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Thanks, David. While Israel still has very much to offer the world - science, high technology, medicine, and culture, I think it would not be wrong to see Israel's political evolution as a 2,000-year-old tragedy. It is hard for me to hold out room for optimism. A nation can simply not hold dominion over five million people forever without suffering from moral decay (which it is) or politically disintegrating, which it might.

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I enjoyed reading it. A very balanced write-up.

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Wow, Joe! What a terrific interview. As someone who would never attempt a 500 page history, I really appreciate this discussion of Israel.

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Many thanks, Ed. Alterman's book is so engaging a read that the pages just flew by. I truly wanted it to go on.

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Jan 11, 2023·edited Jan 11, 2023

A subject that is so fraught, I hesitate to comment. I appreciate that you allude to the task of maintaining some kind of honoring of religious/spiritual impulse for those of us in the diaspora. For me the value of quest for Zion is as a metaphor and ideal which is exclusive of if not antithetical to - the place where exceptionalism and tribal hatred lives.

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Great to hear from you, Paul. Yes, the issue is so fraught that any comment is apt to bring criticism, rebuke, and not infrequently, name-calling from those who are assured they are in possession of unqualified truth. It is a sorry state of affairs, which, needless to say, is not a salutary environment for peace-making.

Zionism is a very broad and protean concept with many shades of meaning. I like yours, and I believe the Israeli Declaration of Independence attempts to express that spirit. How far Israel has fallen from its ideals!

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Thanks, Joe.

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You are most welcome, Abe.

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Most informative!

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Thanks, Joe. Very informative.

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As always, I am sincerely grateful for your interest, Jean.

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well done, though more than sad, actually tragic.

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