The Jewish State: A Century Later, Updated With a New Preface

by Alan Dowty

As the fiftieth anniversary of Israeli statehood approaches, along with the commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of the World Zionist Organization, the question of what is meant by a "Jewish" state is particularly timely. Alan Dowty takes on that question in a book that is admirable for its clarity and its comprehensive interpretation of the historical roots and contemporary functioning of Israel.

Israeli nationhood, democracy, and politics did not unfold in a social or political vacuum, but developed from power-sharing practices in pre-state Jewish communities in Palestine and in Eastern Europe. Dowty elucidates the broad cluster of cultural, historical, and ideological tenets which came to comprise Israel's contemporary political system. He demonstrates that such tenets were not arbitrary but in fact developed logically from Jewish political habits and the circumstances of time. Dowty illustrates how these traditions are balanced with those of ideology and modernization, and he provides an integrated, sophisticated analysis of the Israeli nation's formation and present state.

Dowty also proposes thoughtful answers to puzzles regarding the strengths and weaknesses of Israeli democracy in responding to the challenges of communal divisions, religious contention, the country's non-Jewish minority, and accommodation with the Palestinians. The Jewish State will be invaluable for anyone looking for that one book that gives an intelligent overview of both Israel today and of its origins.

Genres: Israel, Judaism, History, Nonfiction

371 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1997

About the author

Alan Dowty (b. 1940) is a scholar of political science specializing in Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His numerous books include The Limits of American Isolation and The Jewish State: A Century Later. Dowty received his undergraduate education at Shimer College, where he enrolled via the early entrance program and graduated in 1959. He completed his graduate work at the University of Chicago, where he received his Ph.D. in 1963. He taught at Notre Dame University from 1975 until retirement. (source: Shimer College Wiki)