Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth

this is a very interesting (although obviously and clearly biased) book with lots of info and very well written. I enjoyed and for anyone who is interest in the history of Israel, highly recommend.

The book contains details that helps to understand the intricacies of ISRAEL a fascinating small country

Well written and easy to read. I recommend this as required reading for all those who don’t know the history of Israel or are not adequately informed about the Middle East conflicts that have gone on for years and years.

Great book. Easy to read. Straight forward. Good understanding and discussion on Israel. Israel’s hope for lasting peace and a place for Jewish people come to and feel safe. So well written

I found this book to be full of heart, information, and facts. It dispels many myths about Israel and it does so unapologetically. There’s plenty of examination of Israel’s flaws, but unlike many of the books out there, those flaws are put into context. It seems so much of what is written on Israel is hyper-critical–by that I mean picking apart every flaw, including many that exist in all societies, without talking about how things came to be. This book, on the other hand, is written from the standpoint that the Israeli argument is also valid, and it’s good (for once) to see *both* sides presented. This gives a balanced factual representation of the history of the state, warts and all. The only thing it does unflinchingly that some might consider unbalanced, is it assumes Israel has a right to be where it is. I know people for whom that would be evidence of Israeli bias. But really, believing that a country has the right not to be destroyed is a basic assumption that is made for every country on earth except for Israel. The author does not take the cowardly path of some texts and allow this to be a debating point. It should not be a debating point in real life, and it is not in this book. But beyond that, the book is full of self-deprecation, history, and yes, also a tiny bit of the Israeli point of view. I found it very refreshing.

Also, I see some of the expected reviews by the reflexive Israel-deniers, who use the tired trope “Hasbara talking points” to refer to this book (just to be clear, the whole thing is extremely well-cited). One of the statements there is that Noa Tishby lies when she says that Palestinians left on their own instead of being pushed out. One little problem: she never said that. I’m not surprised the reflexive types didn’t actually read this book before reviewing. Here’s what she actually said: “Historians still debate exactly how many Arabs fled on their own and how many were pushed out by the Israeli army. And yes, let’s be clear: In that war, there were indeed Arabs who got pushed out.” She then goes on to cite Benny Morris, who has documented all of this, and she mentions Deir Yassin massacre. But unlike the universal anti-Israel screeds you’ll read, she also applies *context* to those events. This was a war of annihilation by the Arabs, one in which, had they won, would have seen all the Jews pushed into the sea (by the words of the Arab leaders of the day). The “ethnic cleansing” occurred on a war the Arabs started, and the intent of the Arabs toward the Jews was far worse than expulsion. Had the Arabs accepted the partition, there would today be no refugees and no conflict. This, also, is fact.

What I very much like about Noa Tishby’s book is that she does provide all the facts, but she ALSO provides context so you can evaluate the whole thing together. That is very rare for any book on this conflict.

I’m reading books on all sides of the conflict. This one was one of the better in that it’s not too preachy. She has lots of citations that I researched and found them to be legitimate. I have multiple advanced degrees and often have to put books down if I’m detecting heavy bias. This author is very fair. One minor thing is that she occasionally gets too colloquial in her word use. But she also gets right down to the facts about both sides of the argument. Great primer for those who want to understand the context of what is happening. It’s not an overly complex academic account but there are citations available for a deeper explanation. I’ve now read multiple books on the subject and I appreciate her attempt to offer counterpoints to her own. Not every author attempts to be this balanced. She has a viewpoint for sure but it’s offered in a way that didn’t make me tune her out: I became more interested.