May I have your attention please you can now book your train tickets on Uber and get

10% back in credits to spend on your next Uber ride so you don't have to walk home in the rain again.

Trains now on Uber. T's and C's apply. Check the Uber app. You're listening to this podcast, so I know you care about the war in Israel right now.

And you've been reading the headlines, Massacre and Gaza, genocide perpetrated by Hamas, no by Israel.

But if you've been listening to this podcast long enough, you know one thing. This stuff seems complicated and honestly

you shouldn't just pick aside or decide your opinion without really learning,

without really knowing what you're talking about.

And that's where this podcast comes in.

Check out unpacking Israeli history.

They have episodes with topics ranging from what is Hamas anyway to whether Israel should ransom

captured soldiers and the history of Israel and its disengagement from Gaza in 2005. Unpacking Israeli history cuts through the noise

and helps you understand Israel's present through understanding Israel's

history. So educate yourself. Learn the history behind the headlines.

Find unpacking Israeli history wherever you get your podcasts.

In early February, long before any of us could imagine how much the entire world was about to change. Our producer Skyler Inman went to record an interview at one of Israel's most iconic sites.

Right, it was a sunny day, height of winter, though you'd never guess it.

And I got off of the 444 bus at the foot of Masada. Okay, and can you set the scene for us?

Yeah, well, the birds were chirping, and since this was all pre-Korona, the parking lot was packed with visitors,

clambering in and out of humming tourist buses.

I on the other hand wasn't there to see Masada. I was there to speak with a man called

DeVib Benschabat.

And for the dude? And by then you'd been recording him for quite a while.

...