David Brog

A relatively unbiased pro-Israel account of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While it's abundantly clear who the author sides with, he does a good job of presenting the main arguments from both perspectives, and lays out both the facts of what happened and also the context in which they occurred.

This would be an excellent introduction to people who aren't so well informed on the complexities of the situation, or have been taken in by the propaganda of one side or the other. show more Of course things have changed dramatically since October 7, but since that didn't take place in a vacuum, the context is more relevant than ever. show less

This book is must reading for anybody interested in contemporary Israeli – American relations. The author makes a very strong case; perhaps too strong, for the proposition that born-again Christians are natural allies of the Jews, and of the state of Israel. Indeed, I gave the book four rather than five stars because the case may be over-made.

The book’s strongest point is that Christians can and often are allies of the state of Israel. I do not believe that it is inevitable or show more unanimous. It is enough that much of Christianity, particularly in the Americas, has gone from being vitriolically anti-Jewish to be strong supporters. To argue that it is almost universal is likely a mistake.

The book contains a lot of information that was not previously familiar to me. That in itself is a recommendation because I am fairly current on this issue.

That being said, I strongly recommend the book, and it is a fairly easy read. show less

I'm not quite sure who this book was intended for. The first part of the book dealt with the history of Jewish-Christian relations. Perhaps I would have thought better of this part of the book had I not already read Constantine's Sword, a much more thorough, detailed, and thoughtful analysis of that history. But I suppose, to the extent that Standing With Israel is aimed at Christian Americans who may not have any particular affinity or emnity toward Jews or Israel, then this portion of the show more book may be more successful that I am otherwise giving it credit for.

The later portions of the book seemed to be a plea to American Jews to stop worrying about the motives of evangelical Christians in supporting Israel (i.e., is support for Israel premised upon a desire to hasten the so-called Second Coming) and to get American Jews to be more willing to see evangelical Christians as allies (because they support Israel) rather than as opponents (because they oppose virtually ever social position taken by the organized Jewish community). In this respect, the book failed; though, that said, I must admit that some of Brog's arguments did appeal to me a bit more toward the end of my very lengthy reading as I watched more and more leftist anti-Israel (and often anti-Semitic) looniness.

But I've spoken to enough evangelical Christians about social issues that matter to me and my community to know that just being friends when it comes to Israel will not make life any better for my children here in America. Sure they may work with me on issues related to Israel, but they also want to make my kids pray to Jesus in school, ban abortions that my religious tradition tolerates, etc.

Unfortunately, in his zeal to make his points, Brog is far, far too dismissive of anti-Semitic statements and acts from leaders in the evangelical Christian movement and that, for me, was the principal reason that I was unable to accept much of his argument. show less

Very informative book about Israeli - Palestinian conflict. Surprisingly it wasn't too complicated to listen to. Would recommend to those that are interested in this subject.