The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A groundbreaking work that overturns the conventional understanding of the IsraeliAmerican relationship and, in doing so, explores how fundamental debates about American identity drive our countrys foreign policy.A sweeping and masterfully told historyThe New York TimesIn this bold examination of the IsraeliAmerican relationship, Walter Russell Mead demolishes the myths that both proZionists and antiZionists have fostered over the years. He makes clear that Zionism has always been a divisive subject in the American Jewish community, and that American Christians have often been the most fervent supporters of a Jewish state, citing examples from the time of J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller to the present day.He spotlights the almost forgotten story of leftwing support for Zionism, arguing that Eleanor Roosevelt and liberal New Dealers had more influence on President Trumans Israel policy than the American Jewish communityand that Stalins influence was more decisive than Trumans in Israels struggle for independence. Mead shows how Israels rise in the Middle East helped kindle both the modern evangelical movement and the Sunbelt coalition that carried Reagan into the White House. Highlighting the real sources of Israels support across the American political spectrum, he debunks the legend of the socalled Israel lobby. And, he describes the aspects of American culture that make it hostile to antiSemitism and warns about the danger to that tradition of tolerance as our current culture wars heat up.With original analysis and in lively prose, Mead illuminates the AmericanIsraeli relationship, how it affects contemporary politics, and how it will influence the future of both that relationship and American life.