Review by James Nathan Post,Postscript Publishing CompanyAlbuquerque NM,jam...@aol.com
This is certainly one of the most powerful and exciting books I have ever read. Regardless of one's personal position with respect to the right of Israel to exist as a nation and to compete for power in the world, the logic of this book and the consequences of that logic offer an invaluable viewpoint on the issue.Shoher has done a masterful job of clearly stating that which is obvious to the objective and informed observer, but unspeakable in a time when political correctness demands that only the most tolerant and compromising of postures may be openly taken in international and intercultural intercourse.
Shoher is not a fast or easy read.He makes his points rigorously, and uses a wealth of history and apparent personal experience to do so.It is refreshing even if sometimes shocking that he does not take an apologetic tone, or repeat polite disclaimers about the objectives and options available to Israel, or about the clear conclusions to which taking a pragmatic and objective look at those options must necessarily lead.
In calling Samson Blinded a Machiavellian perspective, Shoher is using the term in the most complimentary sense he can.He points out that does not represent a policy of ruthless use of power for its own sake, but instead a most practical, economical, and in the long run, humane use of power. Whatever might be said about one's right to do something, or the rightness of one's claim to religious or historical justification for doing it, the power to do it is de facto.Shoher contends with Machiavelli that the most effective use of power is to take decisive, unchallengable, and unquestionable actions, and to bring the matter to as rapid an end as possible. Both the victors and the conquered are best able to get on with the results.
The failure to take such decisive and conclusive actions is to perpetuate an endless hostility, accompanied by an endless discourse, which relentless siege in the end will bleed the country dry, or at some point provoke the large-scale terrorist militant attack which the tiny and densely populated country cannot survive.
I believe it is fair to say Shoher is not calling for Israel to do this or to do that, nor for anyone to rise up in response to what he has written and take action of one kind or other.He points out that the justifying rhetoric behind the different positions of every group involved is equally arguable, and moot.He alleges that the groups involved have traits of behavior with centuries of history to attest to, and their behavior under certain circumstances is reasonably predictable. He points out that though the playing field is complex, there are only a relatively few options which Israel might take in a given situation. The consequences of decisively or indecisively exercising those options are all too simply clear.
Whether you would be the militant Lion Of Judah, a Neo-Nazi for Allah, or an open-minded honest person trying to make some objective sense of the maelstrom of movements and motivations surrounding the existence of Israel, this is an extreme viewpoint well worth taking the time to examine.