He attended Jewish day school until 8th grade, and received an undergraduate degree in English from Cornell University.

[12] In The Los Angeles Review of Books, Nathan Goldman wrote, "The book is not only a towering artistic achievement and a disturbing chronicle of American Jewry’s relationship to Israel over the last 10 years, but also a battle cry for a resurgent American Jewish left in a harrowing time of far-right power in the United States and Israel."

Writing in Vulture, Abraham Riesman has referred to Valley's work as "expressionist [and] woodcut-esque.

[14] Writing in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Will Tomer said the book resembled "an old-school MAD Magazine, thanks in part to the stomach-turning illustrations of Eli Valley.

"[19][20][21] McCain called the cartoon "one of the most anti-semitic things I've ever seen,"[22] which caused controversy[23] and discussion about Christian Zionist allegations of antisemitism.