Benjamin Moser's 'Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History' and Omer Bartov's 'Israel: What Went Wrong?' Reviewed

A New Yorker review examines two books on Zionism and Israel. Benjamin Moser's 'Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History' (Doubleday) profiles twelve Jewish anti-Zionists, from Rabbi Aaron Samuel Tamares to photographer Nan Goldin, and argues that Zionism itself must be abandoned. The review criticizes Moser for factual errors, including misattributing a quote to historian Hava Eshkoli-Wagman, misrepresenting the Haavara Agreement, and claiming Zionists blocked the Wagner-Rogers Bill. It also notes that Moser's book lacks a sustained critique of Zionism's ideas. In contrast, historian Omer Bartov's 'Israel: What Went Wrong?' (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) argues that Israel's path was not inevitable but resulted from political choices, and that its war in Gaza was genocidal. Bartov calls for a confederation of Israel and Palestine and urges American Jews to adopt a narrow definition of antisemitism. The review contrasts Moser's essentialist narrative with Bartov's attention to contingency, concluding that Palestinian suffering should be understood on its own terms.