Rubber Bullets: Power and Conscience in Modern Isræl

by Yaron Ezrahi

Among commentators on Israeli affairs, Yaron Ezrahi is distinguished by his analytical brilliance, his twin passions for Jewish traditions and the tradition of liberal democracy, and his ability to see behind current events to their causes, some of them three generations in the making, some three millennia. Here he offers an uncommonly insightful analysis of the ways that history, politics, and the national character of Israel come to bear on current affairs there. Ezrahi regards surprising and divisive events—such as the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Benjamin Netanyahu's defeat of Shimon Peres in the subsequent ministerial election—as signs of an ongoing, fundamental conflict in Israeli society. He explores ways in which the conflict is felt in diverse aspects of Israeli life and culture, from the social dimensions of military service and the development of the modern Hebrew language to Israelis' attitudes toward nature and the status of women. In chapters that blend probing analysis with stirring memoir, Ezrahi tells the story of Israel's transformation from a defensive, embattled society held together by a myth of national liberation to a prosperous liberal society that must make room for the many different stories of individual Israelis.

Genres: Middle East

307 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1997

Reviews

[Myriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best written academic works I have ever read.
I just wish the author's optimism had been warranted.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ezrahi offers an excellent overview of the Leftist/Liberal Zionist position in "Rubber Bullets". He moves smoothly back and forth between his own personal accounts and musing and the general cultural and political mindset of Zionism. The book is particularly helpful in exposing the thinking that underlies Zionism and Israeli culture and politics. Israeli and Palestinian historians get at little of any this in their books. Westerners are often under the impression that Israel represents the same or a similar form of liberal democracy to which we're accustomed. Ezrahi does a very good job of showing how liberalism and individuality have been consistently overshadowed and often swept away almost entirely by nationalistic and collectivist thought. In his narrative it is the Liberal Zionists of the Peace Movement that have begun to break out of this mould. Ezrahi offers some very, very good illustrations of this problem and the way in which those on the Left in Israel are working for change. Ezrahi is optimistic in this regard, which reveals the datedness of the book--written 15 years ago as the Oslo peace process was still playing out and when Likud had only just been elected. Subsequent events have shown the dominance of the nationalist collectivist mindset of the Right over the liberal democratic philosophy of the Left.

While the book is invaluable in explaining the mindset of Zionism, both Left and Right, I was disappointed that Ezrahi spends barely two pages addressing the issues of 1948, the War for Independence, and the Nakba. What really comes through is the ambiguity and confusion of the Leftist Zionist position. Ezrahi talks about Zionism portraying Jews as lambs seeking a safe homeland and then, as the Left sees it, evolving into wolves in 1967 and its aftermath. He talks about the lambs becoming wolves in the 1967 War and the subsequent occupation, but if Israel played the wolf in those events, how was she the lamb in 1948? There are too many similarities between 1948 and 1967. If Israel was the wolf in 1967 she was certainly already the wolf in 1948. This is the inconsistency of the Left Zionist position: immorality was justified pre-1967, but not after. The pre-1967 period is still fogged in by the long-discredited founding myths of Zionism.

[A.J. Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about how Israeli's view themselves on the timeline of Jewish history. Talks about the connection between military service and agressive leadership through Israel's existence and of course different viewpoints on the Palestinian issue.