Can We Talk About Israel?

A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted

By: Daniel Sokatch

Narrated by: Daniel Sokatch

Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Bloomsbury presents Can We Talk About Israel? by Daniel Sokatch, read by Daniel Sokatch.

From an expert who understands both sides of one of the world’s most complex, controversial conflicts, a modern-day guide for the perplexed - a primer on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

'Can’t you just explain the Israel situation to me? In, like, 10 minutes or less?' This is the question Daniel Sokatch is used to answering on an almost daily basis as the head of the New Israel Fund, an organization dedicated to equality and democracy for all Israelis, not just Jews.

Can We Talk About Israel? is the story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, grappling with a century-long struggle between two peoples that both perceive themselves as (and indeed are) victims. And it's an attempt to explain why Israel (and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) inspires such extreme feelings - why it seems like Israel is the answer to 'what is wrong with the world' for half the people in it, and 'what is right with the world' for the other half. As Sokatch asks, is there any other topic about which so many intelligent, educated and sophisticated people express such strongly and passionately held convictions, and about which they actually know so little?

Can We Talk About Israel? is an easy-to-digest yet penetrating and original look at the history and basic contours of one of the most complicated conflicts in the world.

©2021 Daniel Sokatch (P)2021 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

A constructive attempt at honest understanding

In the quest to better understand this intractable conflict, the author largely overlooks (as does the mainstream media's endless analysis and interviews with experts, pundits and guests) central elements that deter a resolution--Palestinian leadership has done nothing to prepare their people for peace. The active promotion of jew hatred in their education system, media and internal politics is near pathological, even under the Palestinian Authority which "recognizes" Israel's right to exist. How can Society-A live peacefully with Society-B when Society-B believes Society-A should not exist? Recognizing this political duplicity, leads to another central "missing element"-- the Palestinians have no agreed upon leader empowered to negotiate a true and comprehensive peace. Even Arafat and his PLO/Fatah movement, recognized by Israel and the West as the sole representative of the Palestinian people, said he'd be dead in the morning if he had accepted the peace deal in 2000 at Camp David. The author acknowledges the Clinton-Brokered deal as perhaps the closest the world had come to seeing this conflict resolved. Alas, the disappointing tactic of "Rejectionism" ruled the day, and instead of staying at the negotiating table, Arafat pushed away and intolerant elements of Palestinian society embarked upon another round of conflict with the Second Intifada. The aurhor encourages the reader with some anecdotal stories of Israeli Arab citizens exercising their freedoms to make a difference in a messy pluralistic democracy. If the world wants to see this conflict resolved, we all need to encourage and empower a "Martin Luther King or Anwar Sadat" to arise from among Palestinian... and let the outrage be known in advance if the enemies of peace threaten such a leader.

Enjoyable, informative introduction to Israel and Palestine

Takes an even handed approach, I may have veered to other directions but is good to those wanted to understand the last century of war and conflict in the region.

An interesting read

Sokatch presents an interesting overview. He probably should make his various biases more explicit while describing what he understands to be the causes of conflict. And he should spend more time talking about the general problematic nature of the place of American Jews and his motivation of shame.

He occasionally falls into the trap of thinking that he represents some kind of objective/ neutral position.

His reading of his own book adds a lot.

A fair treatment of a very difficult nuanced subject.

Fraught history of the region explained well. Ending with some hope much needed in today’s world. I hope he writes an addendum including the most recent history and situation currently going on between Israel and Hammas.

Not completely sincere in its promise

At the start, after hearing the introduction, I merely hoped that the book wouldn't be a mass of wishy-washy equivocations, of the 'bad people on both sides' vein. I don't think you can't get the truth by presenting a balance of biased accounts. But, by the end, I would have gladly accepted that. I can't be sure if the author is being disingenuous, or honestly is blind to his own prejudices, but this book is deeply slanted. For example, Palestinians are repeatedly referred to as terrorists, or in one way or another purveyors of terror, whereas even the most heinous of Israeli bad actors are merely presented as overly stressed IDF soldiers or ultranationalist settlers (read: lone nut). There is almost no effort made to personalize Palestinians, or dive into the psychology of occupation (at least the perspective from those who see it as such), and no prominent Palestinians are presented aside from Yasser Arafat. On the other hand, numerous Israeli political figures are detailed and their actions deeply analyzed, Along the way the author worships Yitzhak Rabin and vilifies Benjamin Netanyahu. This is significant, as it underscores the running theme that questionable actions on this side of the conflict are the unfortunate results of political intrigue, or the perhaps overly strong response to unprovoked Palestinian aggression. The author also conveniently fails to acknowledge Israel's role in helping create Hamas. The massive rationalizations become hard to take after a while. I had been hoping for an honest account, but this singularly fails on that count. The author only really seems motivated to lean the other way when discussing the quick trigger on claims of anti-semitism. He rightfully distinguishes between honest criticism of government and policy and historical prejudice. But by then, we've moved away from Palestinians, and are taking evangelical Christians in America to task. Again perhaps rightfully, but what happened to presenting the story from the perspective of the people inhabiting the land that they consider to be Palestine? It's lacking, and the book suffers because of it. I've edited to give the book 3 stars, as it does give a good deal of background, just not quite circumspect enough for my liking.

Are these really the facts?

Well written and performed, this book proposes fairness in its reporting. In my opinion, it describes events from an extremely biased stance. Though it is true that both sides have errored in many ways, the writer washes over Arab led atrocities, and violence while heavy handedly focusing on Israel’s wrongdoings and acts of aggression. The rigid unwillingness to negotiate honestly on the part of the Palestinians is not discussed and this is curious to me. To pose that this book clearly outlines the “facts” and events is misleading and disturbing. The author’s bias is clear if one has some knowledge of history but if not can go unnoticed. Very problematic in my opinion.

Worth your time

Daniel Sokatch has pulled back the veil, succinctly, on one of the most fraught discussions (and reality) of many a people and interested parties. As a Jewish American I found this often triggering and insightful book so worth my time that when I finished it, I started it again. I’m so grateful to have found this resource that has validated my pride as a Jew, my empathy as a humanitarian, and my sorrow as a witness of this extreme example of complex situations.

Now I Understand

This was a very compelling and thoughtful distillation of the modern history of Israel and the West Bank. This book gave different aspects entirely chapters, so it did not get bogged down with side explanations and history. It was so clear and obviously written from a place of love and humanity.

Mixed feelings

I came into this as someone very knowledgeable in history and this conflict and thought many of his historical event descriptions were lack luster and left out important details. Overall I think you would be better off listening to the podcast ‘Unpacking Israeli History’ hosted by Noam Weissman. Noam gives you much more nuance and detail into historic events related to israel and the conflict. Also, I think Noa Tishby‘s ‘Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth’ is better than this book for people new to this topic. I will say that I really liked Daniel Sokatch‘s ending and focus on peace and coexistence. I can tell he really cares about both nations and hopes for a better future.