Phantom Nation: Inventing the Palestinians as the Obstacle to Peace (Volume One and Two Box Set) Hardcover – June 1, 2018 by Sha'i ben-Tekoa , $70 (288NIS) 1360pages ISBN 9789652299253 (Gefen Publishing Company)

Sparring with a ghost nation.

I went to a lecture on "Palestine" given by Sha'i ben-Tekoa. I had never heard of him before, but I was favorably impressed. I was impressed enough to buy his book. Sha'i ben-Tekoa writes in a very precise manner, with no sugar coating or compromising the truth. Nor does he become preachy or self-righteous. He has a very impressive recall of the history of conflict between Jew and Arab that does not just start with the creation of Israel. One of ben-Tekoa's main points is that Israel does not face a conflict of nationalities, but a conflict of religions. In fact, ben-Tekoa shows that "Palestinians" are a recent and artificial construct, dating from the 1970's that is useful in obscuring the aggression of Israel's neighbors. Thus ben-Tekoa concludes that the conflict is not Arab/Israeli but rather Islam/Jew and thus is much more intractable. In fact, ben-Tekoa prefers not think of the continuing violence as "conflict", but rather as a centuries-old assault of Islamic Extremists on infidel Jews.

Right or wrong, ben-Tekoa's book would not have value if it did not articulately make its case. Whether you agree or disagree with his conclusions, this book will give you insight into the belief and thinking of those who do.