This book represents an original interpretation of the state of Israel, a Jewish political renaissance in the modern era. It probes the meaning of Zionism in the historical context and examines critically the founding of the state, its underlying principal themes and political orientation. At root, the analysis focuses on the secular ideological basis of Israel and the rejection, in 1948, of any search for an authentic projection of the new state as a philosophical continuation of Judaism. The book is organized primarily around the Jewish-Arab competition and conflict in the land of Israel, while the deeper philosophical and ideological topics provide a framework and context for Israel's collective political identity.