Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor

New York Times bestseller

Now with a new Epilogue, containing letters of response from Palestinian readers.

"A profound and original book, the work of a gifted thinker."--Daphne Merkin, The Wall Street Journal

Attempting to break the agonising impasse between Israelis and Palestinians, the Israeli commentator and award-winning author of Like Dreamers directly addresses his Palestinian neighbours in this taut and provocative book. He empathises with Palestinian suffering and longs for reconciliation as he explores how the conflict looks through Israeli eyes. In a brand-new Epilogue, Palestinian readers have been given a chance to respond through their own powerful letters.

I call you "neighbour" because I don’t know your name, or anything personal about you. Given our circumstances, "neighbour" might be too casual a word to describe our relationship. We are intruders into each other’s dream, violators of each other’s sense of home. We are incarnations of each other’s worst historical nightmares. Neighbours.

Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor is one Israeli’s powerful attempt to reach beyond the wall that separates Israelis and Palestinians and into the hearts of what each side considers "the enemy." In a series of letters, Yossi Klein Halevi explains what motivated him to leave his native New York in his twenties and move to Israel to participate in the drama of the renewal of a Jewish homeland. He is committed to seeing it succeed as a morally responsible, democratic state in the Middle East.

This is the first attempt by an Israeli author to directly address his Palestinian neighbours and describe how the conflict appears through Israeli eyes. Halevi untangles the ideological and emotional knot that has defined the conflict for nearly a century. In lyrical, evocative language, he unravels the complex strands of faith, pride, anger, and anguish he feels as a Jew living in Israel, using history and personal experience as his guide.

Halevi’s letters speak not only to his Palestinian neighbour but to all concerned global citizens, helping us understand the painful choices confronting Israelis and Palestinians that will ultimately help determine the fate of the region. The paperback edition also includes a brand-new Epilogue, containing heartfelt letters of response from a variety of Palestinian readers.