The Fatal Embrace

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Ginsberg's inquiry into the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States is sensitive, unflinching and lucid. He predicts that the ``unthinkable'' could happen--a political alliance of radical populists and respected conservatives who make vigorous use of virulent anti-Semitic themes to attack liberal Democrats. A Johns Hopkins political science professor, Ginsberg bases this conclusion on a broad analysis of Jews' shifting relationship to state power, from the Civil War through the New Deal to the collapse of the Jewish/Republican alliance as the Bush administration downgraded the importance of the state of Israel in U.S. foreign policy. The opening chapter shows how Jews have played key roles throughout history in building liberal, absolutist, monarchist and socialist regimes, offering their services and skills in exchange for protection and opportunity--a sometimes ``fatal embrace'' that, in Ginsberg's analysis, often provokes organized anti-Semitism. (Sept.)

Library Journal

According to Ginsberg (political science, Johns Hopkins), the state has been both a protector and betrayer of the Jews in modern times. Ginsberg claims that Jews have traditionally measured their progress in American society by the degree to which they have been heeded and accepted by the governing powers. The Jews have achieved their greatest success under liberal administrations. But with the questioning of liberalism, the political influence of the Jews has waned, and currents of anti-Semitism seem to be surfacing more frequently. All in all, Ginsberg's book is a troubling one. Some will find his arguments a little shaky, and even Jewish readers will disagree on the degree of danger. Libraries with strong current affairs sections will want to add this book.-- Paul Kaplan, Dakota Cty. Lib., Eagan, Minn.

Booknews

Surveys the political history of Jews from the Civil War to the 1992 presidential election, tracing the ebb and flow of political anti- Semitism in the US, with particular attention given to understanding the political dynamics that historically have set the stage for the persecution of Jews. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Mary Carroll

Building on Hannah Arendt's conviction that the relationship between Jews and the state is central to the political manifestations of anti-Semitism, Ginsberg first examines the history of that relationship in Europe and the Middle East and then takes on the American experience from the Civil War to the 1990s, challenging the optimistic view of American exceptionalism and holding that "the relationship between Jews and the state is always problematic." In the U.S. today, Ginsberg argues, unless the Clinton administration is able to solve some of the nation's long-term economic problems, political mobilization of anti-Semitism is likely to expand as a result of disunity within the liberal coalition (most visible in tensions between blacks and Jews), diminished constraints on conservative anti-Semitism with the collapse of the 1980s' Jewish-Republican alliance, and changes in the nation's political structure that permit radical populists like David Duke to bring their linked messages of racism and anti-Semitism into the electoral process.

George Robinson

A challenging and disturbing book. Ginsberg's grasp of historical precedent is impressive and the final import of his message is daunting.
— Washington Post Book Review