 First edition cover | |
| Author | Alan Dershowitz |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | John Wiley & Sons |
Publication date | 2003 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 264 |
| ISBN | 978-0-471-46502-7 |
The Case for Israel is a 2003 book bypro-Israel American lawyerAlan Dershowitz in which the author responds to commoncriticisms of Israel.The Case for Israel was aNew York Times bestseller.[1]
It also led to the public controversy known as theDershowitz–Finkelstein affair.
The book is divided into several chapters, each of which addresses what Dershowitz identifies as being particularly strong accusations and myths about Israel, such as "Israel is the 'prime' human rights violator in the world" and "Israel is the cause of theArab–Israeli conflict." Each chapter is divided into several sections. "The Accusation" states a common criticism of Israel, "The Accusers" lists several quotations from critics supporting the accusation, "The Reality" contains a short statement contradicting the accusation, and "The Proof" contains Dershowitz's explanation of his viewpoint.Edward Said andNoam Chomsky are among the critics that he quotes the most heavily. The research assistants mentioned in the book's acknowledgements include Natalie Hershlag, the birthname ofIsraeli-American actressNatalie Portman.[2][3][4]
Dershowitz has released a sequel in 2005 championing thetwo-state solution. The book,The Case for Peace, explains what he believes is needed to be done in order to achieve peace in theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict.
In aNew York Times review,Ethan Bronner called the book a polemic that argues "vehemently -- and fairly convincingly -- that contemporary European and Arab discourse on the Middle East is indefensibly unbalanced against Israel" without dismissing the scholarship of the New Historians. He notes that "Dershowitz is especially effective at pointing to the hypocrisy of many of Israel's critics."[5]
The political scientistNorman Finkelstein has claimed the book is a "hoax"[6] and that some of its citations areplagiarized fromFrom Time Immemorial, a 1984 book byJoan Peters.[7] After a heated exchange between the two onDemocracy Now!, in which Finkelstein repeatedly accused Dershowitz of plagiarism and questioned his credentials to teach at Harvard University,[8] Finkelstein released a book,Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History, whose second part is aboutThe Case for Israel. The book lists many examples of text that Finkelstein claims Dershowitz to have lifted from Peters. A Harvard Law School investigation led by former Harvard presidentDerek Bok found the plagiarism charges to be without merit. Finkelstein later agreed to delete all references to "plagiarism" from his book, instead writing that Dershowitz "lifted" or "appropriated" text from Peters, but said he only did it to avoid a lawsuit.[9][10]