Unpacking Israeli History

8 Elections That Shocked Israel

Israel votes on October 27th, and Noam couldn’t think of a better way to count down than by ranking Israel’s eight biggest political earthquakes. He covers the most drama

Blood and Honey: The Incredible Story of Kibbutz Yad Mordechai

Named for a hero of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Kibbutz Yad Mordechai embodies the story of Jewish resistance and renewal. From its desperate stand against Egyptian force

Can Israel Have All the Land and Still Have Peace?

What do Israelis who live in the West Bank really believe, and what do outsiders misunderstand about them? Noam Weissman sits down with Rabbi Yehuda HaKohen, a West Bank

After the Massacre: Remembering October 7

Three years after October 7, Noam Weissman visits the Tkuma car graveyard, Kibbutz Be’eri, and Netiv Ha’Asara to ask how Israelis remember tragedy while rebuilding their

What Would Rav Kook Think of Religious Zionism Today?

In the third and final episode of our series on religious Zionism, Noam Weissman explores how every major debate within religious Zionism, from West Bank settlements and

The Fight for the Soul of Religious Zionism

UPDATED: In part 2 of his series on Religious Zionism, Noam traces a movement as it moves from the sidelines to the center of Israeli life, and asks what happens when rel

The Fight for the Soul of Religious Zionism

In part 2 of his series on Religious Zionism, Noam traces a movement as it moves from the sidelines to the center of Israeli life, and asks what happens when religious ce

What Actually is Religious Zionism?

In Part 1 of our series on Religious Zionism, Noam Weissman traces how Jewish longing for Zion evolved into a religious movement that reshaped Zionism. From early rabbini

Don’t Leave Zionism to the Extremists – with Yossi Klein Halevi

What does it mean to be a Zionist? Yossi Klein Halevi has asked, and lived that question in radically different ways. He tells Noam Weissman about his journey from the Je

Tel Hai: Rethinking Israel's Founding Myth

Tel Hai is a small historic site in the Galilee where, in 1920, a tense standoff between Jewish farmers and Arab fighters erupted into a deadly firefight. Among the dead

Special Crossover: Can Israelis And Palestinians Ever Live In Peace? With Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib

Will the war ever truly come to an end? Can two populations with so much pain find common ground? Or is the hurt too deep, too vast to overcome? There are no questions mo

Good Jews Only? Confronting New York Magazine's Habibi City Story

Noam Weissman unpacks the firestorm around New York Magazine’s "Habibi City" issue and traces the deeper historical pattern behind it: the demand that Jews prove they bel

Durban 2001: How Zionism Became a Dirty Word

In August 2001, Jewish delegates arrived at the UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban expecting to fight bigotry. Instead they walked into what Tom Lantos called t

Why Israeli Elections Never Produce a Clear Winner

How do Israeli elections actually work? Israelis don't vote directly for prime minister, no party has ever won a majority, and a party with just a handful of Knesset seat

Live from Camp Tel Yehudah: Teens Talk Antisemitism, Identity, and Israel

What do Jewish teens really think about Israel? Noam Weissman takes the podcast to Camp Tel Yehudah for a special live episode, exploring Israel, October 7, Jewish identi

Israel's Eurovision story: Boos, ballads, and breaking up with Europe (Part 2)

A little Israeli boy from a poor Yemenite family grew up, transitioned, and became the most scandalous, fabulous Eurovision winner in history: meet Dana International. In

Israel's Eurovision story: How a Middle Eastern country crashed Europe's biggest party (Part 1)

Why does Israel compete in Eurovision if it's not even in Europe? In Part 1, Noam Weissman unpacks how Israel went from Eurovision newcomer to music powerhouse, exploring

Live from Camp Lavi: Teens Take on Israel's Toughest Moments

It's summer. Where else do you want to be? Sleepaway camp, obviously. Unpacking Israeli History packed its bags and went to camp. Noam Weissman fielded questions from hu

Israel Open Mic: Is the Palestinian flag Illegal in Israel?

A man is detained over a kippah bearing both the Israeli and Palestinian flags. Was it legal? Noam unpacks the surprising history of the Palestinian flag, why Israel once

Should We Retire the Word ‘Zionism’? With Haviv Rettig Gur

Noam sits down with Haviv Rettig Gur in Jerusalem to unpack why Israel feels like a tinderbox, whether it's time to retire the word "Zionism," the debate over Palestinian