The Jewish State must end, say its enemies, from intellectuals like Tony Judt to hate-filled demagogues like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Even average Israelis are wondering if they wouldn't be better off somewhere else. A country which once restored hope to Jews world-over now feels itself slipping. Increasingly, Israelis wonder how much has really been accomplished and whether they ought to persevere. Can Israel win the next military war for survival, whomever the foe? Can Israel defuse the demographic time bomb of a growing Arab population? Can Israel, a country that’s come so far and sacrificed so much, keep up the will to fight? Daniel Gordis is confident his fellow Jews can renew their faith in the cause, and in Saving Israel , he outlines how. Gordis has written many popular personal essays and memoirs in the past, but Saving Israel is a full-throated call to arms. Never has the case for defending -- no, celebrating -- the existence of Israel been so clear, so passionate, or so worthy of wholehearted support. Daniel Gordis (Jerusalem, Israel) is Senior Vice President of the Shalem Center, and a columnist for the Jerusalem Post . he has also written for the New York Times, Tikkun, the Forward, and the New York Times Magazine . He is the author of several books, including Coming Together, Coming Apart and If a Place Can Make You Cry .

From the Inside Flap

Israel is beset from all sides. In the international community, it is the only country whose right to exists is still debated. Closer to home, many Arab leaders continue to call for its destruction. Inside its borders, Israel’s own Arab population grows ever more hostile. And now, countless Jews within Israel and around the world have begun to lose faith in the very idea of a Jewish state. Can Israel weather these challenges? In Saving Israel, Daniel Gordis offers a new defense of the Jewish state, asking first why Israel is necessary, and then discussing what Israel has to do in order to survive its enemies. Gordis begins with a novel discussion of Israel’s purpose, reflecting on the overlooked ways in which Israel has changed the existential condition of Jews everywhere. In the process, he grapples with controversial questions about Israel, Israeli Arabs, Muslims, and the International community that many Israelis and American Jews are loath to confront. Gordis lays to rest an array of pernicious myths about Israel: Jews in the United States could thrive without Israel Israeli Arabs just want equality, and Palestinians simply want their own state Peace will come, if Israel is willing to make appropriate territorial compromises Fighting and winning wars is antithetical to Judaism Gordis suggestions for what Israel must do to survive, and more importantly, for how it must think if it is to have a future, are sure to arouse debate and even controversy. For Gordis’s book is a passionate reminder of Israel’s purpose, a celebration of what Israel has already accomplished, a renewal of faith in the cause, and a bold guide for carrying on the struggle. Saving Israel is a full-throated call to arms. Never has the case for defending the existence of Israel been made with such confidence, passion, and clarity.