The threshold of dissent A history of American Jewish critics of Zionism

Feld (history, Babson College) evaluates the complex relationship between the US and Israel by examining criticism of American Zionism and Israel by a group of self-identified American Jews. The book makes three salient points. First, the unquestioning support for Israel, promoted by many organizations, by marginalizing dissent has made it more difficult for American Jews to reconcile their Jewishness with their political commitments to social justice and democracy. Second, the above difficulty has weakened Jewish communal life and the prospects for Jewish belonging. Finally, the enforcement of this "manufactured consensus" about Israel has been intertwined with the troubled process of Euro-American Jews' long effort to claim whiteness. Feld makes these points with verve, and her deep scholarship is abundantly on display. The book concludes with an observation and a conjecture. The observation is that through their silence about Zionism's abuses, American Jews have contributed to the violence against other groups, such as Palestinians and Black Americans. The conjecture is that if US organizations and politicians continue to subscribe to a "forced Zionist consensus," then young American Jews may decide that contemporary American Jewish life is of little interest to them. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. --Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, Rochester Institute of Technology

In this astute account, historian Feld (Nations Divided) demonstrates that criticism of Zionism by American Jews is not a recent phenomenon. Surveying the history of such dissent dating back to the 1880s and continuing through the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack, Feld persuasively shows that the post-WWII pro-Zionist consensus among American Jews was a facade projected by Zionist Jewish American leaders, who, after the Holocaust, believed that the state of Israel was "essential for Jewish survival." In reality, Feld explains, American Jews have always had "a diverse array of perspectives" regarding Zionism. Before WWII, these included concerns over whether a Jewish state would subject Jews in the diaspora to accusations of dual loyalty, and whether resources would flow to Israel that were needed to sustain Jewish communities elsewhere. Following WWII, and especially after the 1967 Six-Day War, some American Jews worried about the fate of Palestinians in territory occupied by Israel. Apart from making clear that current dissent is not the outlier it's often portrayed to be, Feld is especially effective at noting the negative consequences of a prevailing message of monolithic, unquestioning Jewish American support for Israel ("Many young Jews no longer see their worldviews.... reflected in mainstream Jewish communal organizations"). This meticulous study is a valuable contribution to ongoing debates over America's relationship with Israel. (July)