By Richard Cohen
Simon and Schuster, 273 pages
Is Israel good for the Jews?
No, not if you prefer discrimination, exclusion, expulsion, persecution, pogroms and murder in the millions.
Of course Israel is good for the Jews, as Richard Cohen makes more than abundantly clear in this book, recounting our woeful, disaster-filled history since exile and making as vivid a case for a Jewish homeland as any fervent Zionist.
So why this book? An early title — “Can Israel Survive?” — was inappropriate; beyond decrying the “occupation,” Cohen mercifully devotes little space to the demeaning American habit of telling Israelis what’s in their best interest.
Before writing this book, Cohen decided to “brush up a bit.” One book and website led to another, and “slowly, inexorably, I fell in love. What marvelous people these Jews were! What magic and what genius and drama and what tragedy!”
He closes with angst about continuing occupation and about Jews’ future in America because of indifference and intermarriage. He says: “Israel’s promise is great, but its future is not bright,” because of the hatred around it and the lack of critical mass worsened by economic emigration.
But yet he concludes: “The long view is what matters — back as well as forward. Israel must endure. It is the irrevocable deal” made with its immigrants, especially Shoah survivors who had lost everything. “All the rest is commentary.”