Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan, speaking with ToI senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur.

Israel’s national anthem, “Hativkah,” was loudly jeered before its soccer team kicked off play at the Paris Olympics against Mali on Wednesday night. To the relief of all, the game passed without major security incidents and ended in a 1-1 draw.

Since the 1972 Munich Games, Team Israel has been closely protected by the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency. However, as rhetoric and activism against Israel heats up during the ongoing war with Hamas, it is the only national team with an extra round-the-clock security detail provided by host country France.

As Israel is increasingly battered on the global stage and called a “pariah state,” could protests turn violent?

Rettig Gur discusses how to maintain a true north concerning the Gaza war and remain indifferent to world opinion, while still holding vast empathy for the suffering in the Strip.

So this week, we ask Haviv Rettig Gur, what matters now.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. 

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