Anchorwomen From CNN & Israeli Channel 12 News Team Up To Help Kids Fight Jew Hatred

In a time when antisemitism is rising and passionate Jewish voices in mainstream media remain few, CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga and Israeli Channel 12 news anchor Yonit Levi have teamed up to do something quietly radical: write a children’s book about antisemitism, allyship, and what it means to stand up for what’s right.

Their new middle-grade novel, Don’t Feed the Lion, was released this week — a cross-continental collaboration born in the aftermath of October 7 and forged through friendship between two women who spent nights talking across time zones, trying to turn heartbreak into action.

“It shook us to our core,” Bianna said, recalling the morning of October 7, when she was at her son’s soccer tournament in Albany. “On the one hand, I’m being a soccer mom, and on the other hand, being a journalist and trying to make sense of what’s happening. I immediately thought of Yonit.”

For Yonit, Israel’s top nightly news anchor, the shock was both professional and personal. “Our world was undone really by these events on October 7th,” she said. “And that heartbreak, I think in many ways we’re still living, was sort of continued into the fact that the world didn’t even give us 24 hours and turned around and started to blame us for what happened to us.”

In those first nights after the attack, the two friends began talking every evening. “We were friends before…the shoulder to cry on both because of what happened in Israel and of course what happened in the Jewish world,” Yonit said. “We were talking every night and sort of tried to figure out what it is that we can do.”

The meaningful action they decided to take was to begin a conversation. “It was Bianna who said, ‘Let’s go to the impressionable age that’s younger… the kids who we can still maybe talk to,’” Yonit added.

The result was Don’t Feed the Lion, a novel that follows three middle-school friends—two Jewish siblings and their non-Jewish friend—as they navigate identity, friendship, and the moral courage to speak up when silence feels easier.

Bianna shared that the spark for the project predated October 7. “My son… was really bothered by the Kyrie Irving controversy, specifically when there seemed to be no consequences for it,” she said, referencing the NBA star’s antisemitic social media posts. “I reached out to his school and asked, what are you doing about antisemitism? And they responded by saying, for this age group, we actually don’t do anything. We wait for them to ask. And that really bothered me and made it clear that there’s an issue there.”

Bianna added that part of the problem is that antisemitism is not treated the same way as other forms of hate. “It needs to be addressed the way other forms of hate [are],” Bianna said. “And we all know what that can look like when a community gathers together and does just that — and you see the positive impacts of having those kinds of conversations that we don’t see nearly enough when it comes to antisemitism.”

Her own background also sharpened her awareness. “I was born in the former Soviet Union in Moldova,” Bianna said. “Antisemitism was institutionalized. My birth certificate says that I’m Jewish, and that stands out—that immediately says that this person’s not like the others.”

The authors wanted to fill that gap for both Jewish and non-Jewish kids. “It can take time to find your voice,” Yonit said. “You don’t need to have the answers, all of them immediately and all at once.”

Despite the darkness that inspired the book, both women say the process made them more hopeful. What began as late-night phone calls between friends across two continents became something larger — a bridge between worlds meant to inspire the next generation. “We are two halves of the same people — the diaspora and Israel,” Yonit said of her and Bianna’s friendship and book partnership. “And this crisis of October 7 brought us closer together.”

For both journalists, that closeness extended beyond their friendship to a renewed sense of purpose. Writing the book reminded them that their voices — and the freedom to use them — are powerful tools against hate. “We have the luxury of being able to write this book and to speak freely as journalists in democratic countries,” Bianna said. “And while it may be uncomfortable at times, given the subject matter, maybe lonely at times, we should not negate how privileged we are to have the power that we do. And if it changes one person’s mind or view, that’s a win.”

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