Sara Yael Hirschhorn

As Dr. Hirschhorn notes in her introduction, there is a popular picture of the American-Israeli settler--overrepresented amongst the settlers-- as an extremist. The real picture, as she sets out to show, is more nuanced.

In part due to research limitations (there is a 30 year locked period for official documents) the bulk of the book focuses on the earlier years of settlement. This generation came of age at the time of the Six Day War of 1967. Many of the Jews who emigrated to Israel saw themselves as liberals, though some had been disillusioned by changes in US political movements. They saw settlement as an opportunity and a fulfillment of Jewish dreams. Their view of themselves as pioneers echoes both the chalutzim of the Israeli past and the settlers of the American West.

The core of the book focuses on three specific settlements: Yamit, Efrat, and Tekoa. Dr. Hirschhorn has chosen to focus on settlements where Americans were involved not just as individuals, but as key parts of the planning process. All of these differ from the stereotype in key ways. Yamit, as part of the Sinai, is an interesting story in its own right, but politically is very different from the West Bank. However, the settlers here faced similar issues to the rest: the Americans were ill equipped on their own to tackle Israeli bureaucracy, and their approach and vision were not aligned with the strategic aims of the Israeli government.

In both Efrat and Tekoa, the ideals of their American founders have coexisted uneasily within the wider context of Israeli politics. Efrat is periodically mocked as "Occupied Scarsdale," with an affluent, heavily American population, a high standard of living, and a famous, religiously liberal founder-rabbi. In order to found Efrat, Rav Riskin and his partners had to navigate opposition from HaKibbutz HaDati and Gush Emunim, retaining their independence. But Efrat has become part of the conflict regardless, with leaders navigating between talk of coexistence and expansion towards neighboring villages. Meanwhile, Tekoa has maintained its unique internal harmony between religious and secular populations, often separated in settlements, but has also been drawn into the wider picture.

Although she identifies as a liberal Zionist, Dr. Hirschhorn is not interested in pushing a simplified political point of view from any side. Even when dealing with the settlers of Hebron in the introduction, regarded as among the most right wing, she seeks to portray them as individuals with complex motivations. Her mission is to explain, not to judge.

The fifth chapter is a brief survey of some more recent events, including Dr. Baruch Goldstein and recent movements. It would have been interesting to see more on Americans elsewhere in the territories and how they live and interact in a more Israeli millieu--including the stereotypical large kippa wearing, bearded settlers arguing in Brooklyn accented English on TV--but that was outside the scope of the project.

Overall, this was a well researched, absorbing, and non-polemical view. Highly recommended.… (mais)