The Fate of Zionism: A Secular Future for Israel & Palestine

by Arthur Hertzberg

Internationally known historian and rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, best known for his classic The Zionist Idea , challenges us to reexamine the case for the legitimacy of the state of Israel from a secular point of view. He argues that the religious blinders of absolute thinking and hatred have obscured our vision. In this time of great turmoil in the Mideast, when conflict represents a potential nuclear threat to the region and to the world, it is an argument that is more relevant and urgent than ever. Charting a pragmatic middle path between the Israeli right wing and critics like Edward Said and Noam Chomsky, Hertzberg chronicles the conflict between the original secular vision of Israel and the illusions that came in the subsequent riptide of Israeli triumphalism and the myths of messianism. The deep need of the Israeli people for both power and security has created a paradox, one that can only be solved when the deeper question of legitimacy is addressed in a clear-eyed, secular fashion, away from the growing threat of clashing right wings and religious violence. Hertzberg calls us to go back to the future, to the original idea behind the founding of Israel -- that a people persecuted, marginalized, and murdered under state sanction need a safe land, a place to be independent and free. Between the growing religiously motivated blindness of the right wing (Arab, Jewish, and American Christian), and the one-sided blindness of the Western liberal intelligentsia, it has become difficult to see the future. Hertzberg calls on the United States to use its power and influence to help recover the original Zionist intent and settle the questions of legitimacy and coexistence for both Israelis and Palestinians. During his entire career, Hertzberg has been at once supportive of the right to existence of the state of Israel but also a fierce critic of some of its policies -- particularly the abuse of religious sentiments in the social arena. Realistic about the Palestinian injustice that is precipitated, Hertzberg offers a framework for a hopeful solution in a post-religious Zionist realpolitik.

Genres: Israel

208 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1975

Reviews

[Abeni · Rating 2 out of 5]

although reviews of this book say that the author tries to take a middle of the road point of view when talking about israel, the writing smacked of being clearly on the side of the cause for israel. he couches the issue in the idea that israelis have been the victims of their circumstances from the start, and therefore cannot be held accountable for the beginning of the middle east conflict.

while the author did admit that the first residents of israel were guilty at times of treating their palestinian neighbors less than fairly, he was not able to deconstruct the issue as skillfully as it should be.

i got tired of reading this book while the author talked out of both sides of his mouth, so i didn't finish it.

[Daniel Toker · Rating 5 out of 5]

As regards the current political landscape and peace negotiations, this book offers criticism of Israel where criticism is due (primarily its expansionist policies in the West Bank), and criticism of the Palestinians and Israel's neighbors where criticism is due (embodied in the "Three No's" of the post-1967 War Khartoum Resolution: no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, and no recognition of Israel). Though Hertzberg recognizes that there are those on both sides of the conflict who are willing to make concessions for the sake of peace, he points out that this is of little consolation when there are far-right forces in both camps that, if Palestine were to become a state, compromise the security of both Israel and the nascent Palestine.

As regards the history of Israel, Hertzberg rejects the notions that criticism of Israel stems from anti-Semitism and nothing else (though it can often evolve into anti-Semitism), and also rejects the equally "easy" and equally erroneous idea that Israel is a colonialist entity. This is simply because for many Jews (my own family included), the choice was either Palestine or death.

In terms of the future, Herrzberg argues that the conflict is essentially intractable if left in the hands of Israelis and Palestinians. He says that all current peace negotiations are empty talk, for a variety of reasons, which are carefully dealt with in the book. And he urges that this should not be brushed off as regional conflict, as the Southern/Northern Ireland conflict is; this conflict should scare everyone, primarily because of the risk that rogue anti-Israel groups will get their hands on weapons of mass destruction. He actually isn't too worried about anti-Israel countries getting such weapons, and analyzes why this poses a far smaller threat than a small group of extremists getting hold of, for example, some of Russia's unaccounted-for stock. As such, he suggests that it is specifically the responsibility of the United Stated to intervene in a constructive way: make Israel stop expanding in the West Bank (he argues that nothing sheer of withholding funding from Israel equal to the amount it spends on settlement construction can accomplish this), empower moderate Palestinian and Israeli security forces that can keep extremist militant groups at bay, and generally do what it can to prevent military escalations in the region. Everything else, Hertzberg argues, must run its course, lest the US run the risk of becoming a Middle Eastern empire.

[Michale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illuminating and heartbreaking.