The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance by Shaul Magid

     This is an interesting book that deals with Zionism, post-Zionism, counter-Zionism, exile, diaspora, postmodernism, and everything in between. At some points it was very esoteric and sort of beyond my comprehension, but it was still thought provoking when I was able to understand it. It reads like a literature review, since Magid basically structures each chapter as a response to other authors or an analysis/synthesis of other thinkers. 

    Magid identifies a crisis in liberal Zionism in that the desire for Jews to own or control the land of Israel conflicts with the rights of Palestinians to live there, as well as with the desire for a plural democracy. Magid essentially says that Israel should dispose with Zionism and accept victory in the Jews having arrived, and now implement a true democracy, the only legitimate way forward. But I remain unconvinced after reading the book that this idea is any better than Israelis throwing themselves at the mercy of more numerous Palestinians/Arabs who would outvote Jews in elections. And since the two communities have no trust between each other, this doesn't seem like a very functional state.