Customer Reviews

A Little Too Close to God: The Thrills and Panic of a Life in Israel

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book has some very strong points AND some very weak ones too, and on balance I think it is worth reading, but I definitely recommend that you proceed with caution!! Let's start with the strong points. For one, I found Horovitz's dialogues with his religious, West Bank-settlement-dwelling brother-in-law Natan to be totally fascinating. Horovitz does the reader a great service by allowing Natan's words and arguments to be presented so respectfully, and forcefully. By the end of their discussion (Chapter Seven - "On the Other Hand"), my head was spinning and I (a liberal, secular person through and through) actually felt torn between their two worldviews. I also couldn't help but like Natan, which really surprised me, especially since I honestly expected him to be a raving right-wing nutcase or something. But it's just not that simple! Similarly, I found Horovitz's conversation with his first cousin (Chapter Nine - "What Kind of Jewish State?"), the ultra-Orthodox ("with a less than Orthodox past") Shai, to be similarly fascinating. I guess my prejudices, and also conversations I have had with secular Israelis (when I studied in Israel back in the mid-80s), who seemed to hate the ultra-Orthodox as much or more than they hate the Arabs, had me prepared for Shai to be an intolerant religious zealot/drone with a simple, easy answer for everything, and a total rejection of secularism, democracy, and modernity. But nooooo, once again my preconceived notions were shattered, and Shai turned out to be a smart, worldly, highly educated, sophisticated, interesting guy. Very interesting, and once again, not that simple! Finally, I admired Horovitz's honesty throughout the book in discussing his feelings regarding living and raising a family in Israel, relations within his politically and religiously diverse extended family (almost a microcosm of Ashkenazi, Jewish Israel), and the pros and cons (from his perspective) of living in Israel vs. living in England or Dallas or something (in a humorous discussion with a recent Russian immigrant, it's the WEATHER, of all things, which turns out to be the most persuasive argument!).

OK, so what did I NOT like about this book? Unfortunately, a fair amount. For starters, even though Horovitz admits right off that he doesn't really discuss the Israeli Arabs or the Sephardic Jews (not to mention the huge community of recent Russian immigrants), I still found it limiting and frustrating, especially since these three groups (Sephardim, Israeli Arabs, and Russian immigrants) account for a large majority of the Israeli population. A much worse flaw in the book is Horovitz's near-hysterical obsession with Benjamin Netanyahu. OK, I don't like Netanyahu either, but he WAS elected Prime Minister of Israel by hundreds of thousands of people, and I just don't see the need for page after page of Horovitz's rantings and ravings (sample: "Hate. Hate. Hate. That was Netanyahu...") about one individual. Then, there's the flip side, which is his POSITIVE obsession with Yitzhak Rabin and - to a far lesser extent - Ehud Barak. OK, I liked Rabin a lot too, and thought that he was leading Israel in the right direction, but c'mon, do we really believe that even Rabin could have solved ALL the problems which Horovitz points out (the religious-secular split, for instance?) Good luck!! At one point, Horovitz even admits bluntly that he had come to idolize and mythologize Rabin - but only since he was assassinated - and to view him as a symbol for the Israel he dreamed of. Does Horovitz have a right to do this? Sure! But does making Netanyahu and his supporters into "freaks," and Rabin and his supporters into martyrs and angels, accomplish anything? I don't see how; in fact, if David Horovitz is typical of the Israeli left, that country is in BIG trouble! What's scary is that if even an intelligent, worldly, political reporter like David Horovitz can become so hysterical, then what about the rest of Israel?

Another problem with this book is Horovitz's apparent naivete (arrogance?) regarding the Arabs. OK, sure, I think that Israel somehow needs to make peace with its neighbors, but how on Earth does Horovitz know so much about the hearts and minds of Arab leaders he happens to have met or interviewed? For instance, based on having interviewed Palestinian leader Faisal Husseini "half a dozen" times, Horovitz comes to the conclusion that Husseini can't possibly desire secretly to destroy the state of Israel. Well, of course that MAY be the case, but how does Horovitz KNOW that for sure? And how can he be so "certain" that Bassam Abu Sharif, mastermind of several airline hijackings, is "genuinely committed" to a permanent peace with Israel? Who knows, Horovitz may be right, but as my Jewish grandmother might say: so, he's a mind reader no less?

Finally, and I guess I shouldn't really criticize Horovitz for this, since I live in relative safety here in America (except for the violent crime, road rage, and even domestic terrorism here!), but the bottom line is that Horovitz is a privileged person, with all kinds of connections, and if the latest elections don't go his way (i.e., the latest election, in which the "hawk" Ariel Sharon defeated the "dove" Ehud Barak), he can leave Israel any time he wants. As he himself admits, he still has his English passport, his wife her US passport, and his kids one of each. Thus, for Horovitz, escape from Israel is just "a flight away." In a way, this actually makes the book MORE interesting, because knowing that he can leave at any time means that Horovitz can say things (or look at them more objectively) perhaps that those "stuck" there might have more difficulty doing. On the other hand, it also means that Horovitz is an Israeli with one foot always out the door, never totally "there." This almost makes me feel like I'm reading a book by someone on a (very) extended Foreign Service rotation or something, and leaves me with the uneasy feeling that the subtitle of his book is misleading. Horovitz may have been in Israel for 20 years, but he apparently still has never committed to a "life in Israel," just the "thrills and panic."

Isn't it fabulous to hold a dual citizenship? Readers of The Jerusalem Report, and listeners to the BBC and NPR will be familiar with David Horovitz. But don't expect a book by Thomas Friedman or David Shipler. This is the real thing. This is by a reporter who lives and is raising his family in Israel, a country where for every two Jews there are three cell phones. He shows Israel in all its hues, no matter how embarrassing or life-affirming to the author and reader. The book opens with London born Horovitz talking about his weekly lunches at a restaurant that gets blown up by a terrorist. He wonders whether the settlers are wrong to live in very safe enclaves, while he lives in a dangerous Jerusalem? Do priorities change when you have 3 kids? With British/US and Israeli citizenship, should his family just leave for the good of the kids? When David Horovitz emigrated from England to Israel in 1983, it was the fulfillment of a dream. But today, a husband and a father, he is torn between hope and despair, between the desire to make a difference and fear for his family's safety, between staying and going. But then again, Israel is like heroin to an addict. The people and the politics are so passionately bi-polar, where every decision is perceived to a matter of life or death. Another day in Lebanon can mean the death of a father, son, cousin, or neighbor. Even the most tabloid newspaper contains pages of political and military analyses. It is a candid book. He describes Israel as it enters the 21st Century, a post Zionist state that is highly politicized and fragmented, but yet a country in which everyone feels like one big dysfunctional family. A country where two PM's, the President, the spiritiual leader of Shas, and the Justice Minister are all under investigation. A country where you will be cursed at by other drivers, but they will go out of their way to help you if you have a problem, even stopping a bus to donate blood. A people who will freak out in paranoid fear upon touring Jordan, yet flirt over the top upon meeting some Jordanian guys when the bus breaks down. He provides a clear, balanced discussion between himself and his brother-in-law, an American-born Orthodox West Bank settler. Who is the naïve one, who is the cynic? The reader can decide. This is a unique personal story (through the eyes of a Western highly politicized immigrant) of his successes, failures, mistakes, prejudices, and life experiences, and as a reporter and editor for The Jerusalem Report.

My two young children are wondering where mom has been for the past three days as I couldn't put down this Horovitz book! As a person who has had the opportunity to visit Israel many times, including a year in Jerusalem at the age of 20, and married an Israeli (he now is entranced by the book), reading this book brought back memories both happy and sad. Horovitz' personal style brings the reader into his home and onto the streets of Israel and surrounding countries. His stories had me at times laughing aloud as well as shedding tears. Through his explanations of the political and social situation of Israel, based on his front row seat as a senior journalist, he was able to bring the debate of left and right and concept of peace to life.Through out the book he also shares the views of close relatives with often differing and personal opinions. This honest account of Israel from the people who are there is a must read.

David Horovitz has produced a book which presents - like it or not - the raw realities of life in Israel today. Here is someone who is a believer in the state of Israel and what it means to the Jewish people who put his money where his mouth was and moved to Israel, where he is married and has 3 children (about whom his worry is - will they die defending this land?). What he has done in this book is to show the reader the manifold conflicts (religious, political, cultural) which characterize the state of Israel and which make life in America seem positively tepid by way of comparison. He is open about his political and religious viewpoints (left-wing, Reform) and yet shows an excellent insight into the right-wing, Orthodox elements he also confronts not just in Israel at large but - more directly - within his own family. I recommend this book highly to anyone who would like to gain some insight - from the inside, and well beyond the superficialities of the American media - into what it is like to live in Israel. The author has a breezy, conversational style which makes the book both an easy and a highly informative read.

Mr. Horovitz has succeeded in opening a window into life in Israel which only one sharing his hope for the dream of Jewish normalcy can fully appreciate. Living in Jerusalem for over ten years, as a Canadian immigrant, I too have been and continue to be challenged by the enormity of the task of Zionism. Mr. Horovitz has graciously invited us into his family to help us understand the dilemmas that Israel faces as it enters its second half-century of existence. Without a doubt, he has succeeded in elucidating the issues that make living in Jerusalem so challenging. Many of us who share his idealism also are becoming concerned with the deepening clefts in our society. For those who are actively participating in the Zionist dream, Mr. Horovitz has emerged as a powerful voice helping to express our concern with society's polarization, while at the same time continuing to hope that our dream will be fulfilled. Now that Israel's future existence is guaranteed by it's military and economic strength, and is de facto, if not fully de jure, recognized by its neighbors, our future challenge will be to define the nature of our internal society. Mr. Horovitz brings important insight into the challenges we face in defining our identity as a "normal" state. Serious reading for those concerned with the future of the Jewish state in these difficult times. A must for those concerned with the depth of the issues presented in world media.

As someone who has visited Israel many times over the years, and studied there for a year at college, I am always interested in new books on Israel. This one brought back lots of memories--of experiences good and bad. And having read it, I understand even better the struggles and attractions my friends who live there have to deal with. It's not a whitewash of Israel, nor is it an attack on Israel. It's the reality--the warmth, the tension, the things mothers worry about and dads fight for. I read it in a single weekend.

Count this latest entry in the "Living-In-Israel" literary sweepstakes as one of the best. Horowitz is honest and funny as he deals with some of the most compicated issues of modern life in the "Holy Land." You get the feeling that his views, while admittedly personal, reflect on the thoughts and motives of thousands of immigrants like himself, not to mention millions of natural-born Israelis. His handling of the various sides of numerous conflicts in Israel today is refreshingly opinionated but admirably even-handed. Impressivelly, for a journalist, Horowitz uses his considerable experience and access to further his narrative, rather than to impress his readers. This is a must read for anyone with a modicum of interest in the political and social fabric of modern-day Israel and its citizenry.

For those of us who have had the pleasure and often, pain of living in Israel, this book speaks straight to our hearts. Many of us "pioneers" are basically in love with the Zionist idea and exasperated with the reality. David Horovitz does a great job of relating this ping-pong game in which many of us live.

This is the most refreshingly honest and therefore hard hitting books to come out of the complexities of the Middle East that I have seen. Tha author appears to be well placed and well skilled to make the observations in that he is a senior journalist with all of the advantages that this brings in terms of access to policy and opinion makers but who, along with his wife was raised in another country. Throw into the mix their three under ten year olds and we have a story worth listening to.

The funny episodes are brilliantly written and the cases for all sides in this divided country given the opportunity of expression. The insight into the various idealogical and political struggles from Jew vs Arab to Sephardi vs Ashkenasi to Religous vs Secular are uniquly well written and observed. I enjoyed it immensely and cannot commend it highly enough. You really will not know how you feel about the place when you are finished - but you will sure understand it a whole lot better.

Thank you to David Horovitz for having the courage to present both sides of the internal Israeli debate cogently and, most impressively, sensitively. One need only visit Israel to know how passionately and fiercely people hold on to their arguments about just about anything. But Horovitz clearly is wrestling with the thousand and one challenges of living in Israel and raising a family there, recognizing the grays where others see only black and white. Kudos to him and to "A Little Too Close to God."