Rubber Bullets: Power and Conscience in Modern Israel - Tapa blanda

"One of the most original and stimulating books about Israel and Zionism for a long time. . . . Mr. Ezrahi described brilliantly how Zionism came to devalue the Western ideals of individual happiness and self-realization."--Geoffrey Wheatcroft, "New York Times Book Review

This text offers an analysis of the ways that history, politics and the national character of Israel come to bear on current affairs there. Author Yaron Ezrahi regards surprising and devisive events - such as the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Benjamin Netanyahu's defeat of Shimon Peres in the subsequent ministerial election - as signs of an ongoing, fundamental conflict in Israeli society. He explores the ways in which the conflict is felt in diverse aspects of Israeli life and culture, from the social dimensions of military service and the development of the modern Hebrew language to Israelis' attitudes toward nature and the status of women. In chapters that blend analysis with memoir, Esrahi tells the story of Israel's transformation from a defensive, embattled society held together by a myth of national liberation to a prosperous liberal society that must make room for the many different stories of individual Israelis.