...as far as I can tell, the revolution in the way scholars think about facts, arguments, and truth has not yet had the slightest impact on the manner in which Jews and friends of Israel think about the progressive delegitimization of the Jewish state in the international arena. Indeed, most of the concerned individuals I speak with are still convinced that if only certain facts were better known-or better presented-Israel's circumstances could be improved dramatically.

Unfortunately, I don't think this is right. Media battles such as the one over the Turkish ship off Gaza are necessary for Israel's short-term defense, and we had better do our best to win them by presenting the facts as best we are able. But I think that Kuhn's argument makes it clear that the outcomes of these contests won't have any real impact on the overall trajectory of Israel's standing among educated people in the West. This standing has been deteriorating for the past generation, not because of this or that set of facts, but because the paradigm through which educated Westerners are looking at Israel has shifted. We've been watching the transition from one paradigm to another on everything having to do with Israel's legitimacy as a sovereign nation. So long as we don't understand this well, we won't really understand what's going on, and we won't be able to do anything to really improve things.

What's the old paradigm? And what's the new one to which the international arena is shifting...