'On the kibbutz it's hard to know. We're all supposed to be friends but very few really are.' Ariella, unhappy in love, confides in the woman whose husband she stole. Nahum, a devoted father, can't find the words to challenge his daughter's promiscuous lover. The old idealists deplore the apathy of the young, while the young are so used to kibbutz life that they can't work out if they're impassioned or indifferent. And amid this group of people unwilling and unable to say what they mean, Martin attempts to teach Esperanto.

Shmuel - a young, idealistic student - has abandoned his studies in Jerusalem, taking a live-in job as a companion to a cantankerous old man. But Shmuel quickly becomes obsessed with the taciturn Atalia, a woman of enchanting beauty, who also lives in the house.

This collection of three new essays - all based on talks delivered by Amos Oz - was written out of a sense of urgency, concern, and a belief that a better future is still possible. Dear Zealots is a significant document that outlines Amos's current thinking about the Middle East - urgent reading for anyone interested in the conflict.