5 Mini-Book Reviews on Israel-Palestine

What to read on the conflict in the Middle East

People will often debate history when talking about the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. But I’ve read a great deal on the region, and I can’t say that in-depth analysis of past events has fundamentally changed my views of who is right and who is wrong in contemporary debates. I care about the fact that Israelis have a dynamic, free, and innovative society, plus my estimate that a Palestinian state is not possible, and even if it were, it would be violent and poorly governed, and a menace to its own people and the rest of the world. Events that happened in 1967 or 1973 might be relevant to my understanding of contemporary controversies, but they do not necessarily have to be.

Nonetheless, it’s probably useful to know a bit of history, because it can provide insight into how the region works, and, especially in a conflict like this, reveal how predictions or assumptions from the past have held up in light of subsequent events. But I’d caution that we should not assume that history will necessarily repeat itself, or that a moral judgment about something that happened generations ago tells you what should happen today. On these points, see the debate I had with Philippe Lemoine last year on how much history matters.

With those caveats in mind, below are brief reviews of five books on Israel-Palestine that have shaped my understanding of the conflict. I’m including three from the pro-Israeli side and two from the pro-Palestinian side.

My overall takeaway from understanding the last century or so of events is that while analysts will often say that the history of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is complicated, I don’t believe this is true.