“Superb… The first critical analysis of Israel written from within... It's a deliberate act of self-awareness, exploring how a people got where they are.” — Time

“The most illuminating, even-handed, candid appraisal of the contemporary Jewish condition yet to appear” — Newsweek

“[A] penetrating, profound, explosive essay-analysis of the Israelis and the Jews... Elon is that very rare writer of contemporary history who can sincerely and honestly see and sympathize with the irreconcilable forces of so suicidal a death-embrace as the Israeli-Arab struggle... a moving, enlightening, stimulating book... this book is a beacon.” — David Schoenbrun, The New York Times

“Amos Elon should be praised... he has written the most acute, even-handed portrait yet of the perennially controversial Israelis... he has created a portrait that is as complex as it is palpable.” — Roger Jellinek, The New York Times

“An instant bestseller in Hebrew, and in English from 1971, it became required reading in schools and mirrored the lives of Israelis.” — The Guardian

“[A] superb book” — The Nation

“Amos Elon’s The Israelis stands out as a uniquely valuable book” — Commentary Magazine