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A.B. Yehoshua Seeks Peace

Through linguistics

by
Gabriel Sanders
June 10, 2009
Yehosua speaking in Milan last year.(Getty Images)
Yehosua speaking in Milan last year.(Getty Images)

Three years ago, Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua sparked an uproar when he told a Washington audience that only in Israel can one be a complete Jew, and that Jewish life in America was essentially meaningless. For an essay he published in Haaretz today, he appears to have reached back into his rhetorical tinderbox. Israel may still be the only place to be a complete Jew, but calling it the “Jewish state” has only caused trouble. His proposed alternative? It’s an Israeli state. This may seem “a mere linguistic issue,” he writes, but it, nevertheless, “offers a joint platform, on which it would be easier to begin the repairs.”

We’re not sure we share his optimism. But, then, what do we know? We’re just American Jews.

Gabriel Sanders is Tablet’s director of business development.