Daniel Sobelman: Learning to Listen to the “Other Side”

A graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a former correspondent for the newspaper Ha’aretz, Daniel Sobelman arrived at the Belfer Center in the summer of 2014 at a time when Israel was embattled in a confrontation with Hamas. Large portions of the country were coming under daily rocket fire from Gaza.

From the balcony of his apartment in Rehovot, a small city about 14 miles south of Tel-Aviv and 30 miles north of Gaza, Sobelman recalls how he watched rockets firing from the Gaza Strip into Israeli air space and witnessed interceptions by the Iron Dome, a moveable missile defense system set up by the Israelis to prevent civilian casualties. He also watched Israeli fighter jets scramble for retaliation.

Living in America, Sobelman says, means that for most Americans, real trouble is thousands of miles away. Israel, in contrast, faces non-state adversaries along all but one of its borders. It is sometimes called “a small country surrounded by enemies.” The country’s strategic environment has shifted profoundly in recent years, he says, and is very different from the Israel where he was born following his parents emigration from New York City.

As a child growing up in Israel, Sobelman began studying Arabic in middle school.  The language provided him with what he believes was the most essential tool in his college studies: perspective. For example, Arabic shaped his ability to understand the Hamas perspective. Nothing in academia better prepared him for his career analyzing the state and non-state conflicts of the Middle East, whether as an Arab affairs correspondent or as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Belfer Center’s International Security Program, than his ability to dig into the nuance of emotion and rationale behind “the other side.”

At the Belfer Center, Sobelman is researching the conceptual and military implications of “asymmetric conflicts,” focusing on the evolution of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

“Just being able to listen and understand what the other side is saying is very, very important,” Sobelman says. “Without that basic tool, I think my life and career would have been very different.”