Walking Israel: A Personal Search for the Soul of a Nation

by Martin Fletcher

From the much lauded author of Breaking News comes a version of Walking the Bible just for Israel.

With its dense history of endless conflict and biblical events, Israel's coastline is by far the most interesting hundred miles in the world. As longtime chief of NBC's Tel Aviv news bureau, Martin Fletcher is in a unique position to interpret Israel, and he brings it off in a spectacular and novel manner. Last year he strolled along the entire coast, from Lebanon to Gaza, observing facets of the country that are ignored in news reports, yet tell a different and truer story. Walking Israel is packed with hilarious moments, historical insights, emotional, true-life tales, and, above all, great storytelling.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Israel, Middle East, History, Judaism, Jewish

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2010

Reviews

[K C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found the book disappointing, as Fletcher might have been seaching for the soul of Israel but he didn't find it. As an NBC reporter who has lived in Israel thirty odd years, his goal was to get away from the "news" items and find the "real" Israel as he walked down the coast. Since he has lived in Israel longer than I have, I was expecting some revelations and insights. Unfortunately with his limited Hebrew, his trek down the coast resulted in very few spontaneous meetings and discussions and most of the content was in the "follow up" with people he knew through his news contacts and guess what - rehashed the major issues facing Israel. I found none of it new or inspiring, although it was well written and possibly interesting for people who know Israel less well.

[Magdelanye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a heartfelt book, written by a seasoned journalist (unknown to me but who well might be known to NBC television viewers or newspaper and magazine readers as I am not) Already a paradox appears: because when do journalists have a heart? They can't afford to. But MF has a heart big enough to encompass the entire spectrum of humanity represented in the tiny country that is Israel.

Originally, when first conceiving his plan to walk the Israeli coast from the Ladder of Tyre in Lebanon to the border at Gaza, he hoped one of his sons would join him, and he would call the book 'Father, Son and Holy Coast'. His love of the land is apparent, as is his zest for life, and https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9... is the account of the trip he did make by foot, and his follow up with the people he met and a few he missed.

His goals were not grandiose or even definitive.
" My idea for this walk along Israel's coast had been simply to follow my thoughts, in the hopes that they would be more interesting than usual, and that I could turn my reporting in new and different directions." p59
What he was mainly interested in was the backstories, following old leads, hunches, and casual connections, in search of the truth concealed by stereotypes.

As he states quite plainly towards the end of his trek, " The farther you move from the center of power, and the closer you get to real people, the less their stories (offer)platitudes" 262

So it is gratifying to follow along as he teases some hard questions by getting every possible point of view.
Realizing " it is easier for the conquerors to appreciate the status quo than the conquered." p 221 he wonders,"How much can an Arab ever feel at home in Israel?" p135 and while he empathizes with those settlers who have deeply suffered and still endure the risks of living in their border towns, when a kibbutznik justifies killing 2 Palestinian boys in the course of an incident, he cannot help but point out the layers of the the tragedy; is stealing back what was once your own so unreasonable a reaction for those who have not managed to recover from their displacement?

The answers he gets are often surprising and just as disquieting. I loved the Arab tour guide in Acre for his insight regarding the clock tower there, with a different script represented on each of its 4 faces, "but the time is always the same....You are looking at just one face of the truth, for there are are other sides to every issue." says Abdu p98 " Whose truth are you seeking? Whose truth do you find?" p99

Ben, the Hassid, has a mission to share his truth by offering free food and drink from their booth in the red light district of Tel Aviv. The author enjoys a vodka, but questions the spiritual reasoning. "Offering drinks is spreading the word of the Messiah. It's how we make a connection." he is told. "Of course, we always dance, wherever we are. It helps to connect to the soul." p240

"But why do you think everyone needs connecting to their soul?" MF retorts. "Maybe connecting with each other is better." What I would like to ask MF, isn't that the way we need to connect with each other, soulfully, not for profit or as a competitor? The soul uncovered by his research is decidedly mongrel.

I could have done without the nostalgic detour he takes to relive his fading youth in the red zone of tel aviv, but with one glaring exception, MF comes off as an endearing and trustworthy guide. Interesting that the one thing that seems to set him off on a judgmental tangent is the sight of an overweight person. Reading the various reviews of this book, I realize that this refusal of his to "take a side" has resulted in some negative feedback.
It's understandable but sad that people are so reluctant to see the other side of the truth.

"Only peace will change this." p285

We're All In This Together reads the last chapter heading.
I know he is speaking truth.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps it deserves a slightly higher review, but I was hoping it would be primarily travel narrative. Instead, it's journalistic interviews, mostly about the Arab - Jew dilemma (best I can put it), which I'll give him props for carrying off as even-handed. There's also a bit about the kibbutz phenomenon and early Jewish settlement. Travel aspect was strongest around Tel Aviv itself. Recommended for folks interested in a historical perspective of the nation, less so if one is looking for a more Theroux or Bryson detached perspective for observations (the author has lived in Israel for decades, though raised in England).

[Joe Drape · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book for those out there who, like me gain their knowledge of Israel comes from the news, but are curious about the place not its (our ours) policies. It's part memoir and travelogue, a history lesson combined really moving sketches of the people who call Israel home - Jews & Arabs. Martin Fletcher is an engaging and amiable tour guide and writes with humor and heart. He shows what the two sides have in common, as well as the passions that are keeping them a part. It was an easy read. Give it a shot.

[Ayelet · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despite claiming that he wants to show Israel in a positive light, he can't seem to manage one unqualified positive statement. Any time he says something good he has to include a downside. I disagree with a lot of the details that he includes as background or lists as general assumptions.

[Soaraway · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book enjoyable. However, the author seemed unable to forego his journalistic biases. Firstly, the book and his investigations read a lot like he was a journalist doing research. The questions he posed let people not really tell their own stories so much as to tell the stories his questions led them to.
I also find most media presents and anti-Israel bias and I was hoping to find more sympathy for the Jews and Israel from someone who lives in Israel and married an Israeli. However, sympathy for the Arabs who were "kicked out" of their homes two generations ago was pervasive and a recurring theme throughout the book. There was no corresponding sympathy for all the Jews who were kicked out of THEIR homes. Even his treatment of holocaust survivors failed to draw the parallel that THEY are refugees as well. With the exception of the Aliya movement from places like America and Australia, and the influx of Russian immigration, Israel is chock full of refugees. Why doesn't the author feel corresponding sympathy for them? Perhaps I is because, unlike the Palestinians, the Jews who arrived to Israel as refugees rebuilt their lives and made their new home even better than it was when they arrived. They did not play the victim for all eternity. Unlike the Palestinians of today, who hold onto their hurts, burn down greenhouses in gaza, and in general play the victim. With all the millions of dollars constantly being given in aid to the Palestinians, they should be prospering. But they are not. And why not? Because they play the victim and refuse to move on with their lives and better them. The author somehow fails to note this irony.
Because the book is a bit unbalanced and not a true travelogue, I've put it as only three stars. Nevertheless, if you don't mind some anti-Israel bias in a book about Israel, it is a good read and well-written.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book very much. It is an eclectic view of the state of Israel by a reporter who has covered it for 20 years. Eclectic both because Fletcher has chosen to focus on that which he encounters as he walks the entire state from it's most northern border in Rosh Hanikra to its boarder with Gaza. His subject matter is as much what he sees as who he meets. He has no desire to be all encompassing. It is a snap-shot portrait based upon a journalist's approach to the subject. Meet, interview, analyze the surface and report. While there is some reflection is is not from the distance of a historian or political scientist.

I found Fletcher's reporting a good story, well told. It is not going to help anyone come to terms with the irreconcilable issues of both Palestinian and Jew both having equal claims to the same territory. Ultimately, Fletcher is non-compatible about the argument that might makes ownership. He is silent on the issue or implicit racism of Muslims who view the problem of Israel as a heretic occupying Muslim land. But is the land Muslim? Or is the idea that lands occupied by Muslims are also accidents of historical dramas where armies won battles where Muslims are now living.

You will not find many grand issues taken up here. This is a small book. It looks at the past and the present from the viewpoint of those the author meets and the experiences he has while walking the coast of Israel.

[Guy Grobler · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the beginning of the book the author (Who is an NBC special correspondent to the Middle East) sets out on a mission, to walk Israel's coast from North (Tyre's Ladder) to South (The Gaza border) saying that he wants to show the many other sides to Israel as its not fair that Israel is only known in world media for its conflicts with the Palestinians. Its a worthy cause from my point of view as there is so much more to Israel then the conflict, but as he walks and writes, he discovers it is very difficult to escape the conflict. The author meets with Israelis from all backgrounds - holocaust survivors, soldiers, religious Jews, Arab refugees and party goers. A whole mix. It turns out to be quite an interesting book, very revealing and exposing of the Israeli national character (which is: there is no national character). I think this book, in a way, achieved its target of showing more sides of Israel then the typical TV viewer abroad will know, but at the same time - I do think that a couple of more walks in Israel are needed to get an even fuller understanding.

[Rod · Rating 3 out of 5]

Walking Israel was not what I expected. I thought it would relate travel experiences on his walk along the Mediterranean Coast of Israel, meeting and interacting with people he encountered. It was, however, more just a thread, tying together a number of stories written like a reporter (which Martin Fletcher is). He admitted early in the book that he discovered he was not the type of person who engaged strangers easily. Some of the interviews he conducted were done months after the trip. Even the trip itself was not continuous, although he did really walk the whole distance (118 miles).

I thought about giving this book two stars, but I rarely finish a book that I would consider 2-star material. I did find it interesting. It gave a good perspective from someone who is both a foreigner and a local (He was English, met and married an Israeli, and spent most of his adult life in Israel).

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I have also read Fletcher's book on walking Northern Ireland so I was prepared for his journalistic point of view and at times judgemental and oversimplified positions and it was clear at the outset of this book that he was poised to give Israel a very hard time. But as his trek went on, I do believe his thinking evolved and that he grew in front of his readers' eyes and that he simply admits by the end being absolutely in love with the country and its people. Also I learned a lot-- not deep things but nice details of what he saw on his walk the length of Israel's Mediterranean coast. I recommend it. To someone living in Israel it is likely unsatisfactory on many counts. But for someone like me who spent a few years there but doesn't know the country nearly as well as they would like, I think it does have that ineffable "feel" of Israel and is a very enjoyable read.

[Miri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Fletcher's writing and I thought the idea of walking the entire coast of Israel is pretty cool. However, I don't think he really did what he set out to do. Namely, the point of the book was supposedly to show Israel "beyond the conflict," but Fletcher, true to his training as a news reporter, seem to seek out only conflict as he goes, deliberately asking all of his interview subjects about their views of the other side of the war.

It was still a good book, but not what I'd been hoping to read about.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book: entertaining and educational. The author has an engaging writing style, and he has a knack for finding some good personal stories, capturing much of Israeli history along the way. This book has been part of my Middle East education this year, but I would recommend it for anyone interested in some good stories, and an opportunity to broaden your perspective.

And I definitely want to read his other books.

[Noah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't a fan of this book. It's not terribly engaging and, more importantly, Fletcher's stated intention is to talk about the "real Israel" beyond the conflict and the headlines, and he mostly fails at that. Inevitably he starts a thread about some fishing village and it unspools into talking about all the usual stuff. I was hoping for a fresh perspective and didn't get it.

[Ester Elbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is such a good book. The author hikes the whole Israeli coast till the Gaza border in about two weeks. He describes what he sees along his hike and the people he met, touching topics like life in Israel, the holocaust and the war with Palestine with a very smooth prose, without dwelling too much.

[Dr. Steve Pollock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just Beginning

Enjoyable. Attention to detail. Interesting conversations with locals. Best quote: “At one point during my trek, a brave lady who survived a terrorist attack said to me, “‘Surviving is not enough. Surviving is just the beginning.’” That’s Israel - just beginning.

[Seth Kaplan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got to hear the author speak last year and bought this book immediately after. This is a fascinating account of seeing Israel by foot. It offers amazing insight into a country that is so poorly portrayed by the mainstream media. Highly recommend it.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a travel memoir of NBC correspondent Martin Fletcher who walks the coast of Israel from the Lebanon Border in the North down to the Gaza Border. His meeting people and staying in places along the way allows him to delve into deeper issues of the country- the attitudes of young Israelis about army service, the possibility of connection between Jews and Palestinian Israelis who live in the same space, the mixed empathy and distancing towards Holocaust survivors, the present and future of the kibbutzim (moving towards privatization). I loved how he embedded these larger issues with stories of specific people. For example, re the privatization of kibbutzim, he introduces the reader to Ran Ronen from Kibbutz Beit Oren, who was one of the first kibbutzniks to save his kibbutz from failing by moving towards private ownership-- closing failing kibbutz businesses, members receiving salaries, closing communal facilities like the laundry and dining hall. He was at once, hailed as a savior but also hated as a key person who changed the spirit and socialist ethos of the kibbutz movement. In this way, you learn history by visiting his kibbutz, hearing about his personal story, interpreting the shift in the kibbutz movement. This is one example.

I found one of the last chapters about Ashkelon rather chilling, foreshadowing a post 10/7 world. When he first visits the sleepy city on his walk, he downplays the importance of the place, but later on in the book, he revisits Ashkelon in 2008 when bombs start dropping from Gaza and a mini-war escalates. It was interesting to note the people he described who used to go back and forth to Gaza - one Palestinian man whose wife was in Gaza and he in Ashkelon, a religious Jewish settler who is still mad that his farming life in Gaza was uprooted in 2008, Israeli soldiers taking his family back to Israel.

I didn't really like Fletcher. He seemed a bit egotistical. His walk seemed to be a midlife crisis attempt to recover his own virile youth that he has lost --flirting with a woman on an elevator and trying to pick her up, going into bars to check out the action in Tel Aviv. I guess that is one reason I gave the book 3 stars.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

“(T)oday the coast is interesting not so much as a place of war, but as a place of peace. Seventy percent of Israel’s people, Jews and Arabs, live within ten miles of the beach, along a coastal plain, in relative harmony.”

Although I miss the serendipity of the card catalog, I have learned to look around in my library’s data base for books that may be worth reading. I also have learned to check them out ASAP, so that I don’t miss them. Libraries have to weed a lot – there is limited space and too many books. (I never actually thought I would ever write that there are too many books.)

I was looking at other travel books when Walking Israel popped up in my search. Knowing that Fletcher is a respected journalist and given my interest in Israel, checking this book out was a no-brainer.

I have to admit that I was disappointed in the book overall. I don’t know why I had hoped that Fletcher would find the solution to all of Israel’s problems. I know it is not that easy. I guess I am just an optimist.

I wanted Fletcher’s journalistic skills and the fact that he lives in Israel to help him write a fantastic, amazing book. Instead, I think his trip down the coast of Israel is a lot like mine would be. I wouldn’t be able to talk to everyone since I only know English; people wouldn’t talk to me because they don’t know me and lastly, the coast isn’t all that long.

I did find some of Fletchers comments very interesting. I had no idea that Holocaust victims had so many problems in the early days of Israel. I was seven when the Eichmann trial took place. I don’t remember anything about it. However, Fletcher believes that was the catalyst for Israeli recognition of Holocaust survivors and their traumas.

I have always wondered why the Israelis seem to be as cruel to the Palestinians as the Germans were to the Jews during World War II. If your country doesn’t want to deal with what the Shoah survivors went through then how can you see any parallels between your behavior and the fascists?

All of this is my opinion, not Fletcher’s, but his comments about Israeli history have helped me a lot. Even if his book was not exactly what I wanted, I did learn something. And, of course, that is one of the reasons I read.

[Jeannette Hartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin Fletcher lives in Israel and has been a foreign correspondent there for 35 years. In early summer of 2008, he realized a long-time dream of walking Israel's 110 mile coast. In his career, he had covered plenty of wars, terrorist attacks and bombings. Now he was in search of a more ordinary Israel. Of all of Israel's people, both Arab and Jew, 70 percent of them live within 10 miles of the beach in relative harmony. This would the be side of Israel that doesn't make the news. It would be the side of Israel that ranks as the society with the second-largest per-capita buyers of books in the world; "where each small town has a major orchestra"; where innovation in science, medicine and technology thrives.

Fletcher has a gift for talking to people. He also made a commitment that in each section of his travel memoir, he would talk about a different issue -- Israel's demographics, life between Jewish and Arab neighbors, the changing world of kibbutzim and changing attitudes and continuing support for military service.

Fletcher is an excellent writer and uses his extensive contacts to expand on events and issues he observed on his 14 day walk from the border with Lebanon to the border with Gaza.

A very enjoyable book.

[Eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

2019 bk 162. Martin Fletcher is a British journalist working for NBC News. He moved to Israel in the mid-1980's to cover the middle east. Along the way he found a wife, Hagar, had children and has grown to love the people of Israel - Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Immigrant, Refugee, early settlers, Israeli - Arabs. For his vacation in 2008, he decided to walk the coastline of Israel - a trip that could normally be done in one day in a car. By walking he hoped to meet people, make contacts, and learn more about the people that make up the country of Israel. He accomplishes this goal, but not without a few cuts, bruises, and a broken nose. This is not just a diary of the walk. During the year after the walk, he returns to interview his new-found contacts, asking more detailed questions about their lives and forecast for the future of Israel. He also delves into the distant and more recent historical past of each area, informing the reader of Biblical, Crusades, Napoleonic, and 20th century events. A good read that provides more information on the people and how the land and history form the people than any other book I've read on Israel.

[Perlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author got in the way of his story a little too often. This could have been a fascinating book if we were allowed to hear the voices of the people he met. Instead, these were often filtered through his own opinions and views, stated as facts, assuming we all agree with him. He also seemed a little sad in that he couldn't accept his own growing older, and came across as something of a jerk. I hope someone writes a book like this, without the interference!

[Jolynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this book after returning home from a trip to Israel. Our guide, besides having a wealth of knowledge of the religious and historical antiquity sites, also had much to share about life in modern Israel. This book helped flesh out and put what he had to say in perspective.

[Stanley Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Enjoyable

A very different view of Israel and alll the characters who inhabit it, Jews as well as Arabs. If there were to be peace there, what a wonderful country to live in. Highly recommended.

[SecretSquirrel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, it was a fast read for me and not dry in the least. I learnt a lot about Israel and Mr Fletcher truly has the knack to engage you from the start. I would read his other books next. I recommend this book to you.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting to read after traveling to Israel

[Garryvivianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Author is (or was?) an anchorman for NBC news. He realized that news people DO tend to only tell the bad stuff happening. He decided to walk the shoreline in Israel & meet people & show that Israel is not only fighting & bombing. He met many interesting people, but realized that no matter where he went, the Jews hate the Arabs, the Arabs hate the Jews, no matter how close they lived or interacted together. When the walk was done, the shelling DID start, in these "quiet little towns"! Was very interesting to see how the people from the land of Israel coped & wanted to live in peace. But even they knew something would happen eventually. Somewhat depressing & sad to see what the people in those countries have to go thru & HAVE been going thru most of their lives.

After finishing this book, I started "A Woman Among Warlords"-The Extradorinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise her Voice. I put that down & realized I had to go to something more cheery & even silly. I didn't want to feel depressed. It started out bad, but just saying how they have lived all their lives! It may be time to quit reading books about that region of the world for awhile.

[Roxani · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of the book was different from the typical books about Israel or this region in that the author consciously chose not to write the conflict narrative. Instead, he walked along the coast of Israel from the border with Lebanon to that with Gaza and told the stories of the people along the way. Unsurprisingly, many of those stories were indeed conflict narratives. Although the conclusions the author drew were at times simplistic, obvious or trite for anyone with significant experience of this conflict or this region, the stories were insightful and enjoyable and made the book worth reading.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book very much! It is a very readable, engaging description of how Martin Fletcher, a respected journalist, walked the coast of Israel from the border with Lebanon in the north to the border with Gaza at the south. During the walk Mr. Fletcher encounters numerous Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, and his recounting of those meetings are delightful to read. He describes political situations but does not judge or offer pronouncements on how to arrive at peace between the factions. He takes the reader to areas of Israel that the usual tourist does not see. This makes the book fascinating to read. Highly recommended.

[Elviza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walking Israel is grippingly written. A tad compulsive from time to time depending on the author's mood during the walk he took from the border of Lebanon until the wall separating Israel and Gaza.

I found astounding details in terms of historical background - spanning from the holocaust , 1948 war, Six-Day war to Yom Kippur war, to name a few - and kibbutz life in Israel.

This book has made it clear that at the end of the day, regardless whether you are a jew, muslim or christian, all you care about is your daily survival and the safety of your family.

Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Rosh Hanikra, Old City of Acre, Haifa and Ashkelon beckon with history since Abraham and Isaac. Read it.

[Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a journey of tradition, belief & a life-long goal for Martin Fletcher, an NBC news reporter and long-time resident of a Northern Israeli town, who carves out six weeks out of his schedule and walks the length of the Israeli coast. Along the way, he collects stories, gathers beliefs and presents a "look into the foundations that fostered the creation of modern Israel, while retracing & re-evaluating his past experiences.

A great book about a reporter's reflection on his career, family and people who helped him along in his life. Fletcher also portrays those who suffered during the creation of Israel and the many people that are pushing parts of Israel into the future.