The essays here attempt to move beyond the question of Israel's uniqueness to examine the pace and direction of change of Israel's political, social and economic institutions. Using the tools of comparative analysis, scholars from Israel, the US and Europe describe the ways in which Israeli society is becoming more like other democratic industrialized societies and in what dimensions Israeli culture and institutions are slowing or resisting such convergence. The essays fall into four categories: political institutions and organizations; political economy; ethnicity and religion; and public policy.

Israeli historiography has long been subjected to a sustained assault by self-styled "new historians" vying to expose what they claim to be the distorted "Zionist narrative" of Israeli history and the Arab-Israeli conflict. They have cast Israel as the regional villain, bearing sole responsibility for the cycle of violence in the Middle east since 1946.
This text takes issue with these "revisionists." The author argues that they have ignored or misinterpreted much documentation in developing their analysis of Israel's history. There are numerous in-depth studies to illustrate the author's argument.