Einstein on Israel and Zionism : his provocative ideas about the Middle East / Fred Jerome.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [269]-284) and index.

Fighting anti-semitism, 1919-1929 -- Years of crisis, 1929-1939 -- The war years, 1939-1945 -- Struggle over the state, 1945-1948 -- The final years, 1948-1955 -- Epilogue: Making a myth -- Final note -- Texts attributed to Einstein -- Einstein's correspondents -- Sources for Einstein's articles, letters, and interviews.

Albert Einstein thought and wrote extensively not just on the most difficult problems in physics, but also in politics. For the first time, this book collects his essays, interviews, and letters on the Middle East, Zionism, and Arab-Jewish relations. Many of these have never been published in English, and all of them contradict the popular image of Einstein as pro-Zionist. He was offered and refused the Presidency of Israel, but had he taken it, he might have said things the Zionists didn't want to hear; he favored a non-religious state that would welcome Jew and Palestinian alike. One person's letters, even Einstein's, cannot resolve the crisis in the Middle East, but decades later, when horrors of the conflict in the Middle East are familiar to everyone, the reflections of one of the twentieth century's greatest thinkers are a signpost, showing his commitment to social justice, understanding, and friendship between Jew and Arab.--Publisher description.