Overview

In this collection of 40 columns written for RealClearPolitics between 2014 and 2024, Peter Berkowitz explains Israel by reporting events, examining ideas, and placing both in their larger geopolitical context. The senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution draws on the great Israeli mosaic of people, opinions, and aspirations to illuminate the domestic politics, diplomatic and national security imperatives, and multivalent spirit of the Middle East's only rights-protecting democracy. The carefully curated collection of essays in Explaining Israel demonstrates that to understand the Jewish state, it is necessary to appreciate the nation's accomplishments and setbacks, the sources of its political cohesiveness and the forces dividing it, and the splendid opportunities and grave threats that it confronts. The essays commence with Israel in 2014 at the height of its prosperity and self-confidence. They explore intensifying schisms inside the country and gathering dangers on its borders and throughout the region. And they culminate in penetrating analyses of the two crises that struck Israel in 2023. In January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's sweeping judicial-reform proposals set off bitter controversy and months of massive protests. Then on October 7, Iran-backed Hamas jihadists invaded Israel, massacred some 1,200 people and kidnapped around 250, enmeshing Israel in a seven-front war against Iran and its regional proxies. Berkowitz's essays clarify the breathtaking achievements, the heartbreak, and the remarkable resilience of a nation struggling valiantly to be Jewish, free, and democratic in a dangerous region crucial to America's interests.

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Reviews

""I know of no better way to enhance one's appreciation of Israel's inspiring achievements and daunting challenges, and to grasp the interests and principles that undergird the enduring friendship between the Jewish state and the United States of America, than to read Peter Berkowitz's deeply informed, well-crafted, and astute book."" --Mike Pompeo, 70th US Secretary of State ""At a time when the Jewish state is under siege and subject to sustained pressure from both left- and right-wing groups in the West, Peter Berkowitz's courageous and clear-eyed defense of Israel is a must-read for all who care about this exceptional state."" --Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University ""The political and geostrategic reality is becoming increasingly complex, making it ever more difficult to grasp. In his new book, Peter Berkowitz presents a series of insightful snapshots of this evolving reality. The panoramic picture that emerges from his perspectives makes this book one of the best guides for understanding the world as it transforms before our eyes."" --Micah Goodman, author of Catch-67

Author Information

Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is also a columnist for RealClearPolitics and serves as director of studies for The Public Interest Fellowship. From 2019 to 2021, he served as the director of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff, executive secretary of the department's Commission on Unalienable Rights, and senior advisor to the secretary of state. Berkowitz is a member of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters and a 2017 recipient of the Bradley Prize. He is author of Constitutional Conservatism: Liberty, Self-Government, and Political Moderation; Israel and the Struggle over the International Laws of War; Virtue and the Making of Modern Liberalism; and Nietzsche: The Ethics of an Immoralist. In addition, Berkowitz is the editor of seven collections of essays on political ideas and institutions and has written hundreds of articles, essays, and reviews on a range of subjects for a variety of publications. Berkowitz taught at the George Mason University School of Law from 1999 to 2006 and Harvard's Department of Government from 1990 to 1999. He holds a JD and a PhD in political science from Yale University, an MA in philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a BA in English literature from Swarthmore College. PeterBerkowitz.com

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