Nation and History: Israeli Historiography Between Zionism and Post-Zionism Yoav Gelber In the last two decades, Israel has been in a paradoxical situation. On the one hand the Jewish State has reached unprecedented prosperity; on the other hand it is haunted by existential fears for its future, identity and survival. Israel's legitimacy is under assault from within and outside by a peculiar coalition consisting of left-wing radicals at one end, through Palestinians and their sympathizers in the Middle East and the West, to Muslim fundamentalists at the other end. All partners of this alignment deny the existence of a Jewish nation and argue that a non-existent nation does not need a nation state. Hence, Israel should either disappear completely or become 'a state of all its citizens' devoid of any Jewish symbol or identity. The origins of this campaign are twofold. One is historical, and derives from the traditional opposition that has accompanied Zionism from its inception. The second is contemporary, articulating the post-ist fads that swamped the West since the 1980s. The past occupies a prominent place in this crusade that aims at the present and future. Traditional historiography, scientific and pseudo-scientific, and the new vogue of memory and narrative that claims to be the true history of human experience are equally abused to delegitimize Israel. The book follows these two paths, while avoiding disputes over current political issues. First, it portrays the disciplinary background - the evolution of the modern history discipline. Subsequently, it focuses on the conflicting approaches to the cardinal issue of Zionism's essence: is it a national liberation movement of European origin that offered a solution to the modern Jewish Question in a world of nationalities? Or is it a colonial movement that oppressed equally Arabs and oriental Jews? In making this analysis, the book endeavours to confuse the post-Zionist critics with something they dislike most - the facts. Yoav Gelber has been a career officer in the IDF and is now Professor Emeritus at the University of Haifa and head of the Jewish Peoplehood Section at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.