Larry Derfner is an Israeli-American journalist, living in Modi'in, Israel with his wife Philippa and sons Alon and Gilad. He currently works at Haaretz as a copy editor and op-ed contributor. His career began at City News Service of Los Angeles in 1981 and continued after his move to Israel where learned Hebrew and took a position with the Jerusalem Post. Derfner has contributed to U.S. News and World Report, the Sunday Times of London, Salon, The Nation, Tablet, Forward, +972 Magazine and many other publications.
"Highly recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates
through faculty." --R. W. Olson, CHOICE
"No Country for Jewish Liberals is a masterful personal analysis of
the deterioration of Israel's relations with its Palestinian
neighbors and its deleterious impact on the country's democratic
ethos. Larry Derfner's political awakening is a bittersweet story
of love of Israel and disillusion with its trajectory, of
alienation from its policies and complete involvement with its
people and their future. Any liberal will recognize the evolution
of feelings and insights that he conveys so skillfully in this
accessible and poignant political memoir. This is truly a must read
for those who care deeply about Israel and worry about where it's
going." --Naomi Chazan, former Deputy Speaker, Knesset; Professor
emerita, Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"An insightful, eloquent, intimate book about the liberal Jewish
dilemma: How to love a country whose policies you hate." --Peter
Beinart, author, The Crisis of Zionism
"Anyone seeking to understand liberal disillusionment with Israel
should look no further than Larry Derfner's scathingly contrarian
memoir of Zionist disenchantment, a cri de coeur for his adopted
home, which, despite it all, he still loves. Derfner's stark
message for those who warn of Israel's immoral future is that,
although he believes the country is not beyond redemption, the
future has long since arrived." --Nathan Thrall, author, The Only
Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and
Palestine
"Derfner--who does not cease to be a field reporter even after
being fired for his non-kosher views--offers much more than a
memoir. An insider and an outsider in his adopted country, his
personal journey is a description of a society's contradictions,
and his own contemplative zigzags--a tale about Israel's drift into
an abyss." --Amira Hass, Haaretz's correspondent for the Occupied
Territories; author, Drinking the Sea at Gaza
"Larry Derfner has written a fascinating memoir of growing up in
Los Angeles and moving to Israel and finding happiness in his
everyday life there, but being beset by a growing realization that
he is living in a morally failed state, and can do little to change
it. It is a riveting account of Israel's history told through the
lens of Derfner's life. I had trouble putting it down." --John B.
Judis, author, Genesis: Truman, American Jews, and the Origins of
the Arab/Israeli Conflict
"Larry Derfner has written a street-talking, brash, incredibly
readable and thoughtful memoir about his 30-plus years in Israel,
and the battle between his ideals and his affection for the
country. It's a useful antidote for the usual shouting points of
debate about Israel. No matter what view of Israel you have when
you begin reading, you'll have a more complicated and conflicted
view when you finish." --Gershom Gorenberg, author, The Unmaking of
Israel
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