The strug­gle over Israel/​Palestine is not just anoth­er con­test by com­pet­ing nation­alisms or an instance of geopo­lit­i­cal com­pe­ti­tion. It is also about con­trol of sacred ter­ri­to­ry that involves local Jews, Mus­lims, and Chris­tians as well as world­wide faith com­mu­ni­ties, each with their own inter­ests and stake in what transpires.

This bal­anced intro­duc­tion to a com­plex sub­ject presents the mul­ti­ple posi­tions with­in the great monothe­is­tic tra­di­tions. It demon­strates that the sec­u­lar dis­cours­es in the pub­lic square con­cern­ing own­er­ship priv­i­leges, his­tor­i­cal prece­dence, polit­i­cal rights, and jus­tice that have alleged­ly replaced reli­gious claims actu­al­ly coex­ist with, and often com­ple­ment, the the­o­log­i­cal. It explores the cen­tu­ry-long tan­gle of sec­u­lar and the­o­log­i­cal debates about Israel’s legit­i­ma­cy. Whether read­ers sup­port a Jew­ish state or are res­olute­ly opposed, the seri­ous and sub­stan­tial schol­ar­ship of this well-rea­soned and inno­v­a­tive book will con­tribute to a nuanced and bet­ter-informed under­stand­ing of this per­sis­tent issue that has entered its sec­ond cen­tu­ry on the inter­na­tion­al agenda.