A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion by Tom Segev Published by Head of Zeus 2019, pp.804 This is a long but inspiring account of the life and times of David Ben- Gurion. It is a “Jewish journey” like no other. Its dramatis personae cross the stage of Jew- ish history during … Read more
Even if conditions prove reasonable, the loss of faith in a peace agreement has been so profound that it would take a lot to overcome the psychological hurdle – both sides believe that their leaders are unable to face making historic decisions.” This quote at the beginning of Be Strong and of Good Courage, an … Read more
Review of The Thirty Year Genocide, by Benny Morris and Dror Ze’evi This remarkable book by two eminent Israeli historians recalls the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire by the Turks during the First World War and places it in the wider context of how the Turks treated their ethnic minorities. The authors remark … Read more
Review of Paul Hanebrink’s A Specter Haunting Europe: The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism, published by Harvard University Press, pp.354 In August 2017, white nationalists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanting ‘Jews will not replace us!’ They espoused a depressing, if familiar world view: that it is Jews who control the banks and the media, imposing their morality … Read more
Review of Susie Linfield’s The Lions’ Den: Zionism and the Left from Hannah Arendt to Noam Chomsky Published by Yale University Press, 2019, pp.389 Many who write about the international Left tend to focus on antisemitism rather than anti-Zionism. US academic and journalist Susan Linfield remedies this imbalance in The Lions’ Den: Zionism and the … Read more
Protest and Power: The Battle For The Labour Party By David Kogan Bloomsbury, £20 THIS IS an excellent overview and dispassionate analysis of the past 40 years of Labour party history. The author, David Kogan, rightly places the debate about antisemitism in the wider context of the ascent of the far left in the party, … Read more
Dangerous Hero: Corbyn’s Ruthless Plot for Power By Tom Bower Published by William Collins 2019, pp. 371 price 20 pounds Tom Bower’s reputation as a popular biographer reflects his ability to tear down the edifice of respectability, carefully constructed by the well-to-do and powerful. In this book, he deconstructs the mythical Jeremy Corbyn, the anti-hero … Read more
MAURICE PERLZWEIG was one of the great n a m e s o f J e w i s h diplomacy during the inter-war and postwar periods. When he died in New York in 1985, a lonely, forgotten figure, police had to break into his apartment where they discovered a large number of books, newspapers, … Read more
The figure of Menasseh ben Israel holds a special place in the hearts of many British Jews. He is regarded as the central advocate in pleading the case to the leaders of the English republic in 1656 to readmit the Jews into the country. A leading Sephardi rabbi in Amsterdam, he spent two frustrating years … Read more
Review of James Loeffler’s Rooted Cosmopolitans: Jews and Human Rights in the Twentieth Century; Yale University Press 384 pages; $32.50 The exponents of human rights can often be an irritant to those who hold office even in democratic lands. Those who speak “truth to power” in countries ruled by authoritarian figures often risk imprisonment or worse. … Read more