Paul Luckraft reviews ‘Israel: A simple guide to the most misunderstood country on earth’, by Noa Tishby (2022) 

The back cover blurb provides a helpful overview – “Through bite-sized chunks of history and deeply personal stories, Tishby chronicles her homeland’s evolution, beginning in Biblical times and moving forward to cover everything from WWI to Israel’s creation to the disputes dividing the country today. Tackling popular misconceptions with an abundance of facts, Tishby provides critical context around headline-generating controversies and offers a clear, intimate account of the richly cultured country of Israel.”

Author and subject

‘Israel’ is indeed a well-researched book written in a highly intelligent manner but with a personal touch. As such it is easy to read and presents a worthwhile supplement to the many other books on this matter.

The subtitle, ‘A simple guide to the most misunderstood country on earth’, leads us to expect that we will readily be able to engage with some of the most difficult and controversial aspects of Israel today, and this is indeed what we find within its pages.

The author is an actress, producer, writer and activist, born and raised in Tel Aviv. She served in the Israeli army before becoming a TV star in one of Israel’s prime-time dramas. She later moved to Los Angeles where she continued her career, while also becoming widely known as an unofficial ambassador for Israel. In 2022 she was given a role as a special envoy to combat antisemitism.  

It is easy to read and presents a worthwhile supplement to the many other books on this matter.

Anyone thinking of reading her book should be aware she is not a Messianic Jew or even a religious Jew in any significant way. However, she can still present a forceful case for the existence of modern Israel.

Contents

Her book is full of all the usual facts and arguments, but these are presented in a way that shows she was not detached from it all, either personally or through her family. She thus refers to what she writes as more ‘her-story’ than history.

This makes it a fascinating read. You gain all the important information you need in order to support Israel while seeing it all emerge from within someone’s personal life. The book is therefore part autobiographical and indeed the first chapter is entitled ‘A brief history of me’, with the intent of showing us why we can trust her with the story she is about to tell.

All the major issues are covered, from the establishment of Israel and the wars that followed, right up to modern day areas of contention, such as settlements and Gaza. Just for the facts of all these matters, the book is a useful addition to any others you may have on these topics, but the insights she brings from her personal perspective will make you glad to have bought this particular publication.

The insights she brings from her personal perspective will make you glad to have bought this particular publication.

Other features

The book also contains many useful features, such as a series of maps at the front and at the back a glossary, notes and an index.

Also particularly helpful is an appendix entitled ‘A much quicker guide’, a summary across six pages of what we most need to know in order to understand the most misunderstood country on earth.

‘Israel: A simple guide to the most misunderstood country on earth’ (333 pages) is published by published by Free Press (an imprint of Simon and Schuster) and is available from Amazon for £9.95 (inc p&p).