Books by David Ohana

Explores the long and winding road of modernity from Rousseau to Foucault, which is not to be found in a desire for enlightenment but in the Promethean passion of Western man, the passion of man to shape himself and his world anew.

Includes several articles previously published in Hebrew.

It is claimed that Zionism as a meta-narrative has been formed through contradiction to two alternative models, the Canaanite and crusader narratives. These narratives are the most daring and heretical assaults on Israeli-Jewish identity. The Israelis, according to the Canaanite narrative, are from this place and belong only here; according to the crusader narrative, they are from another place and belong there. The mythological construction of Zionism as a modern crusade describes Israel as a Western colonial enterprise planted in the heart of the East and alien to the area, its logic and its peoples. The nativist construction of Israel as neo-Canaanism demands breaking away from the chain of historical continuity. These are the greatest anxieties that Zionism and Israel needed to encounter and answer forcefully. The Origins of Israeli Mythology seeks to examine the intellectual archaeology of Israeli mythology, as it reveals itself through the Canaanite and crusader narratives.

Examines the role of messianism in Zionist ideology. This book shows how messianism is not just a religious or philosophical term but a very tangible political practice which has shaped Israeli identity.