August 4, 2025 • 6 mins
Today, Niall Ferguson refutes the charge of genocide levied against Israel while pointing out that such a crime is ongoing in Ukraine; Peter Berkowitz examines why consensus has broken down among American Jews on Israel and the two-state solution; and Matthew Turpin reviews the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021 to consider the significance of the paradigm shift in trade policy set off by the Trump administration since January.
Hoover Daily Report | August 4, 2025
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>> Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Hoover Daily Report, Ideas Advancing Freedom.
It's Monday, August 4, 2025.
>> Speaker 2 (00:06):
Today, Neil Ferguson refutes the charge of genocide levied against
Israel while pointing out that sucha crime is ongoing in Ukraine.
Peter Berkowitz examines why consensushas broken down among American Jews on
Israel and the two state solution.
And Matthew Turpin reviews the fall ofAfghanistan to the Taliban in 2021 to
consider the significance of the paradigmshift in trade policy set off by the Trump
(00:30):
administration since January.
>> Speaker 1 (00:33):
The genocide today is in Ukraine, not Gaza Writing at
the New York Post Opinion page,senior fellow Neil Ferguson argues that
the charge of genocide against Israel forits conduct in Gaza is a luxury belief,
or one that its proponents can afford tohold because they are largely sheltered
from the consequences ofthe idea once put into practice.
(00:54):
Ferguson writes that one can criticizethe way Israel has waged this war and
point out inconsistenciesin Israel's war aims.
But, he writes, one cannot call thisnasty war genocide because the intent
to destroy in whole or in part a national,ethnical, racial or religious group as
such is central to that crime, and Israelhas not demonstrated any such intent.
(01:17):
Ferguson also points out the unprecedentednature of Israel feeding civilians in Gaza
during wartime.
Meanwhile, says Ferguson,
Russian aggression in Ukraine clearlydemonstrates genocidal intent as
Vladimir Putin's forces commit actscentral to the UN definition of genocide.
>> Speaker 2 (01:33):
Ezra Klein peddles old progressive disdain for
Israel as new in his weekly column forReal Clear Politics,
senior fellow Peter Berkowitz responds toan essay from New York Times columnist
Ezra Klein assessing the breakdownof a long standing consensus among
American Jews on Israel andanti Zionism and the two state solution.
In Berkowitz's view,quote Klein reports sympathetically
(01:56):
the opinions of progressives appalledby Israel while misreporting or
not reporting at all the views ofIsrael's conservative supporters.
Berkowitz also critiques the argument thatIsrael is an illiberal theocracy without
protections for individual rights.
He points out that Israel's Declarationof Independence is contains
a foundational commitment for the Jewishmajority to work with Arab Israelis to
(02:20):
build the country on the basis of full andequal citizenship.
And Berkowitz acknowledges that Israelmust work to improve the economic well
being and participation in civiclife of its Arab minority, but
maintains that these citizens are fullyenfranchised as full and equal citizens.
>> Speaker 1 (02:38):
Things can go sideways in August.
Four years ago this weekend,the the peril facing Afghanistan and
the United States was hiding just beneaththe surface as the Biden administration
seemed to be hitting its stride,
begins visiting fellow Matthew Turpin inhis weekly China Articles newsletter.
Turpin recounts how the disastrousAmerican exit from Afghanistan, quote,
(02:59):
destroyed the confidence of Americancitizens in their national security
professionals and marked the end ofthe Biden administration's net favorable
approval rating.
Terpin turns to an analysis of the Trumpteam's geopolitical strategy over
the course of 2025 so far, and points outthat policies intended to isolate China
and apply significant pressure on alliesto carry their own defense burden and
(03:22):
renegotiate their economic relationshipsto benefit the United States have resulted
in a multitude of economic policy impactson U.S. consumers and businesses.
As Terpin writes, quote, it was remainsto be seen how this will play out.
>> Speaker 2 (03:36):
Solar and Batteries are Affordable Options for
US Households In a policy briefaccompanying a new paper at Nature Energy,
Senior Fellow Arun Majumdar andco authors argue that a majority of
US Households can reduce energy costs andaccess affordable backup power during
outages through rooftop solar andbattery storage.
Stressing that solar battery systemsaren't just for early adopters anymore,
(04:00):
the authors urge policymakers, quote,to evaluate and adopt measures to
ensure high outage risk and energyburdened communities have equitable access
to these adaptation solutions asclimate impacts intensify outages.
Majumdar and colleagues note that policieslike net billing of grid connected home
solar systems may not be scalablebeyond early adopter states,
(04:23):
including California.
However, the brief says that policyincentives to adopt solar and
battery home energy systems will shouldtarget high outage areas where current
solar battery backup benefits tendto be low in order to address
the misalignment between systemviability and household needs.
>> Speaker 1 (04:39):
Explaining Firm Level Reactions to Macro Shocks In a post for
vox, EU Senior Fellow andDirector of Research Stephen J Davis and
co authors assess how businessesrespond to macroeconomic shocks and
why some firms weather suchshocks better than others.
Using data from 67 jump days inthe US stock market between 2020 and
(05:00):
2022 andinformation from corporate filings,
the authors show that observablebusiness characteristics can explain
the measurable differences between firmoutcomes following macroeconomic shocks.
This research highlights thattraditional metrics like industry and
firm size only partially account forvariations in performance,
(05:22):
suggesting that policymakers couldtailor their responses to different
types of economic sh to addressuneven impacts on different firms.
>> Speaker 2 (05:30):
Featured from the Hoover Library and
Archives Education Digital Collection theHoover Institution Library and Archives
offers a digitized collection of more than2,000 items from the history of education.
The collection features many public and
workforce safety postersfrom the World War II era.
Additionally, numerous episodes of WilliamF Buckley Junior's television program
(05:52):
Firing Line dealing with education policyon are included in this collection.
>> Speaker 1 (05:56):
That's your Hoover Daily report for Monday, August 4, 2025.
Each weekday we bring you research,analysis and commentary focused on public
policy, national security, and the ideasshaping American society and government.
The Hoover Institution at StanfordUniversity is grounded in constitutional
principles with a commitment to sustainingthe safeguards of the American way
(06:20):
of life.
Thank you for listening.
For links to all the articles andinterviews mentioned today,
visit Hoover.org HDR.
Welcome to the Hoover Daily Report, Ideas Advancing Freedom.
It's Monday, August 4, 2025.
>> Speaker 2 (00:06):
Today, Neil Ferguson refutes the charge of genocide levied against
Israel while pointing out that sucha crime is ongoing in Ukraine.
Peter Berkowitz examines why consensushas broken down among American Jews on
Israel and the two state solution.
And Matthew Turpin reviews the fall ofAfghanistan to the Taliban in 2021 to
consider the significance of the paradigmshift in trade policy set off by the Trump
(00:30):
administration since January.
>> Speaker 1 (00:33):
The genocide today is in Ukraine, not Gaza Writing at
the New York Post Opinion page,senior fellow Neil Ferguson argues that
the charge of genocide against Israel forits conduct in Gaza is a luxury belief,
or one that its proponents can afford tohold because they are largely sheltered
from the consequences ofthe idea once put into practice.
(00:54):
Ferguson writes that one can criticizethe way Israel has waged this war and
point out inconsistenciesin Israel's war aims.
But, he writes, one cannot call thisnasty war genocide because the intent
to destroy in whole or in part a national,ethnical, racial or religious group as
such is central to that crime, and Israelhas not demonstrated any such intent.
(01:17):
Ferguson also points out the unprecedentednature of Israel feeding civilians in Gaza
during wartime.
Meanwhile, says Ferguson,
Russian aggression in Ukraine clearlydemonstrates genocidal intent as
Vladimir Putin's forces commit actscentral to the UN definition of genocide.
>> Speaker 2 (01:33):
Ezra Klein peddles old progressive disdain for
Israel as new in his weekly column forReal Clear Politics,
senior fellow Peter Berkowitz responds toan essay from New York Times columnist
Ezra Klein assessing the breakdownof a long standing consensus among
American Jews on Israel andanti Zionism and the two state solution.
In Berkowitz's view,quote Klein reports sympathetically
(01:56):
the opinions of progressives appalledby Israel while misreporting or
not reporting at all the views ofIsrael's conservative supporters.
Berkowitz also critiques the argument thatIsrael is an illiberal theocracy without
protections for individual rights.
He points out that Israel's Declarationof Independence is contains
a foundational commitment for the Jewishmajority to work with Arab Israelis to
(02:20):
build the country on the basis of full andequal citizenship.
And Berkowitz acknowledges that Israelmust work to improve the economic well
being and participation in civiclife of its Arab minority, but
maintains that these citizens are fullyenfranchised as full and equal citizens.
>> Speaker 1 (02:38):
Things can go sideways in August.
Four years ago this weekend,the the peril facing Afghanistan and
the United States was hiding just beneaththe surface as the Biden administration
seemed to be hitting its stride,
begins visiting fellow Matthew Turpin inhis weekly China Articles newsletter.
Turpin recounts how the disastrousAmerican exit from Afghanistan, quote,
(02:59):
destroyed the confidence of Americancitizens in their national security
professionals and marked the end ofthe Biden administration's net favorable
approval rating.
Terpin turns to an analysis of the Trumpteam's geopolitical strategy over
the course of 2025 so far, and points outthat policies intended to isolate China
and apply significant pressure on alliesto carry their own defense burden and
(03:22):
renegotiate their economic relationshipsto benefit the United States have resulted
in a multitude of economic policy impactson U.S. consumers and businesses.
As Terpin writes, quote, it was remainsto be seen how this will play out.
>> Speaker 2 (03:36):
Solar and Batteries are Affordable Options for
US Households In a policy briefaccompanying a new paper at Nature Energy,
Senior Fellow Arun Majumdar andco authors argue that a majority of
US Households can reduce energy costs andaccess affordable backup power during
outages through rooftop solar andbattery storage.
Stressing that solar battery systemsaren't just for early adopters anymore,
(04:00):
the authors urge policymakers, quote,to evaluate and adopt measures to
ensure high outage risk and energyburdened communities have equitable access
to these adaptation solutions asclimate impacts intensify outages.
Majumdar and colleagues note that policieslike net billing of grid connected home
solar systems may not be scalablebeyond early adopter states,
(04:23):
including California.
However, the brief says that policyincentives to adopt solar and
battery home energy systems will shouldtarget high outage areas where current
solar battery backup benefits tendto be low in order to address
the misalignment between systemviability and household needs.
>> Speaker 1 (04:39):
Explaining Firm Level Reactions to Macro Shocks In a post for
vox, EU Senior Fellow andDirector of Research Stephen J Davis and
co authors assess how businessesrespond to macroeconomic shocks and
why some firms weather suchshocks better than others.
Using data from 67 jump days inthe US stock market between 2020 and
(05:00):
2022 andinformation from corporate filings,
the authors show that observablebusiness characteristics can explain
the measurable differences between firmoutcomes following macroeconomic shocks.
This research highlights thattraditional metrics like industry and
firm size only partially account forvariations in performance,
(05:22):
suggesting that policymakers couldtailor their responses to different
types of economic sh to addressuneven impacts on different firms.
>> Speaker 2 (05:30):
Featured from the Hoover Library and
Archives Education Digital Collection theHoover Institution Library and Archives
offers a digitized collection of more than2,000 items from the history of education.
The collection features many public and
workforce safety postersfrom the World War II era.
Additionally, numerous episodes of WilliamF Buckley Junior's television program
(05:52):
Firing Line dealing with education policyon are included in this collection.
>> Speaker 1 (05:56):
That's your Hoover Daily report for Monday, August 4, 2025.
Each weekday we bring you research,analysis and commentary focused on public
policy, national security, and the ideasshaping American society and government.
The Hoover Institution at StanfordUniversity is grounded in constitutional
principles with a commitment to sustainingthe safeguards of the American way
(06:20):
of life.
Thank you for listening.
For links to all the articles andinterviews mentioned today,
visit Hoover.org HDR.
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