We Should All Be Zionists Podcast
Dr. Einat Wilf, one of the most insightful thinkers on Zionism today, reads essays from her latest compilation of essays book, "We Should All Be Zionists." Then, Dr. Wilf and columnist Blake Flayton discuss the themes of each essay and how they apply to Israel and contemporary Jewish life. Listen for insightful conversation on politics, conflict, peace, religion, revolution, past, present , and future. You can purchase your own copy of "We Should All Be Zionists" anywhere you get your books.
Episodes
33 episodes
Chapter 33 - The Gaza Protests Are About Ending Israel
In 2018, Einat wrote an essay about the riots that were shaking the ground of the border between Israel and Gaza. Einat understood then that the unrest wasn't about just better living conditions -- they were an expression of the desire to "retu...
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21:35
Chapter 32 - Western States Fail to Understand the Palestinian Right of Return
In this episode, Einat discusses her topic of expertise: the Palestinian "right of return," which, as we have covered many times, is not a "right" enshrined anywhere in international law, nor would it be, for many people, a return. What do West...
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38:43
Chapter 31 - Palestinian Refugee "Return": A Critique
In this episode, recorded at the end of December 2024, Einat examines the arguments of Peter Beinart, a Jewish columnist in a favor of a one, non-Jewish state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and of resettling Palestinian "refugees...
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Season 1
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Episode 31
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44:36
Chapter 30 - Rabin Would Not Have Brought Peace / The Killer of the Two - State Solution
In this episode, in which two essays are read, Einat lays the myth to rest that Yitzhak Rabin's assassination derailed the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians. Why is the tenure of Rabin so mythologized and glorified? And if Yig...
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Season 1
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Episode 30
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37:48
Chapter 29 - Even the Left Supports Trump's Peace Plan
In this episode, Einat reads two short essays concerning the 2020 Trump Peace Plan for Israel/Palestine, which offered the Palestinians a state. Why did many even on the Israeli left support the proposal that was deemed inadequate? Then, Blake ...
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Season 1
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Episode 29
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28:34
Chapter 28 - Confident Zionism
In this episode, Einat sheds light on "the new Zionists," the wave of young, courageous Jews in the Diaspora who are pushing back against anti-Zionism, the new form of antisemitism. These Jews understand that nothing will ever be good enough fo...
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27:19
Chapter 27 - We Are Still A Minority in the Region
In this episode, Einat presents a concept that some westerners have a hard time understanding: although Jews make up the numerical majority in the State of Israel, they perceive themselves as the minority, and although Arabs in the State of Isr...
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Season 1
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Episode 27
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34:19
Chapter 26 - Introducing Muslim Zionism
In this episode, Einat co-writes with two young Arabs from the UAE about the possibility of a Muslim form of Zionism, a Middle East that embraces Israel. For this new generation, wars against the Jewish state can be seen as wasteful and a distr...
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Season 1
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Episode 26
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28:55
Chapter 25 - Yes to the Occupation, No to Settlements
In this episode, Einat makes the case for why the most obvious policy for management of the conflict is continued security control between the river and the sea, but a halt (or removal?) of civilians in areas where Israel does not exercise sove...
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Season 1
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Episode 25
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32:55
Chapter 24 - Palestinians Are Adults
In this episode, originally published as a short social media post, Einat explains the one thing that westerners cannot seem to grasp: Palestinians are, in fact, adults, who are capable of making adult decisions. Then, columnist Blake Flayton j...
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23:52
Chapter 23 - Fund More Than Just Aliyah Efforts
In this episode, Einat argues that although she once believed that the best thing for a Jew living in the Diaspora to do was to move to Israel, "to make Aliyah," today, it matters more for Israel to live in every Jew, rather than for every Jew ...
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Season 1
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Episode 23
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25:49
Chapter 22 - The Palestine Propaganda Complex
In this episode, Einat explores a problem that has been plaguing the Jewish people for decades: what to do when the entire world appears to be against you? How does one combat a web of lies so well established and prolonged? How can it be possi...
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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39:24
Chapter 21 - The Antisemitism Mechanism
In this episode, Einat makes the ultimate case, in historical and sociological terms, for why anti-Zionism is antisemitism, originally presented in the opening of an Intelligence Squared debate in London. Unfortunately, in light of the anti-Isr...
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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43:42
Chapter 20 - A Day For Atheist Rebels Taking Charge Of Their Own Destiny
In this episode, Einat makes the case that Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, is the one holiday specifically for atheist Zionists, those who founded the State of Israel by rebelling against traditional Jewish theology. Whereas other ho...
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26:11
Chapter 19 - Arab Success and Normalization
In this chapter, Einat analyzes why the Arab world is perceived among the West to be an abject failure -- in governance, democracy, technology, sustainability, and more. But then, we shift to a model of Arab success: the Gulf states, who have r...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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26:58
Chapter 18 - Israel's Final Border
In this episode, Dr. Wilf makes the case for a crucial Israeli political decision: demarcating a final eastern border. This means officially designating who is in Israel, and who is out. But what does this mean for the presence of Israeli milit...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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34:04
Chapter 17 - How Not To Think About the Conflict
In this episode, Dr. Wilf investigates how Americans, and many westerners, view the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: through the lens of western race relations, the Israelis as "white" and the Palestinians as "people of color," which may be though...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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33:25
Chapter 16 - An American Consulate in East Jerusalem Could Preserve the Two-State Solution
In this episode, Einat argues that if the Americans were to open a consulate to the Palestinians deep within East Jerusalem, it would advance the cause of a two-state solution. What does nothing to encourage two states is maintaining embassies ...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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24:28
Chapter 15 - Arguing Israel Contra BDS
In this episode, Einat interrogates the progressive hatred of Israel, and asks: is animosity toward Jews ever due to Jewish behavior? Or perhaps it is a reflection of the society itself -- and something failing in its internal structure. Then, ...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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47:51
Chapter 14 - There Is No Silence to be Broken on the Occupation
In this episode, Einat reviews "Who Do You Think You Are?" by Yuli Novak, founder of Breaking the Silence, an organization which seeks to inform Jews in Israel and people of all stripes around the world about the occupation of the West Bank. Bu...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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39:43
Chapter 13 - Durban: A Legacy of Destruction
In this episode, Dr. Wilf takes us back to Durban, South Africa in the summer of 2001 at the World Conference Against Racism, which notably descended into an antisemitic hate fest that echoed the debate surrounding UN Resolution 3379, declaring...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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23:42
Chapter 12 - Zionism as Therapy for "Jewish Priorities"
In this special episode, Dr. Wilf reflects on the "Zionism and anti-Zionism" course she taught at Georgetown University several years ago, and how one student had told her that the course was more helpful than "hours of therapy." What did she m...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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47:57
Chapter 11 - Here's Why So Many Are Outraged By Israel's Nation-State Law
In this episode, Dr. Einat Wilf reads an essay on the strong reactions in Israeli society upon the passing of the controversial "Nation State Law" in 2018. The debate around the language and the context of the law are more relevant than ever in...
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28:20
Chapter 10 - Jewish Power and Powerlessness
In this episode, Dr. Wilf discusses the differences between Jews who feel comfortable with having power, versus those who don't. What is the relationship between morality and power, progressivism and power? Then, columnist Blake Flayton joins t...
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24:00
Chapter 9 - Biden Just Threw Israeli/Palestinian Peace Under the Bus
In this 2021 op-ed, Dr. Wilf argues that choosing to provide millions more in aid for UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, does nothing but give cover to the dream of undoing Israel by giving political legitimacy to the demand to ...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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24:25