The idea for the book that became The Netanyahus came to author Joshua Cohen after a friend named Harold Bloom told him about his experiences with the eponymous Netanyahu family, specifically Benzion Netanyahu, the patriarch of the family. In an interview with JTA.org, Cohen wrote that "I asked [Harold] to tell me the story, and then I asked him to tell me it again... it felt ripe for fictionalization."
Although The Netanyahus is a work of fiction, Cohen blends kernels of real-life facts into the book. He does this based upon the story that served as the inspiration for the book and real history. Still, the book is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Bloom, and Mr. Bloom and Cohen's own thoughts about the characters he is writing about. In an interview with a publication called The Paris Review, Cohen called the main character of the book, Benzion Netanyahu, "acidic."
Despite his feelings about the Netanyahus, who were integral to the founding and governance of Israel, Cohen himself considers himself to be a Jewish man. He also understands and appreciates the Netanyahus place in the history of Israel, the United States, and the relationship between those two countries throughout history.
