Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor

New York Times bestseller

"A profound and original book, the work of a gifted thinker."--Daphne Merkin, The Wall Street Journal

Attempting to break the agonizing impasse between Israelis and Palestinians, the Israeli commentator and award-winning author of Like Dreamers directly addresses his Palestinian neighbors in this taut and provocative book, empathizing with Palestinian suffering and longing for reconciliation as he explores how the conflict looks through Israeli eyes.

Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor is one Israeli’s powerful attempt to reach beyond the wall that separates Israelis and Palestinians and into the hearts of "the enemy." In a series of letters, Yossi Klein Halevi explains what motivated him to leave his native New York in his twenties and move to Israel to participate in the drama of the renewal of a Jewish homeland, which he is committed to see succeed as a morally responsible, democratic state in the Middle East.

This is the first attempt by an Israeli author to directly address his Palestinian neighbors and describe how the conflict appears through Israeli eyes. Halevi untangles the ideological and emotional knot that has defined the conflict for nearly a century. In lyrical, evocative language, he unravels the complex strands of faith, pride, anger and anguish he feels as a Jew living in Israel, using history and personal experience as his guide.

Halevi’s letters speak not only to his Palestinian neighbor, but to all concerned global citizens, helping us understand the painful choices confronting Israelis and Palestinians that will ultimately help determine the fate of the region.

Given our circumstances, “neighbor” may be too casual a word to describe our relationship. We are intruders into each other’s dreams, violators of each other’s sense of home. We are living incarnations of each other’s worst historical nightmares. Neighbors?

Lyrical and evocative, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor is one Israeli’s powerful attempt to reach beyond the wall that separates Israelis and Palestinians. In a series of letters, Yossi Klein Halevi explains what motivated him to leave his native New York in his twenties and move to Israel to participate in the drama of the renewal of a Jewish homeland and help ensure that it succeeds as a morally responsible, democratic state in the Middle East.

In this taut and provocative book, Halevi endeavors to untangle the ideological and emotional knot that has defined the conflict for nearly a century. Using history and personal experience as his guides, he unravels the complex strands of faith, pride, anger, and anguish he feels as a Jew living in Israel.

Halevi’s letters speak not only to his anonymous Palestinian neighbor but to all concerned global citizens, helping us understand the painful choices confronting Israelis and Palestinians that will ultimately help determine the fate of the region.

“A powerful, challenging, and deeply moving plea for human understanding across one of the most tragic divides in modern politics.” - Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

“Powerful and eloquent.... Capturing the enduring Jewish love of the land of Israel and the magic as well as the dilemmas of Zionism, the letters are highly compelling. There is no one better suited to tell the story of Israel and the Jewish people than Halevi—and not just to Palestinians. An inspired reading of the Israeli soul, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor should be recommended to non-Jews and Jews alike.” - Commentary Magazine

“I was enlightened by the extraordinary insights that filled page after page, often on topics I thought I knew quite well. I was also moved by the haunting beauty of the superbly crafted language, by the many passages that speak to my deepest yearnings, and especially by coming to know better the extraordinary soul of the author.” - New Yorker

“Yossi Klein Halevi is a very brave man. . . . Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor builds on what he discovered in his earlier quest: that this spiritual common ground could lead to mutual acceptance. I hope the book reaches its intended audiences both in the Middle East and around the world.”   - The Globe and Mail

“Refreshingly honest. . . . In explaining Israel to the Palestinians, [Halevi] appeals to a certain ideal, a higher ambition, a sense of wonder and beauty.” - The Forward

“A clarion call, not to arms but to empathy…a profound and original book, the work of a gifted thinker…[an] urgent and heartfelt message.” - Daphne Merkin

“Halevi’s book, a collection of letters addressed to his Palestinian counterparts, functions as a new attempt at discourse that starts on a grassroots level. His language is beautiful. So is the idea behind the book: radical, unceasing empathy for the other — combined with an unadulterated, unmitigated dedication to one’s own people and one’s own land.” - Business Insider

“Personal and historical, tough-minded yet thoroughly open-hearted, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor is a beautiful, readable, remarkably insightful book. It does not propose to solve the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but it approaches it from the right direction, opening a door to a place of possibility where mutual understanding might – just might – begin.” - International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

“A poetic and moving account…heartfelt, empathetic.” - Publishers Weekly

“Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor conveys the urgency and poetry of the Israeli story in a way that is accessible to any reader. I hope everyone will read these beautiful letters—Palestinians and Jews and anyone else interested in understanding who the Jews are and why we returned home.” - Natan Sharansky, Chairman of the Executive, Jewish Agency for Israel

“The tantalizing proposition of Halevi’s book, never belabored but always peeking from between the lines, is that faith might unite these two warring tribes whereas reason only fanned the flames of discord.” - Tablet Magazine

“By providing an honest, soulful and balanced recap of two emotional narratives, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor has given us a spiritual roadmap, if not to peace, then at least to hope.” - Jewish Journal

“Yossi Klein Halevi wants to extend an olive branch to his Palestinian neighbors, and does so, in his incredibly compelling and heartfelt book Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor.” - Jerusalem Post

“Eloquent and important.” - Jewish Boston

“One of the best one-volume introductions to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.” - Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic