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The land of hope and fear : Israel's battle for its inner soul / Isabel Kershner.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2023Edition: First editionDescription: 370 pages : map ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781101946763
  • 1101946768
Other title:
  • Israel's battle for its inner soul
Subject(s):
Contents:
Prologue -- Desert corals -- Civil wars -- River of discontent -- A tale of two Kibbutzim -- Outpost millennials -- Sabras and olive trees -- Haredi and Israeli: having it all -- Half the people's army -- The Russians -- High-tech in the sand -- A modern exodus -- Epilogue: the eighth decade.
Summary: "A New York Times journalist presents a polyphonic portrait of the Israeli people today at a critical juncture in their country's history"-- Provided by publisher.Summary: Despite Israel's determined staying power in a hostile environment, its military might, and the innovation it fosters in businesses globally, the country is more divided than ever. The old guard--socialist secular elites and idealists--are a dying breed, and the state's democratic foundations are being challenged. A dynamic and exuberant country of nine million, Israel is now largely comprised of native-born Hebrew speakers, and yet any permanent sense of security and normalcy is elusive. In The Land of Hope and Fear, we meet Israelis: Jews and Arabs, religious and secular, Eastern and Western, liberals and zealots--plagued by perennial conflict and existential threats, citizens who remain deeply polarized politically, socially, and ideologically, even as they undergo generational change and redefine what it is to be an Israeli. Who are these people and to what do they aspire?
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 956.9405 K41 Available 33111011274954
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2023 * An urgent, wide-ranging portrait of the divisions among Israelis today, and the external threats to their country, at a critical juncture in its history. * Through moving narratives and on-the-ground reporting, a veteran New York Times correspondent who has spent decades working in Israel reveals what holds the country together.

"A wondrous tale told through the agonizing and uplifting stories of Israel's many tribes -- Jewish and Arab, religious and secular, new immigrants and veterans, soldiers and settlers."--Martin Indyk, author of Master of the Game, and former U.S. ambassador to Israel

"For anyone trying to understand the reality of Israel today."--Dennis Ross, former U.S. envoy to the Middle East and the author of Doomed to Succeed

Despite Israel's determined staying power in a hostile environment, its military might, and the innovation it fosters in businesses globally, the country is more divided than ever. The old guard--socialist secular elites and idealists--are a dying breed, and the state's democratic foundations are being challenged. A dynamic and exuberant country of nine million, Israel is now largely comprised of native-born Hebrew speakers, and yet any permanent sense of security and normalcy is elusive.

In The Land of Hope and Fear , we meet Israelis: Jews and Arabs, religious and secular, Eastern and Western, liberals and zealots--plagued by perennial conflict and existential threats, citizens who remain deeply polarized politically, socially, and ideologically, even as they undergo generational change and redefine what it is to be an Israeli. Who are these people and to what do they aspire?

In moving narratives and with on-the-ground reporting, Isabel Kershner reveals the core of what holds Israel together and the forces that threaten its future through the lens of real people: a son of Zionist pioneers, cynical about what is to come and his people's status in it; a woman in her nineties whose life in a kibbutz has disintegrated; a brilliant poet caught up in the political maelstrom; an Arab gallery owner archiving a lost Palestinian landscape; and a descendant of the Russian aliyah; representing millions of culturally and religiously different Jews, laying bare the question Who is an Israeli? The Land of Hope and Fear decodes Israel today at its seventy-fifth anniversary, examining the ways in which the country has both exceeded and failed the ideals and expectations of its founders.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 351-353) and index.

Prologue -- Desert corals -- Civil wars -- River of discontent -- A tale of two Kibbutzim -- Outpost millennials -- Sabras and olive trees -- Haredi and Israeli: having it all -- Half the people's army -- The Russians -- High-tech in the sand -- A modern exodus -- Epilogue: the eighth decade.

"A New York Times journalist presents a polyphonic portrait of the Israeli people today at a critical juncture in their country's history"-- Provided by publisher.

Despite Israel's determined staying power in a hostile environment, its military might, and the innovation it fosters in businesses globally, the country is more divided than ever. The old guard--socialist secular elites and idealists--are a dying breed, and the state's democratic foundations are being challenged. A dynamic and exuberant country of nine million, Israel is now largely comprised of native-born Hebrew speakers, and yet any permanent sense of security and normalcy is elusive. In The Land of Hope and Fear, we meet Israelis: Jews and Arabs, religious and secular, Eastern and Western, liberals and zealots--plagued by perennial conflict and existential threats, citizens who remain deeply polarized politically, socially, and ideologically, even as they undergo generational change and redefine what it is to be an Israeli. Who are these people and to what do they aspire?

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