From Herzl to Rabin: The Changing Image of Zionism [Hardcover]

Amnon Rubinstein (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0841914087 | ISBN-13: 978-0841914087 | Publication Date: September 2000 | Edition: First Edition

This book traces the history of the Israeli state and provides the reader with a fascinating study of Zionism. Moving deftly between the roles of objective historian and persuasive politician, the author uses his skills to show both the political and religious aspects of Zionism and the attacks on it by the haredim and Post and Anti-Zionists. Israel's presence in the world has changed the status of Jews everywhere - both inside and outside its borders. But a recent destructive reality threatens the classic Zionist perception. The threat comes from the danger of religious and 'haredi' Judaiism becoming the spearhead of nationalism in its most insidious form, and the threat to the essence of Judaism and Israel from the Left.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Zionism has been co-opted by violent right-wing extremists and misunderstood by left-wing post- and anti-Zionist intellectuals, argues Rubinstein in this very dense and complex but illuminating account of the movement that resulted in the modern-day State of Israel. The fruit of this co-optation was the 1996 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, he contends. Rubinstein, who has long been a journalist, human rights activist and member of Knesset (he was also a minister in Rabin's government), advocates a return to what he calls the original tenets of Zionism, a movement that sought to establish a democratic home for the Jewish people, not a state governed by Mosaic law. "Only by returning to original Zionism," writes Rubinstein, can Israel continue as a Jewish state and live in peace and security. His most compelling chapter, "Toward Rabin's Assassination," chronicles the rise of religious nationalist extremism, which Rubinstein dates to Israel's victory in 1967's Six-Day War. He traces the rise of Gush Emunim, the ultra-Orthodox group whose members, despite Israeli prohibitions, moved to the Arab-occupied West Bank, forcing the Israeli government to protect them. He also quotes Yigal Amir, who, during an interrogation by the police after he assassinated Rabin, cited newly coined ultra-Orthodox rabbinic statements that he interpreted as sanctioning violence against anyoneAJew, Arab or otherwiseAwho disagreed with their vision of the Zionist ideal. Rubinstein's assessment may count in the long runAclearly he has the ear of Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who contributes a foreword to this book. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...[A] moderate member of the Israeli Parliament for the past quarter-century...has written a book that...has vigor and depth." -- New York Times Book Review / Sept. 3, 2000

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 283 pages
• Publisher: Holmes & Meier Pub; First Edition edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0841914087
• ISBN-13: 978-0841914087
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,651,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2.0 out of 5 stars Not What I was Looking for, November 19, 2011

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Lehigh History Student (Bethlehem, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Herzl to Rabin: The Changing Image of Zionism (Hardcover)

The title of Amnon Rubinstein's book needs to change to The Changing Image of Zionism. This book has little do with the time frame of Herzl to Rabin (and spends almost a third beyond it) but mostly focuses on the different sides of Zionism and how they ideologically were changed by events from the start of Zionism to the modern state (as of 2000) of things in Israel. Overall I was expecting much more on the state of Israel and the political situation of the country vis a vis Zionism. What I got instead was a ideological and philosophical look at Zionism. If that is what you are looking for then you will not be disappointed but otherwise skip this one.