To which I would add, !!!!Laura said:Put out by the CFR!!
Most Americans don't realize that.Lustick Chapter 4 said:[...]The worldview of Jewish fundamentalists in Israel is also worthy of careful study precisely because it is so radically different from that of most Americans, and even of most Israelis. [...]
Inasmuch as the general public has not been made aware of the difference between Judaism and Zionism, this is also good.Lustick Chapter 1 said:Indeed, Jewish fundamentalism has helped plunge the Jewish state into a true Kulturkampf; in the context of which the country's social democratic tradition is facing unprecedented challenges. The ideological and philosophical chasm separating fundamentalists, and their annexationist political allies, from social democratic and liberal-dovish opponents is broad as well as deep.[...]
Talk about "Deja vu all over again"!Lustick Chapter 6 said:The worldview of Jewish fundamentalism is based on myths of Jewish chosenness, mission, and territorial sovereignty similar to those that shaped Jewish politics before the Roman expulsion. Now, as then, establishment of Jewish political Sovereignty over the Land of Israel constitutes the vital focus of zealous action; now, as then, the territorial issue is but the most concrete expression of a highly parochial brand of Jewish redemptionism -- a worldview that stands in as sharp a contradiction to Western liberal/democratic values today as it did to Greco-Roman civilization in ancient times. [...] my emphasis
All these sentiments and observations I think are on the mark. On the other hand:Lustick Chapter 7 said:No one can tell what Israel, or the Middle East, will be like twenty years from now. Nor can one chart, with confidence, the future of Jewish fundamentalism. But one can be sure that the two will be linked. Virtually no serious observers believe a negotiated solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict is possible unless Jewish fundamentalism's key goal-establishment of permanent Jewish rule of the whole Land of Israel-is thwarted. Yet, for the foreseeable future, the political leverage this movement and its allies can exert will prevent the Israeli political system from responding positively, by normal, peaceful parliamentary means, to opportunities to achieve such an agreement, no matter how attractive its terms. [...] my emphasis
Lustick Chapter 2 said:[...]The reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel is a true revolution in the structure of Jewish life. As with any revolution, Zionism has had consequences that its architects never anticipated[/b[ -- indeed, that they would have shuddered to contemplate. The crystallization of a deeply rooted and effective Jewish fundamentalist movement is one such consequence.[...]