For decades, American Jews have expected Israelis to be quietly grateful for the money and support they have provided. And Israelis have indeed largely kept their true, conflicted feelings to themselves. Now, however, at a time of growing tension between Israel and the United States, journalist and writer Matti Golan gives vent to grievances beneath the surface of cordial relations between the two groups. Written in the form of a dialogue between an Israeli and an American Jew, the book is an imaginative extension of a talk the author had with Elie Wiesel, whom Golan views as a symbol of everything that is wrong in American Jewry's attitude toward Israel.Expressing the depth of Israeli resentment and rage at the presumption of self-styled "friends" who want Israel to behave only in "moral" ways that don't embarrass them, Golan asserts that American Jews have no right to advise or criticize Israel because they do not bear the cost of the results of their advice. American Jewry claims partnership with Israel in return for its support, but there can be no partnership between a parent who sends his son to fight in Lebanon and one who sends his son to college. Golan further argues that financial contributions to the United Jewish Appeal, the Jewish National Fund, and other agencies serve the needs of American Jewry more than the needs of Israel, that money is even used against Israeli interests, and that the way these funds are raised is corrupt and corrupting. Boldly opening the one "forbidden" topic in Israel-Diaspora relations, Golan declares that the only safe future for both Israelis and American Jews lies in the immigration of a significant number of the latter to Israel; that Israelis would gladly give up American money in exchange for American Jews; and that the problems of Israeli society they tend to cite as reasons for not immigrating can all be traced to the fact that they have not already done so.Decrying what he calls the vicious circle that has engendered bad faith and hypocrisy between the two groups, Golan writes to clear the air by confronting us with what Israelis really think, but rarely say, about their American cousins. Read Less