Dr. Jonah Cohen is the director of communications for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA). He holds a PhD and First-Class Honours from the department of philosophies and religions at the University of London, SOAS. His essays on Jews, Israel, and human rights have appeared in numerous publications, including the New Republic, the Hill, the Jerusalem Post, the Times of Israel, Commentary, Weekly Standard, JNS, RealClearPolitics, and others.
Our Voice of the Fortnight is from the Times of Israel's 'Wartime Diaries' podcast. In the immediate aftermath of October 7th, Shai Davidai – an Assistant Professor at Columbia University – became an unlikely public defender of Israel. And truthfully, even he was surprised by this turn of events: As a committed left-wing Israeli, he had spent years criticizing the government, and often took to the streets to demonstrate against its policies. But the atmosphere he witnessed on college campuses (and specifically on his own campus at Columbia), compelled him to speak up and speak out.