Israel Open Mic: What Does “Israel’s Right to Exist” Mean?

Unpacking Israeli History

Unpacked

Judaism, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2026

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this Open Mic episode, Noam responds to a listener, Aviva's question: what does it even mean to say “Israel has a right to exist”—and who gets to decide that “right”? Noam argues that the debate is really about Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. He makes the case that the more urgent conversation is about how Israel exists, not whether it exists. The episode uses the 2025 NYC mayoral debate as a jumping-off point to explore Jewish peoplehood, modern self-determination, and double standards. This episode is generously sponsored by Debra and Avi Naider and Andrea & Larry Gill. To sponsor an episode or to be in touch, please email noam@unpacked.media. Check us out on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand. ------------------- For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jewish History Nerds⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Soulful Jewish Living⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stars of David with Elon Gold ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wondering Jews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	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.
0:11.5	This episode is sponsored by Debra and Avi Nader and Andrea and Larry Gill.
0:16.1	To sponsor an episode of Unpacking Israeli History or just to say what's up. Be in touch at Noam at Unpacked. Media.
0:22.3	Before we start, as always,
0:23.3	check us out on Instagram,
0:24.9	TikTok, YouTube, all the places.
0:26.5	Just search Unpacking Israeli history
0:27.8	and hit the follow or subscribe button.
0:29.8	It's cool to sometimes see the videos of these things
0:31.4	and to see all the images
0:32.4	and B-roll and all those things.
0:33.9	So check them out.
0:34.8	It's worth it. Okay. Yala. Let's do this.
0:39.7	We, the people of Israel, are prepared and anxious to meet the representatives of our neighbors without any preconditions.
0:59.9	There are people in Israel and elsewhere say it's impossible to make peace between the Arabs and
1:05.2	Israel or the Jewish people. I think they're home. If you've been following, unpacking Israeli history for a little while now, you know that I
1:14.9	open and close almost every episode with a request to be in touch, to write to me.
1:19.7	Like, I love the community aspect of this.
1:21.9	And we've now turned a bunch of these emails into Israel Open Mic episodes where I address
1:26.7	your questions directly, explicitly.
1:29.6	And I have to tell you these episodes are some of my favorites.
1:32.8	These episodes truly feel like it's a conversation, often about questions that make me say,
	...

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