Daniel Gordis, Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn (Ecco, 2016): Gives a short, punchy, and thoughtful introduction to the basics of Israeli history and the start of the Zionist movement.
Anita Shapira, Israel: A History (Brandeis University Press, 2012): Offers a valuable overview of Israel’s history and the Zionist idea from a more academic perspective.
Yaakov Katz, Shadow Strike: Inside Israel’s Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power (St. Martin’s Press, 2019): Explores both Israel’s ongoing security dilemmas and Israel’s multi-dimensional, often complex, relationship with the United States through the lens of Israel’s preemptive strike on Syria’s nuclear reactor in 2007.
Gil Troy, Moynihan’s Moment: America’s Fights Against Zionism as Racism (Oxford University Press, 2013): While telling the story of how the US ambassador to the UN, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, led the fight against the General Assembly’s “Zionism is Racism” resolution, the book also gives a history of anti-Zionism.
Gil Troy, The Zionist Ideas: Visions for the Jewish Homeland – Then, Now, Tomorrow (Jewish Publication Society, 2018): An anthology of Zionist writings with a comprehensive introduction that helps readers understand the range of Zionist thought, before the state through today, from Left to Right, religious to secular.
Adi Schwartz and Einat Wilf, The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace (All Points Books, 2020): Gives valuable insight into Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians and how both Western blindness and Palestinian maximalism make matters worse.
Dan Senor and Saul Singer, The Genius of Israel (The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World), (Simon & Schuster, 2023): Explores Israeli society and ideology, explaining Israel’s remarkable successes despite its many challenges.
Bari Weiss, How to Fight Anti-Semitism (Crown, 2019): Written following the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre but still relevant as a call to embrace both Jewish and American values in response to Jew-hatred.
David Nirenberg, Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition (W.W. Norton & Company, 2014): A thoughtful, sophisticated analysis of what another historian, Robert Wistrich, called “The Longest Hatred.”
