Elan Journo on The Yaron Brook Show Discusses the October 7 Anniversary

October 7 marked the anniversary of Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel. In an interview on The Yaron Brook Show, Yaron Brook and Elan Journo discuss the events that have unfolded over the past year. Journo, senior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute and author of What Justice Demands: America and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, examines not only the shock of the attack itself, but also the widespread support for the Palestinian cause that erupted in Western institutions, particularly on college campuses.

Journo offers a sobering evaluation of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza, cautioning that it may be repeating the U.S.’s mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan by failing to articulate a morality of self-defense. Victory, he explains, requires putting self-defense first, and crushing the enemy.

The episode also touches on the public discourse about the war. For example, Journo and Brook discuss recent calls to avoid “escalation,” highlighting how this concept frames the situation as a conflict to be managed rather than a war that demands total defeat of the enemy. They also discuss whether we should be optimistic about Israel’s recent military successes in Lebanon.

In the second half of the episode, Journo fields live questions from listeners. Topics include the origins of anti-Semitic stereotypes, the viability of a two-state solution, and the lasting impact of U.S. policies during the Gulf War.