For the beleaguered supporter of Israel, tired of the ever-rising waterline of attack, this book is a welcome levee. And, as Gilder is about as un-establishment American as they come, he produces a book that Jews will find comforting. In fact, no Jew could have written such a book as unabashedly positive as this one about Jews or Israel.
Gilder’s bona fides are solid — he was the protégé of David Rockefeller, having lost his Army Air Force father in World War II. He has a long history in investment in technology, and as a writer on t he modern information economy. But, The Israel Test is not simply an encomium to the technological and economic vitality of Israel as Silicon Valley’s most effective offshore investment. The book is nothing less than a stark line drawn in the sand: Support Israel and find yourself on the right side of the 500 year liberal democratic march to ever greater freedom and abundance; attack Israel and join the burqa-demanding know-nothings looking to hurtle the world back into a cramped medieval past.
Most of the book is made up of profiles of prominent Jewish and Israeli thinkers and entrepreneurs. And, if you’re looking for a brief history of Israel’s economic miracle, you’ll find it here. Unfortunately, the book’s thesis, as important as it is rare, is not proven as much as it is argued from its self-evidence.
