Hussain Abdul-Hussain on the Arab Case for Israel

The Tikvah Podcast

Tikvah

Judaism, News, Politics, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 658 Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2026

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From the moment of its founding, and, in truth, before its founding, the State of Israel has faced the determined opposition of the Arab world. The armies of five Arab nations invaded Israel the day after it declared independence in 1948. In 1967, after a similar attempt again failed, the Arab League met at Khartoum and issued the famous three no's: no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiation with Israel. Terrorism, war, and boycott followed across the decades—the PLO, the intifadas, the missile campaigns, and the Iranian proxy network that exploited Arab grievance and stretched from Lebanon to Gaza to Yemen, and whose efforts came to a gruesome crescendo on October 7, 2023. Arab opposition to Israel has been, for most of the past century, an organizing principle of Arab political life. It was the cause around which governments mobilized populations, and around which Palestinians built an identity.

And so it is genuinely remarkable when a man who grew up inside that world, who absorbed its assumptions as a child, who knows its arguments from the inside, sits down and writes a book called The Arab Case for Israel.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain was born in Iraq, raised in Lebanon, and serves as a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. On this episode, he joins Mosaic's editor Jonathan Silver to discuss The Arab Case for Israel.

This week's episode of the Tikvah Podcast is generously sponsored by Dr. Michael Schmerin and family. If you are interested in sponsoring an episode of the Tikvah Podcast, we invite you to join the Tikvah Ideas Circle. Visit tikvah.org/circle to learn more and join.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the moment of its founding, in truth before its founding, the state of Israel has faced the determined opposition of the Arab world.
0:17.0	The armies of five Arab nations invaded the day Israel declared independence in 1948.
0:23.0	When those armies were defeated, the Arab League met at Khartoum and issued its famous three noes,
0:29.7	no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiation with Israel.
0:34.7	Terrorism, war, and boycott followed across the decades, the Fedain,
0:41.0	the PLO, the Intifadas, the missile campaigns, the Iranian proxy network that exploited Arab
0:47.5	grievance and stretched from Lebanon to Gaza to Yemen, and that came to a gruesome crescendo
0:52.9	on October 7, 2023.
0:55.3	Arab opposition to Israel has been, for most of the past century, an organizing principle
1:01.3	of Arab political life. It was the cause around which governments mobilized populations
1:06.4	and around which Palestinians built an identity. And so it is genuinely remarkable when a man who grew up inside that world,
1:13.6	who absorbed its assumptions as a child,
1:16.6	who knows its arguments from the inside,
1:19.6	sits down and writes a book making the Arab case for Israel.
1:23.6	Welcome to the Tikva podcast. I'm your host, Jonathan Silver.
1:26.6	Hussein Abdul-Hassain was born in Iraq,
1:29.8	raised in Lebanon, and he serves as a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
1:35.5	His new book is called The Arab Case for Israel, and it is our subject in today's episode.
1:40.1	If you enjoy this conversation, you can discover more big ideas and in-depth analysis on Judaism, Israel, America, and the West at ticfa ideas.org.
1:50.4	Subscribe to access our full library of podcasts, videos, and essays, and join a growing community focused on Jewish life and the glories of Western civilization.
2:00.6	You can subscribe to the Tikva podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
2:05.5	I hope you'll leave us a five-star review to help us grow this community of ideas.
	...

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