The Israel Test - by George Gilder (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Gilder's originality, plus the sheer force of his enthusiasm for the extraordinary virtues of the beleaguered Jewish state, sweep away the prevailing vitriol and make for a book that is nothing less than thrilling to read."
--Norman Podhoretz

In this timely and courageous book, George Gilder demonstrates that the widespread antagonism toward the state of Israel is based - as is anti-Semitism itself - on self-defeating envy and resentment of its superior accomplishments and moral leadership.

Israel's stunning rise as a world capitalist and technological power, he argues, stems in part from the Jewish "culture of mind" and in part from Judaism itself, which encourages intellectual curiosity and rational analysis while providing a rigorous moral framework for entrepreneurial creativity. Israel's critics throughout the Middle East and in Western Europe - all facing socialist decline - have failed the "Israel Test" because they seek to destroy Israel's capitalist success rather than to emulate it.

America's continued support for Western Civilization in the Middle East will define our future survival as a nation. "If Israel is destroyed," Gilder predicts, "capitalist Europe will likely die as well, and America, the epitome of productive and creative capitalism spurred by its own Jewish citizens, will be in grave moral and economic jeopardy."

At a time when ignorant students and overtly anti-Semitic politicians champion Israel's murderous enemies and rush to abandon Israel, Gilder's clarity of vision makes The Israel Test required reading not only for college students, but also for policy-makers in Washington, and throughout the world.

Review Quotes

"Gilder's originality, plus the sheer force of his enthusiasm for the extraordinary virtues of the beleaguered Jewish state, sweep away the prevailing vitriol and make for a book that is nothing less than thrilling to read."
--Norman Podhoretz

"The Israel Test spoke to me with unexpected power. Apart from being brilliantly, fiercely written, its merit lies in clarifying, in a totally new, secular, and intuitive way, why Israel matters."

--David Klinghoffer, The Jerusalem Post

"In The Israel Test, George Gilder fights back, refuting the hateful lies and slanders that are all too frequently hurled at Israel. Gilder argues con-vincingly that Israel's future is ultimately inseparable from the future of freedom and democracy everywhere. Israel embodies the ideals and principles that define the United States and our best allies worldwide: the values of personal liberty and economic freedom, human rights and women's rights, tolerance and pluralism."

--Senator Joseph Leiberman

"George Gilder has written a superlative defense of capitalism and how it relates to Israel becoming the world's most advanced nation in the development of the new technologies, second only to the United States. Tiny Israel, barely the size of New Jersey, with a population of more than seven million, now has more brain power than all of Europe."

--Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld, WorldNetDaily

About the Author

George Gilder's books have sold more than two million copies worldwide. In Wealth and Poverty, one of the most influential works of our time, Gilder made the moral case for capitalist creativity. In Spirit of Enterprise, Microcosm, Telecosm, Life After Television, Life After Google, a bestseller in both the US and China, and Life After Capitalism, Gilder achieved renown as a stunningly accurate prophet of the direction of technology development and enterprise, including Israel's promethean contributions. With Men & Marriage, republished in 2024, he maintained a half century of rare insight in social theory. Long a contributing editor to Forbes magazine, Gilder has produced the annual Gilder/Forbes Telecosm Conference, now called COSM, offering leading edge forecasts and analysis from the world's top technology firms and research centers. Gilder also heads Gilder Technology Group, focusing on breakthrough technologies, and writes or edits four investment letters for Eagle Publishing. In 1986 President Ronald Reagan presented Gilder the White House Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence. A founding fellow of the Discovery Institute in Seattle, he writes for such national publications as The Wall Street Journal, Wired, National Review, The New Criterion, The American Spectator, and Claremont Review.