Jonny Gould's Jewish State – Details, episodes & analysis

You’ve never heard a story like this! Catherine Perez-Shakdam lives in the UK. She was born and raised in France and also lived in Yemen and Iran. While living in Tehran and married with kids, she mixed in the regime classes, socialising, even going on pilgrimages to Iraq. Nothing unusual about that, you say. But Catherine is Jewish, of French Sephardi background. As an outsider in plain sight, Catherine never revealed her Jewishness - obviously - so got up close to the leadership. She says it’s a deeply political and ideological regime, not religious. Even Nihilistic. In Yemen, Catherine started writing articles critical of the Saudis which came to the attention of Iran. And while living there, she travelled with President Raisi on his private plane during election campaigning - and asked for and got a private audience with the Ayatollah Khamanei. This is Catherine’s highly revealing and detailed story of what drives Iran’s ruling class. It’s a forensic eyewitness account of a regime, which she says infiltrates the West - with murder on their minds. And that’s not all about Catherine. She’s descended from Sephardim who stayed in Spain for centuries after the 1492 expulsion. The 1930s, in fact, when her family ran from Franco’s fascists aiming for Palestine - with tragic consequences. So this is also a story of Jewish resilience. How trauma can travel through generations yet Jews emerge triumphant in a culture which strives for a better life for its children even at cost to oneself. This is the extraordinary life of Catherine Perez-Shakdam. Jonny Gould’s Jewish State is supported by UK Toremet. Help support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State (including Gift Aid) at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonny's podcast is helped along by your generous support. Buy me a coffee here. How many acts of heroism never come to public attention because of the modesty of the heroes themselves? This is a first-ever audio interview in English with one such man. His name is "Dani', the Mossad commander in charge of “Operation Brothers” for five drama-filled years from 1978. Without doubt, this is one of Israel's finest hours; a Mossad mission to emancipate thousands of Ethiopian Jews from the dangers of revolution and persecution. But this is also about partnership and brotherhood. Mossad would never have achieved this lethally dangerous, giant humanitarian mission without the equal determination of the Ethiopian Jews themselves, to realise a generational longing to return to Israel, the land of their forefathers. "Dani" only agreed to this interview on condition that his full identity wouldn't be revealed. And while he's partially emerged out of the shadows, I'm told many of his Mossad colleagues remain completely anonymous. “Operation Brothers” was a mission to spirit thousands of Ethiopian Jews out of their remote highland villages to walk hundreds of miles to the hell of a Sudanese refugee camp, whereupon they would begin a perilous exodus to Israel. Some Jews were given passports and papers and flown out of Khartoum Airport, a difficult and dangerous process in itself. But thousands of others were transported hundreds more miles to the Sudanese coast under cover of a plain-sight Red Sea diving resort which Dani and his Mossad agents ran as a fully functioning hotel while conducting their covert operations each night. 10% of the Jews didn’t make it, dying on the exhausting journey. Mossad is famous for spying missions and counterespionage - but this was nothing to do with that. This was a world first for such an organisation: purely humanitarian, 700 kilometres behind enemy lines in Sudan, which was extremely hostile to Israel back then. Dani's Mossad command of this covert mission is faithfully chronicled in Raffi Berg’s brilliant book, "Red Sea Spies". I am so grateful to Raffi for organising the interview and truly honoured to talk to Dani. This episode is dedicated to Kasei and Kidan Cohen. Let me inform, educate and entertain you! I’d appreciate your help. If you’ve listened to a few episodes and eagerly anticipate the next one, follow this link to donate. Buy me as little as a cup of coffee at https://ko-fi.com/jonnygould Recorded in May 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“All eyes on Rafah”: The AI generated graphic shared by 50m people on Instagram, spread by slebs like Dua Lipa, Lewis Hamilton and Gigi and Bella Hadid. How has the world been reduced to this?” It’s a near total disconnect with the reality of the Gaza War. The Ayatollah is prolifically tweeting including antisemitic tropes about Jews running the media. But does Iran have Israel where it wants them, in a cycle of “forever war”? How must Israel change to get out of a perpetual state of war? Does it start with pushing Hezbollah back north of the Litani river? Iran has enough material for 13 nuclear bombs. They haven’t got the bomb yet. But if not now when?  And as Norway, Spain and Ireland declare for Palestine, is this down the weakness in support for Israel by the Biden administration?  These are questions for Jonathan Conricus, now retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the IDF, nowadays with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, he focuses on the Middle East. Jonathan enjoyed a distinguished career serving as a combat commander in Lebanon and Gaza, a military diplomat, a foreign relations expert, and an international spokesperson for the IDF.  Born in Jerusalem in 1979, Jonathan spent his early years in Malmo before his family moved back to Israel when he was 13. He joined the IDF at 18 and served for 24 years, retiring in 2021. This episode is presented with the cooperation and support of ELNET UK, a bipartisan, cross-party international organisation working to advance UK-Israel relations based on shared democratic values and strategic interests. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support thirsty Jonny's podcasting when you buy him a coffee here. President of Israel Isaac Herzog’s visit to Great Britain in November 2021 set a new high mark in the nation-to-nation relationship. His Excellency met the Prince and Princess of Wales, who themselves just returned from a Royal tour of the Middle East in Jordan and Egypt and an exhibition at Chelsea FC, honouring elite Jewish athletes murdered in the Holocaust, President Herzog departs the chair of the Jewish Agency to become Israel’s head of state, pledging to strengthen diaspora ties to his nation. As you’ll hear his family spent over a century in the UK before moving to Israel and says his British-Jewish heritage shapes his identity and his mission as President. Support thirsty Jonny's podcasting when you buy him a coffee here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonny's podcast is thirsty work. Help by buying him a coffee here! Today’s guest is the UK Ambassador to Israel, His Excellency Neil Wigan. Britain and Israel have never been closer. Values are converging in the post-Brexit and the Abraham Accords eras: two nation states with common values, industries and defence challenges. And Ambassador Wigan is the embodiment of that; he’s married to an Israeli, Yael and they have two children. There’s some straight talk coming up in this episode, like when is the British embassy joining the US in Jerusalem? But he’s under no illusion of the existential threat posed by Hamas and others in the south and Hezbollah in the north. 🎙Listen to the UK Ambassador to Israel, His Excellency Neil Wigan. Support Jonny's podcasts by buying him a coffee here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ambassador Dr. Michael Oren: solider, diplomat, ambassador, politician, author, journalist, opinion leader. Dr. Oren was Israel’s ambassador to the US for four years until 2013, during fraught years where allies felt a personal enmity to one other, President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Born into small town upstate New York in 1955, young Michael swapped the wealth and confidence of post-war America for a front seat in what he calls the nation of miracles. His childhood was influenced by his father and uncle’s US Army service in World War II and the terrible discovery of what the Nazi enemy had done to the Jews of Europe. But young Michael set about mapping out his life ambition to be Israel’s ambassador to the States, making Aliyah at 24. And for all the challenges Israel faces, Michael’s arch-optimism is based on lessons from Jewish history. 🎧LISTEN to Ambassador Dr. Michael Oren. Jonny Gould’s Jewish State is supported by Dangoor Education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special Israel Briefing number 3, Jonny Gould’s Jewish State Israel Correspondent, James Marlow joins us to talk about the race to become the next Jewish Agency chair. The Jewish Agency is the bridge between the diaspora and Israel and prospective candidates are keener than ever to build and sustain relationships between Jews at home and abroad. You’ll hear the latest from James as the race hots up and from two frontrunners for Israel’s most important job behind that of the country’s President and Prime Minister. Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan Nahoum and His Excellency Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2013. Isaac Herzog stepped down as chairman in July 2021 to be sworn in as the 11th president of the State of Israel. Support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Jonny Gould’s Jewish State live on stage at JW3. Had it not been for the pesky pandemic, live shows would’ve been a far more frequent occurrence for yours truly. So it’s with great pleasure that we present this show in aid of Jewish Blind and Disabled with Robert Rinder LIVE in the main theatre at JW3. In this frank and funny conversation, Rob reveals how his hit daytime show, Judge Rinder was originally pitched as a remake of 70s courtroom drama, Crown Court. He also discusses his lifechanging attitudes from his deeply moving episode of “Who Do You Think You Are”, which told the story of his grandfather’s miraculous escape from a Nazi death camp. And there's more than a smattering of Yiddish in our exchanges - and the customary debate over their precise meanings! It’s not too late to make a donation to Jewish Blind & Disabled. On the night we raised a phenomenal £95,000 in the room. Donate now at https://www.jbd.org/donate And you can support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State too (including Gift Aid) at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

March 2025: I am very sad to hear of Dore Gold’s passing and as tribute, here is a re-release of our discussion as way of remembering his sharp mind and sizeable place in Israel’s history. Ambassador Dr. Dore Gold has spent his professional life as a diplomat and trusted senior prime ministerial advisor pursuing peace and security for Israel with willing Arab partners. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and family. Dore Gold was Israel’s ambassador’s to the UN in the late 90s. He advised on the Madrid peace conference in 1991 before leading Likud’s dialogue with the Hashemite kingdom in Jordan which led to peace in 1994. This was a direct response to the ruling Labour Party’s dialogue with the PLO. Ambassador Gold was also a key figure in the closure of the PLO’s office in East Jerusalem, a concession insisted upon as Israel opened talks with Yasser Arafat as part of the Oslo Accords. Since the turn of the millennium, he’s been president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs with his deep experience of US–Israel policy. A supporter of the Abraham Accords, he doesn’t believe the change of administration in Washington will undermine the extraordinary achievements of President Donald Trump‘s diplomats across the region - even if the foreign policy priorities of the Biden administration have veered away from the Middle East. His articles and books cover a wide variety of Israeli diplomacy on Jerusalem and he’s dedicated to the Golden City replacing Tel Aviv as the ultimate diplomatic hub. He’s also concerned with the UN and its implications for Israel, nuclear Iran, the United States' relationship with Israel and the possibility that Saudi will complete its extraordinary change from sworn enemy to partner in normalization. This is Ambassador Dr. Dore Gold. Help support Jonny Gould’s Jewish State (including Gift Aid) at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support thirsty Jonny with a coffee here! Our guest is journalist, author and social commentator, Melanie Phillips. She was once a committed diaspora Jew, pledged to contribute to life and society in her native UK. Moving to Israel was not on the radar; why would it be when she lived in the “goldener mediener”, a “golden country” in Yiddish, where Jews could live and prosper? Today she’s an arch-Zionist, living mostly in Jerusalem with her husband, the BBC’s former legal affairs correspondent Joshua Rozenberg. This episode chronicles Melanie’s change of mindset, using her story to illustrate what’s been happening to Anglo Jewry since the end of World War II. We also ponder the modern Conservative Party, why she thinks the BBC see her as the “acceptable face and voice of lunacy” and whether zealotry can ever be a positive influence. Jonny produces these podcasts for free. You can help support the show with Gift Aid at https://www.donorbox.org/jgpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices