View to Jerusalem's Old City, Israel © Shutterstock

In his book, My Promised Land, journalist Ari Shavit traces the history of Israel through a point of view that is at once global and deeply personal. Intertwining the stories of significant figures through the founding and development of the land with his own journey of coming to terms with his country’s past, present, and future, Shavit writes that he wonders "how long we can maintain our miraculous survival story. One generation? Two? Three?" At the same time, he concludes, in the end, "not all is lost in Israel," and the key to understanding the country is to move past the ideology and politics and look at the story as a whole. He spoke to Biographile about writing his book and its reception in the U.S.

Biographile: The first thing a reader will notice about your book is that it is written in the present tense, even when you are discussing events from more than one hundred years ago. Why did you decide to write this way?

Ari Shavit: Well, I write with my heart, I am an intuitive person, not an engineer-like person. So this is how it came out. But if I had to analyze it, I think that part of the attempt is to bring back to life different periods of time. I’m trying to get into the point of view of the people of the time and write not just as a person looking at it from 2013 but really reviving 1897, 1921, 1948. And then I move from there to having a dialogue with the past from my own present. But when I try to get into the mindset of the people, I try to bring them to life, and present tense feels appropriate for that.

BIOG: As a journalist, you must be accustomed to keeping yourself out of the story. Was it difficult to intertwine your own story, and your family’s story, with the history of Israel?

AS: Only after I wrote the book people told me that I had done something courageous. I didn’t notice while I was writing it, so I’d say the contrary. I’ve been waiting to write this book for twenty years. It’s true, I do not put myself too much into my day job as a journalist, and I was ready to do that. I think the point about the book is that my life, my career as a journalist prepared me for this, but this is not an extension of my job. Instead, my aim was to take Israel out of the cliché and move out of the politics and the debate. I think there are insights, but the book is not about insights, and I think I make some arguments, but the book is not about arguments. It’s about trying to bring back the human story. Only if you bring it back to the human level can you begin to grasp it. It was my dream and my challenge to rewrite the Israel narrative in a personal, humane way, in a book that is nonfiction but has qualities of fiction.

BIOG: You describe yourself as "bewildered by the historic drama engulfing" your homeland. Was it easier to be certain about how to think about Israel when you were young?

AS: When I was growing up (in the 1960s), things were very clear. We were a besieged, just nation. Then came the Six Days War and occupation, and all the clear narrative was lost in the debate over the occupied territories. In this debate we’ve lost the basic narrative. In this sense the book is not a literary construct, it’s a real journey I went through. We’ve stopped asking the detailed questions. We’ve lost the picture of where we’ve come from and where we’re going. I went on a search to look for the lost narrative and I hope in some ways I found it. One of the most amazing things about this book is that not just one, but several people told me I gave them the vocabulary with which they can love Israel again. I think that if in the past Israel was either a marble statue that can do no wrong on one hand or a demon on the other hand, I’ve tried to bring it to life and say if you look carefully you’ll see how beautiful and amazing it is.

BIOG: Israel and Zionism are such charged subjects, it must be difficult for anyone to write about them without being misinterpreted and attacked. Your book has received a largely positive response. Did this surprise you?

AS: The reception of this book in this country exceeded all my expectations. I had a dream of what it could be, and the response was three times the dream. Not only the reviews, which astounded me not just for the love and generosity but also the deep understanding. But going around the country, the reaction I got from people was deeply touching and inspiring. I love the book and I hope it’s a good book, but something happened here larger than the book or myself. In so many places people told me they’ve been waiting for this book for decades. Beyond everything I feel deeply committed. I’m going home to Israel today, and when I get there I will have to think seriously about what all this means. I can’t turn my back on this astonishing reaction. I will have to do some work on this bond between the Jewish American relationship with Israel. I am committed and obliged not to take it just as some sort of personal success, but think about what it means for my country and my people.