Saving Israel - by Daniel Gordis

Book Synopsis

Is Israel worth saving, and if so, how do we secure its future?

The Jewish State must end, say its enemies, from intellectuals like Tony Judt to hate-filled demagogues like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Even average Israelis are wondering if they wouldn't be better off somewhere else and whether they ought to persevere. Daniel Gordis is confident his fellow Jews can renew their faith in the cause, and in Saving Israel, he outlines how.

• 2009 National Jewish Book Award winner
• Addresses the most pressing issues faced by Israel-and American Jews-today, without recycling the same old arguments
• Lays to rest some of the most pernicious myths about Israel, including: Jews could thrive without Israel; Israeli Arabs just want equality, and Palestinians just want their own state; peace will come, if Israel will just do the right things
• ""Morally powerful . . . from a writer whose reflections are consistently as intellectually impressive as they are moving. . . . Gordis addresses the exigencies of our time with the urgency they overridingly demand, and with the depth of feeling they inspire.""-Cynthia Ozick

Gordis has written many popular personal essays and memoirs in the past, but Saving Israel is a full-throated call to arms. Never has the case for defending-no, celebrating-the existence of Israel been so clear, so passionate, or so worthy of wholehearted support.

From the Back Cover

Praise for "Saving Israel"

"Daniel Gordis has restarted the whole conversation about the country's direction. His urgent call to action, articulated with erudition, reflection, and fearlessness, could not be more timely or more essential."
--"Jewish Book World"

"One of Israel's most thoughtful observers."
--Alan Dershowitz

"Daniel Gordis's morally powerful "Saving Israel," from a writer whose reflections are consistently as intellectually impressive as they are moving, engages in an acutely necessary argument: that sovereignty has significantly changed the Jewish condition by influencing how we think. Gordis addresses the exigencies of our time with the urgency they overridingly demand, and with the depth of feeling they inspire."
--Cynthia Ozick

"An important book. . . . Hopefully, "Saving Israel" will inspire constructive discussion and analysis of core issues that Israelis, Jews everywhere, and the entire West have studiously avoided for far too long."
--Natan Sharansky

Attacked by terrorists, threatened by Arab states, and criticized by nearly everyone, Israel is the only country about which there is discussion as to whether it has a right to exist. Yet even its most ardent defenders cannot always articulate why Israel deserves to survive. In "Saving Israel," Daniel Gordis admits that peace has never been farther off, but he also captures the wonder and vitality of this very special country, painting a picture of a nation well worth preserving. He provides a profound and persuasive argument, not just for how the Jewish homeland can survive, but how the enthusiasm so apparent at its founding can be cultivated today and for generations to come.

About the Author

Daniel Gordis is Senior Vice President and a Senior Fellow of the Shalem Center. A columnist for the "Jerusalem Post," he has also written for the "New York Times," "Tikkun," the "Forward," and the "New York Times Magazine." His books include "Coming Together, Coming Apart" and "If a Place Can Make You Cry."