The Culture Wars: Comparing the U.S. and Israel
Gadi Taub, Peter Berkowitz, Aylana Meisel
America is a continent-wide democracy of some 330 million citizens, hailing from every nation on the planet. By contrast, Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, with some nine million citizens tucked into the Eastern Mediterranean. Despite the differences in political circumstances, populations, and cultural traditions, somehow it seems that intellectuals, academics, journalists, and other carriers of advanced opinion in both countries share more with each other in their attitudes toward the economy, the government, national histories, and hot-button cultural questions than they do with their fellow citizens. In a new book, the Israeli historian, author, and political commentator Gadi Taub analyzes how this came to be, and what it means for politics and public debate in Israel. To discuss how the culture wars stand in the United States, he is joined by the Hoover Institution senior fellow and former State Department official Peter Berkowitz. Aylana Meisel, the Tikvah Fund director of strategic initiatives, moderates the discussion.