Isaiah Berlin: Albert Einstein and Zionism
May 8, 2004

We have sent out hundreds of articles on this listserv over the last few years, but few have been as intellectually and morally forceful as this one. Sir Isaiah Berlin, the Latvian-born philosopher, essayist and historian of ideas, one of the last century’s intellectual giants, considers the views of another titan of the 20th century, Albert Einstein. The article – published in November 1979 in the New York Review of Books – explains that Einstein, far from limiting the application of his great intellect to mathematics or physics, chose to comment on the varied social and political issues of his time. One of those topics was Israel. Berlin writes:

“Einstein lent the prestige mondial of his great name, and in fact gave his heart, to the movement which created the state of Israel…Einstein's support of the Zionist movement and his interest in the Hebrew University were lifelong…If young people (or others) today, whether Jews or gentiles, who, like the young Einstein, abhor nationalism and sectarianism and seek social justice and believe in universal human values—if such people wish to know why he, a child of assimilated Bavarian Jews, supported the return of the Jews to Palestine, Zionism, and the Jewish state, not uncritically nor without the anguish which any decent and sensitive man cannot but feel about acts done in the name of his people which seem to him wrong or unwise, but, nevertheless steadily, to the end of his life—if they wish to understand this, then they should read his writings on the subject.”

Einstein was unafraid to confront the complex issues of war and peace, statelessness and self-determination, anti-Semitism and Zionism. Anyone who has honestly engaged such matters has had to abandon the soothing emotional defenses of self-righteousness and victimization. If you approach the Middle East conflict with decent intent, or any other conflict in which people are dying and where both sides can legitimately claim justice, do not expect a mind at ease. Genuine introspection leads to humbling ethical unease and unwelcome thoughts that cause pain. But at the same time, moral judgments can and must be made, like declaring the perpetual villainy of terrorism, no matter the justification. The unwillingness to assign blame, or to view all disputing parties as equally guilty mirrors of each other, is the signal character of the pernicious postmodernism that holds that we can’t really know what is wrong and what it right, and which allows people to feel smart without having to think. Just as blame must at times be dealt out, guilt must at times be accepted, and anyone who refuses to do this is a fanatic. In the end, Berlin writes:

“That Einstein, who tolerated no deviation from human decency, above all on the part of his own people—that he believed in this movement and this state and stood by it through thick and thin, to the end of his life, however critical he was at times of particular men or policies—this fact is perhaps among the highest moral testimonials on which any state or any movement in this century can pride itself.”

Read on.

The article, "Einstein and Israel," by Isaiah Berlin from the New York Review of Books, Volume 26, Number 17, November 8, 1979. (It requires a subscription or a purchase price of $4.00.)