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Israel on Trial: Examining the History, the Evidence, and the Law
New York Times Bestseller
USA Today Bestseller
When the slogans are louder than the facts, evidence becomes a moral imperative.
In Israel on Trial: Examining the History, the Evidence, and the Law, United States District Judge Roy K. Altman brings legal rigor to the world’s most contentious debate. Applying courtroom-tested standards—burden of proof, corroboration, chain of custody—he examines claims of colonialism, apartheid, and genocide with dispassionate precision.
In an era shaped by viral slogans and curated outrage, Judge Altman offers a disciplined method for discerning truth from propaganda. Through historical records, archaeological evidence, genetic data, and international law, Israel on Trial shows what it means to demand proof—and what’s at stake when we stop asking for it.
Key takeaways include:
How to evaluate modern political claims using legal reasoning
Why historical evidence still matters in present-day discourse
What international law actually says about occupation, apartheid, and genocide
How antisemitic tropes have evolved into mainstream talking points
A framework for intellectual integrity in an age of ideological warfare
This is not just a book about Israel. It’s a guide for anyone who believes facts still matter.
USA Today Bestseller
When the slogans are louder than the facts, evidence becomes a moral imperative.
In Israel on Trial: Examining the History, the Evidence, and the Law, United States District Judge Roy K. Altman brings legal rigor to the world’s most contentious debate. Applying courtroom-tested standards—burden of proof, corroboration, chain of custody—he examines claims of colonialism, apartheid, and genocide with dispassionate precision.
In an era shaped by viral slogans and curated outrage, Judge Altman offers a disciplined method for discerning truth from propaganda. Through historical records, archaeological evidence, genetic data, and international law, Israel on Trial shows what it means to demand proof—and what’s at stake when we stop asking for it.
Key takeaways include:
How to evaluate modern political claims using legal reasoning
Why historical evidence still matters in present-day discourse
What international law actually says about occupation, apartheid, and genocide
How antisemitic tropes have evolved into mainstream talking points
A framework for intellectual integrity in an age of ideological warfare
This is not just a book about Israel. It’s a guide for anyone who believes facts still matter.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 28, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 4, 2026
Compelling, nuanced and accessible. An impressive work by an impressive man.
May 27, 2026
Israel on Trial is brilliant in its execution. The fact that it was written by a lawyer-turned-judge is apparent, and it made me feel that I was literally in a courtroom watching Israel stand trial. The evidence in this book (700 different sources… makes my researcher heart happy 🤭), the professional know-how, and everything else was astonishing.
I loved the time that Altman took to write this and it truly showed in the words that wove the story together. It’s a masterpiece on discernment, analyzing evidence, and forming our own conclusions, which let’s be honest… is a lost art in this day and age. This book was insightful, intriguing, heart breaking, hopeful, and inspiring all rolled into one. And to pack 700 sources into just under 300 pages!? What a feat.
I’m excited to see more books like this, and I hope that this book can give everyone the chance to look at the presented evidence a second time before they make their judgement call.
5/5 ⭐️
I loved the time that Altman took to write this and it truly showed in the words that wove the story together. It’s a masterpiece on discernment, analyzing evidence, and forming our own conclusions, which let’s be honest… is a lost art in this day and age. This book was insightful, intriguing, heart breaking, hopeful, and inspiring all rolled into one. And to pack 700 sources into just under 300 pages!? What a feat.
I’m excited to see more books like this, and I hope that this book can give everyone the chance to look at the presented evidence a second time before they make their judgement call.
5/5 ⭐️
July 16, 2026
A good defense…
…but still in today’s uncivil, sound bite world, sadly the defense must name the crime. And our poorly educated population hears the crime named and then assumes guilt by accusation. Cry wolf, cry rape, cry genocide…it gets eyeballs. Lies, yes, but the retractions are in small type on page 38. As long as one is on defense, the PR game is lost. Israel and Jews are emphatically not guilty of colonialism, genocide, and apartheid!
That said, this is an important book for those who think facts matter. Altman writes a brilliant defense of Israel and Zionism.
…but still in today’s uncivil, sound bite world, sadly the defense must name the crime. And our poorly educated population hears the crime named and then assumes guilt by accusation. Cry wolf, cry rape, cry genocide…it gets eyeballs. Lies, yes, but the retractions are in small type on page 38. As long as one is on defense, the PR game is lost. Israel and Jews are emphatically not guilty of colonialism, genocide, and apartheid!
That said, this is an important book for those who think facts matter. Altman writes a brilliant defense of Israel and Zionism.
May 29, 2026
Amazing book that demolishes most of the false narratives against Israel. 6 chapters take one at a time the 6 most prevalent claims against modern Israel:
Chapter 1 Ancient Stones, Modern Claims:
1st claim - "Jews are colonizers in the land of Israel"
The author shows that Jews were living in the land of Israel for thousands of years before Islam even existed. This is old testament history and other key sources:
Merneptah Stele, Mesha Stele, Kurkh Monoliths, Tel Dan Stele, Siege of Lachish, Tel Arad, Babylonian and Persian history records, DNA evidence of Jewish ancestry, Greek history, Hasmonean Dynasty of Kings, Roman history, Herod's building projects, Josephus' history, Masada, Jewish coins from Israel,
Chapter 2 Foundation Under International Law:
2nd claim - "Israel's founding was illegitimate and aberrational."
disproven by things like the Montevideo Framework.
1) Permanent population
2) Defined Territory
3) effective government
4) capacity to conduct foreign relations
Chapter 3 Paths Not Taken
3rd claim - "Israel has prevented the establishment of a Palestinian State.
On 6 occasions Palestinian leadership has rejected Israeli offers of 2 state solution and have said the only solution is Israel should not exist.
1st rejection 1937
2nd rejection 1947-48
3rd rejection 1967
4th rejection 1993 Oslo Accords
5th rejection 2000 Camp David
6th rejection 2008
Chapter 4 From Occupation to Withdrawal:
4th Claim - "Israel illegally occupied Gaza and Turned it into an open-air prison and concentration camp"
Chapter 5 Beyond Apartheid:
5th Claim - "Israel is an apartheid and white-supremacist state."
Shows how IL is nothing like other apartheid states like south Africa
Shows how 2 million Arabs live, work and are fully part of Israel and even in the Knesset.
Chapter 6 Genocide
6th Claim - "Israel is committing genocide in Gaza"
Shows how Israel has made above and beyond efforts to limit civilian casualties even though Hamas hides solders in the civilian population.
Chapter 1 Ancient Stones, Modern Claims:
1st claim - "Jews are colonizers in the land of Israel"
The author shows that Jews were living in the land of Israel for thousands of years before Islam even existed. This is old testament history and other key sources:
Merneptah Stele, Mesha Stele, Kurkh Monoliths, Tel Dan Stele, Siege of Lachish, Tel Arad, Babylonian and Persian history records, DNA evidence of Jewish ancestry, Greek history, Hasmonean Dynasty of Kings, Roman history, Herod's building projects, Josephus' history, Masada, Jewish coins from Israel,
Chapter 2 Foundation Under International Law:
2nd claim - "Israel's founding was illegitimate and aberrational."
disproven by things like the Montevideo Framework.
1) Permanent population
2) Defined Territory
3) effective government
4) capacity to conduct foreign relations
Chapter 3 Paths Not Taken
3rd claim - "Israel has prevented the establishment of a Palestinian State.
On 6 occasions Palestinian leadership has rejected Israeli offers of 2 state solution and have said the only solution is Israel should not exist.
1st rejection 1937
2nd rejection 1947-48
3rd rejection 1967
4th rejection 1993 Oslo Accords
5th rejection 2000 Camp David
6th rejection 2008
Chapter 4 From Occupation to Withdrawal:
4th Claim - "Israel illegally occupied Gaza and Turned it into an open-air prison and concentration camp"
Chapter 5 Beyond Apartheid:
5th Claim - "Israel is an apartheid and white-supremacist state."
Shows how IL is nothing like other apartheid states like south Africa
Shows how 2 million Arabs live, work and are fully part of Israel and even in the Knesset.
Chapter 6 Genocide
6th Claim - "Israel is committing genocide in Gaza"
Shows how Israel has made above and beyond efforts to limit civilian casualties even though Hamas hides solders in the civilian population.
May 15, 2026
There is something deeply cynical about Israel on Trial. Roy Altman presents the book as a sober, courtroom-style exercise in evidence and legal reasoning, but what he actually delivers is a highly ideological brief wrapped in the aesthetic and authority of judicial neutrality.
The central maneuver of the book is deceptively simple: take extraordinarily complicated questions of international law, occupation, nationalism, civilian protection, proportionality, settlements, apartheid, and sovereignty, and reduce them to familiar American intuitions about homeowners, trespassers, self-defense, and moral clarity. The effect is not analytical precision. It is rhetorical laundering. Once the conflict is translated into those simplified domestic analogies, the difficult questions disappear before they can even be confronted.
That might be merely polemical if it came from a partisan commentator. But Altman is a sitting federal judge who repeatedly promotes the book by invoking “the same legal methodology” used “every day in our courtrooms.” He tells audiences to reason about Gaza and Hamas using “what we tell jurors,” credibility determinations, and evidentiary heuristics associated with trial practice. In other words, the project does not simply advance arguments; it attempts to borrow the institutional legitimacy of judicial reasoning itself in order to present contested geopolitical conclusions as though they emerge naturally from neutral adjudication.
And yet the analysis is remarkably selective. Palestinian national identity is repeatedly minimized, historicized away, or treated as politically invented, while Jewish nationalism is framed as unquestionably organic and authentic. Palestinian suffering appears largely as context for explaining Israeli conduct, not as a reality carrying independent moral or political weight. Concepts like occupation, apartheid, or settler colonialism are dismissed with striking confidence, often without serious engagement with the substantial bodies of scholarship and international legal debate surrounding them.
The deeper problem is that the book consistently mistakes advocacy for rigor. Opposing interpretations are rarely treated as good-faith disagreements among scholars, lawyers, historians, or human-rights observers. Instead, critics are frequently portrayed—explicitly or implicitly—as victims of propaganda, antisemitism, civilizational decay, or moral confusion. The rhetorical structure leaves little room for ambiguity because ambiguity would weaken the prosecutorial posture the book is determined to maintain.
That same tendency becomes even more troubling in Altman’s public appearances surrounding the book. He increasingly speaks not as a restrained jurist but as a kind of civilizational advocate, describing Israel as the muscular defender of a declining West while characterizing campus protest movements and critics of Israel in sweeping ideological terms. The cumulative effect is less “federal judge engaging in scholarship” than “federal judge conducting a public political campaign under the prestige of judicial office.”
It is hard not to see all of this as anything but an exercise in intellectual bad faith. Altman is plainly intelligent enough to understand that many of the issues he treats as self-evident are among the most contested subjects in modern international law and political history. He knows the analogies are strained. He knows the debates are deeper than he lets on. That is what gives the book its unsettling quality: not ignorance, but the sense of a sophisticated lawyer flattening complexity deliberately because complexity would interfere with the verdict he wishes to deliver.
In the end, Israel on Trial is less an inquiry than an exercise in advocacy masquerading as adjudication. The courtroom framing is not there to test the claims honestly; it is there to confer authority upon conclusions that were fixed in advance.
The central maneuver of the book is deceptively simple: take extraordinarily complicated questions of international law, occupation, nationalism, civilian protection, proportionality, settlements, apartheid, and sovereignty, and reduce them to familiar American intuitions about homeowners, trespassers, self-defense, and moral clarity. The effect is not analytical precision. It is rhetorical laundering. Once the conflict is translated into those simplified domestic analogies, the difficult questions disappear before they can even be confronted.
That might be merely polemical if it came from a partisan commentator. But Altman is a sitting federal judge who repeatedly promotes the book by invoking “the same legal methodology” used “every day in our courtrooms.” He tells audiences to reason about Gaza and Hamas using “what we tell jurors,” credibility determinations, and evidentiary heuristics associated with trial practice. In other words, the project does not simply advance arguments; it attempts to borrow the institutional legitimacy of judicial reasoning itself in order to present contested geopolitical conclusions as though they emerge naturally from neutral adjudication.
And yet the analysis is remarkably selective. Palestinian national identity is repeatedly minimized, historicized away, or treated as politically invented, while Jewish nationalism is framed as unquestionably organic and authentic. Palestinian suffering appears largely as context for explaining Israeli conduct, not as a reality carrying independent moral or political weight. Concepts like occupation, apartheid, or settler colonialism are dismissed with striking confidence, often without serious engagement with the substantial bodies of scholarship and international legal debate surrounding them.
The deeper problem is that the book consistently mistakes advocacy for rigor. Opposing interpretations are rarely treated as good-faith disagreements among scholars, lawyers, historians, or human-rights observers. Instead, critics are frequently portrayed—explicitly or implicitly—as victims of propaganda, antisemitism, civilizational decay, or moral confusion. The rhetorical structure leaves little room for ambiguity because ambiguity would weaken the prosecutorial posture the book is determined to maintain.
That same tendency becomes even more troubling in Altman’s public appearances surrounding the book. He increasingly speaks not as a restrained jurist but as a kind of civilizational advocate, describing Israel as the muscular defender of a declining West while characterizing campus protest movements and critics of Israel in sweeping ideological terms. The cumulative effect is less “federal judge engaging in scholarship” than “federal judge conducting a public political campaign under the prestige of judicial office.”
It is hard not to see all of this as anything but an exercise in intellectual bad faith. Altman is plainly intelligent enough to understand that many of the issues he treats as self-evident are among the most contested subjects in modern international law and political history. He knows the analogies are strained. He knows the debates are deeper than he lets on. That is what gives the book its unsettling quality: not ignorance, but the sense of a sophisticated lawyer flattening complexity deliberately because complexity would interfere with the verdict he wishes to deliver.
In the end, Israel on Trial is less an inquiry than an exercise in advocacy masquerading as adjudication. The courtroom framing is not there to test the claims honestly; it is there to confer authority upon conclusions that were fixed in advance.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
For more reviews and bookish posts visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com
Israel on Trial: Examining the History, the Evidence, and the Law by Roy K. Altman looks at the Israel/Palestine war and the accusations against Israel through an objective legal lens. Mr. Altman is a U.S. District Judge and writes the book as if he’s sitting on the bench.
This book takes the labels that have been applied to Israel and attempts to tear out the emotions while looking at them from “courtroom-test standards”. He specifically addresses the labels of Colonialism, apartheid, and genocide which are often parroted online without thought or reasoning.
The book does exactly what the title says, puts Israel on trial. Judge Altman applies the burdens me does in the courtroom to the nation and subjects them to the rigors of a criminal trial. He applies specific legal terms such as burden of proof, corroboration, and chain of custody historical evidence. to the case or cases before him.
The book is most certainly pro-Israel in making its case attempting to provide moral clarity with egal precision, however it does nothing to move the needle to either side. Many people have made this war part of their identity and to present the cold hard facts, for either side, is taken as a personal affront. It’s a waste of time trying to present, what is essentially a legal manual to people who have been trained to attach their whole identities to a social justice narrative that everything in involving The West is “oppressing” and every actor not from The West is the “oppressed” and are justified in everything they do. Introducing any ambiguousness into this narrative will not only collapse the belief system but their personal Identity along with it.
I’ve seen posts on social media which attracted thousands of “likes” and comments which were full of rage all based on a baseless tweet, which, if looked at with a critical eye, is an obvious disinformation attempt. In fairness, even I, who once prided myself on being able to trace the root of any piece of information or propaganda to its source, using OSINT and other tools, have been having a very difficult time doing so in the last four years.
In a world where English Lit majors have never read a book, academia is filled with anti-Israel/antisemitic bias masquerading as education, and many can’t focus for more than a three minutes at best, I’m afraid that Judge Altman’s well-researched, well-written, and easy to understand book might be wasted on those that have already been indoctrinated by social-media, one way or another.
Israel on Trial: Examining the History, the Evidence, and the Law by Roy K. Altman looks at the Israel/Palestine war and the accusations against Israel through an objective legal lens. Mr. Altman is a U.S. District Judge and writes the book as if he’s sitting on the bench.
This book takes the labels that have been applied to Israel and attempts to tear out the emotions while looking at them from “courtroom-test standards”. He specifically addresses the labels of Colonialism, apartheid, and genocide which are often parroted online without thought or reasoning.
The book does exactly what the title says, puts Israel on trial. Judge Altman applies the burdens me does in the courtroom to the nation and subjects them to the rigors of a criminal trial. He applies specific legal terms such as burden of proof, corroboration, and chain of custody historical evidence. to the case or cases before him.
The book is most certainly pro-Israel in making its case attempting to provide moral clarity with egal precision, however it does nothing to move the needle to either side. Many people have made this war part of their identity and to present the cold hard facts, for either side, is taken as a personal affront. It’s a waste of time trying to present, what is essentially a legal manual to people who have been trained to attach their whole identities to a social justice narrative that everything in involving The West is “oppressing” and every actor not from The West is the “oppressed” and are justified in everything they do. Introducing any ambiguousness into this narrative will not only collapse the belief system but their personal Identity along with it.
I’ve seen posts on social media which attracted thousands of “likes” and comments which were full of rage all based on a baseless tweet, which, if looked at with a critical eye, is an obvious disinformation attempt. In fairness, even I, who once prided myself on being able to trace the root of any piece of information or propaganda to its source, using OSINT and other tools, have been having a very difficult time doing so in the last four years.
In a world where English Lit majors have never read a book, academia is filled with anti-Israel/antisemitic bias masquerading as education, and many can’t focus for more than a three minutes at best, I’m afraid that Judge Altman’s well-researched, well-written, and easy to understand book might be wasted on those that have already been indoctrinated by social-media, one way or another.
July 8, 2026
Wow, move over Noa Tishby! There's a better Israel book on the scene.
While this is obviously a book of Israel advocacy, it's also hard to argue with because it's based in facts and evidence (including over 600 sources).
My only critiques are a) his biased tone. He's a judge, so I wished he sounded a little more objective. b) it bothered me that he related the concentration camps only to the Holocaust. While he's not wrong that Gaza is not one, he could have expanded his definition to include other historical concentration camps, because they're not limited to the Holocaust. c) I wished he critiqued Israel more. I know that's not the point of this book, but I always think advocacy is more credible when the person is open to criticizing Israel. Sure, in the apartheid chapter, he dedicated a sentence to acknowledging the discrimination Arabs face in Israel because like any diverse country, there's bound to be discrimination. But he could have gone into more examples of said discrimination and how it's a real problem. And in the part about risking IDF lives to save Palestinian lives, he omitted that the IDF has used Palestinian civilians as human shields to protect IDF lives. True, no Palestinian human shields were killed in the Israel-Hamas War (in fact, an IDF soldier was killed when a Palestinian refused to report the presence of terrorists). He could have called this out and said it's a problem. It doesn't negate the fact that Israel still warns millions of Palestinians to get them out of harm's way.
All in all, I'm grateful to Roy Altman for writing this book when he did. I only wish he wrote it sooner!
While this is obviously a book of Israel advocacy, it's also hard to argue with because it's based in facts and evidence (including over 600 sources).
My only critiques are a) his biased tone. He's a judge, so I wished he sounded a little more objective. b) it bothered me that he related the concentration camps only to the Holocaust. While he's not wrong that Gaza is not one, he could have expanded his definition to include other historical concentration camps, because they're not limited to the Holocaust. c) I wished he critiqued Israel more. I know that's not the point of this book, but I always think advocacy is more credible when the person is open to criticizing Israel. Sure, in the apartheid chapter, he dedicated a sentence to acknowledging the discrimination Arabs face in Israel because like any diverse country, there's bound to be discrimination. But he could have gone into more examples of said discrimination and how it's a real problem. And in the part about risking IDF lives to save Palestinian lives, he omitted that the IDF has used Palestinian civilians as human shields to protect IDF lives. True, no Palestinian human shields were killed in the Israel-Hamas War (in fact, an IDF soldier was killed when a Palestinian refused to report the presence of terrorists). He could have called this out and said it's a problem. It doesn't negate the fact that Israel still warns millions of Palestinians to get them out of harm's way.
All in all, I'm grateful to Roy Altman for writing this book when he did. I only wish he wrote it sooner!
June 11, 2026
I’m giving Roy Altman’s ‘Israel on Trial’ 4.5 stars (though Goodreads only allows whole numbers). This is a tour de force examination, and refutation, of some of the most common anti-Israel/anti-Zionist tropes currently trafficked in the west, especially on college campuses. As a university professor myself I’ve seen and heard many repeat thoughtlessly the accusations Altman examines. They are indeed attractive from an emotional and savior of the oppressed standpoint, but as Altman articulates they are not based in reality and do not meet legal definitions by which any reasonable jurist would convict Israel of such ‘crimes.’ One reviewer here wrote a very articulate and detailed refutation of Altman’s work, but it generally lacked - as Altman himself made clear of western and Islamist accusations - substance of evidence. The refutation of the reviewer is more about feelings and perceptions rather than any reflection on the evidence Altman cites. Now to be fair, I dinged the book slightly for reasons that do align with the negative review - sometimes Altman leans into rhetoric that are not unbiased or based solely on evidence. I think this can diminish the overall thrust of the book which is validated by hard evidence. I disagree with the negative reviewer that looking at the Hamas-Israel conflict in Gaza through a common American legal lens is inappropriate. It is of course an analogy to understand the conflict not a prescription to resolve it.
All in all this is a must read book!!!
All in all this is a must read book!!!
July 26, 2026
Israel on Trial: Examining the History, the Evidence, and the Law presents a legal examination of one of the world's most debated geopolitical issues. Drawing on his experience as a United States District Judge, Roy K. Altman approaches contested historical and legal claims through the lens of evidentiary standards, encouraging readers to evaluate arguments using principles commonly applied in judicial proceedings.
One of the book's greatest strengths is its emphasis on evidence-based reasoning. Altman explores historical records, legal concepts, archaeological findings, and other forms of documentation while discussing widely debated issues relating to Israel, international law, and the modern Middle East. Rather than relying on slogans or rhetorical claims, the book encourages readers to consider the importance of corroboration, burden of proof, and careful evaluation of evidence.
The book also offers readers an accessible introduction to how legal reasoning can be applied when assessing complex historical and political questions. Whether readers ultimately agree with its conclusions or not, the work highlights the value of critical thinking, careful source evaluation, and disciplined analysis when engaging with controversial public issues.
Thought-provoking and meticulously researched, Israel on Trial will interest readers of legal studies, Middle Eastern history, political science, international law, public policy, and contemporary geopolitical affairs who seek a detailed perspective on a subject of ongoing global significance.
One of the book's greatest strengths is its emphasis on evidence-based reasoning. Altman explores historical records, legal concepts, archaeological findings, and other forms of documentation while discussing widely debated issues relating to Israel, international law, and the modern Middle East. Rather than relying on slogans or rhetorical claims, the book encourages readers to consider the importance of corroboration, burden of proof, and careful evaluation of evidence.
The book also offers readers an accessible introduction to how legal reasoning can be applied when assessing complex historical and political questions. Whether readers ultimately agree with its conclusions or not, the work highlights the value of critical thinking, careful source evaluation, and disciplined analysis when engaging with controversial public issues.
Thought-provoking and meticulously researched, Israel on Trial will interest readers of legal studies, Middle Eastern history, political science, international law, public policy, and contemporary geopolitical affairs who seek a detailed perspective on a subject of ongoing global significance.
June 1, 2026
This book caught my attention because the author, Roy K. Altman, is a United States federal judge. His book presents us with six claims used against Israel that I encounter too often parroted on a weekly, if not daily, basis on social media. Altman presents Israel's history and other evidence for consideration and offers a legal framework for evaluating it.
The only issue I have with the evidence is that the author claims that Hadrian invented the name "Palestine". While it is true that Hadrian, a Roman, officially renamed Judea to a form of Palestine, the Greek form predated Hadrian by 6 or 7 centuries. Hadrian would have been classically educated and should have been familiar with Herodotus' 5th-century BC Histories, which referenced Palestine up to eight times. Some believe Hadrian was a Philihellene, a lover of Greek culture. While Herodotus never mentions Jews, Israel, or Judea in his writings, the abundant archaeological evidence of Jewish kingdoms and administration suggests that Herodotus was either uninterested in commenting on the Jews or unaware of Jewish history.
The only issue I have with the evidence is that the author claims that Hadrian invented the name "Palestine". While it is true that Hadrian, a Roman, officially renamed Judea to a form of Palestine, the Greek form predated Hadrian by 6 or 7 centuries. Hadrian would have been classically educated and should have been familiar with Herodotus' 5th-century BC Histories, which referenced Palestine up to eight times. Some believe Hadrian was a Philihellene, a lover of Greek culture. While Herodotus never mentions Jews, Israel, or Judea in his writings, the abundant archaeological evidence of Jewish kingdoms and administration suggests that Herodotus was either uninterested in commenting on the Jews or unaware of Jewish history.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you so much NetGalley and Advantage Books for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.
This book is very much pro-Isreal, it is biased so know that going in. It did what it set out to do by organizing information with references to back up the claims they had. It’s so hard to know how much information and facts are taken out of context. I’m not saying that’s what this author has done, but as a general rule with this topic. I am still educating myself on this topic and it is important to read literature from both sides. If you’re interested in reading from a pro-Isreal POV then this book is a good place to start. I am giving it 5 stars based on the organization of the book and how it set itself up.
This book is very much pro-Isreal, it is biased so know that going in. It did what it set out to do by organizing information with references to back up the claims they had. It’s so hard to know how much information and facts are taken out of context. I’m not saying that’s what this author has done, but as a general rule with this topic. I am still educating myself on this topic and it is important to read literature from both sides. If you’re interested in reading from a pro-Isreal POV then this book is a good place to start. I am giving it 5 stars based on the organization of the book and how it set itself up.
Read
July 2, 2026Roy Altman uses courtroom logic and parameters to point out why Israel isn't an illegitimate country. Jews have lived in what is now Israel for 0ver 3200 years and he has proof of the facts. They are not colonizers. The Montevideo Framework lays out to be a country you must have defined borders, a functioning gov't, a permanent population and the capacity to conduct foreign affairs. The Palestinians have been offered their own territory for a state 6 times and all 6 times they have refused the offers. Israel didn't occupy Gaza and turn it into an open-air prison. In fact Israelis' are not permitted to enter Gaza. And Israel is not an apartheid state. Arabs, Muslims, Jews and Druid citizens are all treated the same.
This was a wonderful book. I learned a lot.
This was a wonderful book. I learned a lot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
5⭐️
My feathers are ruffled. I’ll start by saying that this book is very much pro-Israel, and I am not that. But this book addressed some questions and curiosities I’d had about the war for a long time and its historical context, in a bite-sized manner. It did actually push me more towards the two state solution camp, as clearly both could probably argue for a historical claim to the same piece of land. The problem is that the territory is so small, and the people are so interwoven, that it’s hard to divide with a line on a map. Whatever this books stance, I’m sure I’ll be thinking about it and its implications for a long time.
My feathers are ruffled. I’ll start by saying that this book is very much pro-Israel, and I am not that. But this book addressed some questions and curiosities I’d had about the war for a long time and its historical context, in a bite-sized manner. It did actually push me more towards the two state solution camp, as clearly both could probably argue for a historical claim to the same piece of land. The problem is that the territory is so small, and the people are so interwoven, that it’s hard to divide with a line on a map. Whatever this books stance, I’m sure I’ll be thinking about it and its implications for a long time.
June 26, 2026
Judge Roy Altman does a brilliant job in this book examining several major indictments against the State of Israel. As a justice in the United States himself, Altman is well-versed in scholarly legal matters and well-positioned to objectively examine the facts of the case. One by one, each indictment is examined and refuted with irrefutable logic and abundant evidence (endnotes, not footnotes, but I will forgive the Judge this practical indiscretion).
I wish every news agency made this book required reading for every journalist. The facts, as Altman lays them out, are so overwhelmingly clear, it makes one wonder how on earth these issues are still being debated.
I wish every news agency made this book required reading for every journalist. The facts, as Altman lays them out, are so overwhelmingly clear, it makes one wonder how on earth these issues are still being debated.
July 22, 2026
Es un libro con una investigación muy extensa y rigurosa, con alto grado de precisión en términos legales, con una gran capacidad de síntesis histórica que resulta en una verdadera visión del proceso de la incitación al odio. Nos regala una exposición de la ignorancia y la manipulación de un sector de la sociedad que con tal de justificar sus fines ( la erradicación del pueblo judío) se agarran de mentiras, mitos, y recursos dolosos.
Creo que al que le interese ser verdaderamente humano y luchar por los derechos humanos, debe de leer este ensayo y dialogar críticamente, quitarse prejuicios y por qué no aprender.
Creo que al que le interese ser verdaderamente humano y luchar por los derechos humanos, debe de leer este ensayo y dialogar críticamente, quitarse prejuicios y por qué no aprender.
July 5, 2026
A devastating factual takedown of the most prevalent lies told by the left and Hamas and swallowed hook, line, and sinker by naive and ignorant college students who are brainwashed on campus. Should be read by everyone, but sadly, those who prefer ideology and slogans over facts and reason will probably not be swayed. For those who are interested in truth, this book exposes the Hamas' lies and campaign to delegitimize Israel.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Judge Altman takes a serious (and much needed) review of broad claims lobbied against Israel. Using the rigor of evidence-based scrutiny, Judge Altman masterfully unpacks those claims and why they falter. In a modern-day culture where truth bends to the loudest and most reactionary of voices, this faithful and resolved stewardship of what the history and evidence actually shows is good medicine.
June 6, 2026
Thorough, clear, and well reasoned defense of Israel. As with most jurists, the author can seem arrogant about the law’s ability to make every aspect of the issue clear cut, but sticking to a clear structure for evaluating each aspect the book covers is far better than most discussions of the issue.
June 13, 2026
While clearly a pro Israeli book, it does address many of the false claims against modern Israel in a clear and succinct way. If your wrestling with legitimacy of Israel and its actions in protecting itself, it gives a clear argument as to why these are legal and proper It also exposes the evil of Hamas and the West’s often double standard in dealing with Israel and her enemies.
June 23, 2026
Compelling
If you are one who reads the news and has been hearing one side of this argument, I would ask that you read this book and keep your bias in check as you learn facts about how things really are. Get out of this fantasy that’s being spun for you and see Israel as it really is. This Nation deserves to live.
If you are one who reads the news and has been hearing one side of this argument, I would ask that you read this book and keep your bias in check as you learn facts about how things really are. Get out of this fantasy that’s being spun for you and see Israel as it really is. This Nation deserves to live.
July 10, 2026
This is a phenomenal book and is very easy to understand even though the author uses legal arguments and facts to back up his rebuttal of the top six claims against Israel, from its very existence to charges of apartheid, genocide, disproportionality, and settler colonialism. I recommend it to anyone who has posted about Israel over the last 2.5 years.
July 13, 2026
Judge Altman penned the greatest legal argument for what the pro-Israel community has being trying to say since October 7, 2023. His words prove that all the things spewed by the pro-Palestine left are not just wrong, morally reprehensible, and in factual according to the law.
This book a must read for anyone trying to understand the Israel-Palestinian debate.
This book a must read for anyone trying to understand the Israel-Palestinian debate.
July 31, 2026
Excellent defense of Israel’s right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland.
“On May 14, 1948, some two thousand years after the [destruction of] the Second Temple, the State of Israel declared its independence - marking the culmination of one of the great decolonization projects in modern history.” (Pg 74)
“On May 14, 1948, some two thousand years after the [destruction of] the Second Temple, the State of Israel declared its independence - marking the culmination of one of the great decolonization projects in modern history.” (Pg 74)
Review of advance copy
Altman writes with authority and passion, weaving history, politics, culture, law, and lived human experience into a narrative that is both razor-sharp and profoundly persuasive. The clarity and structuring makes even complex or contentious ideas accessible and digestible.
July 19, 2026
Judge Altman has written a most needed book about Israel. The evidence he gives about Israel is unquestionable. The truth he gives about that country is totally amazing. He proves that Israel is a country of honor, strength, and courage. A great book!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Roy is absolutely one of the best thinkers and orators of our time. It’s worth reading whatever he writes even if this is not a subject you think to read about. Brilliant!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Immaculate historical research combined with remarkable clarity of purpose. This is a must-read from a brilliant mind.
April 30, 2026
A must read.
May 31, 2026
A must read!
June 2, 2026
Excellent review of the common cudgels used against Israel. Cogent arguments made which disprove these. Anyone interested in the Israel-Palestine issues and history should read this book.
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