Zion and State explores the origins of the struggle between the left and right in Israel and the Zionist movement. Mitchell Cohen traces the emergence of Jewish nationalism and modern Jewish political ideologies in the late nineteenth century, the birth of Zionist political parties at the time of Theodor Herzl, and the genesis of Israeli politics through the first fifteen years of Jewish statehood.

Analyzing the political battles of the 1920s and 1930s, Cohen shows how the Zionist Labor movement led by David Ben-Gurion defeated the challenge of the right-wing Revisionist Zionists led by Vladimir Jabotinsky, demonstrating how the growing dominance of Labor made the birth of Israel possible. At the same time, the author argues that once in power, the labor movement's long-term policies were ultimately self-defeating and helped to lay the groundwork for its own undoing in the 1970s. This new and expanded edition of Zion and State includes a new preface and a new essay, "Between Revolution and Normalcy."