing to enrich uranium.
And look, I'm not an expert on the half life
of you know, fisile material, but I do know about
(11:58):
anti semitism and hate. While they were quote unquote negotiating
with US, steven A, they were funding terror groups across
the region. They were working to destabilize US interests around
the world. So I just think you gotta walk the
walk and talk the talk. If you're just talking to
talk but you're doing something else behind you know, behind
your back, that's not in good faith. So again, diplomacy
(12:23):
is much preferred to conflict, but sometimes you need a
little bit of conflict to make the diplomacy effect.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
What about those who would look at a guy like
Benjamin Nett and Yahoo, who obviously is the leader of
the Prime Minis for Israel, and they can track back
to nineteen ninety six where he's saying Uran is close
to a nuclear weapon two thousand, same thing, two thousand
and five, same thing, twenty ten, twenty eleven, two thousand
and fifteen, twenty eighteen, and obviously twenty twenty and especially
(12:53):
twenty and twenty four leading up to the election. This
is something that he's been on the record, regardless of
the administration saying.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
So.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I saw John Stewart on The Daily Show, I don't
want to say joking, even though obviously is a comedic
shows on Comedy Central, and he was telling jokes that
had people laughing. But he was basically pointing out how
we've heard this before on many occasions from mister net
and Yahoo. So how serious are we to take it?
What about those who would make that argument against net Yoo.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
Look, the fact of the matter is that developing a
nuclear weapon is that like you know, popping a thing
of hot pockets in the microwavey, it takes years, It
takes time, and over the years, Benjamin and Yahoo and
others not just him have been saying this was imminent,
and America and Israel and the West have worked to
(13:43):
slow it down to or outright try to stop it.
They tried sanctions, didn't work, they tried cyber didn't work.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
They tried the.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
JCPO WA was sort of working, and then Trump got
out of it. So look, he has been saying it,
stevene because it takes time to get there. But what
would the world look like today if the Iranians were
using nuclear weapons to stop, you know, shipping trade in
the states of hormones?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
What would that be like?
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Jonathan answered that question. Answer that question directly in your estimation,
in the estimation of the Anti Defamation League, in the
estimation of the Jewish community. How would the world look
if Iran had a nuclear weapon? The picture for us,
paint the picture book.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
I want to be clear, like I can't say I
speak for the whole Jewish community, but ABL is the
oldest and I hate organization in the world. We can
find an anti Semitism, racism, extremism for more than one
hundred and twelve years.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
And here's what I can say.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Iran is the largest state sponsor of anti Semitism, extremism.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Tear in the world.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
Not just my opinion, right, it's the facts that's presented
to us by the US State Department, by the CIA,
by the British government and others. And so what would
the world look like if your organization funding his Bullah
and Hamas and the Hoopis and the others had a
nuclear I am McLean sword they could wave over the
head of the West. And you know what would it
(15:04):
look like for the Jewish state of Israel. Look, Israel's
the size in New Jersey. What would it mean if
our strongest ally, what would it mean if our if
a key trading partner, What would it mean if a
country with whom we share our values has a nuclear
gun pointed at its head?
Speaker 3 (15:19):
I mean, I just got to say we're willing to.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
Get engaged in other countries around the world where we
think US interests are compromised or challenged.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
This could not be a clearer case.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
And keep in mind one other thing, Stephen Aka, It's
not just about Israel. Like the Iranians have killed hundreds
of Americans in Saudi in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Syria.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
They tried to assassinate President Trump. They took American hostages
again and again. They've worked against our interests. So this
isn't like just a Jewish fight, stephen A.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
Your audience needs to know this is an American fight,
because Iran has made it an American fight. Now, look,
that doesn't mean it's a fight between the American people
and the Iranian people, so far from it. The Iranian
people are extraordinary. But the Islamic Republic of Iran, this
despotic government that not only militates against America, that not
(16:11):
only for.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Men's hate against Jews, stephen A.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
They oppressed gays, they oppress women, other ethnic and religious minorities.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
They shoot their protesters in the head or arrest them
and mass they close the Internet, on and on.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
They repress their own people, let alone other groups around
the world.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
And that's why I think we have a problem with them.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Your thoughts on how much of this emanates from October seventh,
twenty and twenty three, when Amas has Blah and other
proxies obviously of Iran attacked Israel paint a picture of
what life has been like for the Jewish community, for
the state of Israel since that day.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
It is such a good and important question. One of
the things Jewish people around the world have learned is
when someone says they are going to kill, you believe them.
So when Hamas said it was dedicated to the destruction
of Israel, many in the Jewish day didn't take it seriously.
Many in the West didn't take it seriously. And then
(17:12):
we saw the genocidal rampage on oc Cobra the seventh.
Israel was unprepared for it and paid a heavy price.
Still there's fifty hostages being held in chains in dungeons
in tunnels under Gaza right now. And so in the
Orian regime, literally stephen A in Tehran, they had a
(17:32):
clock they erected, like a digital clock that was counting
down to the destruction of Israel. The Supreme Leader and
his religious speeches, and their political leaders and the military
leaders would say things like Israel is.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
A cancer, Israel is a tumor. The Jewish state will
be destroyed.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
And so I think after October seventh, Israel was reminded
of the price that you pay from naivete or wilful neglect.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
And so when Iran continues to and not only insist
that they will destroy the Jewish State when we.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Know they're working toward that goal by funding Hamas, by
arming Hazbela, by providing support for the Huthis, Israel felt
it compelled.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
If they're going before they have a nuclear weapon, let's
stop that in its tracks.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
I'll make one other really key point here, Okay, Israel
is not attacking schools or mosques, or hospitals, or shopping
malls or civilian centers. They're attacking military installations, rocket launchers,
and nuclear facilities. Contrast, that was what the Iranians are doing,
attacking there you go, mosques, synagogues, schools, shopping malls. They
(18:44):
shot up a hospital this morning in the south of Israel,
murdered somewhere between four to six people.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
They're killing Jews, Muslims, Christians.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
They're killing Israelis, They're killing Arabs, they're killing Bedouin. I mean,
they are indiscriminate in the missile fire against the Jewish state,
while Israel is focusing very precisely on only military targets.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
I mean, the difference could not be more stark.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
I want to make sure that I asked this question
in all fairness to the critics and the cynics out
there I don't happen to be one of them. I
don't know enough. I listened to critics, but I also
listen to somebody like you, who I've known for years,
and I'm proud to know. I will ask you this
question in all sincerity that somebody like you wanted to
rare individuals qualified to answer this. There's been a lot
(19:29):
of criticism being aimed in the direction of Israel, specifically
net and Yahoo, but obviously overall the state of Israel
in terms of what's been happening in Gaza in the
aftermath of October seventh. People are talking about women and
children being displaced, people being killed, the excessive amount of
bombing that Net in Yahoo and Israel has rained down
(19:52):
upon that area of the world, and how essentially it's
about expansion more so than anything else. This is what
critics have said. We see protests college campuses throughout the
United States. We've seen mainly primarily people on the right,
complaining about what's been transpiring at some of these universities,
(20:15):
which is why President Trump has received some of the
report the support rather than he has received. We also
see representatives, particularly on the extreme left, who clearly think
otherwise your thoughts about the arguments that are being made
against the state of Israel and net in Yahoo in
light of the displacement and the wreckage that exists in
(20:38):
that area of the world because of the bombings.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
So there's so much to unpack here.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
And I'm just going to say right off the bat,
how much I appreciate you and the show because you
tackle these things with an open mind, looking for the facts,
just trying to understand, and we need more.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Of that in our society today.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
So thank you literally for just probing, saying, hey, help
me understand.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
So couple things. Number One, Israel is not beyond reproach.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
The Jewish State certainly can be criticized like any other
state on the planet Earth. It's a myth to say
I get accused of anti Semitism if I criticize Israel.
I don't think there's a foreign policy topic more widely
discussed than what's going on in the Middle East. And
if you're looking for an organization that talks about's happening
(21:27):
in Israel and doesn't use anti Semitism to do it,
go to this website ADL dot org. Because we criticize Israel,
we criticize the prime minister and prior prime.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Ministers when we disagree.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
So there's nothing wrong with criticizing the policies, the politics,
the personalities in a particular government anywhere America, Israel, anywhere
in between. Now, secondly, what is also true is there
are double standards applied to the Jewish state that don't
get applied anywhere else. So, for example, you see these
(21:58):
protests like you were mentioning of what's happened since October
the seventh, okay, against Israel on college campuses. Can you
tell you about any mass protests? And by the way,
so estimates are the forty thousands some of the people
have been killed in Gaza, every loss, every person killed
is a tragedy. Now I will stipulate that according to
(22:18):
the Israeli estimates, about half the people killed are Hamas fighters.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Okay, So whether.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Or not you exactly believe that were that somewhere in
the range, and most other experts are saying much the same.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Look now at the Ukraine, where.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
There were there have been hundreds of thousands of people
killed by the Russians, no mass protests. Look at Syria,
stephen A, where again upwards of a million people were
killed by the Asada regime and in the CI war
that followed, no mass protests. Look at what's happened in
China over the decades where they repressed minorities, no mass protests.
(22:56):
So why is it that only the Jewish state gets
targeted this way? And remember that they you know, there
was a ceasefire in Gaza, if you will, stephen A
on October the sixth, there wasn't a single Israeli soldier
nor a single is really civilian inside Gaza, and then
of course what happened on the seventh. Now, I want
the fighting to end, I want the hostage come home.
(23:19):
I want Gaza to be rebuilt. That could happen like
this if Hamas would simply release the hostages and state
that they're willing.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
To make peace with But but Donathan, is that really
is that?
Speaker 3 (23:32):
Hold on? Is that really?
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Is that really really true? When we and I'm talking
about specifically net and Yahoo here, when you you we
know how dogged he is about eliminating Hamas Hezballah Iran overall.
He could you know when you call debt to Israel
debt to America and you spew that kind of heverviage
and you have proxies carrying out your deeds, your wishes
(23:54):
the way they have, along with the hoodies and others.
Net and Yahoo has made it very very clear he
wants to take care of them. So is it really
true that if fifty hostages didn't no longer remained in Gaza,
that we wouldn't be seeing these kind of actions from
Net and Yahoo and Israel in pursuit of Hamas.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Is that really true?
Speaker 4 (24:20):
The truth is is that there was no sort of
kinetic action happening in our Cober the sixth. And I
think again, if if Kamas said explicitly and openly, we'll
return all the hostages we took, old people, young people, men, women, boys, girls,
we'll return them all and we'll lay down our arms
and agree to negotiate a peace with Israel, then primester
(24:43):
in Yahoo or any Israeli leader would have no pretext
to do what they're doing.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
So, I mean, I appreciate the question of, like, what's.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
The hypothetical look like, but we don't even need to
think about the counterfactual because we've got the facts right
here and now they're unwilling to accept it.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
You which state is their neighbor?
Speaker 4 (25:01):
Now, let's be clear like uae Is, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain,
it seems that Saudi Arabia will be and many other countries.
It seems that Syria to the northeast of the country
is now willing to accept Israel. It is only Hamas,
which is a client state, if you will, are a
(25:21):
client organization.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
So I don't look if Israel wanted you know, people
accuse Israel of committing genocide. If that is I mean,
it's the worst executed genocide in human history. Israel has
the capabilities to do much more damage than they've chosen
to do. People call it ethnic cleansing. The Israelis have
not forceally taken anyone out of that enclave. They've told
them to move for their own safety's sake, but they're
(25:48):
not taking boats and shipping people away. And furthermore, the
reality is again that Israel has exercised supreme caution. Now
I want this Gaza rebuilt. I want peace between Israelis
and Palestinians. No one benefits from war except for the
Islamic Republic of Iran, except for the Muslim Brotherhood, except
(26:09):
for Hamas. The organizations which want conflict again. I want
peace in order to neutralize these threats once and for all,
so ordinary Palestinians, ordinary Israelis can live together, save in town.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I will say one other thing.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
I am very alarmed, stephen A, about the level of
anti Semitism in this country. Were commentators, as you were
alluding to, on the far right, like Tucker Carlson, or
like you know, Dave Smith, or frankly like canniz Owones
if you had on your show people on the radical left,
people like Meddi Hassan, people like Hassan Piker, people like
(26:44):
Max Blumenthal make wild claims that the Zionists control America,
that this is Israel's war and they're manipulating the United States.
Like that's bolgoney, And I think good people should call
that out every time because it foments anti Semitism and
hate right here at home.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Well, you brought up the name Candice Owens, who was
a guest on this show just last week, and let
me get you to respond to what she has to say.
I mean, she's got over four million subscribers on the
YouTube channel, over six million followers on Instagram alone. She's
very popular. Nobody can deny that and she's somebody on
(27:20):
the right. She's a voter and a supporter unapologetically of
Trump of most conservative causes, but on this particular issue,
she has been all in against Israel and then some
So let's hear what she has to say and get
your response to exactly what she has had to say
about Israel, and to some degree the Jewish community listen
(27:42):
to this.
Speaker 5 (27:43):
Well, it was very obvious that this war was going
to happen because the American foreign policy is dictated by Israel.
And it was problematic that Bibina and Yahoo was increasing
his rhetoric against Iran. And this is after they have
effectively seized land in Syria. They were cheering what happened
in Syria. We knew that it was going to end
up wind up with Christians being mass murdered, which is
(28:05):
what's happening right now, and what's happening in the Middle East.
For those who aren't clear on this is Israel is
simply is expanding its borders, whether that be by carpet
bombing women and children, which we have not had a
person with power effectively say that this is morally wrong.
Of course, and now it seems they also want to
(28:26):
annex the West Bank. What's happening in the West Bank,
which has nothing to do with Gaza, is the individuals
that live there are being traumatized by the IDF. And
so if you're paying attention, it's very clear that they
have become increasingly radical and they are effectively, as they
always do, using the American military to fulfill their foreign
policy interests. Because they are a small nation, they don't
have the bodies to be able to accomplish that. They
(28:49):
need the might of the American military to accomplish their
foreign Middle Eastern objectives. And so yeah, it was very
I am on record saying this for the last two years,
We're going to war with the one way or the
other because what bb Net and Yah who wants is
what bb Netanyah?
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Who gets flos Jonathan, your response to that.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
Lie after lie after lie after lie after.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Lie, give it to me.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
I mean, look, there's a lot to unpack in what
she said. Again, the Islamic public of Iran declared war
on America forty six years ago. They've slaughtered hundreds of servicemen, civilians, journalists, diplomats,
et cetera. They tried to kill the president of the
United States again, President Trump. Uh, they've tried to kill
(29:38):
and put fatwas out on people like former Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo, former US Abasador of the un John
Bolton State Department, specially Enway Brian Hook. I mean, this
is what they have done in just recent years. And
the reality is that to make these claims that israelis
art bit bombing, does she know what that word with
(29:59):
that ter even means, because you have literally no examples
of that whatsoever.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Israel hasn't taken any territory out of Syria.
Speaker 4 (30:07):
And maybe talking about the Goal on Heights, which Israel
took in nineteen sixty seven after the Syrian shot at
Israeli kid but Seemen, Israeli civilians lobbed mortars from that
high strategic plateau for decades against them, maybe.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
That's what she means.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Look, Israel has done more to protect religious minorities, including Christians,
including Drus in Syria and in Israel. The only country
in the Middle East where the Christian community is growing
is Israel, not in any of the neighboring countries. And lastly,
I'll just say these claims that like Israel needs America
to fight its wars. I mean, look at what the
(30:45):
Israeli military has accomplished in Gaza, taking out Sinwar, in Lebanon,
taking out the Hasbela leadership in Iran, taking out the
Iranian military command structure.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
You know, all over.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Israel has fought these words entirely on its own. Now,
it's certainly true that the Israeli military uses some American
military equipment, equipment for which they pay.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Most of the money that we give to Israel a
military aid.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
Israel's obligated to spend on US munitions, US equipment, US hardware.
So this is a very positive relationship and it gives
us a beachhead in the most you know, in this
very strategic part of the planet. So America doesn't fight
Israel's wars. But let me make sure that your listeners
are clear about this. It is antisemitic and a long
(31:34):
standing prist to accuse the Jews of manipulating events for
their own interests.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
You know.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
Again, the Russians use this to justify the massacres of
the Jews. The Nazis use this to justify the massacres
of the Jews. Air governments use this justify pushing out
and mastering the Jews after forty eight and now Candice
Owens is using it and it's not just irresponsible, it's incitement.
And so I don't care how many followers she has,
which she doesn't have, that her fingertips are the facts,
(32:02):
and a cursory understanding of these issues would lead you
to conclude that the claims that she's making are not
just spurious, they're just flat out wrong.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
More to Steven A. Smith Show with the one and
only Jonathan Greenblatt in a minute, Welcome back to Stephen A.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Smith Show.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Jonathan Greenblatt right here with the Anti Defamation League CEO
of the Anti Defamation League, right here with yours truly
on this show. I heard what you have to say
about Candice Owan's Let's talk about folks on the extreme right,
the Steve Bannons of the world, the Tucker Callsons of
the world, the Marjorie Tailor Greens representative to Marjorie Taylor
Greens of the world, and others who are adamant that
(32:50):
the United States shouldn't be involved. Let Israel handle this
matter on their own. Why do we have to get involved.
We need to be about America a first, more nationalistic
in our view and our actions as opposed to being globalistic.
Your thoughts about that.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
It's interesting because I think you're kind of making the
point that anti Semitism and anti Jewish hate is an
equal opportunity employer.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
And you have these folks in the MAGA movement.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
Now, look, President Trump has been extraordinary inter to the
support of the Jewish State, as have many of the
people in the current administration. But you have people around
them like Tucker Carlson, like Steve Bannon, who are I
think again, just wrong on the facts that have a
certain animis toward the Jewish State, which is very worrisome
to me. A nuclear armed Iran again, which has threatened
(33:39):
America for decades and decades and decades, is deeply problematic,
not just to us, by the way, or to the
Jewish State, but to our allies in Saudi Arabia, in
the United Arab Emirates, in Bahrain, all countries upon which
Iran has territorial ambitions, but of course as well in Cutter,
like I would ask Tucker else and if I could
(34:01):
tell us about your relationship with Cutter, help us understand
you know how your bills get paid. Cutter, is this
country that sort of acts in one hand as an
interlocutor between America and Israel and Camas and Iran, but
they're constantly playing both sides, and they've got very deep
pockets and have used that money and spread it around.
(34:22):
And I think the influence of Katari money is deeply
problematic on our public conversation. So I think that that's
part of what's going on here, part of what's driving
the animis some of these folks because cut Art is
a country that's that openly supported the Muslim Brotherhood, openly
supported Kamas for decades, stephen A.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
And so when your audience hears these comments, they.
Speaker 4 (34:45):
Need to pull back the curtain and realize what may
be behind it, whose agenda, whose motives, whose song is
really being sung?
Speaker 1 (34:53):
And that's why I love the fact that you highlight
what you believe in what you're classifying as you anti Semitic,
because I think it's incredibly important that we all understand
your definition of what anti Semitism is, because when somebody
like myself or others who are not Jewish hear these things,
we might say, Okay, they disagree with trying to think
green black, you know, they disagree with the anti Deformation League.
(35:15):
They might disagree with Benjamin at Yahoo, but we don't
go as far as to say anti semitic. So when
you say anti semitic, enlighten my audience as to what
really falls under that category. So we can enlighten everybody
and everybody can understand caause one of the things that
I'm a stick with for I can't stand somebody that's
not black talking to me about what I should believe
(35:37):
is racist.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
And is not.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Just like if you bring up anti semitism, where if
you're a Jewish individual, you have a right to classify
what is anti semitic. So long is this consistency amongst
I think everybody understands in the Black community what racism is.
I think everybody in the Jewish community should be unified
and aligned with what anti semitism is. Classify the fine
(36:00):
it for us so we'll all know.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
Let's do it.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
Anti Semitism is an irrational hatred of individuals or institutions
because of their Jewish identity, whether you define that as
their ethnicity, their faith, or even their nation.
Speaker 3 (36:19):
It is an irrational hatred of Jewish people.
Speaker 4 (36:22):
It often manifests a series of tropes or myths the
Jews have too much power.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
The Jews are always cheap.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
The Jews are not loyal to the country in which
they live. The Jews want to kill Christian people or
most people who are different than them. The Jews are
not legitimate, right Sometimes they say the Jewish religion isn't legitimate,
or the Jewish race is not legitimate, or they say
the Jewish state is not legitimate.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
But you see these myths stephen A that transcend culture,
that cross continents and look. Some Jews present as white
like I do.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
There are also Jews of color who present as might
present as African American or Asian American, or be of
a different kind of ethnic persuasion. There were Jews who
are deeply religious and observant. There were Jews who may
self define as atheist or like secular humanists and never
step foot in a synagogue. There are Jews who come
(37:20):
from Arab countries whose native tongue might be Arab or
Arabic or Kurdish, or from a Muslim countries where their
native tongue might be Turkish or Persian. But Jews as
a people have experienced hate over the century. So when
it comes to the state of Israel. What is anti
(37:40):
Semitic or what is just critical? There's nothing wrong, like
I said at the top, with criticizing policies of the
Jewish state, nothing wrong with critician policies of America.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
Criticizing President Trump.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
Criticizing America doesn't make you anti American, And criticizing policies
of the State of Israel or people in you head doesn't.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Make you anti Semitic. And here's where it crosses the line.
Speaker 4 (38:01):
It's something for you, stephen A, to think about, maybe
like a like a heuristic to use.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
Call it the three D test.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
Number one, do you not criticize Israel but demonize all
israelis hold all israelis responsible?
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Number two?
Speaker 4 (38:18):
Do you delegitimize the state of Israel? Do you suggest
it doesn't have the right to exist? Will you not
acknowledge its right to exist as a Jewish democratic state?
And then number three double standards? Do you apply double
standards to Israel? That is different than the way that
you treat other countries. So what I would tell you
is criticism of Israel crosses a line into antisemitism when
(38:43):
it invokes demonization, delegitimization, or double standards.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Is that the case, when we're talking about the Jewish state,
when people use what transpired in nineteen forty eight, immediately
in the aftermath of World War II, how they feel
palaestini Is were displaced, how this territory was granted to Israel.
When you look at the sixties and the lines that
were drawn at that particular moment in time, I believe
it was nineteen sixty seven sixty eight, like you pointed out,
(39:09):
to this very present day, when folks are using when
you see these protests on college campuses, when you see
pro Palestinian supporters or you know, Proalestinican supporters, pro Palestinian support,
when they're pointing to these folks that have been displaced
in what have you, and they're relating that to being
minorities in the nations and having a scratch and claw
(39:30):
and fight battles uphill because a power structure has taken
over what they believe should be rightfully theirs in a
civilized society. And that's their rationale behind questioning the state
of Israel. How do you, as a Jewish individual, the
CEO of the Anti Defamation League respond to that.
Speaker 4 (39:49):
Well, I think there's nothing wrong with peaceful protests. I
think there's nothing wrong with voising your opinion. I think
the's nothing wrong with saying free Gaza. But if your
idea of political protest is standing in in front of
a synagogue on Saturday morning while people are walking into
services and screaming free Gaza at them, these Jewish people
who just want to go pray, I have a problem
with that. I think there's nothing wrong with being on
(40:12):
a campus and expressively strong opinion and writing an op
ed and even camping out necessarily. But if your encampment
refuses to admit individuals who identify as Jewish unless they
say they're anti Zionist, I have a problem with that.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
You'll buy a litmus test to all Jews.
Speaker 4 (40:29):
If your idea of protest, again in an environment, is
I'm going to speak up and vandalize a synagogue. But
I would never think of vandalizing a Russian Orthodox church
if I was having in Ukraine, I have a problem
with that. So again, there's nothing wrong with protests, even ah,
but when you harass, when you vandalize, when you commit
acts of violence, again, holding all Jews collectly responsible for
(40:55):
something you don't like in the Middle East, that's a
big problem for me. And look, I don't mean that
in a theoretical way. Let's talk about what happened a
month ago when two individuals were shot in the back
twenty times when they walked out of the Capitol Jewish Museum.
Did not know where they worked, he did not know
what they thought, he did not know where they were from.
(41:15):
But they were targets for him because they came out
of the Capital Jewish Museum at a Jewish event, or
in Boulder, Colorado, where I was.
Speaker 3 (41:23):
I was in DC right after that attack.
Speaker 4 (41:25):
A week later, Yeah, this group of people were firebombed
by a person screaming and the Zionists Free Palestine. Now again,
when I say firebomb, he sprayed it then, using a
homemade flamethrower. And we're not talking about, you know, people
marching IDF uniforms. Okay, We're talking about elderly people who
(41:46):
were walking across a park to honor the hostages still
held in captivity in Gaza. So again, if this is
your if you say things like globalizing into Fada, which
is a slogan that promotes violence, the into Fada was
the violent attacks against Israelis killed more than a thousand
people when you say globalizing into fada, and then again
(42:08):
you subject Jewish people, irrespective of where they're from, or
how they think, or why they may both the way
they do, you subject the harassment. You vandalize their buildings
and their homes and their synagogues and their schools, and
then again you assault them with guns or with knives
or with flame throwers. I mean, this is not textbook
(42:28):
anti semitism. This is terrifying anti semitism.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
We need to rerect.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
What about the critics and the cynics that would point
to what is it? October twenty twenty three, if I
remember correctly, there was an Israeli strike on a church
and gaza that resulted in the deaths of Christians.
Speaker 3 (42:44):
This is what they said.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
I don't necessarily recall that, but I'm asking you about
that because I know you do. If it happens, what
about folks that will use that as an example to
point out what's transpiring in Palestinians.
Speaker 4 (42:55):
Yeah, I don't know the specifics of that, Okay, strike,
I'm not familiar with it, so I can't speak to it.
Speaker 3 (43:01):
Okay. You know, look like in a war, bad things happen.
Speaker 4 (43:05):
Again, the Israelis have tried have Indeed, they have gone
into hospitals because there are tunnels underneath where the militants
are hiding. They have gone into schools because they store
weapons and munitions again inside of them. And when the Israeli,
when the idea has made mistakes, they have investigations, they apologize,
they try to work it out. Hamas, they say openly
(43:28):
that they said it openly after the October seventhe tonight
they said, we will do this again and again and
again and again again. They butchered elderly people, they raped women,
They shot children in front of their parents. They shot
parents in front of their children. The level of depravity
knows no bounds. So again, the IDF and the democratically
(43:50):
elected government of Israel is accountable in the court of
law and in the court of public opinion. Hamas, you
know has Balla, the Islamic Republic of Iran, these aren't
democratic institutions. These aren't people who abide by the popular will.
They only rule by the law of the gun. And
(44:10):
that is very difficult when Israel has to face these
countries or these entities which declare their intent to destroy
the Jewish state. So that's not to say that Israel
is not perfect. They make mistakes, there's room to criticize.
I just think we need to make sure that we're
modulating appropriately and again not holding the country to double
(44:31):
standards that aren't applied to anywhere else in the way.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Before I let you get on out of here, just
a couple of questions and thanks again to town Think
green Blat, CEO to ADL, I really really appreciate your time.
Do you believe that things are going to get better?
I'm talking about any immediate. I'm not talking long term,
but any immediate. Do you believe things are going to
get better or worse in light of the Israel Iran
conflict taking place as we speak.
Speaker 4 (44:55):
Well, look, Jews around the world are not safe as
long as see Islamic Republic calls to murder Zionists, calls
to end the Jewish state by any means necessary, and
commits itself to this homicidal agenda.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
So I am hopeful.
Speaker 4 (45:15):
That this cease fire isn't a tactical play, but it
is the.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
Start of a strategic shift. If we could.
Speaker 4 (45:24):
See a change in the goals of the Islamic Republic
of Iran, that they would accept their Jewish neighbor, like
the Jewish State would accept their Islamic neighbor. I think
all things are possible. But unless they renounce their agenda
of extremism, unless they commit to stop funding terror and
(45:47):
to stop focusing on destroying their neighbor, then I worry
stephen A that this isn't a this is not more
than a pause, and that would be I think again
problematic for everyone. Everyone suffers, everyone suffers when this tyrannical government,
uh you know, continues its terror activities.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
What are we to make before I let you get
on out of here, what are we to make of
the fact that what President Trump was willing to do
on behalf of Israeli interest and American interest to be fair,
that he was willing to do something that one would
say Biden wasn't willing to do, that President Barack Obama
(46:27):
wasn't willing to do along with some of Trump's other predecessors.
What are do you what do you believe us outside
of the Jewish community should make a President Trump willing
to do something that others weren't willing to do, meaning
handling it the way that he handled it in terms
of electing to nuke the you know, to bomb rather
(46:49):
the nuclear sites that are that Iran, where Iran was,
Iran was obviously enriching, trying to enrich uranium and what
have you. What are we to make of that?
Speaker 3 (46:59):
So a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (47:00):
So number one, you know, number one again, presidents for
decades have had a stated policy they would not allow
the Iranian regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran to get
nuclear weapons. Why because of the threat that they pose
to America, to our allies, and to our interests around
the world.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
So that's been a state of politic for a long time.
Speaker 4 (47:20):
You know, I, may or man, I don't agree with
everything President Trump does, but I credit him with realizing
that diplomacy only works. You know, you only have peace
whose strength, and diplomasa only works if you're willing to
kind of give consequences when it fails. I mean, you
won't come to the table to negotiate if you think
there's no consequences to not doing it. And so the
Iranians for years, for years have played the game of
(47:43):
delay and deny and obsvocate. I mean, it's what they
have done for a long time at the negotiating table.
The IAEA said they were in violation. Human rights observers
for years have said they're killing protesters, they're shooting people.
The Israelities who clearly good intelligence. I mean literally, what
the Israelis have done in terms of penetrating the Islamic
(48:04):
Republic being on the inside is short of a miracle,
and it shows us they have great intelligence with happening
on the ground inside the regime. So when they say
they were this close to a bomb, I believe them
because they were able to hit these people, like in
their bedrooms at night, with such precision that only like
the Supreme Leader's closest confidants are wounded or killed, nobody else,
(48:28):
even in like the apartment building.
Speaker 3 (48:30):
It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (48:31):
So clearly, stephen A, they knew what they were doing,
and clearly Donald Trump listened to them. He did say
I'm going to give the Iranians sixty days to negotiate,
and then when the Iranians failed to develop or deliver
a meaningful proposal, he thought it was an America's interest
to take action. I respect his commitment and his willingness
to use force as a last resort. Now again, my
(48:56):
hope would be that Iran would realize the folly of
the approach. They would see the damage that Israel and
the United States have done. They would look at the
wreckage of their own economy, the anger of their own people,
the debris of their own nuclear that say, you know what,
we need to try something else. This is not working.
(49:18):
I hope and pray that they'll come to their senses.
Whether or not it's a supreme leader. I don't have
any faith in him, or it's other people inside the country,
but they need to try something different in order to
achieve a different outcome.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
Very very last question to you, anti Semitism today worse
than it was a year ago, two years ago, ten
years ago, all along the same lines.
Speaker 3 (49:45):
How would you classify it look.
Speaker 4 (49:47):
ADL is a data driven, evidence based organization. We've been
tracking anti Semitic attitudes, measuring attitudes, and tracking incidents for decades.
Speaker 3 (49:59):
We've been measuring attitudes for.
Speaker 4 (50:00):
More than sixty years, and in the last five years,
intense anti Jewish attitudes in the United States have more
than doubled as a share of the population from eleven
percent in twenty nineteen to twenty four percent last year.
That's stunning. And then we also track incidents. These are
(50:23):
acts of harassment, vandalism or violence. When I started in
the job in twenty fifteen, we had nine hundred and
forty that year. Last year, stephen A, we had nearly
nine thousand, four hundred.
Speaker 3 (50:36):
It's ten x and we hit record.
Speaker 4 (50:38):
One thing to worth noting for you and your audience,
we broke the record. We saw the highest number in
twenty nineteen, and then in U high and twenty one,
and then twenty two, and then twenty three and then
twenty four. I mean literally in five of the last
six years we've broken the record. So based on attitudes,
based on incidents, we are seeing some of the worst
(51:03):
indicators that we've ever tracked.
Speaker 3 (51:06):
But what that does for me is energize me to
do better.
Speaker 4 (51:10):
We've got to try new approaches, we've got to build
new partnerships, we've got to strengthen existing relationships. In this moment,
we have to keep in mind that it's always darkest
before the dawn, And I have tremendous conviction that with
determination and focus again, whether it's the Jewish and Black
community who have so much in common, our people are
(51:32):
so aligned on so much, there is richness, an opportunity
to work together to only build better outcomes for Jews
and for black people, but it better outcomes for all
of America.
Speaker 3 (51:43):
That's my sincere very.
Speaker 1 (51:45):
Last question, what does your data show was the cause
of those record breaking numbers? And is there a solution
inside it? If so, what is it? Last question?
Speaker 3 (51:59):
All things are in this Number one.
Speaker 4 (52:01):
I think we're living in a moment where our political,
our public conversation has really coursen. And so people, you know,
when systems fail, the haves and the have nots gap
grows people and systems aren't working again, people think they
can't get a break. They look for someone to blame,
(52:22):
and if you will, populists and some leaders scapegoat and
will blame small groups of people for what they think
is the problems of the world. You see some social
media influencers, by the way, and so number one, I
think there's a kind of blame game. Number two, extremists
feel emboldened when you can get millions of followers on
(52:42):
Instagram or on sub stack or on TikTok and ways
you never could before. And they're getting elected to office
and they're getting ad deals. So extremeist feel emboldened. And
then number three, social media. Social media is a super spreader,
not just anti semitism, anti black racism, other forms of bigotry.
You don't have to bleeds, it leads. And so you're
seeing stuff on Insta, on x, on, TikTok, on so
(53:06):
many of these platforms that only feeds, you.
Speaker 3 (53:09):
Know, the craziness.
Speaker 4 (53:10):
And by the way, as Jenai takes on, you know,
as things like Wikipedia become our only.
Speaker 3 (53:14):
Source of information, it's even worse.
Speaker 4 (53:17):
So you add those things together, a kind of polarization,
emboldened extremists, intensifying polarization, emboldened extremism, and social.
Speaker 3 (53:26):
Media becoming our number one source of information.
Speaker 4 (53:30):
That equation adds up to normalizing anti semitism. And I
think what's dangerous about that is, again, it affects.
Speaker 3 (53:37):
Jews for sure.
Speaker 4 (53:39):
Obviously we're only two percent of the population, but we're
sixty plus percent, sixty plus percent of like religiously inspired
hate crimes. We're fifteen percent of overall hate crimes.
Speaker 3 (53:52):
I mean, it's crazy, which is why we got to
deal with this. So what's the solution.
Speaker 4 (53:57):
Look, Number one, I think in order to deal with
this social media stuff, we need regulation. Again, I'm not
a fan of censorship, but you know, you could get
sued if you say something on ESPN that someone considers defamatory.
If you say it on social media, you're free to go.
So we just need social media to live by the
same rules that traditional media lives by, Like should be
(54:20):
liable if you commit liable, real simple. That's number one.
Number two, we need to really improve our education system.
Like we know already that our kids owner the Constitution,
but I think there's a way a lot of criticism
happens a DEI and I understand that, and there's things
I don't like about the DEI industrial complex, But diversity
helps our country. I believe in inclusion deeply, and I
(54:42):
think we need to rethink the kind of education we're
giving our kids so that they understand what it's like
to live in this incredibly heterogeneous, vibrant world where diversity
actually makes us better.
Speaker 3 (54:54):
And then number three, I think.
Speaker 4 (54:56):
We just need people need to speak up and say
something when they see something, like when you see anti
semitism or racism or sexism, like say something. It's not
pc to say something, you know, don't call somebody you
know the blank word, right, or don't say that all
Jews are like you know, not loyal to America. So
(55:18):
I think if people would speak up and like find
their kind of you know, their their self, express themselves
and speak their mind in a way that protects everybody,
speak up. I think, secondly again rethink education, and thirdly
address social media.
Speaker 3 (55:34):
Anything's possible.
Speaker 1 (55:36):
Jonathan Green that we It's been a while since we've spoken,
but I love talking to you. You know, you always
have a home here on this show. Anytime you want
to come on, you know you more than welcome. Is
great to see you again, great to talk to you again.
I'm always here for you. Feel free to reach out anytime, buddy,
and I'm sure I'll see you in.
Speaker 3 (55:51):
A very very near future.
Speaker 1 (55:52):
You take care of yourself, and I thank you so
much for giving me all the time that you've given
me to day.
Speaker 3 (55:56):
I really appreciate it. At the last minute, Thank you,
my friend, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (56:00):
All Right, the one and only Jonathan greenblatch for the
Anti Defamation League, the CEO. You heard it right there
from him. He would know what he's talking about. I'm
gonna leave y'all a soak on that because I don't
need to elaborate anything. I don't need to elaborate on
anything that he said. You heard him, you heard what
he had to say. Okay, it's an education. Appreciate it,
take it for what it is. Soak it all in,
absorb it, and watch it again and again and again
(56:22):
if you can, because obviously he dropped a lot of
knowledge there. That's it for this edition of The Stephen
Nate Smith Show. I hope you enjoyed it as much
as I do. I hope you walk away it's edified
as I feel I have, and I hope that you'll
continue to watch the show and certainly support the Anti
Defamation League. Look at what this man is saying. Do
your research and Jonathan green Blad or what he brings
to the table, and I think that we'll all benefit
(56:44):
from that. Until next time, everybody, I got to sign off.
I'm still traveling due to the NBA Finals and the
upcoming NBA Draft, so you'll see me ABC, ESPN, etc.
Until next time. You'll also see me right here on
YouTube as well, so I'm not going anywhere. This is
Stephen A. Smith Show. Sign it off until next time.
Peace and love everybody.
Speaker 2 (57:04):
By Body
Speaker 4 (57:09):
M.
Host
Stephen A. Smith
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