A Continent Apart

A Continent Apart explores how Israelis imagined Europe during the second half of the twentieth century. Israel's diplomatic and economic ties with Europe have been well documented, but far less attention has been paid to how it has been perceived, debated, and reframed by the Israeli public.

Drawing on newspapers, popular media, travel literature, and cultural events, author Daniel Mahla uncovers the multiple and often conflicting meanings Israelis have assigned to this elusive construct—as historical wound, geopolitical actor, cultural model, and moral mirror. From media representations of Europe's ideological fault lines to international sports controversies, the Eurovision Song Contest, and tourism, Mahla illuminates how Israelis encountered Europe not as a distant abstraction but rather as a lived and emotionally charged experience. Rather than treating Europe as a fixed geographic or institutional entity, this book approaches it as a symbolic field: an imagined space shaped through Israeli struggles over identity, belonging, and modernity.

Bringing political discourse into conversation with popular culture, A Continent Apart offers a new perspective on the relationship between Israel and Europe—a deep struggle over contested meanings and national orientation.