Customer Reviews

The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977

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The Israeli settlements have never been given a history of their own, rather they have been part of the polemic of 'conflict'. Leftists, liberals, Islamists, kahanists, all of them have talked about the settlements, but no one has bothered to explain them by themselves, which is what the world of academia and those interested in Israel have needed all this time. Finally this history, which tragically covers only the first ten years of 'occupation' in an immense 480 pages finally does justice to the settlements. The settlements were not some vast worldwide Jewish conspiracy, as the left of Europe claims, but rather they were some sort of mistake, accident and convoluted plan, facts on the ground without planning or logic. Some were religious, other secular. Some were built on ground already owned by Jews before 1948, such as Gush Etsion and Kfar Darom they were merely reclaimed, whereas some were built on 'crown lands' or government land and thus on 'stolen land'. Some were purely for religious reasons such as Kiryat Arba, some for strategy, some to stop infiltration(such as the Jordan valley), some to establish facts.

This is a brilliant and insightful book by an author who actually knows Israeli and Zionist policies and has real insights into the personalities of the men involved from Dayan to Allon and others. This is not the typical "Israeli greed for others land caused the settlements" that pretends the settlements were established in some logic by all of Israel and with a clear conspiratorial policy, rather this is a fair account that tells the real, honest, history behind what happened.

A wonderful contribution.

Seth J. Frantzman

The Accidental Empire is a wide ranging book, but a wonderfully focused and well researched account aftermath of the Six Days War, the capture of the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. TAE appears to be a wider treatment of Gorenberg's far less successful (though very interesting) first book, The End of Days, about the growing power of religious Zionists. Instead of focusing on the Temple Mount, TAE provides an account of the religious settlement movement, primarily Gush Emunim, and their attempts to create illegal settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Perhaps the strongest point of the book is how muddled the thinking of the Labor leadership was about the new settlements. As aging revolutionaries, they were still wedded to the idea that settlements meant security; that creating facts on the land would lead to a more secure Israel. But they were equally drawn to the idea that land was a negotiating chip with surrounding Arab states. The pull between both impulses led to a sustained paralysis.

This is a meticulously researched, penetrating and fluidly written analysis of a decade of decision by indecision that is at the heart of today's Israeli-Palestinian conundrum. An adherent of Carlyle's dictum that history is biography, Gorenberg's description of the "players" in middle eastern politics is fascinating. But due respect is also paid to Tuchman's acknowledgement that historical forces have an imperative of their own. This somewhat revisionist history is indispensable reading for anyone wishing to understand how what happened, happened.
If I could have read only one book on the middle east published in the last decade, this would be it.
Sidney Bernstein
Retired publisher, Harcourt Brace Professional Publishing

Don't let negative critics scare you from reading this book. Read this unique perspective to a complicated relationship involving religious dogma and secular factions within Israel and the US to assist your understanding of the larger picture. The author's research and opinions are not designed to support the proposition that settlements are collectively an "empire". His conclusion is simple: the settlements and the ideology supporting them are a significant aspect of Israeli politics and driving the scope of the relationship with the US, Pal Authority, etc.

It is essential in reading this book, and perhaps more significantly in reading reviews of this book, to separate the views of religious expansionists from those of the secular government and of by far the highest portion of the population of Israel throughout its existence regarding the settlements. It is also important to compare the strong emotional, almost messianic, attachment to the land of Samaria and Judea felt and espoused by the settlers with the need of the government to "create facts" on the land that supposedly distinguished its own internal legal opinions, and those of most of the rest of the world, regarding the "legality" of the settlements. Whatever personal views you may have on these and other core issues raised by Gorenberg's thoroughly researched, well documented and extensively footnoted work, his dispassionate, well written report of the events is an invaluable reference work that helps define the significance of the settlements as contributing to Middle East unrest. Moreover, Gorenberg's fascinating report of the inner workings of the Eshkol, Meir and Rabin cabinets, and the arrogant disregard of official government policy by cabinet members who represented a small but powerful portion of the population, provide insight into the intrigues that seemingly drive many national decisions in Israel because of the need to form coalition governments that direct the policies of the country.

I found this book to be a page-turner, a fascinating look back at a time that clearly cannot be adequately understood according to the orthodoxies of the contemporary left and right. Instead, Gorenberg takes the reader back to a transitional time in which the participants were simply overwhelmed by the events of history. The writing is vivid, to the extent to which the reader might feel that he or she is walking around in the bodies of the participants. Figures such as Levi Eshkol, Moshe Dayan and Golda Meir will be illuminated for he reader as never before. At the same time, one sees the set being staged for the inevitable contemporary impasse in the Middle East. The book is a trip back to an altogether more innocent world, and yet serves as a dystopian "Oh Jerusalem." In all, this is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the events of the coming year, in which the settlement policy will come to a head. It is also a beautiful and slightly sad trip back to a simpler and more innocent Israel, and those who love that society would be well served to make that journey.

This book is a must for anyone who likes politics and the interaction of policies and power. It should also be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about the internal concepts and philosophies of various players in Israel. The author does not pass judgment and does a great job of presenting the details readably, highlighting many players who are traditionally neglected: Eshkol, Meir, Allon. Highly recommended!!

Gorenberg adopts a Tom Segev style approach to writing, meaning he uses a lot of diary inputs from the people involved. He also uses the Israeli archives for quotes and information which I personally like more. The book is a little slow and is about creating the foundation for the rest of the book. He discusses the process of creating the settlements, the attention given to them, and the manipulation of the system for Israeli government goals. He did a lot of great research but only on specific topics. He fails to utilize other writings to be able to formulate the background to the June 1967 war. This is where I think his relying on Israeli diaries is a little bit of disinformation. No one really doubts that the every day Israeli was afraid of 1967 before it handed and thought the worse. But this was not a view held by anyone serious in the government, they knew Israel would win handily and that they planned the war for months in advance. This is my main complaint, but the rest of the book is very good. The title is a little iffy since he seems to prove it was more systematic and planned but I think what he meant was more involving the maintaining of the land, not the settlement enterprise in itself. That is my assumption from the way he words it in the book. A good read if you want a different approach to the settlement issue.

I found this book to be quite fair and balanced. It tells the history of the first 10 years of settlement without trying to make you believe one thing or another about the movement. I could be used by right and left wingers alike to learn the history of the settler movement. If you're interested in this book, you might also like On the Border of Fire: Origins of the National Religious Settler Movement in Israel

Although I consider myself very knowledgeable about the Arab-Israeli conflict, this book nevertheless provided me with much new information. I think that it is common for people to believe that following the six day war the labor government desperately desired to trade the newly conquered territories for peace and that settlements did not start until the Likud government took over in the late '70's. This book sets the record straight. Although, the Israeli government's official position was that it was ready to trade land for peace, their actions spoke otherwise. Largely due to an emotional attachment to the "Whole Land of Israel" as well as for security concerns, the labor government was actually conflicted about giving up the territories. Slowly but surely the labor government encouraged or condoned settlements including near major Arab population centers (eg Hebron). This was despite the government's knowledge that such settlement contravened international law. Israel's grasp on the territories was already quite firm before the likud governments of the 1980's.
Gorenberg's book is very well researched as he relies upon archived documents as well as interviews of the political players at the time. A unique aspect of the book is how Gorenberg follows certain "unknown" individuals, such as a regular army soldier who fought in the six day war, and intersperses their emotions and ideas within the relatively more dry telling of the history.
This is a very important book for anyone who wants to understand the current conflict.