The Future Of Israel

For the Future of Israel reveals the character of a leader who participated in the birth of his country and whose thoughts remain ever on the future - on the basis and prospects for peace. In five conversations with novelist and former Newsweek correspondent Robert Littell, Peres reflects on his youth in shtetl and kibbutz, the impact of the Holocaust on world affairs, what it means to be a Jew, and the ongoing struggle to end terrorism and forge peace between Israel and its neighbors. The interviews reflect the changed State of Israel since the assassination of Yitzak Rabin (after which Peres was named prime minister and defense minister) and the subsequent election of a Likud-led government in Israel and its renegotiation of the Oslo agreements. Peres speaks candidly of his dealings with Arafat and of his close, complementary relationship with Rabin. Ranging widely over the last fifty years, he ponders the effect of the occupation of the territories on the character of his country. He gives his views on public figures he has known (among them Ben Gurion, Mitterrand, Reagan, Netanyahu, Yeltsin, and Clinton), the qualities of good leadership, and the dangers of extremism and religious parties.

Future Israel: Why Christian Anti-Judaism Must Be Challenged is volume three in the NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY STUDIES IN BIBLE & THEOLOGY (NACSBT) series for pastors, advanced Bible students, and other deeply committed laypersons. Author Barry E. Horner writes to persuade readers concerning the divine validity of the Jew today (based on Romans 11:28), as well as the nation of Israel and the land of Palestine, in the midst of this much debated issue within Christendom at various levels. He examines the Bible's consistent pro-Judaic direction, namely a Judeo-centric eschatology that is a unifying feature throughout Scripture. Not sensationalist like many other writings on this constantly debated topic, Future Israel is instead notably exegetical and theological in its argumentation. Users will find this an excellent extension of the long-respected NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY.

God’s promise and timing have intersected in our day. Witness the Jewish return to Israel, the rise of Messianic Jewish believers and the shifting of the Church’s power center from the West to Asia, Africa and Latin America, the fastest growing segments of the Body of Christ in our day. This has brought about many questions as the Church comes to grips with these sweeping changes. What does Scripture say about the future of the nation of Israel? What is right and wrong about the Messianic Jewish movement? Where do the Arab nations fit into God’s plan? How does this all affect the Church and how can the Church fulfill its role in this end-time scenario? Don Finto explores these questions and shows how to navigate the new landscape in this illuminating book.

A provocative argument for a new way of seeing Israel, Zionism, and the two-state solution. Haifa Republic: A Democratic Future for Israel is an urgent wake-up call. The philosopher Omri Boehm argues that it is long past time to recognize that there will not be a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people. After fifty years, Israel’s occupation of the West Bank constitutes annexation in all but name, even as the legitimate claims of the Arab population, soon to be a national majority, remain unaddressed. Meanwhile, daily life goes on under conditions rightly likened to apartheid. For liberals in Israel and America to continue to place their hopes in a two-state solution is a form of willful and culpable blindness, especially now that Israeli leaders across the political spectrum have begun to speak of ethnic cleansing. A catastrophe is in the making. But Haifa Republic also offers grounds for hope. Catastrophe can be averted, Boehm contends, by reconfiguring Israel as a single binational state in which Palestinians and Jews both possess human rights and equal citizenship. The original Zionists—Theodor Herzl, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, and, early in his career, David Ben-Gurion—all advocated such a federation, and as prime minister, Menachem Begin successfully submitted a kindred plan to the Knesset. A binational federation offers a last chance for the two peoples who call Palestine home to live in peace and mutual respect and to have a truly democratic future in common.

The Jewish people are in greater danger than ever before. Given the debacle in Iraq, many Americans who had not taken a serious interest in the Middle East have begun asking themselves, What are we doing wrong? Why do we keep misreading the signals coming from that part of the world? More fundamentally, where will Israel be in two, five, ten years from now? Should Zionism be replaced by a post-Zionist state that welcomes all people, rather than one that privileges only the Jews? Will there even be a Jewish state? These are the questions Constance Hilliard addresses in Does Israel Have a Future?, forgoing polemics and wishful thinking for straight talk and painful truths. In this thoroughly researched book, Hilliard presents an honest assessment of the Jewish state's chances for survival given the forces ranged against it. The discussions about the future of the Jewish state analyzed in this book are some of the most significant to engage Israelis since 1948, dominating the airwaves, newspapers, and café conversations. Distilling these disparate views into a simple, straightforward exploration of one of the most explosive issues of our time—one into which few people outside Israel have delved as deeply as Hilliard has—the author presents a provocative argument that will appeal to scholars and students of international affairs, political science, and the Middle East, as well as general readers concerned about Israel's future.

The United States Institute of Peace's Project on Arab-Israeli Futures is a research effort designed to anticipate and assess obstacles and opportunties facing the peace process over the next five to ten years. Stepping back from the day-to-day ebb and flow of events in the Middle East, this project examines broader, "over-the-horizon" developments that could foreclose future options or offer new opportunities for peace. The effort brings together U.S., Israeli, and Arab researchers. In this report Yossi Alpher identifies which local, regional, and international trends will have the greatest impact on Israel's relationship with Palestinians in the coming years.

In The Future of the Jews, Stuart E. Eizenstat, a senior diplomat of international reputation, surveys the major geopolitical, economic, and security challenges facing the world in general, and the Jewish world and the United States in particular. These forces include the shift of power and influence from the United States and Europe to the emerging powers in Asia and Latin America; globalization and the new information age; the battle for the direction of the Muslim world; nontraditional security threats; changing demographics, which pose a particular challenge for Jews worldwide and the rise of a new anti-Semitism that seeks to delegitimize Israel as a Jewish state. He also discusses the enduring nature of and challenges to the strategic alliance between the United States and Israel. Eizenstat’s provocative analysis will be of interest to everyone concerned about the future of Jews worldwide and in Israel and the United States’ role in a world that is confronting unprecedented simultaneous, cataclysmic changes.