Israel in History

Covering topical issues concerning the nature of the Israeli state, this engaging work presents essays that combine a variety of comparative schemes, both internal to Jewish civilization and extending throughout the world, such as: - modern Jewish society, politics and culture - historical consciousness in the twentieth century - colonialism, anti-colonialism and postcolonial state-building. With its open-ended, comparative approach, Israel in History provides a useful means of correcting the biases found in so much scholarship on Israel, be it sympathetic or hostile. This book will appeal to scholars and students with research interests in many fields, including Israeli Studies, Middle East Studies, and Jewish Studies.

Derek Penslar

Introduction Part 1: Writing Israeli History 1. Israel's 'New History': From Innovation to Revisionism 2. Beyond Revisionism: Current Directions in Israeli Historiography 3. Historians, Herzl and the Palestinian Arabs: Myth and Counter-Myth Part 2: Continuity and Rupture 4. Is Israel a Jewish State? 5. Is Israel a Colonial State? 6. Antisemites on Zionism: From Indifference to Obsession Part 3: Zionism as a Technology 7. Zionism as a Form of Jewish Social Policy 8. Technical Expertise and the Construction of the State of Israel Part 4: From Jewish to Israeli Culture 9. Transmitting Jewish Culture: Radio in Israel 10. The Continuity of Subversion: Hebrew Satire in Mandate Palestine