No Country for Jewish Liberals [Hardcover]

No Country for Jewish Liberalsis Larry Derfner’s personal and political story of life in contemporary Israel, describing how an American Jewish emigrant and his adopted country grew apart. Taking readers from his boyhood in Los Angeles as the son of Holocaust escapees, through his coming of age amidst the upheavals of 1960s America, to his move to Israel and controversial career in journalism, Derfner explores Israel’s moral decline through the lens of his own experiences. This provocative book blends memoir, reportage, and commentary in a riveting narrative of a society whose mentality of fear and aggression has made it increasingly alien to Jewish liberals.

"An insightful, eloquent, intimate book about the liberal Jewish dilemma: How to love a country whose policies you hate." —Peter Beinart, author,The Crisis of Zionism

"No Country for Jewish Liberals is a masterful personal analysis of the deterioration of Israel’s relations with its Palestinian neighbors and its deleterious impact on the country’s democratic ethos. Larry Derfner’s political awakening is a bittersweet story of love of Israel and disillusion with its trajectory, of alienation from its policies and complete involvement with its people and their future. Any liberal will recognize the evolution of feelings and insights that he conveys so skillfully in this accessible and poignant political memoir. This is truly a must read for those who care deeply about Israel and worry about where it’s going." —Naomi Chazan, former Deputy Speaker, Knesset; Professor emerita, Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

"I’ve read Larry Derfner’s impassioned but also factual columns with considerable interest over the years. He’s insightful, clever and even manages to be funny. The publication of this book is a welcome capstone to his career." —Normală