Nominations for our book of December 2025 > Likes and Comments
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For nominations:1. Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby
2. The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands by Amir Tibon
3. Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Yardena Schwartz
4. Hostage by Eli Sharabi
5. Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West by Josh Hammer
6. Fire of Faith: What the October 7th War Taught Us About God and Israel by P. Mordechai
7. On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization by Douglas Murray
There have been a bunch of good ones, here's a few to consider, not in any particular order:The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands
Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor
Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East
The Land of Hope and Fear: Israel's Battle for Its Inner Soul
And for my favourite Israeli book about The Conflict:
The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace
David wrote: "There have been a bunch of good ones, here's a few to consider, not in any particular order:The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands
[b..."
Hi David.
Your list is excellent and we will keep it safe. Thank you so much.
For nominations, each member choose one book of their choice within the subject/genre Jan posted above. why not choose your favorite ?? This one was all over news for days. Appreciate your input very much.
In my message, I said "vote." Sorry; I meant "nominate!" That comes first.Jan
Israel; a simple guide to the most misunderstood country on earthby Noa Tishby
Stacey B wrote: "David wrote: "There have been a bunch of good ones, here's a few to consider, not in any particular order:[book:The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands|..."
Sorry, I got carried away and didn't read to the end and hence failed to follow the clear and straightforward directions.
But yes, if I have to choose one then The Gates of Gaza by Amir Tibon is my nomination.
Thank you, Debra.The 1st nomination is Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth. It's available used inexpensively, plus likely to be in your public library. And not on our shelves yet. 😃
Ghosts of a Holy War was fantastic. Also Israel, Alone by Bernard-Henri Levy.
David wrote: "...Sorry, I got carried away and didn't read to the end and hence failed to follow the clear and straightforward directions.But yes, if I have to choose one then The Gates of Gaza by Amir Tibon is my nomination. "
Thanks so much, David. Better too many than none!
The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands is in libraries. It's also available new in hardcover from Amazon for $15 (with Prime), or you can find used copies as low as $10 (including postage).
Leah wrote: "Ghosts of a Holy War was fantastic. Also Israel, Alone by Bernard-Henri Levy."
I'm going to go on and take the 1st on your list, Leah, as stated up at the top.
Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict came out a year ago and still no paperback, but I will include because of interest. People will need to take that into consideration when it's time to vote. Around $25 new on Amazon (with Prime). Not in my library, but may be in yours.
Leah wrote: "Ghosts of a Holy War was fantastic. Also Israel, Alone by Bernard-Henri Levy."
Thank you Leah-
I see Jan checked out your first choice. Maybe the second one has more options. Going to look anyway.
David wrote: "Stacey B wrote: "David wrote: "There have been a bunch of good ones, here's a few to consider, not in any particular order:[book:The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Isra..."
Thats ok David. Love your enthusiasm.
Nominate: Antisemitism, An American Tradition by Pamela Nadell
Beryl wrote: "Nominate: Antisemitism, An American Tradition by Pamela Nadell"Beryl, thanks so much for nominating. But Antisemitism, an American Tradition is mainly about America, I believe, and not about Israel. Will you give us another one? It can be one you want to read but haven't yet! You could select one from people's lists here or from my opening statement or the Books on Israel discussion thread. I hope you will!
Liza wrote: "I would like to nominateHostage It's so powerful and unforgettable."Thank you Liza.
I read that one. OMG,
I know its in libraries.
For what it’s worth, I ordered a copy of Hostage this past week.
Sherwin wrote: "For what it’s worth, I ordered a copy of Hostage this past week."Sherwin-
Shabari tells it like we can imagine.
Liza wrote: "I would like to nominateHostage It's so powerful and unforgettable."Yes, thanks, Liza.
My library has it but only in an electronic form with a long queue, so I requested they buy the physical book.
It's about $21 on Amazon (with Prime). Like Ghosts of a Holy War, it needs to be included due to interest. About half that amount on Kindle.
Oh my, I’m usually better at following directions. Will do.
Beryl wrote: "Oh my, I’m usually better at following directions. Will do."Thanks, Beryl. It's okay; perfection not required -- thank goodness. ☺️
Look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Jan
Israel and Civilization The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West by Josh Hammer, 18 March 2025Jan, how about this one? Looks interesting and a bit different. I found another one I’m interested in also; that may be next.
Beryl wrote: "Israel and Civilization The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West by Josh Hammer, 18 March 2025Jan, how about this one? Looks interesting and a bit different. I found another one ..."
Hi Beryl,
Its Stacey. Looks good to me. :) I just need to vett it.
We appreciate that you took the time to nominate another book. TY. Jan will see this and get back to you. Enjoy your Sunday!!!
Stacey B wrote: "Beryl wrote: "Israel and Civilization The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West by Josh Hammer, 18 March 2025Jan, how about this one? Looks interesting and a bit different. I foun..."
Beryl,
This looks good. Its roughly priced as the others, My library has one copy. Ha, not surprised.
Beryl wrote: "Israel and Civilization The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West by Josh Hammer, 18 March 2025Jan, how about this one? Looks interesting and a bit different. I found another one ..."
Thanks, Beryl, and thanks, Stacey,
Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West is available in hardback for $12.16 on Amazon (with Prime), whereas Kindle is about $20. So I think this is a special price for this new book, and not sure it'll stay that low. It's not in my library.
This book gets excellent reviews but note they're mostly from conservative sources. Josh Hammer identifies as a conservative. This is something to know up front. Of course some people say everybody who doesn't condemn Israel is a conservative, so that's not what I mean. Kirkus and Library Journal like it, and the Wall Street Journal isn't going to say it's good just because it's written by him -- so if you don't mind that, then I'll add this nomination.
What say you?
Finally I'll say there are two Josh Hammers. This one is the younger one, Joshua Benjamin Hammer. The other one goes by Joshua Hammer and is older: Joshua Ives Hammer. I just read one of his books, but it's about Mali, not Israel.
So if you don't mind your Josh Hammer identifying as an American political conservative, I'll put his book in for your nomination.
On Democracies and Death Cults: The Future of Israel and Civilization-Douglas Murray
Thanks so much everybody -- checking them out now. 😘 ...
Okay, here we go. First of all, all three of the most recent suggestions are fine.
Basics, first. Fire of Faith: What the October 7th War Taught Us About God and Israel by P. Mordechai is a just-published book available both in Kindle and Paperback, not (yet) in public libraries, and may not going to be. About $20 paper (with Prime) and less on Kindle. On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization by Douglas Murray isn't yet in my library, but his earlier books are. It's about $15.00 Kindle or hardcover, and there are some used ones out there that may be a little less. New and not available dirt cheap, but, as with some of the above books, the interest is there.
Douglas Murray, like Josh Hammer, is also a conservative, but that wasn't really the issue. Murray has 10 more years under his belt and I think even if others don't agree with him has wider recognition and is less specifically associated with, well, I want to say, MAGA or the like. But nevertheless they are all fine as nominations. I think it's good to look before I leap into some new writer or platform, just to be aware of where the writer is coming from.
I couldn't find much of anything on P. Mordechai, but I did find him listed by a Times of Israel columnist as part of what's she's calling a new genre on Oct. 7 or the war in Gaza. So that (and Icy Cobwebs' nomination) reassures me he's known somewhere!
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/octob...
If I'm not mistaken, these nominations complete our slate, and so nominations can be closed -- and the poll can start at midnight.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to Beryl, Kerry, and Icy Cobwebs, and those who nominated earlier, too. ♥
We previously did books about Israel in our June 2022 poll. The poll winner was Daniel Sokatch's Can We Talk about Israel?, so don't nominate that one. (If you're curious about which books were nominated then, click here to see the completed poll)
Here are two examples of new books that have come up in our discussions. Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict by Oren Kessler and Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Yardena Schwartz.
The above are included as examples. They would be great nominations if you would like to nominate them.
Nominations don't have to be about the Palestinian-Israeli situation as long as they are nonfiction and written in the last 10 years. That said, there's a lot of interest in the history.
We'll take nominations through Sunday Oct. 26 or until we get seven, whichever comes first. Then we'll squeeze in the poll at the end of October.
One nomination per person, please, and not a list, but if you do give us a list we'll consider the first to be your nomination. Then we'll vet for availability and for whether the book is already on our group bookshelf.
[Nominations by the author or other interested party not accepted]
Looking forward to your nominations!