Can We Talk About Israel?

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?