In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there are few levelheaded voices to be heard in the mainstream; people tend to pull strongly and vocally in one direction or the other. The more silent forces are usually idealists hushed by pragmatists, who see the nature of the argument and wonder aloud if a resolution to make everyone happy is remotely possible.

Joel Schalit, in his recent book Israel vs. Utopia, is a rare voice indeed. His is a ceaseless observation of the conflict over Israel not between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups, but between left- and right-minded Jews worldwide. The battle over Israel is not whether Israel is a land the Jewish people deserve over others, but the poisonous effect that level of rhetoric has.

Throughout Utopia, Schalit examines criticism of Israel, the violent reaction some have to the idea of Israel being criticized at all, and what little sense either side makes. It’s a careful process to call out two loud, stubborn, opposing groups and come out the other side without an international incident on your hands, but Schalit has a way about his prose that allows him to take jabs without being a provocateur. It’s supremely nuanced work.

For example, in one chapter Schalit discusses President Jimmy Carter’s use of the word apartheid in a 2006 book and a visit to the region in 2008. Predictably, it angered plenty of members of the Israeli government, who refused to meet with Carter after he broke a boycott on meeting with members of the reactionary Palestinian group Hamas.

Schalit not only defends Carter as a terrific figure for both Israel and the Middle East, but condemns the use of the word apartheid as well. It’s not that the links to apartheid aren’t there, Schalit writes, just that apartheid is a sorely loaded term that neglects the situation’s moral grey area.

But Schalit, with all his talents for analytical deconstruction of some hefty topics, falls into the trap of looking too far into things that just don’t or shouldn’t matter in this situation. Two chapters, for instance, base quite a lot of their arguments on the film You Don’t Mess with the Zohan and a “Women of the Israeli Defense Force” issue of Maxim Magazine.

In such a heavy problem, the implications of how Adam Sandler and near-pornography became effective tools of rhetoric are borderline non-instances. Not that Schalit winds up grasping for arguments; he just reads too far into some things.

At the same time, it’s the author’s passion for everything Israel that makes this book. Schalit is a Jew, born in Israel and currently located in Italy after a decades-long stay in San Francisco, who’s made a life’s work out of analyzing his cultural identity. It’s safe to say he knows quite a bit about the conflict and wants as many people as possible to sympathize with the middle-of-the-road side of the story. He goes out of his way to make the book as accessible as possible.

Unfortunately, it’s all too much. Non-Jewish readers, or readers without an above-elementary knowledge of Jewish matters, will find themselves lost. There’s a whole dimension to the writing that can’t be grasped without a preliminary connection to the soul of Israel. I know it’s there; it’s easy to see, but it’s too far away for someone like me.

Either way, it’s a quick, terrific read for anyone who’s curious about the realities of a fuzzy conflict. Readers just need to come in with an open mind and a huge Jewish vocabulary.

Reach reporter Morgan Gard at weekender@dailyuw.com.