No Country for Jewish Liberals

"Highly recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through faculty." --R. W. Olson, CHOICE
"No Country for Jewish Liberals is a masterful personal analysis of the deterioration of Israel's relations with its Palestinian neighbors and its deleterious impact on the country's democratic ethos. Larry Derfner's political awakening is a bittersweet story of love of Israel and disillusion with its trajectory, of alienation from its policies and complete involvement with its people and their future. Any liberal will recognize the evolution of feelings and insights that he conveys so skillfully in this accessible and poignant political memoir. This is truly a must read for those who care deeply about Israel and worry about where it's going." --Naomi Chazan, former Deputy Speaker, Knesset; Professor emerita, Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"An insightful, eloquent, intimate book about the liberal Jewish dilemma: How to love a country whose policies you hate." --Peter Beinart, author, The Crisis of Zionism
"Anyone seeking to understand liberal disillusionment with Israel should look no further than Larry Derfner's scathingly contrarian memoir of Zionist disenchantment, a cri de coeur for his adopted home, which, despite it all, he still loves. Derfner's stark message for those who warn of Israel's immoral future is that, although he believes the country is not beyond redemption, the future has long since arrived." --Nathan Thrall, author, The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine
"Derfner--who does not cease to be a field reporter even after being fired for his non-kosher views--offers much more than a memoir. An insider and an outsider in his adopted country, his personal journey is a description of a society's contradictions, and his own contemplative zigzags--a tale about Israel's drift into an abyss." --Amira Hass, Haaretz's correspondent for the Occupied Territories; author, Drinking the Sea at Gaza
"Larry Derfner has written a fascinating memoir of growing up in Los Angeles and moving to Israel and finding happiness in his everyday life there, but being beset by a growing realization that he is living in a morally failed state, and can do little to change it. It is a riveting account of Israel's history told through the lens of Derfner's life. I had trouble putting it down." --John B. Judis, author, Genesis: Truman, American Jews, and the Origins of the Arab/Israeli Conflict
"Larry Derfner has written a street-talking, brash, incredibly readable and thoughtful memoir about his 30-plus years in Israel, and the battle between his ideals and his affection for the country. It's a useful antidote for the usual shouting points of debate about Israel. No matter what view of Israel you have when you begin reading, you'll have a more complicated and conflicted view when you finish." --Gershom Gorenberg, author, The Unmaking of Israel