Review of New Book on Truman & American Zionists

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Review of New Book on Truman & American Zionists

John Judis's Genesis: Truman, American Jews, and the Origins of the Arab/Israeli Conflict is a superbly researched book that succeeds in being remarkably fair and even-handed.  It is not simply a work of history; in his introduction, Judis writes that the book is "primarily about what Americans can learn from the failure of the Truman administration to resolve the conflict between Zionism and Arab nationalism."  He narrates  innumerable examples in which domestic American (primarily Jewish) political pressure on Truman distorted American leadership and prevented a possible outcome that might have been fairer to the Palestinians.

However, Judis also is at pains to point out that the Arabs in the 1940's, and especially the Palestinians led by Hajj Amin el-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, were even less interested in compromise.  His conclusion is not about what could have been in 1948 but rather what can be in the near future, if Obama withstands similarly intense pressure to accept Israel's priorities in the current negotiations.  He is explicit about the similarity of the two situations and the pressures brought on each president.