Israelophobia cover art

Israelophobia

The Newest Version of the Oldest Hatred and What To Do About It

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Israelophobia

By: Jake Wallis Simons
Narrated by: Jake Wallis Simons, Jake Wallis Simons Ltd
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £17.94

Buy Now for £17.94

About this listen

 'This is an important and necessary book by a superb and subtle writer. There's no one more qualified to write it than Jake Wallis Simons, both as ground-breaking Middle East security correspondent and Editor of the Jewish Chronicle. It analyses the often prejudiced coverage and intense scrutiny of Israel that so often veers into obsession and outright demonisation; and traces its origins from Medieval European and Stalinist antisemitism to the present day. It discusses why this nation is judged so differently from others in a supposedly rational and progressive era. A companion in some ways to David Baddiel's Jews Don't Count, it is a book that fascinatingly analyses the dark sides of our world today -political, national, cultural and digital - and exposes uncomfortable truths' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE

'"I can't be anti-Semitic: I have nothing against Jews individually, I only hate them by the country." Such is the delusion that Jake Wallis Simons sets out to discredit in this excellent and fearless book, dismantling its mendacities with a scholarly and logical thoroughness that makes you wonder if there will ever be an Israelophobe left standing again. Buy copies to distribute to your kindergarten groups and universities, anyway, just in case. And then buy another copy for yourself. It does the heart good to see one of the greatest expressions of collective animus exposed for the sanctimonious posturing it is. Israelophobia is a book we all need' HOWARD JACOBSON

'Timely and important' TELEGRAPH

'Fascinating' SPECTATOR

In the Middle Ages, Jews were hated for their religion. In the twentieth century, they were hated because of their race. Today, Jews are hated for something else entirely, their nation-state of Israel. Antisemitism has morphed into something both ancient and modern: Israelophobia. But how did this transformation occur? And why?

Award-winning journalist Jake Wallis Simons answers these questions, clarifying the line between criticism and hatred, exploring game-changing facts and exposing dangerous discourse.

Urgent, incisive and deeply necessary, Israelophobia reveals why the Middle East's only democracy, which uniquely respects the rights of women and sexual and religious minorities, attracts such disproportionate levels of slander. Rather than defending Israel against all criticism, it argues for reasonable disagreement based on reality instead of bigotry.

Through charting the history of Israelophobia - starting in Nazi Germany, travelling via the Kremlin to Tehran and along fibre optic cables to billions of screens - and using it to understand contemporary prejudice, this timely book will restore much-needed sanity to the debate, creating the space for mutual understanding, tolerance and peace.©2023 Jake Wallis Simons Ltd Political Science Politics & Government Racism & Discrimination Social Sciences United States World Middle East Iran Thought-Provoking Discrimination Social justice Imperialism Refugee Middle Ages Judaism Africa Socialism Holocaust Human Rights Interwar Period

Critic reviews

This is an important and necessary book by a superb and subtle writer. There's no one more qualified to write it than Jake Wallis Simons, both as ground-breaking Middle East security correspondent and Editor of the Jewish Chronicle. It analyses the often prejudiced coverage and intense scrutiny of Israel that so often veers into obsession and outright demonisation; and traces its origins from Medieval European and Stalinist antisemitism to the present day. It discusses why this nation is judged so differently from others in a supposedly rational and progressive era. A companion in some ways to David Baddiel's Jews Don't Count, it is a book that fascinatingly analyses the dark sides of our world today -political, national, cultural and digital - and exposes uncomfortable truths (Simon Sebag Montefiore)
"I can't be anti-Semitic: I have nothing against Jews individually, I only hate them by the country." Such is the delusion that Jake Wallis Simons sets out to discredit in this excellent and fearless book, dismantling its mendacities with a scholarly and logical thoroughness that makes you wonder if there will ever be an Israelophobe left standing again. Buy copies to distribute to your kindergarten groups and universities, anyway, just in case. And then buy another copy for yourself. It does the heart good to see one of the greatest expressions of collective animus exposed for the sanctimonious posturing it is. Israelophobia is a book we all need (Howard Jacobson)
Timely and important . . . While Simons provides an exhaustive and damning study in the way the Left has sought to portray Israel as a pariah state, he contends that it is still possible to reverse this pernicious trend, so long as Israel's many supporters are willing to highlight the country's many virtues, not least its democratic values and respect for the rule of law, qualities that are not obviously apparent elsewhere in the Middle East
[Israelophobia] removes the final alibi that you can be anti-Zionist without being antisemitic. It also takes on complicated arguments in a straightforward way. This book is full of vim and vigour and I recommend it
Israelophobia is as important, trenchant and original as Jews Don't Count. And as necessary to read (Daniel Finkelstein)
This book is particularly timely . . . makes a convincing exposé of the convenient line that attacks on Israel can be easily separated from antisemitism
Fascinating
There never was a more timely publication than Israelophobia by Jake Wallis Simons (Rod Liddle)
All stars
Most relevant
There’s a lot of information in this book. Understandably our man speaks with passion, and an expertise that comes from knowledge of the history of Jew-hate, and how it can be traced through to modern times, how it has changed with the creation of Israel, and yet has remained much the same. Explaining how the antisemitic propaganda of Nazism and Communism continue to poison the world view of Jews and of Israel makes alot of sense. Clearly this was written before the events of 7/10, but sadly i don’t think it would have made any significant difference to the content if it been written afterwards. I look forward to a day when this book becomes irrelevant, but at the moment, it is more relevant than ever.

Well researched, and helpful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Author is saying that Israel is far from perfect, like any modern democracy, however deserves equal treatment by the media and public opinion.

He shows how dictators and terrorists have used the left and progressives as useful idiots to further their cause. This has been successful in the west due to latent cultural anti semitism and students looking for a cause celebre. Israel's neighbours are often just downright racist. This has infected even the top of Ivy league universities

He shows how many of the progressive views are in essence little different from medieval mobs and Nazi Germany.

Fascinating and important. Hatred of Israel is not just criticism

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A timely read for me. I learnt a lot of history and the arguments were balanced and persuasive. This has contributed to the cracking open of my mind and examination of ideas I held that I didn't even know I held. Highly recommend, especially for those historically on the left and now politically homeless

Eye opening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not at all. A unique perspective that uses history and calm, reasoned and clear language to highlight an incredibly important aspect of a rancid, pervasive ideology and hatred perpetuated across generations. Anyone with an interest in the history of Jew hatred and how it changes and camouflages itself among the well-meaning but ill-informed activists and academics of this world would do well to understand the context of the hatred of Israel in the 21st century.

The author delivers this reading with skill and clarity. Easy to listen to from a practical perspective, but uncomfortable as a subject in various parts throughout the book.

Unbelievable?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Everyone should read this book to understand how antisemitic tropes get recycled and repackaged over and over again for the current political climate. He also writes with an astounding level of sophistication. A profound reading experience.

Brilliant and informative book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews