Israel
Israel’s Struggle With Hezbollah: A War Without End opens with a harrowing hypothetical, but all too likely, scenario encompassing the opening moments of a war started by Hezbollah against Israel. This blow-by-blow history then explores Hezbollah’s origins, its malignant growth, Israel’s response, and its present readiness to meet Hezbollah’s challenge.
Written in a conversational style propelled by my expertise and passion for northern Israel, Israel’s Struggle With Hezbollah interweaves intimate and thought-provoking perspectives gained through thorough research and interviews with over thirty experts. It also has been enhanced by my membership on the Advisory Board for Alma, a northern Israel research and education center that focuses on security issues.
By book’s end, readers will come to understand the dangers Israel faces from Iran’ creation, Hezbollah, and gain an appreciation of how the psychology of the region has driven events.
Reviews
Israel’s Struggle with Hezbollah is a “terrific read, insightful and interesting. A worthwhile addition to the much-needed discussion on the threat Iran poses and the price Lebanon and the region have paid.”
— Erez D. Maisel, Brigadier General (IDF Military Reserve)
A fierce battle looms between the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah and the state of Israel. While past wars have been grueling, the next one promises to be far more painful—for both sides. Lurking behind all of this is the Islamic Republic of Iran, the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, which has worked overtime for the last several decades to hasten the demise of the Jewish state. Drawing upon countless hours of interviews with Israeli officials and top analysts, author Clifford Sobin’s book draws out the contours of this looming battle in great detail.
— Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, Senior Vice President for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
A comprehensive yet highly readable account of the Hezbollah threat to Israel’s security. Critical reading for all those to whom Israel’s security is precious—and who want to do something about it.
— Prof. Chuck Freilich, former deputy national security advisor, Israel, and author of Israeli National Security: A New Strategy for an Era of Change.
Sobin has done us a favor and sifted through extensive detailed information published in every book, article, podcast, and think tank research paper on the rise of Hezbollah, Israel’s border issues with Lebanon and Syria, and Israel’s military strategy for an impending conflict with Hezbollah (or lack thereof according to Sobin and others) and distilled it down for the common man. And just as did in his previous book, Living in Heaven, Coping with Hell, he enriches arcane military and policy gobblygook with candid “straight from the horse’s mouth” interviews with colorful Israeli characters who always have something amazing to say. The stories and plainspoken opinions of Sobin’s sources are my favorite part of his books; always entertaining and they bring special insight into Israeli life. While Sobin’s Maryland-nice folksy writing style helps explain complicated and sophisticated military jargon, he manages to avoid oversimplification.
— Mary Grossman, Executive Director of the Jackson Hole Jewish Community
Living in Heaven, Coping with Hell—Israel’s Northern Borders: Where Zionism Prevailed, the Kibbutz Endures, and The Pioneer Spirit Remains is required reading for learning about, or visiting, Israel’s northern borders and the people living there. It’s a compelling story that answers why Israelis live in that dangerous region and reveals what they have overcome. Written in a conversational tone, this book details the establishment of isolated settlements in the region between the 1880s and 1938 and intimately profiles many who live there now. By coupling his extensive personal knowledge of the region with his expert grasp of Israeli history, Clifford Sobin skillfully weaves interviews with historical fact to highlight the region’s heroic past and challenging present.
Reviews
Living in Heaven, Coping with Hell is a meticulously researched, deeply reported and compellingly written account of the unique challenges and remarkable resilience of the Jewish communities along Israel’s often precarious northern borders. Clifford Sobin seamlessly combines the big picture about the region’s history, politics, economics and culture with detailed profiles of individual Israelis who have built their homes and lives on the nation’s “periphery”. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in the transformation of the legendary kibbutz movement or about this often-misunderstood region of Israel in general.
-David Leach, author of Chasing Utopia: The Future of the Kibbutz in a Divided Israel
Clifford Sobin describes so well the experience of living on Israel’s Northern border from the standpoint of its inhabitants. His enthusiasm is quite contagious and his erudition impressive. After more than thirty-five years living in Galilee, I have learned a lot about my own region due to this book. The author takes you for an exciting trip where history, present, landscapes and people intertwine.
-Yuval Achouch, Ph.D, sociologist studying the current status of the kibbutz
SELECTED AMAZON REVIEWS
“This book is a real page turner. I could not put it down.”
“an incredibly well-researched, fascinating, and insightful read.”
“Clifford Sobin tells a compelling true story about the struggles, sacrifices and eventual successes of Jewish pilgrims moving to the far northern reaches of Israel.”
“Sobin conveys the historical events that shaped Israel’s northern borders in a way that is both compelling and detailed, but yet easy to read.”
The Pivotal years: Israel and the Arab World 1966 – 1977.
This two-volume work covers the turbulent period that began shortly before the Six Day War when it was almost impossible to envision a peaceful Middle East. It ends with the arrival of Anwar Sadat on Israeli soil at Ben Gurion Airport in 1977.
Events drive the narrative: sometimes days, weeks, or months apart – and sometimes separated by moments. It is a story of courage and fear, of struggle, of suspicion, and self-interest. It is Israel’s story of endurance. It is Egypt’s story of redemption. It is Syria’s story of rejection, and Jordan’s story of survival. It is also the story of a virulent Palestinian leadership growing in stature that used terror and cruelty for political purpose. And it is the story of the emergence of a settler movement with dreams of building new homes on ancient lands also claimed by others.
Selected Amazon Reviews
“Never has an historical book been written in such a flowing manner.” -S. Schenker
“An amazingly thorough and well written account of the history of Israel during a time of great turmoil and uncertainty.” -J. Sklaver
Israel and Holocaust Related Blogs
- Clifford Sobin, at the Times of Israel Blogs.
- Clifford Sobin, at Forwards, The Scribe
Jackson Hole
My Jackson Hole Favorites in the Summer – An Ebook devoted to travelling during the summer in the Jackson Hole area.
Law Related
A two-volume treatise on Maryland Workers’ Compensation—first published in 2008 and edited yearly since. It comprises more than 1400 pages of analysis, law, charts and sample case transcripts and is published by Thomson Reuters, a leading national publisher of legal books.
Database Design
Since June of 2011, Clifford Sobin has published the following articles in “Inside Sesame”— the leading publication devoted to Lantica’s Sesame database for customized business applications:
- Feeling a Little Insecure Lately? —This article bypasses all the technical jargon and heady concepts and cuts right to the chase in a way that even those new to security or Sesame can understand.
- Learning to Loop it Up — Loops make your programming run faster and more efficiently and help you get more done in fewer lines of code. If you’ve shied away from them this article shows how to get started.
- Where Oh Where Is My Popup Popping Up? — Exploration of the Sesame PopupSelectPosition() command in search of popup position perfection.
- Design Faster with Default Data Formats — Using the Sesame Application Property Manager.
- Sesame’s Cure for Memory Loss — How to use Sesame Memory Menu.
- Copying Data from One Record to Another —I review Sesame’s array of data and record copying features and capabilities.
- How to Copy Partial Records Between Databases — A discussion of automated record copying with pushbutton simplicity.
- Overview of a Sesame Dashboard — How to design a comprehensive visual view that summarizes the key metrics of your organization?
- Use ‘Static Draw’ to Chart, Draw and Display Images — How to use Sesame to dynamically display seven different graphical charts to show relationships in your data, as well as draw shapes and display custom-scaled images anywhere you might need them.
- Sesame Startup Options – Using the Sesame.ini File — How to change the default size of your F6 field editor, make Sesame’s scrollbars wider, change Sesame’s startup window size and location on screen, or customize Sesame’s look and feel to accommodate different users’ monitors or preferences.
- Simplify Searches on a Complex Form — How to make searching for records easier for users.