The history of modern Israel is a fiercely contested subject. From the Balfour declaration to the Six-Day War to the recent assault on Gaza, ideologically-charged narratives and counter-narratives battle for dominance not just in Israel itself but throughout the world. In the United States and Israel, the Israeli cause is treated as the more righteous one, albeit with important qualifiers and caveats.
In Mythologies Without End, Jerome Slater takes stock of the conflict from its origins to the present day and argues that US policies in the region are largely a product of mythologies that are often flatly wrong. For example, the Israelis' treatment of Palestinians after 1948 undermined its claim that it was a true democracy, and the argument that Arab states refused to negotiate with Israel for decades is simply untrue. Because of widespread acceptance of these myths in both the US and Israel, the consequences have been devastating to all of the involved parties. In fact, the actual history is very nearly the converse of the mythology: it is Israel and the US that have repeatedly lost, discarded, or even deliberately sabotaged many opportunities to reach fair compromise settlements of the Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. As Slater reexamines the entire history of the conflict from its onset at the end of WWI through the Netanyahu era, he argues that a refutation of the
many mythologies that is a necessary first step toward solving the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Focusing on both the US role in the conflict and Israel's actions, this book exposes the self-defeating policies of both nations - policies which have only served to prolong the conflict far beyond when it should have been resolved.
Industry Reviews
"This magnum opus is a readable and compelling work of scholarship. Even those skeptical of the thesis must reckon with this comprehensive, chronological review of events. An excellent volume for anyone seeking to understand why the conflict continues." -- S. Waalkes, CHOICE
"Mythologies Without End provides an excellent overview of the attitudes common among Israel skeptics... Israel's supporters who read it will better understand these critics and can have more fruitful conversations with them about the United States and Israel." -- Mike Watson, Hudson Institute, National Review
"Slater offers formidable evidence that Zionist and Israeli policy toward the Arabs has been far more aggressive than prevailing narratives indicate.. Myths to the contrary play a pernicious role in Israeli and American politics and policymaking today, and dispelling these myths is a precondition for progress toward peace. This is a landmark volume, essential reading for all students of the Israel-Arab conflict." -- Stephen Van Evera, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
"An impressively thorough, eminently fair, and utterly persuasive account of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the reasons for its persistence. Slater's research demolishes longstanding and widely-held beliefs about why this conflict has festered. This book is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand how this destructive confrontation has taken the course it has and where responsibility for this tragedy lies." -- Paul R. Pillar, former National
Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia
"Tackling many of the myths that have surrounded the Arab-Israeli conflict since its inception, Slater's ambitious work sets out to sort fact from fiction.ÂThe result is a well-documented book on the many crucial moments in this conflict, ending with a strongly argued case that the Israelis, in particular, need to come to a more honest reckoning with the past if they are to achieve real peace with their neighbors. This is a valuable book, one where it
pays to read the many useful footnotes." -- William B. Quandt, University of Virginia
"This is a critical and bold reassessment of the American involvement in the Israel/Palestine question. It's an essential read for anyone interested in learning about the past failures of American policy for the sake of a more constructive and honest involvement in the future." -- Ilan Pappe, University of Exeter, UK
"Slater has done a brilliant job of exposing and demolishing the many myths that shape the discourse in the West about the Israel-Palestine conflict. What makes Slater's book so powerful, is that he cares greatly about Israel. But unlike so many of Israel's supporters, he believes that facing up to the truth about the past is in Israel's interest." -- John J. Mearsheimer, University of Chicago
"This penetrating study is a work of fundamental importance. Distinguished by fierce honesty and trenchant analysis, it is based on decades of research into the Arab-Israeli conflicts and the US role in them.ÂIt deserves a wide audience among both specialists and general readers." -- David Hendrickson, author of Republic in Peril
"A cleareyed study that sounds a serious alarm for the future of Israel-a must for any library's collection on the conflict." --Starred review, Kirkus
" provides an excellent overview of the attitudes common among Israel skeptics...Israel's supporters who read it will better understand these critics and can have more fruitful conversations with them about the United States and Israel." --National Review
