Joseph Agassi, Liberal nationalism for Israel, Jerusalem and N.Y., Gefen, 1999.This book was written in the shadow of the air of distress and despair which is spreading throughout Israel, a country which many of its residents think is progressively deteriorating. The book was written in 1984 and is even more relevant today, in 2007. Identifying the spreading distress and despair is important for understanding the proper ways to heal and repair it. Israel is now in an extremely abnormal and difficult situation — Israeli governments have refused to recognize the existence of an Israeli nation and so cannot see the existence of the state as an instrument of political initiative and as a tool in the service of the nation and citizens who reside within its borders.