In search of Israel The history of an idea

Review by Choice Review

Rather than provide a political or social history of the State of Israel, Brenner (Israel studies, American Univ.) examines the variety of intellectual conceptions of Israel and Zionism and what a Jewish state means for Jews worldwide. He opens a window on the debates among Jews about Zionism from Theodor Herzl to the present, demonstrating that there was not a straight line from Herzl's The Jewish State (1896) to the creation of Israel in 1948. Brenner introduces readers to other attempts to create a Jewish home outside of Palestine and follows debates over whether a Jewish state should exist, how such a state should be constructed, and whether the goal should be "normalization" or "exceptionalism," with the state serving as an example to the rest of the world. Once Israel was established, questions arose about what to do with Arabs living in Israel, Jewish immigrants and refugees from Asia and Africa, and what it meant that some Israeli Jews chose to leave Israel and go back to the diaspora. This well-done book is appropriate for those familiar with the history of Israel. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --Denise E. Jenison, Kent State University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Brenner (A Short History of the Jews) once again provides a concise and accessible look at a complex topic with this history of modern Zionism. He starts with Theodor Herzl's late-19th-century initiatives to realize the dream of a state for the Jews and concludes with the current, complex state of Israel. Throughout, Brenner dissects the tensions underlying the efforts to create and maintain a Jewish state: should it simply be an independent country, or aspire to be (in the words of the prophet Isaiah) "a light unto the nations"? Brenner notes that Herzl would be surprised by many aspects of the modern state of Israel, which is not "a miniature version of Europe in the Middle East," as he had expected. He illuminates the path from dream to reality through concise but insightful looks at the different visions of Zionist leaders, both from those-including theologian Martin Buber-who supported the establishment of a binational state including equal religious rights, to right-wingers-such as Revisionist Zionism's leader Vladimir Jabotinsky-who demanded a single Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan River. Even readers familiar with the contours of this history will still find something to learn in Brenner's even-handed take. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

The story of a unique nation as it grew from a dream to a world presence.Brenner (Chair, Israel Studies/American Univ.; A Short History of the Jews, 2010, etc.) cogently sketches the unlikely achievements and unexpected trials of the State of Israel as it celebrates its 70th anniversary. At the First Zionist Congress, just 50 years before the Jewish state was established by the U.N., Theodor Herzl brought prayers of millennia down to Earth. As the author shows, there were certainly diverse places for a homeland to be (Africa, South America, Tasmania, as well as the Holy Land) and divergent paths it might take. Some favored autonomy after centuries of anti-Semitism, while others urged assimilation; labor had its proletarian views, and others stressed politics. Visionaries foresaw a land, different than any other, that would fulfill the ancient mission to be "a light unto the nations," while some simply wanted a nation like any other. Unlike Herzl, some saw that displaced Arabs would not be pleased with the Jewish return to the biblical land of their fathers. The atrocities of the Holocaust clarified the urgency of a Jewish homeland, but who would be considered Jewish? Would it be a secular or religious land? An independent nation or a commonwealth? Brenner answers these questions and more in this concise text. The Six-Day War gave some Israelis the notion of a greater Israel, and religious settlers moved across the latest borders. The Yom Kippur War engendered an Arab summit's adamant "three no's": no peace, no negotiation, no recognition. American evangelicals, anticipating the "end of days," fell in love with Israel, and Russian immigrants and African lost tribes became Israelis. Startup technology and skyscrapers thrive in secular Tel Aviv, while world religions are at home among Jerusalem's ancient stones; throughout the land, tourists mingle with soldiers on patrol.A lucid, valuable text about a homeland that may not yet be a light unto the nations but is surely unique. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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