Israel's Holocaust and the Politics of Nationhood

Foreword Tony Judt; 1. The sacrificed and the sanctified; 2. Memory without rememberers; 3. From the people's hall to the wailing wall; 4. Between 'love of the world' and 'love of Israel'; 5. Yellow territories.

Idith Zertal is an Israeli historian and essayist, the author of many books and articles on Jewish, Zionist and Israeli history. She is currently teaching at the Institute of Jewish Studies at the University of Basel, Switzerland. Her works include From Catastrophe to Power: Holocaust Survivors and the Emergence of Israel (1998), and Lords of the Land: The War over Israel's Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007 (co-authored with Akiva Eldar, 2007). Israel's Holocaust and the Politics of Nationhood has been published in eight languages.

'... a path-breaking analysis of how the memory of the Holocaust has been used in Israel not only to equate Palestinians with Nazis and justify the West Bank occupation and the building of settlements there but also to provide the rationale for nuclear weapons systems.' Amos Elon, New York Review of Books 'This is a brilliant and unsettling book that charts new, deeply submerged territories of the collective consciousness and sub-consciousness of Israeli society. The book is a major contribution to our understanding of the history of Israeli life and mentality.' Shlomo Ben Ami, Emeritus Professor of Modern History, Tel Aviv University, and former foreign minister of Israel 'The book is admirably perceptive, nuanced, and sophisticated ... Dr Zertal is not a linear historian or mere chronicler of events. She is an intellectual and cultural historian of the highest distinction.' Avi Shlaim, Professor of International Relations, University of Oxford 'A moving and profound reflection on the role of mourning, death and victimhood in Israel.' Henry Rousso, L'Express 'Idith Zertal's excellent book follows the history of the manipulation of the Holocaust from the inception of Israel to the assassination of Prime Minster Yitzhad Rabin.' Book Forum '... interesting and worthy of discussion ...' Birmingham Jewish Recorder '... can hardly be faulted on matters of detail and accuracy ... Zertal successfully deconstructs a number of myths in recent Israeli historiography.' Times Literary Supplement 'Zertal successfully deconstructs a number of myths in recent Israeli historiography ... and the young generation in Israel today will not have heard of many of the myths deconstructed with so much admirable gusto in this book.' The Times