July 1 - Israel Vows Revenge; Should Justice Ginsberg Resign Before the Mid-Terms?; Japan Changes its Long-Standing Military Posture

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the tense situation in Israel as three teenagers, missing for almost a month, were buried amid vows to make Hamas pay for their alleged murder. The former spokesman for Shimon Peres, Gideon Levy, an Israeli journalist and columnist for Ha’aritz, who has covered the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza for over 25 years, joins us to discuss the bombing of Gaza and the likelihood of military strikes targeting Hamas leaders as Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to insist that the murders of the teenagers are a consequence of the recent unity agreement between Fatah and Hamas.   

Part 2

Then, following Justice Ginzberg’s passionate dissent in the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision allowing the religious beliefs of corporate owners to trump the rights of their employees, we look into the possibility that the 81 year old justice might resign before the mid-term elections, after which, if the Democrats lose the Senate, it will be all but impossible for President Obama to appoint any nominee of his to the court. Jonathan Chait, a writer for New York magazine where he has a recent article “If Republicans Win the Senate, What Crisis Will Mitch McConnell Cook Up Next?”, joins us to discuss how elections have consequences, particularly when it come to the Supreme Court.  

Part 3

Then finally we examine the consequences of the Japanese cabinet’s approval of a change in long-standing security policy that paves the way for its military to fight abroad. We speak first with David Kang, Professor of International Relations and Director of the Asian Studies Center at the University of Southern California about Japan’s domestic politics where only a third of the country supports the move. Then we discuss the foreign policy and regional repercussions with Richard Samuels, Professor of Political Science at MIT and former Chair of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Council and author of “Securing Japan: Tokyo’s Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia.”