Review of "The Israel Palestine Puzzle" by Joseph Heller, Moses Rischin

Taken from the diary of Judah Magnes, one of the founders of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Joseph Heller presents a history of the birth of Israel and the struggle between Magnes and David Ben-Gurion for the structure of the state. Would Israel be a Jewish-only state or one that could include both Jews and Arabs. This struggle continues to this day as Arabs seek justice for lands taken from them and as the Jews seek a secure homeland. Today we too often see this conflict as simply the Israelis expansion into Arab territories and Palestinian terrorism without any historic context. I'm sure I'm not the first to notice the irony that this author shares the name of the creator of "Catch-22". Heller gives us a very personal look at the men who were so critical at the time of the creation of Israel that also gives us an insight into the philosophy of those involved.