Daniel Sokatch - Can We Talk About Israel?: A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted

Bloomsbury Publishing Inc.

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This electronic edition published in 2021 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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First published in the United States 2021

Copyright Daniel Sokatch, 2021

Illustrations copyright Christopher Noxon, 2021

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ISBN: 978-1-6355-7388-6 (eBook)

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For Bill Goldman (19792017), who was my partner in this work, and for Charlie Noxon (19992019), who was just beginning to wrestle with it all.

CONTENTS

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HAVE YOU EVER found yourself at a dinner party when the topic of Israel came up, and you wanted to flee to another room?

I feel your pain. Im often asked, Cant you just explain the Israel situation to me in, like, ten minutes or less? People want to know, they want to understand, and they want me to wrap it up before their entres arrive. This book will take more than ten minutes to read, but it wont be a daunting, intimidating undertaking. It will be, I hope, interesting and engaging, and after youve read it, youll be able to hold your own in any Israel conversation, at any dinner party.

Israel.

I mean, is there any other topic on which so many intelligent, educated, and sophisticated people express such strongly and passionately held convictions, but about which they actually know so little? The problem is compounded because these people on all sides of the issue think they know what theyre talking about. They sincerely believe what they think to be true.

Its easy to understand why.

Most of us have heard a lot about Israel: in church or synagogue or at the mosque, from parents and grandparents, on visits and vacations, on college campuses. And, of course, in the news: Israel boasts one of the largest communities of foreign correspondents in the world. We encounter Israel online, in Facebook posts and tweets, on podcasts and in blogs. We grew up reading about it in books like Leon Uriss Exodusor James Micheners The Source. Weve seen The Ten Commandmentsand The Prince of Egypt. And were used to seeing Israel in the headlines, where it takes up space completely disproportionate to its actual physical size, population, and global footprint.

Dont believe me? Try this little exercise: Google Ukraine conflict. I get about 107 million results. Next, try North Korea conflict. I get 95 million. Now google Israel conflict. Hits: 181.8 million. The population of Ukraine is 45.5 million; Ukrainians are in a conflict with Russia, population 143.5 million.