Joel Pollak has a review in the latest edition of the Palestine-Israel Journal of a new book by Yosef Gorny looking at federal concepts in Zionist political thought.

Once the pre-state Zionist leadership was aware of the importance of the Arab question in Mandate Palestine, it was inevitable that shared sovereignty and common institutions would be included in the political models being discussed - Joel notes that David Ben Gurion proposed federal arrangements in the mid 1920s and early 1930s . Ultimately, though, these and other overtures foundered because of the lack of response from the Arab side. “What is the point of reaching agreement between ourselves,” wrote the Zionist notable Arthur Ruppin to Judah Magnes, one of the leaders of the binationalist group Brit Shalom, “if there is no-one on the the other side?”

As Joel Pollak observes in his review, in our own time the federal idea is on “the margins of Israeli discourse.” But he adds:

“If the next few years should indeed see some form of Palestinian state emerge, there will also be a need for institutional arrangements between the two states to govern affairs that must be dealt with in common, such as water. The economic success of the Palestinian state will also depend on its ties to the Israeli economy, which will require continued political cooperation…For practical reasons, if not for idealistic ones, the federal idea still lives.”

Which is precisely why, even if you are not able to read Gorny’s book, you should have a look at Joel’s review.