A sweeping and revelatory history of the hidden tradition of Jewish thinkers who opposed Zionism, from Pulitzer Prize winner Benjamin Moser.
In Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History, Benjamin Moser uncovers a suppressed tradition that has shaped Jewish thought for generations. Through a cast of artists, rabbis, poets, lawyers, activists, journalists, and politicians—from Europe and Africa and Asia and Latin America—Moser traces a lineage of Jewish dissenters who confronted Zionism’s moral and political stakes—often at devastating personal cost, including censorship, exile, and death.
Their lives form a sweeping, global narrative that dismantles a powerful myth: that anti-Zionism is synonymous with antisemitism. Spanning continents and centuries, these voices—people from the right and the left, Reform and Orthodox, Ashkenazic and Sephardic, men and women, gay and straight—differ sharply in belief and background, yet converge on a shared warning about the consequences of a nationalist project built on exclusion. What emerges is not only a rediscovered tradition of Jewish moral thought, but a startling reappraisal of Zionism itself.
Moser’s work restores the full scale and depth of Jewish ethical imagination, affirming that Judaism is older and larger than any single political project. Lucid, unsparing, and deeply humane, Anti-Zionism cements Moser’s place as one of our foremost Jewish writers and presents a framework through which this history—and its meanings—will be understood for years to come.
“An affirming text for anyone who has gone through the painful process of deconstructing their Zionism. . . .[It] reinforced my sense of pride in my ancestors who fought against the supremacist project in the name of what is right, and what is truly Jewish. . . .Benjamin Moser makes them all proud.” —Hannah Einbinder, Emmy Award winner and Golden Globe nominee for HBO’s Hacks
“With meticulous research, wit, and a searching moral candor, Benjamin Moser takes on decades of propaganda in these portraits of Jewish intellectuals and public figures in the shadow of Zionism’s grand narratives.... A lovingly-written historical primer for the free-thinkers of the West today, to whom this book says: You are in good company.” —Isabella Hammad, author of Enter Ghost
“Moser has written such an expansive, moving text. Sensitive, rigorous, and deeply personal.” —Raven Leilani, author of the New York Times bestseller Luster
“Riveting. . . .[Moser] has profoundly changed my understanding of history—the world’s, my people’s, my family’s, and my own.” —Ayelet Waldman, New York Times bestseller and author of A Perfect Hand
“A book of extraordinary moral clarity, with razor-sharp prose.” —Nathan Thrall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Day in the Life of Abed Salama
“Urgently necessary. . . .I hope it will be widely read.” —Peter Singer, author of The Life You Can Save
“A rare book that induces a simultaneous expansion of the mind and soul.” —Pankaj Mishra, author of The World After Gaza
“A trenchant history of Jewish opposition to Zionism. . . .Moser explores each [Jewish anti-Zionist] figure’s life with a keen biographer’s eye. . . .These illuminating profiles in courage challenge the myth of Zionism’s unilateral consensus.” —Publishers Weekly “This landmark book will jolt many readers out of a fabricated narrative, especially as it reflects an entirely Jewish perspective. It is well researched, rich in fact, and extremely pleasant to read.” —Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan and Antifragile
Benjamin Moser is the author of Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and a New York Times Notable Book of 2009. For his work bringing Clarice Lispector to international prominence, he received Brazil’s first State Prize for Cultural Diplomacy. Sontag: Her Life and Work won the Pulitzer Prize in 2020, and The Upside-Down World: Meetings with the Dutch Masters appeared in 2023. He completed the present book at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library.
View titles by Benjamin Moser
A sweeping and revelatory history of the hidden tradition of Jewish thinkers who opposed Zionism, from Pulitzer Prize winner Benjamin Moser.
In Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History, Benjamin Moser uncovers a suppressed tradition that has shaped Jewish thought for generations. Through a cast of artists, rabbis, poets, lawyers, activists, journalists, and politicians—from Europe and Africa and Asia and Latin America—Moser traces a lineage of Jewish dissenters who confronted Zionism’s moral and political stakes—often at devastating personal cost, including censorship, exile, and death.
Their lives form a sweeping, global narrative that dismantles a powerful myth: that anti-Zionism is synonymous with antisemitism. Spanning continents and centuries, these voices—people from the right and the left, Reform and Orthodox, Ashkenazic and Sephardic, men and women, gay and straight—differ sharply in belief and background, yet converge on a shared warning about the consequences of a nationalist project built on exclusion. What emerges is not only a rediscovered tradition of Jewish moral thought, but a startling reappraisal of Zionism itself.
Moser’s work restores the full scale and depth of Jewish ethical imagination, affirming that Judaism is older and larger than any single political project. Lucid, unsparing, and deeply humane, Anti-Zionism cements Moser’s place as one of our foremost Jewish writers and presents a framework through which this history—and its meanings—will be understood for years to come.
Praise
“An affirming text for anyone who has gone through the painful process of deconstructing their Zionism. . . .[It] reinforced my sense of pride in my ancestors who fought against the supremacist project in the name of what is right, and what is truly Jewish. . . .Benjamin Moser makes them all proud.” —Hannah Einbinder, Emmy Award winner and Golden Globe nominee for HBO’s Hacks
“With meticulous research, wit, and a searching moral candor, Benjamin Moser takes on decades of propaganda in these portraits of Jewish intellectuals and public figures in the shadow of Zionism’s grand narratives.... A lovingly-written historical primer for the free-thinkers of the West today, to whom this book says: You are in good company.” —Isabella Hammad, author of Enter Ghost
“Moser has written such an expansive, moving text. Sensitive, rigorous, and deeply personal.” —Raven Leilani, author of the New York Times bestseller Luster
“Riveting. . . .[Moser] has profoundly changed my understanding of history—the world’s, my people’s, my family’s, and my own.” —Ayelet Waldman, New York Times bestseller and author of A Perfect Hand
“A book of extraordinary moral clarity, with razor-sharp prose.” —Nathan Thrall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Day in the Life of Abed Salama
“Urgently necessary. . . .I hope it will be widely read.” —Peter Singer, author of The Life You Can Save
“A rare book that induces a simultaneous expansion of the mind and soul.” —Pankaj Mishra, author of The World After Gaza
“A trenchant history of Jewish opposition to Zionism. . . .Moser explores each [Jewish anti-Zionist] figure’s life with a keen biographer’s eye. . . .These illuminating profiles in courage challenge the myth of Zionism’s unilateral consensus.” —Publishers Weekly “This landmark book will jolt many readers out of a fabricated narrative, especially as it reflects an entirely Jewish perspective. It is well researched, rich in fact, and extremely pleasant to read.” —Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan and Antifragile
Benjamin Moser is the author of Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and a New York Times Notable Book of 2009. For his work bringing Clarice Lispector to international prominence, he received Brazil’s first State Prize for Cultural Diplomacy. Sontag: Her Life and Work won the Pulitzer Prize in 2020, and The Upside-Down World: Meetings with the Dutch Masters appeared in 2023. He completed the present book at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library.
View titles by Benjamin Moser
