The Crisis of Zionism

Aug 31, 2012 Lois rated it 4 of 5 stars

A well-written, well-researched and insightful book by the man
who called Barack Obama the “first Jewish president”, Beinart offers ideas towards
effecting peace in the Middle East along with
strengthening the Jewish community in the U.S.
The author’s main premise is that both Israel under Netanyahu
and the conservative Jewish leadership in the U.S., have used the rationale
of the Holocaust to justify a deepening of the occupation. In his view, they
have abandoned the democratic, egalitarian Zionism of...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Jeremy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Of the dozens of books I have read about the Middle East and the problems between Israel and Palestine, this is by far the best. I am stunned by Beinart's ability to write with passion and with clarity. He marshals an enormous amount of information, organizes it brilliantly, and tells a complex story with great insight.

The book's central theme is how can Israel be saved as a democracy? Time is running out, Beinart argues, because the settlements continue to expand, and this will leave Israel wit...more Of the dozens of books I have read about the Middle East and the problems between Israel and Palestine, this is by far the best. I am stunned by Beinart's ability to write with passion and with clarity. He marshals an enormous amount of information, organizes it brilliantly, and tells a complex story with great insight.

The book's central theme is how can Israel be saved as a democracy? Time is running out, Beinart argues, because the settlements continue to expand, and this will leave Israel with no choices left but to ethnically cleanse the West Bank or create a single binational state. He is not the first to point this out. Experts have long pointed out that Israel aspires to be large (ie, holding onto huge chunks of the West Bank), democratic, and Jewish, but it can only be two of three at best. But what is new, at least to me, is the tracery of Netanyahu's intellectual origins, via his father, and back to Jabotinsky. It is a compelling case, cunningly made, and it dovetails perfectly with every move Netanyahu has made.

While I have done some prior reading on the Irgun and the neo-fascist right in Israel's early years, this was the best linkage between it and the current political situation. I also saw (although Beinart does not make this point) a remarkable similarity between Nietzsche's characterization of Jewish morality in the Genealogy of Morals and Jabotinsky's critique of liberal Jewish morality. Both saw it as a weakening of the Old Testament warrior strength, although Nietzsche ultimately saw its apotheosis in Christianity, while Jabotinsky does not. But given that, and given the strong endorsement of the most radical Jabotinsky heirs by Netanyahu's father, it helps explain why Israel, home to so many deeply moral individuals and institutions, can nevertheless widely and continually practice such brutalities against the Palestinians. It is a civil war within Jewish ideology and within Zionism itself, and the side I would hope would win is badly losing.

Another enormous strength of this book is its detailed and revealing account of how Obama lost every time he sat down to negotiate with Binny Netanyahu. Failure piles upon failure so rapidly that one almost throws the book across the room in frustration. The remarkable spinelessness of the Republican Party in betraying their own country, and allowing a foreign government to repeatedly humiliate a great nation. Israel under Netanyahu treats the United States as if it were a dependent ally, rather than the other way around. For all the talk of how Obama has "apologized" to the world, the only nation that I would contend has pushed America's face in the dirt during the Obama years is Israel. And this, from a president who has spent his adult life surrounded by Jews who wished to see a better Israel, and a better US-Israeli relationship.

Finally, Beinert ends, as few books do these days, with concrete suggestions for how to ameliorate or solve the problems he brilliantly outlines. He calls for a rapid increase in Jewish schools in the US, particularly those aimed at non-Orthodox children. He radically advocates government support for religious schools, and points out that this has not harmed religious freedom in other western democracies. Many will recoil in horror on the left at the thought. But the right wing of Jewish opinion are even angrier about this book, which ends by endorsing, reluctantly and at great pain, the boycott of settlement products, while strongly opposing any boycott of '67 Israel. He even proposes new language--the West Bank should now be called "non-democratic Israel" and '67 Israel should be called "democratic Israel." I don't think that will catch on, nor do I think the US will support religious schools soon. But he is right in the motive behind both solutions. If liberal (ie, those in tune with Ben Gurion and Herzl, and the ideology of Israel's major founders) Jews do not deepen their attachment to Israel, then they will abandon the field to those who fundamentally doubt the humanity and equality of Palestinians. And unless a two state solution appears in the next five years, the expansion of the settlements will make any peace impossible. The choice for Israel is a difficult peace now, or endless war into the future. Beinert's book is a cri de couer from a passionate lover of Israel. He, unlike so many, points out wrongs committed by both Palestinians and Israelis, and points a way forward for both peoples.
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May 27, 2012 David Toub rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've been familiar with Peter Beinart's writings since he wrote a very important piece in the New York Review of Books a few years ago that noted that younger Jews were becoming less and less concerned about Israel, He argued that this was in large part because Israel was no longer seen as an endangered nobel country, but rather as one that was an occupier that has amassed a very powerful military force insulating the country from any neighboring threats. Beinart also had once supported the Iraq...more

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May 05, 2012 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

Zionism refers to support for Israel as the Jewish nation state. I have long been interested in Israeli / Palestine relations. In 2000 I carefully followed the conflict called the Second Intifada. This conflict resulted in the deaths of an estimated 5,500 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis. What was so astonishing was that Palestinian suicide bombers were targeting Israeli civilians (buses, coffee shops, random rocket attacks). Israel would respond with a heavy boot to the neck of the Palestinians...more Zionism refers to support for Israel as the Jewish nation state. I have long been interested in Israeli / Palestine relations. In 2000 I carefully followed the conflict called the Second Intifada. This conflict resulted in the deaths of an estimated 5,500 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis. What was so astonishing was that Palestinian suicide bombers were targeting Israeli civilians (buses, coffee shops, random rocket attacks). Israel would respond with a heavy boot to the neck of the Palestinians and at the time I thought rightfully so. President Clinton (and other U.S. presidents) had previously devoted much time to brokering peace in the region - all to no avail.

Here we are 12 years after the 2nd Intefada and not only do we not have peace in the region, but Israel continues its settlement programs in Palestinian territories - making a two state solution much more difficult and therefore peace far more unlikely. And its not just the passage of 12 years, it's been 45 years since Israel occupied those territories (in the aftermath of the 1967 war). So for 2/3rds of the existence of Israel there has been a military state in the Palestinian territories.

The author, Peter Beinart, tells us it's a doctrine of past victimhood that seems to legitimate Israel's oppression of others. Basically, the notion that Jews have been victims in the past, and that Israel was at threat as a whole in 1967, means that we have to avert our eyes to their heavy boot to the neck of the Palestinians.

Let's look, however, at old photos from the 1930's where we see crowds watching as Jewish men and women are dragged through the streets of France, Italy, Poland, Germany, and Austria, and we wonder why those onlookers could not or would not speak to power. We think now that they should have been ashamed of themselves for averting their eyes and avoiding speaking to the oppression of others even though it didn't speak to their self-interest.

Beinart reminds us, and I agree, that it's part of the human condition to abuse power - and Israel has long since proven its position of power - particularly now with a superpower ally.

The Crisis of Zionism is a gripping and telling read, highly recommend.(less)

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Apr 29, 2012 Elliot Ratzman rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: American Jews, activists

Beinart’s book is an important intervention and should be a topic of conversation between American Jews about our relationship with Israel and our own undemocratic elites. Non-Jews would benefit from listening in, especially since a Liberal Zionist view is so rarely taken seriously by The Left. Meanwhile, the reviews from The Right are the same petty sequences of denials, double-standards, subject-changing and bigotry we’ve heard before, from The Israel Lobby book to J Street’s moderate Zionism....more

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Apr 26, 2012 Joe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Normally I don't do a book report for GoodReads, but there are no spoilers here. It's non-fiction.

We know that Israel faces a contradiction: its role as a Jewish state is threatened by dilution by non-Jewish Palestinians, but denying basic rights and citizenship to the Palestinians threatens Israel's role as a democratic state. Beinert's thesis is that it's okay to have a contradiction, but expressly not okay for Jews to do to Palestinians what they're doing today.

He doesn't try to paint the Pal...more Normally I don't do a book report for GoodReads, but there are no spoilers here. It's non-fiction.

We know that Israel faces a contradiction: its role as a Jewish state is threatened by dilution by non-Jewish Palestinians, but denying basic rights and citizenship to the Palestinians threatens Israel's role as a democratic state. Beinert's thesis is that it's okay to have a contradiction, but expressly not okay for Jews to do to Palestinians what they're doing today.

He doesn't try to paint the Palestinians as good guys. However, he refuses to pretend that the terrible things that the rightward-marching Israeli government is doing aren't happening. Things that Jews of all people have no business setting into motion. Later chapters in the book also illustrate that my previous understanding of events, namely that "the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity," were more complicated and nuanced than the media led me to believe, and that the Clinton-era peace initiatives never had a chance because of Benjamin Netanyahu's duplicity.

If you see the world through a certain lens, where Jews are always at risk and need a safe haven to retreat to in case the anti-Semites come to power again, then recreating Apartheid is a necessary evil. Beinert disagrees and says that Jews have power like never before, and need to come to terms with it. The framework of Jewish history reduced to "They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat" doesn't work for the present.

Furthermore, Beinert says, most American Jews are actually liberal, and don't care to interact with an Israel that abuses its non-Jewish residents. We intermarry or assimilate, and leave the Israel stuff to the crabby old rich guys like the casino mogul who propped up Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign. Israel should belong to all Jews, the majority of whom ought to fight to restore the original liberal Zionist intentions.

Beinert suggests that it's the West Bank settlements that are causing the most aggravation. He wants to boycott goods produced in the settlements as a way of protesting the current direction of Israel. I don't think this is going to work, just because I know the way that people with a persecution complex react. Instead, I just feel kind of hopeless and want to wash my hands of the whole problem.

Except I know that my grandfather wasn't exterminated because of what he did or didn't believe about Jesus.

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Apr 08, 2012 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: jewish-community, israel

Peter Beinart may not be saying much that is new in his book, but he put it all out there, well researched and noted. There is much that is wrong with Zionism of today: Liberal Zionism, which was responsible for the building of the state, has been eclipsed by the Revisionist Zionism of Vladimir Jabotinsky. Revisionist Zionism seeks to rebuild the Jewish nation based on the notion that Israelite heroes were brute warriors (e.g. Samson), and that the moral vision of the prophets was an exilic dilu...more Peter Beinart may not be saying much that is new in his book, but he put it all out there, well researched and noted. There is much that is wrong with Zionism of today: Liberal Zionism, which was responsible for the building of the state, has been eclipsed by the Revisionist Zionism of Vladimir Jabotinsky. Revisionist Zionism seeks to rebuild the Jewish nation based on the notion that Israelite heroes were brute warriors (e.g. Samson), and that the moral vision of the prophets was an exilic dilution, a distortion due to powerlessness. Benjamin Netanyahu's father, Benzion, served as secretary to Jabotinsky and was dedicated to the Revisionist idea. The idea also has its followers among many of today's Jewish communal heads, people who are either Holocaust survivors themselves or children of survivors, those who remember the early years of Israel's struggle to survive. Many forged ties with Netnayahu when he lived in the US. Beinart chronicles Barack Obama's Zionist connections among prominent Liberal Zionists in the Chicago community (Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, Judge Abner Mikva, and others), and the pressures on Obama to take a more conservative approach over the years because of a combination of forces - heads of Jewish organizations, AIPAC, and Netanyahu's end runs around Obama through Congress. In the meantime, American Jews are not as committed to Israel as American Jewish leaders (who don't represent much of the American Jewish community) want everyone to believe. Their supporters are largely those who take the bait of the history of Jewish weakness, the Holocaust and rampant anti-Semitsm, a poor sell to younger American Jews. Beinart is a passionate Zionist; he wants to see the center reignited to advocate for an Israel that lives up to its liberal democratic fundamentals by remaining a Jewish state living alongside a Palestinian state. In the end, Beinart makes some recommendations that are either counterproductive (calling for a boycott of goods produced in settlements) or unwieldy (state support for non-public/religious schools). The recommendations, while only a small part of the book, have caused much alarm that strongly overshadow the value of the analysis offered by the author. A well worthwhile read.(less)

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Feb 14, 2012 Lewis Weinstein marked it as to-read

Shelves: non-fiction

OP-ED COLUMNIST ROGER COHEN (NYT 2/14/12) ...

Peter Beinart’s “The Crisis of Zionism” is an important new book that rejects the manipulation of Jewish victimhood in the name of Israel’s domination of the Palestinians and asserts that the real issue for Jews today is not the challenge of weakness but the demands of power.

What Netanyahu and major American Jewish organizations miss is that, in Beinart’s words, “the less democratic Zionism becomes in practice, the more people across the world will...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: judaism-and-israel, american-politics

An impassioned plea by a liberal Jewish Zionist for the survival of Israel as a both a liberal and Jewish state, and the need for liberal American Jews to reforge their commitment to both Judaism and Zionism in order to assure that survival. Combined with this is a scathing critique of the Obama administration's utter lack of backbone in standing up to illiberal Israeli politicians, and their increasingly illberal supporters in the US. While Beinart gives some reason to hope, I am not optimistic...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Edwile added it

Shelves: politics

The Crisis of Zionism is a good book in many respects though the author's attempt to reconcile Zionism with liberal democratic ideals is, at best, tortuous. Zionism by definition is an ethic pursuit which reemerged around the 19th Century in response to antisemitism with the aim of (re)establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine - it happened at the expense of Palestinians- while a Liberal Democracy is a form of government based on universal ideals; equality of all humans before the law, human r...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Jamie VW rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of the best books I have ever read on the subject and the closest any scholar on the subject has come to my own personal view on the conflict. Smart, brave and firm, Beinart has opened the door to an essential argument that must take hold in mainstream American Judaism if there is to be meaningful change in the way we as a community approach Israel.

The book suffers from two flaws that make me unable to fully celebrate it, despite my excitement at Beinart's articulation of his thesis. For one...more

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May 23, 2012 Ernesto rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's a wonderfully written book. Concise and to the point.

It deals with 3 things:
1) The split between democratic and autocratic Israel through the green line
2) Obama being an enormous coward
3) The future of American Jewish community.

What's missing is the obvious conclusion. Beinart narrates the parable of the pagan king that scoffed at his Jewish advisers when they claimed their religion forbade them violence. If they could, the king replied, they would.

Now we know the pagan was right. Beinart

...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Bonniecco cco rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a terrific discussion of the current situation in Israel, and an analysis of how so many Jewish organizations in the USA came to be uncritical endorsers of Israeli government policies. The writer explains clearly the impossibility of Israel remaining a liberal democratic nation while it is a occupying power. Chapters on President Obama and current Prime Minister Netanyahu explain well how they came to hold the views they do today. Beinart is also concerned with the dilution of "jewishnes...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Ray rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Criticism of Israel or Israeli policies is something which tends to bring swift rebuttals and charges of being anti-Semetic if from a gentile, or of being a self-hating Jew if Jewish. So Beinart's book, "The Crisis of Zionism" is somewhat provocative in nature by stating that the Zionist dream of a Jewish state under democratic ideals is being challenged by the on-going settlement policy in the West Bank. Beinart looks at the West Bank as "non-democratic Israel", separate and distinct from the g...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Avi Shmueli rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is required reading for any involved American Jew. I also strongly recommend it to the general public.

Excellent analysis and exposition. As an Israeli turned American, it fits brilliantly with what I know about Israel, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, America's role and American Jewry's role in this. And it tells the story well to those who should know, passionately yet crisply.

Israel cannot be all three: big, Jewish and democratic; it must, but seems unable, to settle on only the rig...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Hasan rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was a very controversial in Israel as is anything critical of relations with the Palestinians. Beinart’s thesis is that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories violates all of the founding principles of Zionism. The State of Israel was founded on a principle of respect for all religions and of all people regardless of race or creed. Mr. Beinart isn’t bothered by the suffering of the Palestinians he is just upset at how Israeli acceptance of it will lead the count...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Tucker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished

With his usual sharp analysis, Peter Beinart identifies several reasons why young American Jews tend to avoid pro-Israel activism. They may not be deeply committed to or involved in Judaism in the first place, and they may resent being expected to express agreement with every policy of the Israeli government. In The Crisis of Zionism, Beinart gives special elucidation to one interesting reason: for people born 30, 40, or 50 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, who have grown up in a United S...more With his usual sharp analysis, Peter Beinart identifies several reasons why young American Jews tend to avoid pro-Israel activism. They may not be deeply committed to or involved in Judaism in the first place, and they may resent being expected to express agreement with every policy of the Israeli government. In The Crisis of Zionism, Beinart gives special elucidation to one interesting reason: for people born 30, 40, or 50 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, who have grown up in a United States where Jews have a higher level of social integration than ever before, a "victimhood narrative" about Judaism does not personally resonate. This means they are confused or put off by much of the discussion of Israel that depicts Jews as victims - including within the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This is not solely a generational gap. As American Jews of all ages increasingly avail themselves of new opportunities to express their political and moral values through organizations that are not specifically or exclusively Jewish, Beinart argues, the demographic that remains active in traditional Jewish organizations increasingly subscribes to the old narrative of Jewish victimhood and survival against all odds. It is an establishment that, he writes, "forces today's realities onto the procrustean bed of 1939 or 1967," is increasingly "indifferent to whether democratic values" are maintained in the US and in Israel, and is out of touch with the political opinions of the majority of American Jews.

What are these realities around which today's "crisis of Zionism" orbits? They are Israel's continued occupation of the Palestinian territories and the decades of violent conflict between the two peoples. The consequences are felt not just by the stateless people in Gaza or the West Bank, but all over Israel. In 2010 opinion polls, about half of Jewish Israelis said that they wouldn't befriend an Arab, that they believe Jews should avoid renting to Arabs, and that they think the government should encourage Arab citizens to leave the country, while over two-thirds of Jewish Israelis said that Arab citizens should not be appointed to cabinet posts. If these attitudes toward fellow citizens are common, what of the attitudes toward Palestinians, with whom Jewish Israelis are even less likely to interact? Former Israeli prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert have raised the specter of the possibility of Israel becoming an "apartheid" state if the status quo continues.

The solution, as Beinart and many others see it, is the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. "Binationalism barely works in placid countries like Canada and Belgium," he writes. In Israel, he says, a binational, one-state solution would soon lead to civil war. A two-state solution stands a better chance of success: it has been the subject of Israeli/Palestinian negotiations before and has been endorsed by many external parties, including the current U.S. President and the Arab League.

For American Jews who wish to help Israel, there is a need to acknowledge that power is not only something that can be used to survive victimization, but unfortunately is something that can be abused. The rich tradition of Jewish ethics can be embraced as a guide for a Jewish nation that has now achieved its own power. Beinart points out Netanyahu's problematic claims that the use of force has a salubrious effect on the Jewish national spirit and that force is conveniently a "language" well understood by Arabs. Those Jews who prefer to keep the use of military power in check will inevitably criticize Israeli policy under a hawkish Israeli government. And if Jews disproportionately criticize Israel more than they criticize other countries, Beinart says, maybe it is not due to unfairness, but is because they care about Israel and feel that they have a measure of influence there. He convincingly argues that, for the future of Zionism - understood by diaspora Jews, at least in part, as the feeling that they, too, have a stake in Israel's destiny - such willingness to criticize Israeli policy is a good thing.(less)

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Aug 03, 2012 Luis rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a superb book that speaks the truth to entrenched interests in the US and in Israel. Israel is in crisis and it is mostly of its own doing. In the bible, God punishes the Jewish people on several occasions, usually because they strayed away from the moral and righteous path; because they forget to be compassionate towards others. It is in that tradition that Peter Beinart has written this pressing and timely book.

Zionism, as Beinart defines it, was supposed to be a movement to create a...more This is a superb book that speaks the truth to entrenched interests in the US and in Israel. Israel is in crisis and it is mostly of its own doing. In the bible, God punishes the Jewish people on several occasions, usually because they strayed away from the moral and righteous path; because they forget to be compassionate towards others. It is in that tradition that Peter Beinart has written this pressing and timely book.

Zionism, as Beinart defines it, was supposed to be a movement to create a modern Jewish state based on democratic and moral principles. Zionist founders understood this very well and they established the Jewish state based on principles of equality, morality and respect for others. But Israel has strayed away from those values and it has become intolerant, oppressive and dictatorial towards the Palestinians. The narrative of Israeli and American leaders is all too familiar. They use the holocaust and centuries of persecution to portray themselves as victims to disregard any criticism of Israel while mistreating Arabs citizens of Israel and expanding the Israeli state through settlements in the west bank and the occupation of Palestinian lands. While it is a historical fact that Jews have been persecuted for millennia, culminating in the mass murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis, it is also a fact for Beinart that today in 2012, Jews are not victims anymore. They enjoy a powerful and prestigious position in the US for example; and Israel is not some backwater oppressed nation but a regional power. Much of the injustices that Israel commits are possible because they are cosigned by powerful American Jewish organizations in America. This reality is all the more unsettling given that there is a great disconnect between American Jews as a whole and Jewish organizations which support Israel blindly. While most American Jews support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem, many organizations take a hard line position that never criticizes and always support Israeli actions toward Palestinians no matter how undemocratic or oppressive. This, according to Beinart has resulted in apartheid like situation that leaves Palestinians and Israeli Arabs in a precarious situation. Arabs and Palestinians for example experience inhumane treatment from the Israeli army on daily basis in the form of constant harassment, personal seizures and searches.

Beinart does not see a happy ending. American Jews are less and less engaged on the Middle East conflict which is likely to result in the abrogation of the conflict to more radical fringes of Jewish American organizations. The sad outcome is likely to be a Jewish state that is neither democratic nor moral and at worst, it can result in a bloody civil war. It would be a tragedy without a doubt, given the enlightened origins of Zionism and the Jewish tradition.
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May 23, 2012 Roy Klein rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you're interested in the Israeli predicament and you're not a Jew nor an Israeli, I would hesitate recommending this book for you. The book speaks within the Jewish "tribe", evoking its world views and shared memories, and I imagine that it would feel like an alien and exclusive environment to outsiders.

If you are an Israeli or a Jew, though, this book is something you should definitely read. Peter Beinart, a self proclaimed Jewish Partisan, is connecting the fate of the world wide Secular Je...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am a really big fan of both the book and the man. As a young Jew, beinart perfectly articulates my feelings about Israel. He makes an extremely important, very brave argument about the future of a Jewish democratic state in the mid east and does it-despite what some reviews have said-from a very thoughtful, well researched and earnest place. I will definately be pestering other Jewish friends to read this, as well as anyone else who is concerned about the mid east.

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Aug 12, 2012 Noah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Beinart's claim is that Israeli occupation and other anti-democratic practices have created an apartheid state, and that Israel is losing its liberal soul, and the support of the next generation of American Jews along with it. I certainly can't pretend to evaluate all the claims in this book, some of which seemed rather speculative, but it was certainly thought-provoking.

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Feb 13, 2013 Aramis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-whispersync

I think it's an important book to read for anyone who cares about Israel and its future. I wish everybody in Israel would read it. I'm not sure that all the answers lie in there but it is incredibly well researched, it's an eye-opener when it comes to the sad realities of today's Israel and it's an inspiration to what Israel could (should?) be.

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Sep 24, 2012 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: project-2012

•
Author-Posed paradox: Israel can hang on to the 1967 conquered territories or it can be a democracy…hold moral high ground or be an apartheid pariah state…the jury's out. Will Zionism survive?…Will the next generation of American Jews care?…Whither the Palestinian Arabs?…Whither the US?
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Read this book for details, answers, speculations…
•

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Apr 25, 2012 Rowdy Scarlett rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, religion, politics

Have just finished reading the book, I can see why this might be considered challenging to the status quo and controversial. The book is well written and a pretty quick read. It makes some very good points and being somewhat of a liberal myself, I agreed with more than a couple of them. If you're interested in knowing more about israel, the middle east, Palestine and the whole situation this book would be one I would suggest. Its well researched and has some good references.

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Jul 07, 2012 Zach Cohen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read the book before I interviewed Beinart himself at American University earlier this year. I thought it was very well-written and a fascinating idea, but the arguments are flawed at times. Here's my analysis.

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Apr 22, 2012 Jerry added it

Really worth reading, and thoughtful. Beinart is particularly critical of the traditional, entrenched zionist organizations in the US, which are neo-conservative, close to the Republican Party and to Likud. He believes this alliance is enabling Israel to move away from democracy.

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Jun 15, 2012 William rated it 4 of 5 stars

That Peter Beinart's book has been controversial is a measure of how far to the right our politics have shifted, on the Middle East no less than any other issue. This book is a necessary correction. If you are interested in Israel and its fate, a must-read.

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May 08, 2012 Jean rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics, history, ethics, judaica

Although well written , not close to objective. I haven't researched all Beinart's claims to know they are fact, I do think Israel, as a world power, still has an ethical responsibility that other countries do not. I do not think Israel is "stick" on victimhood, and it's not the only way to raise money. Could be generational, but it doesn't justify the "Israel is bad" path that Beinart walks.

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Jun 14, 2012 Adam Morris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Absolutely spot on. A very good gauge of the attitudes and inner conflicts of liberal American Jews in the age of a seemingly more angry and belligerent Israeli leadership.

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Mar 17, 2013 Lily rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really good points, but I disagree with his emphasis on Jewish education being "the solution". Obviously, J Street is the solution!

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