{"product_id":"herzls-vision-theodor-herzl-and-the-foundation-of-the-jewish-state-9781629190129","title":"Herzl's Vision: Theodor Herzl and the Foundation of the Jewish State","description":"Theodor Herzl had been a successful Viennese journalist and a less successful playwright with no political ambitions. That changed in 1896, when he published \u003ci\u003eThe Jewish State\u003c\/i\u003e. The following year he convened a Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. The Congress founded the Zionist Organization in order to establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, recognized and guaranteed by public international law. As Herzl transformed himself in just a few years from writer and editor into the leader of an international political movement, he learned politics and diplomacy on the run--and to great effect. In his efforts to gain broad support for his vision, Herzl met with the Ottoman sultan; the German emperor; the king of Italy; the pope; British, Russian, and German ministers; as well as a great number of other government and public opinion leaders of many European countries. By the time of his early death in 1904 at the age of forty-four, Herzl had transformed Jewish public discourse and made the idea of a Return to Zion into a reality, albeit still a weak one, in international politics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eShlomo Avineri\u003c\/b\u003e is a renowned Israeli political theorist and public intellectual. He is the Herbert Samuel Professor Emeritus of Political Science at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He served as Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, headed the Israeli delegation to the UNESCO General Assembly, and is a recipient of the Israel Prize, the country's highest civilian decoration. Avineri has had a number of visiting academic appointments including Yale University, Cornell University, Wesleyan University, the University of California, Northwestern University, and Oxford University. Avineri's many publications include \u003ci\u003eIsrael and the Palestinians\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Making of Modern Zionism\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eMoses Hess: Prophet of Communism and Zionism\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as the historical introduction to the Hebrew edition of Theodor Herzl's \u003ci\u003eDiaries\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eHaim Watzman\u003c\/b\u003e has translated and edited many important Israeli books by some of the country's leading journalists, scholars, and writers--including David Grossman, Tom Segev, and Amos Oz. He also served as Israel correspondent for \u003ci\u003eThe Chronicle of Higher Education\u003c\/i\u003e and the British science journal \u003ci\u003eNature\u003c\/i\u003e, and has written two books. Watzman grew up in America and now lives in Jerusalem.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"BlueBridge","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50557106487570,"sku":"9781629190129","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_85f9a5c2-c2b5-4918-be9b-a2dfcc984948.jpg?v=1731771468","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/herzls-vision-theodor-herzl-and-the-foundation-of-the-jewish-state-9781629190129","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}