Boundless Insights - with Aviva Klompas

As the war with Iran enters its second week, the military campaign has already shown successes. Key leaders have been eliminated, missile and drone attacks have sharply declined, and critical parts of Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure have been damaged.
But in the public discourse, a very different battle is unfolding. Across media and politics, fierce arguments have erupted about the legitimacy of the war, America’s role in it, and Israel’s influence on foreign policy.
In this episode, host Aviva Klompas speaks with Dr. Einat Wilf about the narratives surrounding the conflict. They discuss why the wars involving Israel are framed so negatively, how criticism is now coming from both the political left and the populist right, and what these debates reveal about deeper ideological shifts in the West.
If the military campaign succeeds but the narrative turns against it, what does that mean for Israel, the United States, and future conflicts?
Guest Bio:
Dr. Einat Wilf is a leading thinker on Israel, Zionism, foreign policy and education. She was a member of the Israeli Parliament from 2010 to 2013, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Born and raised in Israel, Dr. Wilf served as an Intelligence Officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company.
Dr. Wilf has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. She was the Goldman Visiting Professor at Georgetown University.
Dr. Wilf is the author of seven books that explore key issues in Israeli society. “We Should All Be Zionists“, published in 2022, brings together her essays from the past four years on Israel, Zionism and the path to peace; the co-authored “The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace”, was published in 2020
Mentioned In this Episode:
Wall Street Journal Editorial The Washington Iran War Pessimists

We want to hear from you. Send questions and comments to [email protected] or message Aviva on X at @avivaklompas.
Following coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, accusations that the operation was “illegal” and a violation of international law spread rapidly from social media to Congress to global institutions, often with great certainty and little explanation.
In this episode of Boundless Insights, host Aviva Klompas is joined by Natasha Hausdorff to cut through the noise and examine what international law actually says about the use of force. They explore when military action is lawful, how imminence is assessed in an age of missiles and proxy warfare, whether UN approval is required, how proportionality works in practice, and how states are held responsible for terror groups they fund and direct.
Guest Bio:
Natasha Hausdorff is a Barrister and expert commentator on international law, including the law of armed conflict, foreign affairs and national security policy. She is a sought-after keynote speaker on lawfare and the weaponization of international law against Israel. She regularly briefs politicians and international organisations and has spoken at Parliaments across Europe and at the United Nations. 
Natasha is a frequent contributor on legal matters for international media, including the BBC, Sky News, CNN, GB News, Talk TV and Fox and has written for publications including the Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, The Times, The Mail and Law Society Gazette. She holds law degrees from Oxford and Tel Aviv Universities and was a Fellow in the National Security Law Programme at Columbia Law School in New York. Natasha previously worked for American law firm Skadden Arps, in London and Brussels, and clerked for the President of the Israeli Supreme Court, Chief Justice Miriam Naor, in Jerusalem. She serves as director of the Centre for International Rule of Law and legal director of UK Lawyers for Israel Charitable Trust.

The United States and Israel launched a joint military campaign against Iran, signaling a decisive escalation after years of mounting confrontation. The operation appears aimed not only at degrading Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities, but at fundamentally altering the regime’s trajectory, with President Trump openly calling on the Iranian people to challenge their rulers.
As strikes hit senior regime and military targets inside Iran, Tehran has responded with missile and drone attacks against Israel and U.S. positions across the region. In Israel, sirens have sounded throughout the day as civilians shelter and daily life is once again disrupted. Many Israelis, however, see this moment as a necessary reckoning with a regime that has spent decades pursuing Israel’s destruction and destabilizing the region through violence and proxies.
In this emergency episode, Aviva Klompas speaks with retired Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus to assess what is unfolding in real time. They explore the scale and intent of the operation, how it differs from earlier strikes, Iran’s capacity for retaliation, the risk of regional escalation through proxies like Hezbollah, and what success would actually mean for Israel, the United States, and the Middle East if this campaign reshapes the balance of power after forty years of conflict.
Guest Bio:
Jonathan Conricus is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focused on the Middle East. He served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for 24 years as a combat commander in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. He also served as a military diplomat, foreign relations expert, and international spokesperson. He recently retired as lieutenant colonel. Jonathan was the first Israeli officer to be seconded to the United Nations (UN), during which he provided military and strategic analysis for UN peacekeeping forces. He has directed social media and public diplomacy efforts and has extensive on- and off-camera experience from his years as a spokesperson.

We want to hear from you. Send questions and comments to [email protected] or message Aviva on X at @avivaklompas.
As U.S. forces surge into the Middle East and diplomacy with Iran appears increasingly strained, questions are mounting about whether Washington is headed toward military action or using force to extract last-ditch concessions.
Host Aviva Klompas is joined by Jonathan Schanzer, Executive Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, to assess what the current U.S. posture actually signals. They examine whether diplomacy still offers a real off-ramp, what a strike on Iran could target, and how exposed Israel and U.S. regional allies may be in a prolonged conflict.
Guest Bio:
Dr. Jonathan Schanzer is Executive Director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he oversees the organization’s research and policy work. A former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Treasury, Jonathan has tracked and disrupted funding networks for groups like Hamas and al-Qaeda. He’s authored several books on the Middle East, including Gaza Conflict 2021, State of Failure, and Hamas vs. Fatah. A frequent congressional witness and media commentator, his analysis appears regularly in major outlets including CNN, Fox News, and the BBC.

Extremism expert and political scientist Dr. Lorenzo Vidino joins Dr. Rachel Fish to explore the history and spread of radical Islamism and how it has taken root in Western democracies.
They trace the movement’s origins to the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood, explain the difference between Islam as a religion and Islamism as a political ideology, and discuss how Islamist groups have adapted their messages for Western audiences, especially on college campuses.
The conversation also looks at how some Islamist actors have built alliances with parts of the progressive left, the role of Gulf funding in spreading these ideas, and the challenge liberal societies face to uphold pluralism and free speech while pushing back against extremist ideologies that exploit openness to gain influence.
Guest Bio:
Dr. Lorenzo Vidino is the Director of the Program on Extremism at The George Washington University and a leading expert on Islamism in Europe and North America. His work focuses on jihadist mobilization, counter-radicalization policies, and the activities of Muslim Brotherhood-inspired networks in the West. A native of Italy and American citizen, he holds a law degree from the University of Milan and a Ph.D. from Tufts University. Dr. Vidino has held positions at Harvard, the RAND Corporation, and the U.S. Institute of Peace, and has advised governments across Europe and North America. He is the author of The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West and The Closed Circle, and his commentary appears regularly in major global media.
Further Reading:
Lorenzo Vidino, The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West (Columbia University Press, 2010)
Lorenzo Vidino, The Closed Circle: Joining and Leaving the Muslim Brotherhood in the West (Columbia University Press, 2020)