The Israelis;: Founders and sons

by Amos Elon

Book Overview

A REISSUE OF THIS PERSONAL AND POETIC ACCOUNT OF THE MANY HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL FORCES THAT LED TO THE FOUNDING OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL, AND AN EXPLORATION OF THE PROBLEMS OF IDENTITY THAT THE SONS... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0030859670
• ISBN13: 9780030859670
• Release Date: January 1971
• Publisher: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
• Length: 359 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

schematic of the sabra soul

David Maayan's review does a pretty good job on reviewing this book, but I'll add the following. There is too little said about the Sephardic and Mizrachi (Middle Eastern) Jews and their impact on the country, and their suffering at the hands of the European-derived establishment. Of course, there are also many Arabs living in Israel, and they remain invisible. Elon's book warns that when being subjected to unending conflict becomes part of a people's modus operandi, that when feeling threatened becomes the norm, then those people will become brutal without knowing it. The desensitizing of the average Israeli to the plight of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza may be a result of this. It has led to a lack of urgency on the part of most Israelis to put a fair two-state solution at the top of the agenda; it's something they think is a good idea, but not worth making a priority. Elon, wrote in 1981 that finding a solution for the Israeli-Palestinian situation is Israel's foremost problem. Having lived in Israel in the 60s and early 70s, I feel that Elon really captured the spirit and emotions of those times, from the cautious optimism of the early sixties, to the anxiety in 1967 that quickly gave way to great elation at the end of the Six Day War, to the bitterness and cynicism of the 70s before the peace treaty with Egypt. What I learned most from this book is how the dominant Israeli psychology developed. From the idealistic 19th Century Zionists, to the terrified pogrom refugees, to the tough-as-nails young pioneers, to the somewhat socialist (but hardly impractical) farmer-soldiers, layer after layer added to the national character, forming a highly adaptive but conflicted culture. One interesting tidbit I learned is that the virulently anti-Jewish Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el Husseini, was actually appointed by the British (just post WWI), replacing a much more moderate Mufti who had greeted Chaim Weitzmann with, "Our rights are your rights, and your duties our duties."

Unique and Absorbing, Transformative

Amongst the relatively vast literature about Zionism and the history of the State of Israel, this book remains (35 years past its first printing in 1971) a unique contribution. First of all, it almost goes without saying that books in this area are often highly politicized and biased. On the other hand, more "sober" accounts can tend to be hundreds of pages of arid, statistically-based analysis of Israeli society. What of a person who wants to truly understand the underlying texture, culture, and consciousness of Israelis - while at the same time absorbing facts rather than apologetics? This book succeeds excellently on precisely this level. What is unique about Elon's work is that he manages to explore many different aspects of Israeli society and history, touching on all the major issues thereof, while literally filling the book with incredible details of personal biographies, or of particular towns and events. The greatness of the book is that one doesn't lose sight of the forest for the trees. That is, the larger issues are explored in a rich and cogent way - in fact, all the more richly because those human details that make history alive are included. What emerges is an image of Israel's "founders" as including many powerful dreamers who, in fact, dreamed very different dreams. From Ben-Yehuda's revival of spoken Hebrew in a secular state, to the commune of Bittania, from Communist and Socialist utopians to radical Yiddishists to those who dreamt only of "normalcy..." One must read the book to truly understand the rich tapestry. Reading, one can't help but wonder "who will win? Whose vision of Israel will come about?" Then it strikes you: somehow, they all (and none of them) came true at the same time. Israel is still profoundly divided not only about where it is going but what it is - and the division is not binary (religious / secular or right / left for example,) but truly multidimensional. Though I would join Roger Jellinek, the New York Times reviewer who proclaimed The Israelis to be "the most acute and even-handed portrait yet," still, some word is probably in order about Amos Elon's identity and its effect on the book. Elon is a well-known author in Israel and to some extent in the world, and is a very widely-educated intellectual whose politics are quite leftist. He is not religious. His recent book "The Pity of it All," a history of Jews in Germany from 1743 to 1933, suffered in my opinion from glaring omissions. For example, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch and the Torah im Derech Eretz movement are not even mentioned in the book. Are there omissions in this work as well? Certainly there are, and the more religious people and components of Israeli history are given short shrift. Ashkenazim also dominate. On the other hand, part of the history and founding of Israel is precisely the dominance of the state by just the secular, Ashkenazi, Eastern-European thinkers whom Elon ia a spiritual descendent from. Thus, in

Zionism Unraveled

This is a fascinating account of how and why Zionism led to the creation of Israel. Elon captures well how Israel's pioneer generation differ in their values from the Israeli-born youth. He explains how the myths of Zionism contributed to the tragic situation today. You'll learn how Israelis have been shaped by 50 years of conflict. You'll receive a lot of insight into the Israeli character. I only wish a more up-to-date edition were available as some aspects of Israeli politics seem to have changed (e.g. the preference for non-military leaders, the rise of Bibi & Sharon). I also wish a book that directly compared & contrasted Israeli and Palestinian views of history were available, but I haven't found one yet.