What binds together Jews of Israel and the USA? Amid the hope and frustration generated by the Middle East peace process, the meaning of Jewish statehood is more contested than ever before. This work presents a new interpretation of this contemporary Jewish dilemma. The modern Jewish impulse to embrace Western values exacts a terrible price, the author argues. He offers a critical reassessment of Zionism, an analysis of the sources of identification of American Jews with Israel - and a gloomy prognosis of the future of Jewish life, both in Israel and in the USA.