Can We Talk About Israel? dives into why so many people feel so strongly about Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without actually understanding it very well at all. Why does this issue alone turn some classic Jewish liberals into uber-conservatives? Why do compassionate and judicious intellectuals single Israel out for boycotts, sanctions, and a level of opprobrium they do not apply to the dozens of other state actors out there? Why do Evangelical Christians who have never even met actual Jews, or for whom Jews are basically souls to be saved, feel such fierce loyalty towards Israel? Why does it sometimes seem like Israel is the answer to “what’s wrong with the world” for half of the people in it, and “what’s right with the world” for the other half?

Daniel Sokatch has served as the CEO of the New Israel Fund since 2009. During the past decade of extraordinary challenges, NIF has risen to new heights as the great defender of justice, democracy and equality in Israel.

Before joining NIF, Daniel served as the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. Prior to his tenure at the Federation, he was founding Executive Director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance (now Bend the Arc). In recognition of his leadership, Daniel has been named four times to the Forward newspaper’s "Forward 50," an annual list of the fifty leading Jewish decision-makers and opinion-shapers. He has contributed articles to leading newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Forward and Haaretz, and is the author of forthcoming book, Can We Talk About Israel: A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted (Bloomsbury, Fall 2021). Daniel holds an MA from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, a JD from Boston College Law School, and a BA from Brandeis University. He is married, is father to two daughters, and resides in San Francisco.