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Entry: Rethinking 1948 Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/rethinking_1948#28301 Post contents: RonL, I'll give your comments about me the attention they deserve, and instead respond to your comment about Benny Morris. First of all, unlike other "New Historians", Morris never really attacked Israel. In any case, there were many, many on the Left who were "mugged by reality" in September 2000, and who are in that respect now equivalent to "neocons". (Then there are those like Shimon Peres and Amos Oz, who get mugged over and over, each time completely by surprise, and keep coming back for more.) Morris has said that he still considers himself on the Left. His hawkish, pessimistic view of the conflict is neoconnish, but he favors unilateral withdrawal to the 1967 borders, which I don't think many American neocons advocate. At least you won't see it much in <i>Commentary</i>. If "neocon" refers to politics rather than biography, then there are virtually no "neocons" in Israel, as far as I can tell. Maybe Netanyahu and the folks at <i>Azure</i> (<i>tekhelet</i>), all of whom are either immigrants or who spent long periods outside Israel. All of them, including Netanyahu, are completely marginalized culturally. "Neocon" is a useful category to apply to the Israeli political circus only if it means "mugged by reality". If you associate the concept with concrete political views, it's more misleading than enlightening. Sent at: 2008 11 20