New podcast "Disputed Territory," now streaming
New York, NY – Israel Policy Forum is launching a new effort to pull the American Jewish conversation on Israel away from the extremes. Debuting on Sept. 29, the “Disputed Territory: Real Talk About Israel” podcast will speak to the many people who feel shut out of the current dialogue around Israel and Palestine.
“Disputed Territory” is hosted by Shanie Reichman, IPF’s director of strategic initiatives and head of IPF Atid, the organization’s program to engage and empower the next generation of leaders. Each episode focuses on Reichman and her guest engaging with the hard questions on Zionism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and American Jewish life.
“A lot of American Jews have lost the places where they can wrestle with the hardest questions about Israel and Palestine,” said Reichman. “My family is Mizrahi and Ashkenazi, Israeli and American, secular and Orthodox, Republican and Democrat, and we still manage to talk about Israel at Shabbat dinner. I want this podcast to give more people that kind of table.”
Reichman’s first guest is Alana Zeitchik, an Israeli American peace activist who became an advocate for the hostages after six of her family members were taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. Reichman asked Zeitchik what’s missing from the debate over Israel.
“No one really talks about the ideas and the solutions,” Zeitchik said. For about two years, she has argued that Saudi normalization and an expanded Abraham Accords, with their requirement of a path toward a Palestinian state, offer a way to end the war in Gaza. “It’s not a sexy narrative, but that is the boring, pragmatic truth of what needs to happen.”
Reichman pointed to polling showing most Israelis would support such a deal. “Israelis don’t know that. American Jews don’t know that,” she said. Later in the episode, she added, “I actually think solutions give people hope, because they realize there actually is a policy path out of this mess if there’s political will and public support for it.”
David A. Halperin, IPF’s chief executive officer, said, “American Jews have many opinions, but too few spaces for genuine, introspective, and challenging discussions. We want to build those spaces and this show is one way we are doing it.”
Upcoming episodes feature Hen Mazzig, Israeli writer, speaker, and senior fellow at The Tel Aviv Institute. Ihab Hassan, Palestinian writer, researcher, and peace activist originally from Ramallah. Tracy Frydberg, director of the Tisch Center for Jewish Dialogue at the ANU Museum. Michael Koplow, chief policy officer at Israel Policy Forum and senior research fellow at the Kogod Research Center of the Shalom Hartman Institute; Shai Agmon, assistant professor of political philosophy at University College London; and Samuel Hyde, a South African-Israeli writer. Guests won’t always agree with one another or with IPF.
“Disputed Territory” is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and other podcast platforms. TRAILER AVAILABLE NOW HERE. For more, follow @DisputedTerritoryPod and @shaniemieka on Instagram. New episodes will be released weekly and run about 40-50 minutes.