{"product_id":"the-unmaking-of-israel-isbn-9780061985089","title":"The Unmaking of Israel","description":"Prominent Israeli journalist GershomGorenberg\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eoffers a penetrating and provocativelook at how the balance of power in Israel has shifted toward extremism,threatening the prospects for peace and democracy as the Israeli-Palestinianconflict intensifies. Informing his examination using interviews in Israel andthe West Bank and with access to previously classified Israeli documents, Gorenberg delivers an incisive discussion of the causes andtrends of extremism in Israel’s government and society. Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003cem\u003eThe AmazingAdventures of Kavalier and Clay\u003c\/em\u003e, writes, \"until I read \u003cem\u003eThe Unmaking of Israel\u003c\/em\u003e, I didn't think it could bepossible to feel more despairing, and then more terribly hopeful, about Israel,a place that I began at last, under the spell of GershomGorenberg's lucid and dispassionate yet intenselypersonal writing, to understand.\" | \u003cp\u003eIn this penetrating and provocative look at the state of contemporary Israel, acclaimed Israeli historian and journalist Gershom Gorenberg reveals how the nation’s policies are undermining its democracy and existence as a Jewish state, and explains what must be done to bring it back from the brink. Refuting shrilldefenses of Israel and equally strident attacks, Gorenberg shows that the Jewish state is, in fact, unique among countries born in the postcolonial era: It began as a parliamentary democracy and has remained one. An activist judiciary has established civil rights. Despite discrimination against its Arab minority, Israel has given a political voice to everyone within its borders.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYet shortsighted policies, unintended consequences, and the refusal to heed warnings now threaten thoseaccomplishments. By keeping the territories it occupied in the Six-Day War, Israel has crippled its democracy and the rule of law. The unholy ties between state, settlement, and synagogue have promoted a new brand of extremism, transforming Judaism from a humanistic to a militant faith. And the religious right is rapidly gaining power within the Israeli army, with possibly catastrophic consequences. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn order to save itself, Gorenberg argues, Israel must end the occupation, separate state from religion, and create a new civil Israeli identity that can be shared by Jews and Arabs. Based on groundbreaking historical research—including documents released through the author’s Israeli Supreme Court challenge to military secrecy—and on a quarter century of experience reporting in the region, \u003cem\u003eThe Unmaking of Israel\u003c\/em\u003e is a brilliant, deeply personal critique by a progressive Israeli, and a plea for realizing the nation’s potential.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Until I read \u003cem\u003eThe Unmaking of Israel\u003c\/em\u003e, I didn’t think it could be possible to feel more despairing, and then more terribly hopeful, about Israel, a place that I began at last, under the spell of Gershom Gorenberg’s lucid and dispassionate yet intensely personal writing, to understand.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMichael Chabon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In a more forward-looking country, one less devoted to hounding its critics out of existence, legislators would roam the halls of the Knesset carrying well-thumbed copies of Gershom Gorenberg’s \u003cem\u003eThe Unmaking of Israel\u003c\/em\u003e. . . . Gorenberg calmly diagnoses the problems facing Israel before courageously taking a swing at offering solutions. . . . His book should afford a great deal of intellectual and emotional sustenance to those desperate for Israel to find a way out of its self-inflicted imbroglio.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe National\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In a more forward-looking country, one less devoted to hounding its critics out of existence, legislators would roam the halls of the Knesset carrying well-thumbed copies of Gershom Gorenberg’s \u003cem\u003eThe Unmaking of Israel\u003c\/em\u003e.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe National\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A powerful and persuasive new book. . . . A finely documented piece of reporting in which Gorenberg shows how the collusion of three powerful forces—the civilian government, the military, and the growing ultra-Orthodox movement—has solidified the hold on the occupied territories and made the prospect of withdrawal fraught with danger.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJoshua Hammer, Washington Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Eloquent.  . . . An indispensable, closely argued, and conditionally apocalyptic book.  . . . Gorenberg outlines many reasonable steps Israel should take to disentangle religion from the state.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJeffrey Goldberg, New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Clear and well argued.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Palestine Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Gorenberg presents the definitive case for viewing the occupation as more of a threat to Israel than an asset. . . . Required reading for anyone about to embark on a trip to Israel.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHaaretz\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A cogent and incisive new book.  . . . Serial chapters tell the story: the analysis of the past and present of the ‘settlement movement’ is superb; a discussion of the Israeli Right, Far Right, and Even Further Right contextualizes much of the current political reality for the reader; a splendid history of the well-known but little-understood hesder yeshiva movement.  . . . Right or left, Orthodox dati or secular, many will find Gorenberg’s sharp reporting and analysis, to say nothing of his prodigious research, invaluable in understanding Israel as it moves, Deo volente, from ethnic movement to democratic state.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Jewish Week\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Gorenberg provides a deft but penetrating and highly nuanced account of the recent history and current politics of Israel.  . . . He issues a heartfelt and heart-rending plea for the repair of the Jewish democracy.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Jewish Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“At the core of the book lies a terrifying analogy: Israel as Pakistan, a country whose government has empowered a lawless, fanatical religious movement now subverting the very state that empowered it. Is the analogy apt today? No, but Gorenberg makes a frighteningly convincing case that it might be soon.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An important book.  . . . Essential reading for those in the U.S. who view Israel in simple terms as ‘the only democracy’ in the Middle East. Gorenberg has provided a roadmap for a better future. One hopes that this deeply personal critique will receive the consideration it deserves.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Independent Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[Gorenberg’s] book is solidly researched and elegantly argued. It combines history and analysis, love and anger. Somehow, it avoids moralism. If you read one book on Irsael, this shoud be it. . . . This calm, sane voice—this belief in reason and freedom, in power and reasonability, in \u003cem\u003epossibility\u003c\/em\u003e—are among Gorenberg’s greatest gifts to the reader.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDissent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889353847013,"sku":"NP9780061985089","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780061985089.jpg?v=1730231070","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-unmaking-of-israel-isbn-9780061985089","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}