NISSIM REJWAN, Israel in Search of Identity: Reading the Formative Years (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1999). Pp. 188.

Abstract

Once one lets go of the expectation of a more scholarly treatment of the complex issues of identity in Israel and the Middle East, one can appreciate the less rigorous but nevertheless nuanced conversations that Nissim Rejwan brings to this volume. Despite a dearth of footnotes, non-existent bibliography, somewhat haphazard organization, and overly ambitious aims, there still emerges an astute critique of the Ashkenazi-dominated Israeli establishment. Without ever using the word, Rejwan details a particular brand of racism that creates an illusion of a homogenous “other” out of a diverse mix of Jewish Israelis of Middle Eastern, North African, and African origin, as well as non-Jewish Palestinian and Middle Eastern Arabs.