Jewish State or Israeli Nation?

This thorough critique of Zionism by a native Israeli challenges basic, widely held assumptions. Evron, founder and director of the Israeli Arts Council's Project of Translations of Classics into Hebrew, defines Zionism as the belief that Jews throughout the world constitute a single nation that has aspired to reassumble itself in Israel, its ancient homeland. But in Evron's analysis, the Jewish people are primarily not a national polity but rather a religious community whose convenant with God has sustained the Jews in the Diaspora. He contends that the Arab nations' siege of Israel is not a continuation of anti-Jewish hatred, as Zionists maintain, but instead a military-political struggle of two peoples fighting for the same land. Part history, part polemic, Evron's erudite study urges Israel to grant full equality to its Muslim, Christian and Druze citizens in a democratic, secular state. He envisions Israel as the prime mover in a regional federation collaborating economically with its Arab neighbors. (Apr.)