Israel Under Fire: Rivky’s Dispatch & The Birth of the Begin Doctrine (updated)

Unpacking Israeli History

Unpacked

Judaism, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this special episode of Unpacking Israeli History, host Noam Weissman shares a conversation with producer Rivky Stern, who unexpectedly finds herself in Israel with her young family as war with Iran breaks out. Rivky reflects on the emotional and psychological toll of daily life under rocket threat, offering a raw and deeply personal perspective from inside a conflict zone. Then, Noam revisits the legendary 1981 Israeli strike on Iraq’s nuclear reactor—Operation Osirak—and explores the moral dilemmas, strategic brilliance, and long-lasting impact of what became known as the Begin Doctrine. Together, these two stories—one unfolding in real time, the other historic—highlight the enduring challenges and guiding principles behind Israel’s defense of its people. Ronen Bergman's Rise and Kill First Israel’s 2007 submission to the Eurovision competition: Push the Button Please get in touch at noam@unpacked.media. This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a division of OpenDor Media. ------------------- 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 everyone, it's Noam.
0:01.8	Before we get to the episode, I want to do something a little different.
0:04.9	Anyone who listens to the show regularly knows Rifky Stern.
0:08.1	She is our producer.
0:09.3	She leads a podcast division at Open Door Media.
0:12.2	She works hand in hand with me to produce these episodes and to tell the story of Israel,
0:17.2	and a real confidant of mine.
0:20.2	When we created the show five or six years ago, she took it from
0:24.4	a smaller show into a very large show. What we want to do in the show, as you know, as you all
0:30.4	listen to it, as we want to explore Israel's complex story, it's rich story, the nuances, the good, the bad,
0:36.2	the ugly, the beautiful, the inspirational, the ugly, the beautiful, the inspirational,
0:37.8	the difficult, that's what we do. I live in South Florida. Rifki is based in New York City,
0:44.4	but now today, Rifky is part of the story in Israel. But I thought it's really important to
0:50.9	speak with Rifky directly and for you to all hear from Rifke directly,
0:57.0	because Rifke actually is in Israel right now. She flew to Israel for a family event before
1:03.3	Iran and Israel got into this next tangle with each other, this tussle with each other. She brought
1:10.4	her two very young daughters with
1:12.0	her and her husband. And then the war with Iran or the conflict with Iran broke out. So here is Rifke
1:18.9	reading a dispatch about what this harrowing experience has been like for a New Yorker who happens to
1:25.8	be in Jerusalem. And Rifke, thank you so much for joining me
1:28.5	right now. Thanks, Dom. And I want to just say that this is such a funny experience being on the
1:32.8	other side of this. I just, I guess I think I wanted to just share a short piece of perspective
	...

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