Make no mistake about it. George Gilder’s latest book The Israel Test is powerful. Persuasive and demands the attention of anyone seriously concerned with the future of our civilization as we know it.Gilder lays out in his opening paragraph exactly what he is going to be concerned with: “The central issue in international politics, dividing the world into two fractious armies, is the tiny state of Israel.”
He states his thesis very quickly and directly, saying the issue is not that of a global war of civilization between the West and Islam nor any division between Arabs and Jews. He does not deny the validity of these conflicts, but rather sees the issue as being “between creative excellence and covetous ‘fairness,’ between admiration of achievement versus envy and resentment of it.”
As for his title, he notes it can be summed up by asking yourself a few questions, such as: What’s your attitude toward people who excel you in creation of wealth or in other accomplishment? Do you yearn for their excellence or do you rage at it? Driving home his point he cites a succinct statement from Caroline Glick, deputy managing editor of the Jerusalem Post, “Some people admire success; some people envy it. The enviers hate Israel.”
