We Are Not One

A History of America’s Fight Over Israel

By: Eric Alterman

Narrated by: David Colacci

A bestselling historian uncovers the surprising roots of America's long alliance with Israel and its troubling consequences

Fights about the fate of the state of Israel, and the Zionist movement that gave birth to it, have long been a staple of both Jewish and American political culture. But despite these arguments' significance to American politics, American Jewish life, and to Israel itself, no one has ever systematically examined their history and explained why they matter.

In We Are Not One, historian Eric Alterman traces this debate from its nineteenth-century origins. Following Israel's 1948-1949 War of Independence (called the "nakba" or "catastrophe" by Palestinians), few Americans, including few Jews, paid much attention to Israel or the challenges it faced. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, however, almost overnight support for Israel became the primary component of American Jews' collective identity. Over time, Jewish organizations joined forces with conservative Christians and neoconservative pundits and politicos to wage a tenacious fight to define Israel's image in the United States media, popular culture, Congress, and college campuses. Deeply researched, We Are Not One reveals how our consensus on Israel and Palestine emerged and why, today, it is fracturing.

©2022 Eric Alterman (P)2023 Tantor

Key insights about the U.S. Israel Relationship

This is a particularly important book given the present conflict in Gaza and if you think the U.S. support for Israel should be reconsidered, this books should be required reading. Since 10/7, I've been reading a number of histories of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians including works by Benny Morris, Ilan Pappe, Avi Shlaim and Rashid Khalidi which have greatly broadened my understanding of the conflict. However, none of these works have deeply considered the key role that the U.S. has played in the support of Israel. "We are not one" provides a generally even-handed view of the internal U.S. politics responsible for the "special relationship" U.S. has with Israel. Both AIPAC and the B.D.S. movement are critically scrutinized. I learned a great deal about how the Right Wing Israeli Governments are much more aligned with Christian Zionists than with mainstream American Jewry. The writing is highly engaging and the narration is clear.

Very helpful information

content excellent, but reader sometimes sounded snide. it has provoked me to buy a printed copy.

Comprehensive history

A thorough telling of a complicated relationship. An important perspective that I found very enlightening.

an excellent book

Essential reading for liberal Jews wondering what happened to Israel and the extreme right wing movement that bellicosely denounces them daring to ask hard questions.

Seemed balanced at first.

The beginning of the book was pretty informative. However, when it gets to the Trump administration, the author injects heavy anti-Trump rhetoric. It was almost like listening to two different books. Pretty disappointing.