A groundbreaking history of Zionism and Israel, by the renowned author of Ten Myths About Israel
Ilan Pappe’s pioneering work, first published in 2014, is a devastating critique of the conceptual foundations of the Israeli state. Divorced from material and political realities, blind to the violent occupation of Palestine, Israel as an idea has been commodified and marketed across the Western world. Now published with a new preface, The Idea of Israel remains a powerful intervention in the struggle to reclaim the past and shape the future in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict.
What People Are Saying
"Pappe's book explores is whether Zionism as the cornerstone of Israel has in fact been manipulated by the state and institutions such as universities and the media to provide a justification for the reality on the ground. The book comes at an interesting time for Israel and its neighbours. John Kerry's peace process refuses to die, despite elements on both sides seemingly united only in their opposition to it, and realities in a turbulent Middle East mean that Israel and traditional foes, especially those in the Persian Gulf, find themselves in rare agreement, especially in relation to the thorny issues of Syria and a nuclear Iran." Independent
"Ilan Pappe is a scholar and a pro-Palestinian political activist. He is one of the most prominent Israeli political dissidents living in exile, having moved from the University of Haifa to the University of Exeter. He is also one of the few Israeli students of the conflict who write about the Palestinian side with real knowledge and empathy. Pappe places Zionism under an uncompromising lens… The Idea of Israel is not a history book but a close study of the role of Zionist ideology in the making of modern Israel and of the continuing relevance of this ideology today in politics, the education system, the media, the cinema and Ashkenazi-Sephardi relations." Avi Shlaim, Guardian
"Along with the late Edward Said, Ilan Pappe is the most eloquent writer of Palestinian history." New Statesman
"Even those who are familiar are likely to find Pappe's elegantly narrated account useful and stimulating... An excellent overview of the Israeli field of knowledge production and its relationship to the making of (the idea of) Israel." Gil Hochberg, Journal of Palestine Studies
"Israel's bravest, most principled, most incisive historian." John Pilger
"An angry, polemical, eloquent, and often mordantly witty book… [an] uncompromising rebuttal of the foundation myths on which Israeli historiography has been based." David Goldberg, Jewish Quarterly
"An essential read for anyone trying to understand the politics and history of the Middle East." Frontline
About the Author
Ilan Pappe is an Israeli historian and socialist activist. He is a professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter, director of the university's European Centre for Palestine Studies, and co-director of the Exeter Centre for Ethno-Political Studies.