Hitchens, while always thought provoking and fun to read, takes an argument in so many directions that clarity is ever at risk. He considers whether Zionism has made Jews more or less safe and then recounts how Jews hold answers on all sides of that question. Hitchens also tries to cover all sides with his own conclusions. He doubts that a Jewish state will exist in Palestine in 100 years but surmises that a state for Jews may exist. Hitchens writes that Zionism has not solved anti-Semitism but merely repositioned it. He sees modern Israel not as an alternative to the diaspora but a portion of it - the part, ironically, that depends on non-Jews for protecting it from danger. To Hitchens, promulgation of anti-Semitism ... More »

Few writing in an major American publication could pull off an opinion piece about viability of the Israel in such an honest way. Hitchens, a consummate salesman of his brand of secularism, is able to criticize with a particular kind of objectivity because he looks down on everyone. a compelling read.

A worthy ramble, not especially big news or new insights. "The healing and repair of the human world" as a social goal of a state is a worthy idea, but the idea is not taken off the shelf.

As a big fan of Christopher Hitchens' commentary, I'm a little disappointed by this essay. He does a great job of identifying the most important existential questions facing Israel, but never really hits the nail on the head after that. Still, this sort of brain dump is informative in that it gives one cause to rise above blow-by-blow coverage and consider the top level issues at stake.

This commentray seems biased and short sighted, Like many future predictions it iws based on understanding the future based on current day issues. Today the Muslim world has power because they have oil and their ability to keep the people in line by lack of education. Anyone who predicts the future without consideration of changes on these two issues is lacking important information.

The main force that could keep Israel safe far into the future is the return to living the philosophy of Jabotinski and the other philosophical thinkers that laid the groundwork for Israel. One principle, for instance, was that Israelies must do every job in Israel from president to street sweeper. There were others. With the decline of true democracy in many of the supposed democratic countries of the world, Israel may be the truest exponent of democracy in the world. We live and survive by following examples. We certainly don't want this one to dissapear.

The matter is well analysed