The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Cohen, Joshua. The Netanyahus. Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2021.

Joshua Cohen's novel The Netanyahus is written from the main character Ruben Blum's first person point of view. The novel employs the past and present tenses. Although the narrative primarily adheres to a linear structure, Ruben's flashbacks and musings often divert the narrative's formal patterns. The following summary uses a linear mode of explanation.

Ruben Cohen grew up with Jewish parents in a Jewish neighborhood in New York City. Throughout his childhood, he attended both Hebrew school and public school. Throughout his schooling, he began to notice the disparities between how his religious and secular educations defined history. In Hebrew school, history did not exist. Time was a blur of past, present, and future, and originated from God's omniscient voice. By contrast, in public school, history was entangled with notions of progress. The past was merely the precursor to the present. The past was something beyond which a culture could grow.

As he grew up, Ruben began distancing himself from the Jewish faith and culture. After World War II ended, he returned home to his wife, Edith, and daughter, Judith, or Judy. At this time, he particularly cast off the rabbinical teachings of his youth and embraced academia. He studied history for many years, eventually becoming a historian and a professor.

In 1958, Ruben was hired to teach history at Corbin College in Corbindale, New York. He and his family relocated, moving out of New York City and into the country. In September 1959, Ruben's department head, Dr. Morse, summoned him to his office. During the meeting, Dr. Morse explained that the history department was hiring a prospective teacher to lead Bible classes. The primary candidate was a man by the name of Ben-Zion Netanyahu. Because Netanyahu was Jewish, Dr. Morse wanted Ruben to host him and join the hiring committee.

Ruben became increasingly anxious about Netanyahu's impending visit. The more he learned about the man, through his writings and a series of recommendation and warning letters, the less Ruben trusted Netanyahu. His dubious political and personal past particularly troubled Ruben.

Throughout the fall and winter holidays, Ruben, Edith, and Judy hosted their families. Rosh Hashanah and Thanksgiving were fraught by familial arguments and outbursts. The morning after Thanksgiving, Ruben's parents accidentally broke Judy's nose. As a result, she had to get reconstructive surgery, which thrilled her because she hated her prominent nose.

In January 1960, Netanyahu arrived at the Blums' house with his wife, Tzila, and three sons, Jonathan, Benjamin, and Iddo. The family was brusque, disrespectful, and rude.

Ruben led Netanyahu around campus, discomfited by the man's abrasive demeanor. Ruben was even more unsettled by Netanyahu's lectures and interview answers.

That night after Netanyahu's final lecture, Ruben and Edith walked home with Netanyahu and Tzila. Edith quietly talked to Ruben about how thankful she was to be aging without any of her old convictions. When the adults returned home, they discovered Judy and Jonathan having sex. Ruben did everything he could to get the family out of the house and out of town as soon as possible. This was the last time he saw them.