palindrome testing

palindrome.js

function palindrome(str) {
  /* Input: String under test
    Tests the string only for Alphanumeric characters.
    return: true if the string is a palindrome or false if not.
   */
    
    function removeChars(str){
        str = str.toLowerCase();
        var matches = str.match(/[a-z0-9]+/g);
        console.log(matches);
        return (matches.join(""));
   }
    
    function isPal(newStr){ 
        if (newStr.length <= 1) {
            return true;
        }else {
            return ((newStr.endsWith(newStr[0])) && (isPal(newStr.substr(1,newStr.length -2))));
        }
    }
    return isPal(removeChars(str));
}



console.log(palindrome("$eazyzae$"));
console.log(palindrome("eye"));
console.log(palindrome("EYE"));
console.log(palindrome("EYES"));
console.log(palindrome("A man, a plan, a canal. Panama"));
console.log(palindrome("1 eye for of 1 eye."));