Catch-67: The Left, the Right, and the Legacy of the Six-Day War

A controversial examination of the internal Israeli debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a best-selling Israeli author

A must for anyone who wants to understand the tectonic forces underlying Israeli politics. -Rabbi Robert Orkand, Reform Judaism

An eloquent expression of the distant hope that deeply committed human beings can stop, inhale deeply, listen, change, and compromise. -Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

Since the Six-Day War, Israelis have been entrenched in a national debate over whether to keep the land they conquered or to return some, if not all, of the territories to Palestinians. In 2017, best-selling Israeli author Micah Goodman published a balanced and insightful analysis of the situation that quickly became one of Israel’s most debated books of the year. Now available in English translation with a new preface by the author, Catch-67 deftly sheds light on the ideas that have shaped Israelis’ thinking on both sides of the debate, and among secular and religious Jews about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Contrary to opinions that dominate the discussion, he shows that the paradox of Israeli political discourse is that both sides are right in what they affirm-and wrong in what they deny. Although he concludes that the conflict cannot be solved, Goodman is far from a pessimist and explores how instead it can be reduced in scope and danger through limited, practical steps. Through philosophical critique and political analysis, Goodman builds a creative, compelling case for pragmatism in a dispute where a comprehensive solution seems impossible.