Professor Jeffrey Herf will engage us with a discussion about his most recent publication, Israel’s Moment, exposing the political realities that underpinned support for and opposition to Zionist aspirations in Palestine. 

 

The book explores the role of the U.S., the Arab States, the Zionists, and key European governments from Britain and France to the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, and sheds new light on how and why the state of Israel was established in 1948. Jeffrey Herf challenges the conventional associations of left and right, imperialism and anti-imperialism, and racism and anti-racism as those terms apply to the debates about establishing the Jewish state. Especially in view of events in Israel today, he urges us to recall the liberalism and modernity of Israel's founding generation.

 

Besides being the step-father of CST member Josh Weil, Jeffrey Herf is an historian of modern European, especially of modern German history. In addition to Israel's Moment, several of his publications include The Jewish Enemy:  Nazi Propaganda During World War II and the Holocaust (2006), Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World (2009), and essays on antisemitism before and since the Holocaust. He is an Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Maryland, College Park. He has lectured widely in this country, in Europe, and Israel, and has published essays in recent years on contemporary history and politics in journals of opinion such as American Purpose, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, The Times of Israel, American Interest, The Washington Post, The Tablet Magazine,  and Quillette. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with his wife, the historian and artist, Sonya Michel."