Hey, I'm Noam Weissman and this is Unpacking Israeli History, the podcast that takes a deep dive into some of the most intense, historically fascinating and often misunderstood events and stories linked to Israeli history.

This episode of Unpacking Israeli History is generously sponsored in honor of Dr. Andrew and Marcy Spitzer.

If you want to sponsor an episode of Unpacking Israeli History or even just say, what's up? Be in touch at knowem at unpacked.med. Before we start, check us out on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, just search Unpacking Israeli history, and hit that follow button, that subscribe button, whatever it is. I don't know. I'm too old for this. Anyway, okay, Yala. Let's do this.

We, the people of Israel, we, the people of Israel, are prepared and anxious to meet the representatives of our neighbors without any preconditions.

There are people in Israel and elsewhere say it's impossible to make peace between their ups and Israel or the Jewish people.

I think they're home.

Recently, we put out our two-part episode on Palestinian statehood.

Those episodes were packed with history, with politics, with competing visions.

And as you know, from the last two episodes, we're bringing you the conversations in full as special bonus content.

And today you're going to hear my interview with A. Not Wilf. She has razor sharp and got me thinking in ways I wasn't, which by the way is my favorite thing ever, not to sound too nerdy,

just a little, but not too. But the conversations I love are ones in which the person I'm speaking

to helps me see things more broadly. Not just to reaffirm what I already think. That's not interesting to me. Is that interesting to you? Really? Come on. No, that's not interesting. A knot is a former member of Knesset, a public intellectual, and one of the sharpest, most challenging voices I spoke to in this whole project. Anat doesn't shy away from skepticism.

She's skeptical about international recognition,

skeptical about empty rhetoric,

skeptical about whether Israelis and Palestinians are truly ready for statehood right now.

But she also brings this wealth of historical perspective and personal experience

that makes her take on statehood uniquely compelling,

whether you, listening, agree or disagree with her assessments.

For me, this conversation highlighted how complicated, how personal these questions really are.

And whether you agree with her or not, Aana, forces you to think hard about the assumptions we often bring to the table when we talk about things like peace, like recognition and the future.

So you know what?

Let's jump right in.

...