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The Crisis of Zionism Hardcover – March 27, 2012
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Israel's next great crisis may come not with the Palestinians or Iran but with young American Jews
A dramatic shift is taking place in Israel and America. In Israel, the deepening occupation of the West Bank is putting Israeli democracy at risk. In the United States, the refusal of major Jewish organizations to defend democracy in the Jewish state is alienating many young liberal Jews from Zionism itself. In the next generation, the liberal Zionist dream--the dream of a state that safeguards the Jewish people and cherishes democratic ideals--may die.
In The Crisis of Zionism, Peter Beinart lays out in chilling detail the looming danger to Israeli democracy and the American Jewish establishment's refusal to confront it. And he offers a fascinating, groundbreaking portrait of the two leaders at the center of the crisis: Barack Obama, America's first "Jewish president," a man steeped in the liberalism he learned from his many Jewish friends and mentors in Chicago; and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister who considers liberalism the Jewish people's special curse. These two men embody fundamentally different visions not just of American and Israeli national interests but of the mission of the Jewish people itself.
Beinart concludes with provocative proposals for how the relationship between American Jews and Israel must change, and with an eloquent and moving appeal for American Jews to defend the dream of a democratic Jewish state before it is too late.
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTimes Books
- Publication dateMarch 27, 2012
- Dimensions6.34 x 1.08 x 9.55 inches
- ISBN-109780805094121
- ISBN-13978-0805094121
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Passionately argued. (David Remnick, The New Yorker)
Mr. Beinart has a book … called The Crisis of Zionism. Chapter five, on 'The Jewish President,' fully justifies the cover price. (Bret Stephens, The Wall Street Journal)
A terrifyingly frank account of our current state of affairs. (Andrew Sullivan)
Mr. Beinart thinks America's Jews must redeem both themselves and Israel by rededicating themselves to Israel's ethical character. . . . The sentiment is noble, and the message deserves to be heard. (The Economist)
An impressive achievement. (Alan Wolfe, The Chronicle of Higher Education)
[A] probing, courageous and timely book… [It] marks a significant evolution in the debate over Israel. (The National Interest)
A passionately argued work that will evoke intense debate. (Booklist)
An elegant, deeply honest look at the failure of Jewish liberalism in forging Israel as a democratic state… Straight talk by a clear-thinking intellectual with his heart in the right place. (Kirkus Reviews)
Peter Beinart has written a deeply important book for anyone who cares about Israel, its security, its democracy, and its prospects for a just and lasting peace.Beinart explains the roots of the current political and religious debates within Israel, raises the tough questions that can't be avoided, and offers a new way forward to achieve Zionism's founding ideals, both in Israel and among the diaspora Jews in the United States and elsewhere. (President Bill Clinton)
Peter Beinart has written the outstanding Zionist statement for the twenty-first century. The Crisis of Zionism is a courageously scathing critique of the sorry state of Zionism today and a clarion call to reaffirm the linkage of liberal values, Jewish commitment, and democratic practice that made the creation of the state of Israel possible and is the key to its moral and physical survival. (Naomi Chazan, former deputy speaker of the Knesset and president of the New Israel Fund)
Progress in the United States has most often occurred when patriotic Americans have insisted on facing our failures head on and holding us to our founding ideals. In that spirit, Peter Beinart has written a brave and important book about Zionism today. Anyone who loves Israel and wishes to see it survive must read this book. (Anne-Marie Slaughter, Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs, and former dean, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University)
The Crisis of Zionism is a must read for everyone who cares about the future of Israel. Peter Beinart makes a strong case for a vision of Zionism that encompasses ending the occupation of the West Bank and deepening Jewish education in America. Even if you disagree with him, you should still read this book. (Edgar M. Bronfman, president of The Samuel Bronfman Foundation)
If you are concerned about Israel's future, you should read this book. It will inform, provoke, and challenge you, as the author, with clarity and grace, lays out the looming dangers to Israeli democracy and appeals for a Jewish state that is both democratic and just to all, including its Arab minority. (Lee H. Hamilton, former Congressman and Vice-Chair of the 9/11 Commission)
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : 0805094121
- Publisher : Times Books; First Edition (March 27, 2012)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780805094121
- ISBN-13 : 978-0805094121
- Item Weight : 1.15 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.34 x 1.08 x 9.55 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #531,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #233 in Jewish Social Studies
- #455 in Middle Eastern Politics
- #472 in Israel & Palestine History (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Peter Beinart is associate professor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. He is the senior political writer for The Daily Beast and a contributor to Time. Beinart is a former fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and is the author of The Good Fight. He lives with his family in Washington, D.C.
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Israel has been locked in conflict since 1948. A pawn in the Cold War, an American client during the wars between Israel and its neighbors; and now the central focus in the Muslim/ Western conflict initiated 30 years ago with the Iranian Revolution, and recently the 9-11 tragedy followed by "War on Terror," established by the Bush Administration.
These conflicts, and the desire of American Jews to preserve the integrity of the nation of Israel, has, according to Beinart, promoted an American "Jewish" lobby whose primary purpose is to argue the cause of Israel often in conflict with the best interests of the United States. Beinart discusses the shift in the pro-Israel lobby from its original roots in early to middle 20th Century progressive Zionism, into a more right wing force whose members have only limited connection with most Jewish Americans. He describes the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), strongly dedicated to the preservation of a Jewish State in Israel, by supporting the politics of the current conservative, and, often, religious orthodoxy prevailing in Israeli today. This political sentiment may run counter to American Middle Eastern foreign policy which has focused on a two-state solution to the conflict for over 20 years.
Beinart explains how the liberal Zionism which created the state of Israel in 1948, with consistent support of every Unites States administration from Truman to Obama, has moved to the political right, embracing principles in conflict with its original progressive ideals. Today, the expansion of Israel into the captured territory of the West Bank to establish a modern Jewish state in the region of the Biblical Judea and Sumeria, is a idea far beyond those which created the 1967 cease-fire line following the Six-Day war. Beinart describes how the current policy of Prime Minister Netanyahu, could well destroy Israeli democracy, a point, also made by former President Jimmy Carter, using the term "Apartheid" to define what may result in a future relationship between the Israeli government and the West Bank Palestinian population. Such an outcome is inimical to a secular Jewish democracy.
Beinart expands on the theme by arguing the US government must reject the pressure from the Washington "Jewish" Lobby, now supported by the Evangelical Right and many Republicans, or we shall never be able to broker a rational settlement between Israel and the Palestinians on the West Bank and in Gaza, to achieve a stable two state solution in which both sides can find peace and prosperity . As the recent election results in Israel indicate, "Crisis in Zionism" may not be the last word in the Arab/Israeli conflict in the Middle East; but it is certainly a major source of information that will help reasoning readers to sort out the wheat from the chaff in the excessive rhetoric that fills our newspapers and our airways.
Jonathan Weisbuch, MD
Given the comments I see in the negative reviews, I doubt that some people have even read it. When someone writes, "Is Beinart aware that..." and Beinart has covered that subject quite well, you have to assume that you are dealing with a political commentary rather than book review. Beinart refers to a declaration of independence, but not to a constitution (which Israel doesn't have). He explains that Palestinians in some parts of Israel can vote, but in others they cannot. He mentions Arabs serving in the Israel Knesset. Etc.
Rather than hating Israel, as many reviewers claim, Beinart is deeply committed to its continued existence. He is firmly a Zionist. He does not blindly support its actions, however, particularly when those actions are immoral or endanger Israel's security. He is honest about the fact that there is anti-Semitism in the neighboring countries, and recognizes that some of the ideas are scary and potentially dangerous, but argues that Israel must weigh the risks of continuing policies which he believes (as well as many of Israel's security personnel) seriously endanger Israel and the risks which he believes will strengthen it's standing in the world and reduce some of the dangers.
Beinart does refer to "utopian" ideas upon which Israel was founded, and he values the same ideals, but he is quite grounded in the realities of the Israel of today, both good and bad. So why do so many people hate him? Because he challenges prevailing views, and he does it well, shaking up the neat little world view of those who simply support Israel without any consideration of the fact that there is, indeed, another side with real human beings in it who are being hurt. Waving a flag instead of thinking does not make one a Zionist, but facing a country's flaws honestly, as well as supporting it's positives, all in the goal of making Israel stronger, does.
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ユダヤ系の著者によれば、イスラエルの建国思想であるシオニズムには、権力に対する憧れと共に、民主的なリベラルな思想が含まれていたといいます。ところが1967年の6日間戦争で、イスラエルは危機に陥り、イスラエルやアメリカのユダヤ人は、シオニズムにあったリベラルな思想を後退させ、力の正統性ばかりを訴えるようになったそうです。
このような思想を体現しているのが、現在のネタニヤフ首相です。彼は自分が書いた本の中でパレスチナ人に対して、チャーチルを引用して「パレスチナ人をそのままにしとけば、1000年経っても灌漑や電力化はできないだろう」というようなことばかり書いているそうです。
当然ネタニヤフ首相は、パレスチナ国家を作ることにも消極的で、仮にそのような国家ができたとしても、ウエスト・バンクの40%しかパレスチナに戻らないそうです。
一方、オバマ大統領は、学生時代からリベラルなユダヤ系の人々から影響を受けてきました。当然、彼は将来のイスラエルの為にも、パレスチナ国家を早急に作らなければならないと思っています。
ところが、現在のアメリカの政治状況で、力を持っているのは、オバマ大統領ではなく、ネタニヤフ首相なのです。オバマ大統領が最初の発言をことごとく後退させている事実が私にとってもっともショッキングでした。
もちろんこのような政治状況を作ったのには、ワルト教授やミアシュハイマー教授の指摘した、「イスラエル・ロビー」の問題があるわけです。
さて、このような異常な状況から逃れる為には、ウエスト・バンクに入植するユダヤ系企業の製品をボイコットすることなどで、イスラエルを正常化させなければならないと著者は主張していますが、私には本当にそれが有効なことかはわかりません。
ただ現在、ネタニヤフ首相が、アメリカをイランとの戦争に引きずりこもうとしていて、再選を願うオバマ大統領にそれを拒否する力が無いことだけは確かなようです。
As a gentile reading this book it is almost intruding on a private Jewish conversation. A liberal American Jew Mr Beinart analyses the failings of the Jewish state (descriptive) and advocates an approach in line with the true ideals of Zionism (prescriptive). This is within the context of the US Israeli relationship and Jews in America. This is not a particularly well-written or organised book but that does not invalidate his message. The specifics of Israel's policies of 'lebensraum and untermenschen' are illustrated so make up your own mind. What can be distilled from Mr Beinart's arguments are two paradoxes.
Firstly, this is a golden age for Jews, integrated as never before they have reached positions of power, influence, wealth (page 33). Yet the hard liners have propagated a "victim" mentality stressing an exaggerated level of anti-Semitism, the manipulation fear and insecurity to justify policies and stymie criticism of Israel. Secondly Jews have a unique history of fighting injustice - in the vanguard of socialism, liberal democracy and human rights. Yet Israel has not become a beacon of democracy and tolerance, just another nasty Middle Eastern autocracy. There is 'institutional' apartheid and racism, suffering and injustice beneath the Star of David. Mr Beinart is angry, and despairs so few other American Jews are.
Beinart makes much of the abuse of the holocaust, exploited to advance the interests of the hard liners. For me it is wrong is that the holocaust (which has been monopolised as a Jewish experience, they were the largest minority but not alone in the extermination programme) has now become an "entertainment" genre in its own right. What is really disturbing is so few people know that much about it. Between the Nuremberg Laws in 1935 and the Wannsee Conference in 1942 it was a subtle, administrative process - tidy regulations and train schedules. Bureaucracy was much more effective than brutality.
The main weakness in Beinart's argument was his failure to recognise that hard liners in Israel and the AIPAC lobby in the US are so powerful only because of the support of the Christian Zionists and other religious extremists deeply embed in American society. America has an emotional connection to Israel (and deep antipathy / racial hatred to Arabs), that defies a rational response. Israel without massive American financial aid, military support and diplomatic protection could not survive. This says more about the failure of the American political process than it does about the Jewish hard liners and their policies. The US Constitution needs to be modernised, deal with that challenge if real progress is to be made in moderating the extremists in Israel and engineering stability in the Middle East. That prospect - democratic reform of the lobby process in the US - would terrify the Jewish hard liners! They need not worry, gun control is a higher priority and we all know how well that is progressing.
Had this book been written by a non-Jew it would be shouted down. Written by a compassionate Jew I think it will be ignored. It should be read and those that it addresses should formulate a reasoned response.
Seit 1967 sind viele von der Härte der Israelischen Regierung gegenüber den Palästinensern schwer beeindruckt und haben dieses Vorgehen für das Wesen des Judentums gehalten. Nein sagt Peter Beinart. Für ihn besteht das Judentum aus Gleichberechtigung, Gleichbehandlung und Erbarmen. Er kritisiert und verurteilt die Vorgehensweise der Israelischen Regierung. Er bezichtigt sie des Terrorismus.
Ein bekennender Zionist erklärt hier all das, was die westlichen Medien sowie die Politiker sich nicht trauen zu sagen und gewährt somit den "Nicht-Juden" einen Einblick in das Judentum, das man sonst nicht kannte. Er ruft auf zum Boykott der im Besetzten-Gebiet produzierten Güter, damit die Produzenten sich hinter die Grünen-Linie zurückziehen und somit die Grenze Israels definieren.
Das Buch ist brillant geschrieben und sehr übersichtlich unterteilt. Es gibt viele Details über die Verhandlungen und Gespräche zwischen Israel, Amerika und den Palästinensern, die sonst nicht bekannt waren. Allein deswegen lohnt sich die Lektüre dieses Materials.
Ich finde, dass dieses Buch in allen Sprachen der Welt übersetzt und gratis verteilt werden sollte, damit jeder das Judentum so kennenlernt wie es wirklich ist und nicht so wie es von der Israelischen Regierung präsentiert wird.
Herzerwärmend, ein Muss.






