Elliot Kaufman: October 7 and What Came After

What you'll learn

• 1 (00:35) **The October 7th Surprise and the Iranian Axis’s Plan** - Elliot Kaufman explains that Sinwar’s attack was not the master plan, but a fallback option meant to trigger a multi-front war to destroy Israel.
• 2 (12:54) **Why Hezbollah and Iran Didn’t Fully Join the Attack** - Kaufman details the crucial hesitation of Hezbollah’s leader, Nasrallah, which prevented a catastrophic multi-front war on October 7th.
• 3 (18:18) **The Instant Mobilization of Anti-Israel Sentiment in the West** - The host is shocked by the immediate, coordinated pro-Palestinian rallies and media toolkit distributed on October 8th.
• 4 (25:42) **How the Anti-Israel Narrative Won by Erasing Hamas** - Kaufman explains that the narrative succeeded by systematically pretending Hamas didn’t exist in the story of the war.
• 5 (29:08) **Elliot Kaufman’s Jewish Journey: From Toronto to the Upper West Side** - Kaufman shares his personal story of growing up in a Conservative Jewish home in Toronto and his path toward Modern Orthodox observance.
• 6 (38:02) **Being Visibly Jewish at the Wall Street Journal** - The host asks about the decision to wear a kippah at work and how his Jewish identity shaped his experience in a prestigious newsroom covering Jewish stories.
• 7 (46:16) **Grading the Jewish Community’s Online Response to Anti-Semitism** - Kaufman gives a failing grade to the organized Jewish community’s response to online anti-Semitism.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app