Impossible Takes Longer: 75 Years After Its Creation, Has Israel Fulfilled Its Founders’ Dreams?

The history of Israel is “a combination of unexpected successes and maddening disappointments,” according to this even-handed chronicle. Comparing drafts of the 1948 Declaration of Israeli Independence, historian and journalist Gordis (We Stand Divided) notes that “there was a chorus of often conflicting voices that gave rise not only to the Declaration but to the country itself.” Once the state was created, tensions between aspirational goals and grim reality soon emerged, particularly over the doctrine of havlagah, or using force only for defensive purposes. Though Gordis defends Israel’s preemptive air strikes against Egypt in 1967, he casts a critical eye on the complicity of the Israeli Defense Forces in the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre in Beirut. Amid harrowing episodes of political and religious violence, Gordis highlights many remarkable achievements, including the staving off of economic collapse in the 1950s and Israel’s emergence as “a leader in agricultural technology, a formidable economic engine, and a technological powerhouse.” On balance, Gordis concludes the Jewish state has met its primary objectives, even if it has done so imperfectly. Though unlikely to change minds, this is an accessible overview of Israeli history and a well-reasoned case for why it’s worth supporting. (Apr.)