Unpacking Israeli History

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

50 Years Since Entebbe: Operation Thunderbolt

Fifty years ago, Air France Flight 139 took off from Tel Aviv on the morning of June 27, 1976. No one could have suspected that the soon-to-be-hijacked flight was about t

Nas Daily: The Identity Crisis October 7 Forced Me to Face

Does identity define us or limit us? Noam searches for answers with Nuseir Yassin, better known as internet personality Nas Daily. Nas Daily, has 68 million followers a

The Battle for Jerusalem: Ammunition Hill

In June 1967, Israeli paratroopers fought one of the Six Day War's bloodiest battles to reunify Jerusalem. Ammunition Hill, a fortified Jordanian stronghold carved into t

Yitzhak Rabin: Not the Peacenik You Think He Was (Special Crossover)

Noam Weissman joins Yael Steiner and Jonathan Schwab over at Jewish History Nerds for a special crossover episode on Yitzhak Rabin through the lens of Itamar Rabinovich's