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By: Moshe Phillips
Many books about Israel were published in 2024. These are the standouts. One need not agree with everything that the authors say (I certainly don’t) to acknowledge that these books are worth reading as they help a reader to explore ideas they may not read elsewhere. As Israel continues to fight an increasingly unprecedented war against Islamic terrorism the Jewish State at the same time must fight on the battlefield of ideas. That Israel’s right to defend its civilians is being questioned everyday all around the world demonstrates how important books that rise beyond rhetoric are and these books do.
One Jewish State: The Last, Best Hope to Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is by former United States Ambassador to Israel (2017 – 2021) David Friedman.
With over 23 chapters, plus supporting documents included as appendices, Freidman makes the argument that Israel must not allow the creation of a Palestinian Arab state in any of the areas it liberated in 1967 and now controls. He writes “Palestine was never a country and never governed itself.” Friedman places the blame for Israel’s current situation on its politicians and writes “Every Israeli government speaks about the importance of Israel retaining at least parts of Judea and Samaria. But none has presented a vision of how that will be achieved.”
The Battle for the Jewish State: How Israel—and America—Can Win is by Victoria Coates who is a former staffer with the National Security Council.
From the first chapter of the book Coates exposes Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority as the extremists they are and defends the first Trump administration’s record in the Middle East. Her perspective as a Christian and a national security expert make this a unique read. The Iron Dome, Coates explains “in some ways, have made Israel the victim of its own success. When Hamas fired more than two thousand rockets at Israel during the eleven-day Gaza war in 2021, for example, Iron Dome had a more than 90% success rate intercepting them…” Then she explains that due to demands for a ceasefire from the Biden White House and Netanyahu’s acquiescence caused unexpected consequences. “In hindsight, that was the moment when Hamas’s leader Yahya Sinwar, realizing that the Iron Dome had rendered its missiles and rockets largely useless, started planning for a very different sort of attack on Israel,” Coates opines.
Make Peace: A Strategic Guide for Achieving Lasting Peace In Israel is by Rabbi Elisha Pearl
As the book itself explains on its cover it is “Based on The Teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.” To those only casually acquainted with Chabad the ideas presented may be more than a bit surprising. Rabbi Pearl shreds calls for ceasefire and the surrender of Israeli territory for promises on paper for peace. He makes passionate demands for Jewish unity and Jewish education. Also revealed are the Rebbe’s views on Jewish settlements. “Perhaps you have heard that I spoke of the absolute necessity to settle all of the territories at once,” quotes Pearl from a 1977 letter that continues “especially those disputed by the nations of the world.” One specific section of the book that is particularly done well is where Pearl explains that each of the next generation of replacements for Abbas are just as bad for Israel. At its center the book calls for “subduing enemies until they no longer pose a threat” and “the protection of Jewish lives.”
Israel Victory: How Zionists Win Acceptance and Palestinians Get Liberated is by historian Daniel Pipes
Perhaps Pipes is at his best when he reviews history. As he depicts Israeli history over the 30 years and the disastrous Oslo Accords he writes “Israelis experimented with such statecraft exotica as “painful concessions” and unilateral withdrawals.” Less effective is Pipes when he presents his ideas for the future although even here he starts well enough calling for the “abandoning (of) conciliation and returning to the eternal verities of war. I call this Israel Victory. More negatively but more accurately, it consists of Palestinian defeat. Summing up: Palestinians lose, Israel wins.”
He also calls for an end to not just Hamas but also the Palestinian Authority. Pipes writes that Israel will be able to “convince Palestinians to end their campaign of rejectionism” after their defeat but he fails to really explain how. Pipes writes that “No Palestinian people existed through the centuries” but he stubbornly refuses to offer ideas about what comes after Hamas and the PA no longer exist. He writes “Israel must use force; but it cannot look to force as the solution to rejectionism. Its power offers a wide range of levers with which to exert influence over Palestinians, from economics to religion.” His arguments in this vein fall to impress.
Black Saturday: An Unfiltered Account of the October 7th Attack on Israel and the War in Gaza is by Fox News journalist Trey Yingst
This book differs in many ways from the others included here. Yingst tells some of his story as an on the spot journalist visiting places like the infamous Al-Shifa hospital and it is a gripping tale. “I had to make sure that our coverage wasn’t demonizing Palestinians,” writes Yingst “Some Palestinians entered Israel to slaughter Israelis, some entered to loot, some to look around. Others never entered but cheered when hostages were brought back to Gaza. Others, albeit quietly, condemned the actions of Hamas …” Yingst does not offer real examples of these “others.” What he does offer an example of is the kidnapping of civilians from Be’eri by Hamas terrorists. It is a powerful and haunting narrative.
After a year in which President Biden was spotted holding a copy of extremist Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 every supporter of Israel should do more to help promote books that offer thoughtful ideas about the Jewish State.
Moshe Phillips is national chairman of Americans For A Safe Israel (AFSI.org), a leading pro-Israel advocacy and education organization
