Who’s Afraid of the Nation State?

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Intellectual and political leaders are often tempted to do away with nationalism in favor of political arrangements (like the EU) that transcend and diminish the nation. To them and especially to the Israeli “post-Zionists,” Ofir Haivry and the editors of Azure offer a rebuke. In “Who’s Afraid of the Nation State?” (1998) they write:

The belief that Jews must rely upon themselves, foremost, is what built Israel. Those who concede that the international community and its moral stance offer the preferred path to peace and security are essentially giving up on the idea of the Jewish state. And if that idea is lost, it will not be long before the state’s right to exist is delegitimized as well—in the eyes of both its citizenry and the world.
This, then, is the question to ask at Israel’s mid-century mark: Is national sovereignty still the best tool for protecting the interests of the Jews? It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of Israel is bound up in this question.

Read the whole thing in Azure.

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