The Jewish State: The Struggle for Israel's Soul

First some background about me! I was 11 yrs. old in 1939 and grew up with an interest in world history at a time when history was being made. I admit to inheriting a lot of misconceptions and incomplete information on the subject of the Middle East, Palestine, Israel, the Balfour Declaration and the Jews. I took this book with me as holiday reading material and had to persevere to get through the Introduction and Part One which is essential reading to benefit from the whole volume. Coming to the second part which deals with the History of the Jewish State I simply could not put it down! In a way I wish that Mr.Hazony had included more explanatory detail and that the Notes, contained at the end of the book, had been printed as footnotes, for it is important to read them along with the text. However, this book has defintely prompted me to pursue a new phase of an old interest and I shall certainly be searching the catalogue of my local library for further reading. And isn't that what a good book, well researched and well written should do for an active and enquiring mind?

What can I say? 5 stars says it all! This book takes you inside the inner workings of Israel's political roots. It redefines Zionism and smashes wide spread myths. If you want to get a good perspective on Israel from an intellectual, look no further. It goes without saying that this book is not for everyone. Only the scholarly individual looking for a scholarly book! Enjoy!

Anyone who believes that all Israelis believe that there should be a Jewish State needs to read Hazony's THE JEWISH STATE. Hazony clearly and convincingly demonstrates that Israel's intellectual elite has opposed the concept of a Jewish State from the begining. This book is an eye opener as it documents the power and the arguments of the post-zionists. This is especially relevant now that one of their leaders Shimon Peres is likely to become Israel's next President.I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the intellectual struggle that is as important to the State as relations with its arab neighbors. Hazony's unimpeachable scholarship and his fluid writing style makes it an enjoyable must read.

Yoram Hazony writes and expresses so clearly what has been on so many of our minds when we see Israel today. The anti-Jewish influences which are pervading Israeli society, shows up on Israeli TV, in Israeli schoolbooks, Meretz party, and such anti-Zionist newspapers as Ha'aretz. Hazony tells us who these people are and what their background is, which is brand new infromation for me. I really must say thank you to Hazony for exposing and publicizing this growing danger to the very existence of Jewish Israel. The only thing unsatisfactory to me, was how can I help to stop these post-Zionists, I feel quite helpless against this powerful cadre of a few hundred 'intellectuals' who want to destroy Jewish Israel. How can I help stop them? I know the majority of Jewish Israelis don't agree with this post-Zionist clique.

The author raises some controversial and challenging questions in his new book. Observing vanishing Zionist idealism, self-sacrifice and the disappering reason d-etre for having a Jewish state, the author confronts and exposes those intellectuals in the Jewish state who want to do away with the Jewish charachter of the state of Israel. The author poignantly shows how dangerous the elite idealogues are for the conscience. This book is a critical response to those who want to accomplish what the enemies of Israel were unable to do: to destroy the state of Israel, not physically but spiritually, from within, under the banner of progressive cosmopolitan liberalism. It's these post-Zionists, whose roots are in German Jewish philosophy transplanted to Israel by immigrants of the 30's (Buber, Arendt, Sholem) that have provided inspiration to the post-Zionists in today's Israel. By exposing their hostility to the Zionist state, as envisioned by the fathers of the Jewish state, the author shows the peril to the Jewishness of the state of Israel from these revisionist authors.