The Crisis of Zionism

Israel’s next great crisis may come not with the Palestinians or Iran but with young American Jews

A dramatic shift is taking place in Israel and America. In Israel, the deepening occupation of the West Bank is putting Israeli democracy at risk. In the United States, the refusal of major Jewish organizations to defend democracy in the Jewish state is alienating many young liberal Jews from Zionism itself. In the next generation, the liberal Zionist dream—the dream of a state that safeguards the Jewish people and cherishes democratic ideals—may die.

In The Crisis of Zionism, Peter Beinart lays out in chilling detail the looming danger to Israeli democracy and the American Jewish establishment's refusal to confront it. And he offers a fascinating portrait of the two leaders at the center of the crisis: Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu. These two men embody fundamentally different visions not just of American and Israeli national interests but of the mission of the Jewish people itself.

Beinart concludes with provocative proposals for how the relationship between American Jews and Israel must change, and with an eloquent and moving appeal for American Jews to defend the dream of a democratic Jewish state before it is too late.

“An elegant, deeply honest look at the failure of Jewish liberalism in forging Israel as a democratic state . . . Straight talk by a clear-thinking intellectual with his heart in the right place.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Passionately argued.” — New Yorker

“Important and timely for the future of Israel.” —New York Times