Making David into Goliath: How the World Turned Against Israel - Softcover

Muravchik, Joshua

4.28

103 ratings by Goodreads

9781594038457: Making David into Goliath: How the World Turned Against Israel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1594038457 ISBN 13: 9781594038457

Publisher: Encounter Books, 2015

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During the Six-Day War of 1967, polls showed that Americans favored the Israelis over the Arabs by overwhelming margins. In Europe, support for Israel ran even higher. In the United Nations Security Council, a British resolution essentially gave Israel the terms of peace it sought, and when the Arabs and their Soviet supporters tried to override the resolution in the General Assembly, they fell short of the necessary votes.

Fast forward 40 years and Israel has become perhaps the most reviled country in the world. Although Americans have remained constant in their sympathy for the Jewish state, almost all of the rest of the world treats Israel as a pariah.

What caused this remarkable turnabout? Making David into Goliath traces the process by which material pressures and intellectual fashions reshaped world opinion of Israel. Initially, terrorism, oil blackmail, and the sheer size of Arab and Muslim populations gave the world powerful inducements to back the Arab cause. Then, a prevalent new paradigm of social justice,” in which class conflict was supplanted by the noble struggles of people of color, created a lexicon of rationales for taking sides against Israel. Thus, nations can behave cravenly while striking a high-minded pose in aligning themselves on the Middle East conflict.

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About the Author:

Joshua Muravchik, a distinguished fellow at the World Affairs Institute, is the author of hundreds of articles appearing in all major U.S. newspapers and intellectual magazines, as well as ten previous books including "Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism"; "Exporting Democracy: Fulfilling America's Destiny"; "Trailblazers of the Arab Spring: Voices of Democracy in the Middle East"; and "Liberal Oasis: The Truth About Israel."

Review:

A great book . . . a must-read for anybody who cares about peace in the Middle East, who cares about the survival of the state of Israel, who cares about America’s relations with Israel.” Alan Dershowitz

compelling, thoughtful, and highly readable . . . Muravchik is not an apologist for Israel or the mistakes it has made, but he is an advocate for fairness and balance and for one having one set of standards to judge Israel and its neighbors. Rarely has a book been more timely.” Ambassador Dennis Ross

At once impassioned and clear-headed, this abundantly-researched discussion of Israel’s decline in world public opinion is necessary reading for all who care about this highly vulnerable country.” Philip K. Jason, Jewish Book World

One of the very best books ever written on the ongoing war the Arab/Muslim world has been waging against Israel since the day it came into existence.” Norman Podhoretz

An exciting and essential read for anyone who cares about Israel's survival.” Martin Peretz

A . . . fascinating book about the origins of ideology.” Tevi Troy’s favorite books from this year,” National Review

Remarkable . . . lays out the best liberal pro-Israel arguments . . . The very arguments raging today against Israel . . . are all discussed and masterfully defeated.” Elder of Ziyon blog

This book may not lift your spirits, but if you want to understand why the world seems to love to beat up on Israel it should be at the top of your summer reading list.” Aaron Leibel, Washington Jewish Week

A powerful indictment of the West’s serial moral failures regarding Israel and the Middle East conflict.” Sol Stern, Mosaic Magazine

The best source available to show readers how and why Israel is seen as a victimizer and oppressor, not as a David facing a vast array of Arab reactionaries” Ronald Radosh, The Weekly Standard

The campaign to delegitimize Israel is a call to arms, a danger . . . If things were ordered rationally, Making David into Goliath would stop that campaign dead in its tracks.” David Pryce-Jones, National Review

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