Eye on Israel

Michelle Mart is Associate Professor of History at Penn State at Berks.

• Preface 1. Images of the "New Jew" in Postwar Culture: Building on the Legacies of Antisemitism and the Holocaust 2. United States and the Founding of Israel: A Particularist State with a Universal Mission 3. Views of the New Jewish State: The "Americanization" of Israel 4. The 1950s Religious Revival and "Christianizing" the Image of Israel and Jews 5. Acceptance and Assimilation: Jews in 1950s American Culture and Politics 6. The Cold War, Suez, and Beyond: Cultural Images and Changing American-Israeli Relations in the Late 1950s ConclusionNotesBibliography

"…Eye on Israel is an intelligent and historically grounded study of the image of Israel in the United States from the mid-1940s to the late 1950s … [it] is a truly valuable book that combines diplomatic and cultural history in innovative ways … It is [a] book that will interest scholars in diplomatic studies, Middle East studies, American Studies, and ethnic studies, as well as readers who are interested in the history of the Israel or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One can only hope that Mart continues down this path; I would love to see the book that takes this story through the 1967 war and beyond." — Melani McAlister, American Jewish History"Mart's book … adds to the literature and provides a number of enlightening examples and quotes. Read as a cultural-intellectual—and less as a political-strategic—study of evolving attitudes toward Jews in postwar America, this book supplements our understanding of what emerged as a central issue of U.S. foreign policy in later years." — American Historical Review"…an impressive, well-documented and original effort to impart new insights and significance to a research field that is permeated with simplistic and superficial generalizations." — The Journal of Israeli History"Historians in a variety of fields will appreciate Mart's analysis of American popular culture and its influence on political issues. Her documentation is carefully used and impressive in its range. A more general audience will also appreciate this volume for its lively narrative and engaging subject matter." — The Journal of American History"This is a dazzling combination of social, cultural, intellectual, political, and diplomatic history, relying on a wealth of previously untapped original sources to provide a more nuanced look at the American response to the partition of Palestine and the establishment of the State of Israel." — David Desser, coauthor of American Jewish Filmmakers, Second Edition