Atlantic Books acquires 'urgent' book on Israel and Jewish identity

Atlantic Books has acquired political commentator Peter Beinart’s "urgent" book reckoning with Israel and Jewish identity.

Associate publisher Shoaib Rokadiya acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza from Suzanne Smith at Knopf. North American rights sold to Jennifer Barth at Knopf from Tina Bennett at Bennett Literary, and the book will be published in hardback on 30th January 2025.

The publisher’s synopsis says: "In Peter Beinart’s view, one story dominates Jewish communal life: that of persecution and victimhood. It is a story that erases much of the nuance of Jewish religious tradition, warps our understanding of Israel and Palestine, and is currently being used to justify starvation and mass slaughter. After this war, whose horror will echo for generations, Beinart argues that Jews must do nothing less than offer a new answer to the question: What does it mean to be Jewish?"

Beinart said: "I wrote this book because I think Gaza’s destruction is a crucible in Jewish history. It requires us to rethink the stories we tell about ourselves, stories that have enabled good people to look away as an entire society is obliterated by a state that speaks in our name."

Rokadiya added: "Peter Beinart’s brave writing on Israel’s war in Gaza has been a source of education and solace to many over the past year. His new book is a compassionate, measured and wholly necessary intervention into an escalating moral and human crisis. It will spark a conversation that is long overdue."