In Search of Israel: The History of an Idea

391 Pages·2018·11.78 MB·English

by  Michael Brenner

IN SEARCH OF ISRAEL

IN
SEARCH
OF
ISRAEL
THE HISTORY OF AN IDEA
MICHAEL BRENNER
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
Copyright © 2018 by Princeton University Press
This edition is a substantially revised translation of Israel: Traum und Wirklichkeit
des Jüdischen Staates by Michael Brenner, © Verlag C.H. Beck oHG, Munchen 2016
Published by Princeton University Press,
41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,
6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TR
press.princeton.edu
Jacket image: Western wall (Wailing Wall). Jerusalem, Israel. Roman Sigaev /
Alamy Stock Photo
All Rights Reserved
The lyrics by Bob Dylan reproduced on page 177 are from “Neighborhood Bully,”
copyright © 1983 by Special Rider Music. All rights reserved. International
copyright secured. Reprinted by permission.
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Names: Brenner, Michael, 1964– author.
Title: In Search of Israel : the history of an idea/Michael Brenner.
Other titles: Israel. English
Description: Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2018. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017037393 | ISBN 9780691179285 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Israel. | Israel—History. | Judaism—Israel.
Classification: LCC DS125.5 .B7413 2018 | DDC 956.9405—dc23 LC record available
at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017037393
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Sabon Next and Gotham
Printed on acid-free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my daughter Simone,
who helped me explore new sides of Israel

CONTENTS
Illustrations and Maps ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: A State (Un)Like Any Other State 1
1 The Five Seasons of 1897: Shaping the Jewish Future 18
Winter in Berlin 19
Spring in Vienna 23
Summer in Basel 32
Fall in Vilna 41
Winter in Odessa 46
2 The Seven- Hour- Land: A Light unto the Nations 51
Utopian Ideals 51
Hebrew Revival 65
Socialist Dreams 73
Orthodox Reservations 81
3 The National Home: A State in the Making? 88
The Autonomy Solution 90
The One- State Solution 104
The Two- State Solution 117
The Elsewhere Solution 126
viii contents
4 Original Israel: A State Defining Itself 138
What Is a Jewish State? 139
Who Is a Jew in the Jewish State? 161
Where Is the New Canaan? 176
5 Greater Israel: A State Expanding 186
Seventh Day Realities 188
Messianic Visions 205
Apocalyptic Nightmares 218
Peace Illusions 223
6 Global Israel: A State beyond Borders 230
Israel Abroad 231
Israel Imagined 237
Israel Lost and Found 258
Conclusion: Israel’s New Order 266
Notes 289
Bibliography 321
Index 349
ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
All maps have been prepared for this book, and are copyright
© Peter Palm, Berlin/Germany
CHAPTER 1
FIGURE 1. Walther Rathenau in the uniform of a
Prussian cuirassier 22
FIGURE 2. Karl Lueger as mayor of Vienna, around 1900.
Photo: akg- images/Imagno 25
FIGURE 3. Theodor Herzl in the Austrian resort of
Altaussee, August 1900. Photo: akg- images/Imagno 31
FIGURE 4. Theodor Herzl addresses the Sixth Zionist
Congress in Basel, 1903. Photo: akg- images/Imagno 37
FIGURE 5. Bundists and other socialists in Vilna protest
against the pogroms of October 1905. Photo: akg-
images/Imagno/Austrian Archives 44
CHAPTER 2
FIGURE 6. Herzl’s drawing of the flag of the “Seven-
Hour- Land.” Photo: ullstein bild/Roger Viollet/The
Image Works 52
FIGURE 7. The Zionist journalist and activist Asher
Ginsberg, known as Ahad Ha’am, around 1910.
Photo: Bildarchiv Pisarek/akg- images 69