Amazon.com: Defending the Holy Land: A Critical Analysis of Israel's Security and Foreign Policy: Zeev Maoz: Books

Product Description

Defending the Holy Land is the most comprehensive analysis to date of Israel's national security and foreign policy, from the inception of the State of Israel to the present. Author Zeev Maoz's unique double perspective, as both an expert on the Israeli security establishment and esteemed scholar of Mideast politics, enables him to describe in harrowing detail the tragic recklessness and self-made traps that pervade the history of Israeli security operations and foreign policy.

Most of the wars in which Israel was involved, Maoz shows, were entirely avoidable, the result of deliberate Israeli aggression, flawed decision-making, and misguided conflict management strategies. None, with the possible exception of the 1948 War of Independence, were what Israelis call "wars of necessity." They were all wars of choice-or, worse, folly.

Demonstrating that Israel's national security policy rested on the shaky pairing of a trigger-happy approach to the use of force with a hesitant and reactive peace diplomacy, Defending the Holy Land recounts in minute-by-minute detail how the ascendancy of Israel's security establishment over its foreign policy apparatus led to unnecessary wars and missed opportunites for peace.

A scathing and brilliant revisionist history, Defending the Holy Land calls for sweeping reform of Israel's foreign policy and national security establishments. This book will fundamentally transform the way readers think about Israel's troubled history.

Zeev Maoz is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Davis. He is the former head of the Graduate School of Government and Policy and of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, as well as the former academic director of the M.A. Program at the Israeli Defense Forces' National Defense College.

Cover photograph: Israel, Jerusalem, Western Wall and The Dome of The Rock. Courtesy of Corbis.

About the Author
Zeev Maoz is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Davis. He is the former head of the Graduate School of Government and Policy at Tel Aviv University and the Jaffee Center of Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, and the former director of the M.A. Program of the National Defense College of the IDF.

Product Details

Hardcover: 728 pages
Publisher: University of Michigan Press (May 12, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0472115405
ISBN-13: 978-0472115402
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 2.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #607,451 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
On May 12, 1948, a group of nine men and one woman met in Tel Aviv to decide on the establishment of a new state. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Middle East, Suez Canal, Yom Kippur War, Six Day War, Golan Height, Sinai War, Camp David, Soviet Union, Gulf War, King Hussein, Oslo Accords, Golda Meir, Supreme Court, Moshe Dayan, Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Ariel Sharon, Yitzhak Rabin, Bar Joseph, Canal Zone, Likud Party, Ben David, Shimon Peres, War of Independence

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4.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for any serious student of Israel or the Middle East, January 5, 2008

By	Matthew Smith "Roger Mexico" (TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I think even the detractors of this book will have to at least admit that this book is a very brave endeavor by the author. The analysis that Maoz gives us here is at times subjective which does leave the author open to criticism, but he takes such a scientific approach in analyzing the evidence that any critic will be hard pressed to find flaws in his methodology.

The book is not for the casual reader or those with just a passing interest in Israel or the Arab/Israeli conflict. The author uses almost fifty pages at the very beginning of the book to explain to readers his methodological approach to analysis of Israeli defense policy. I for one have never read such a detailed analysis of an approach to analysis before. Any potential reader should be prepared for a dense work that requires a lot from the reader.

If you decide to take on this book I think you will be rewarded with the best analysis of Israeli defense policy there is out there. The information is neutral and based on the best evidence available and presented in a rational and almost clinical fashion.

Maoz goes into great detail about how the IDF has had too much influence on policy making decisions within the government, and how civilian leadership has played a subservient role to defense needs. He goes on to explain how this lack of civilian leadership has created a process by which military solutions to conflicts take a priority role over political solutions. This has affected Israel's peace making efforts in the region. Israel has been all to willing to embark on some extremely risky military adventures to seek an end or at least an improvement vis-�-vis its neighbors, but at the same time Israel has been unwilling to try even moderately risky attempts at political solutions.

Maoz attributes some of this to the fact that Israel's founding elites instilled a siege mentality during the founding and early days of the Israeli state. Unfortunately this siege mentality has persisted even after the realities on the ground have taken on some fundamental changes. Israel now has a large conventional edge on all of its enemies, and Israel, for the foreseeable future, has no real existential threat from those states in the area. This does not mean that Israel is safe, but what it should mean is that Israel should have more political room to maneuver and seek political solutions that will further its security.

When Israel has taken some risk for political solutions it has benefited enormously, as when Israel finally accepted Sadat's overtures for negotiations which lead to the Israeli/Egyptian peace treaty. This peace, even though it has been a cold peace, has lifted an enormous burden from Israel. This should have been the template for Israeli peace policy towards its neighbors but unfortunately Israel seemed to take no lessons from this peace, but instead Israel insists on focusing on Arab rhetoric which is not grounded in reality nor are these states pursuing policies that could make their rhetoric a reality.

Israel is in a relatively safe position right now. They have an economic, social and military edge over every one of their potential enemies and Israel should try to capitalize on its improved position by bargaining for peace and establishing a WMD free zone in the Middle East. These types of policies could possibly go along way in bringing security to the Israeli state and it could lighten the defense burden which could free up money that is needed for infrastructure and social programs within Israel.

Maoz goes into all of this and more. His discussion of Israel's nuclear policy is fascinating, and his information on the economic aspects of Israel's defense policy and its economic situation as a whole was extremely elucidating. All in all I found this book to be an invaluable contribution to the discussion. This is one book that anyone who seriously studies this region and Israel cannot do without. I highly recommend this book.

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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get the facts that can lead Israel to peace, July 26, 2006

By	Israel Supporter (Davis, CA) - See all my reviews

Prof. Maoz analyzes the evidence underlying the basic beliefs about Israel's military policy and history, held by most Israelis and supporters of Israel. From a pro-Israel perspective, Maoz's work is a call for change within Israel to promote new institutions that would lead to non-military solutions. The chapter pointing out the flaws in Israel's nuclear policy is extremely important in view of the current nuclear build-up in Iran.

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10 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some interesting criticisms of Israeli policies, December 30, 2006

By	Jill Malter (jillmalter@aol.com) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is a truly weird book. It is really big and thick, with all sorts of references. It's very scholarly. And it even discusses some interesting issues. But I still don't like it very much.

First of all, the topic is strange. Plenty of Arabs want to destroy Israel. Does it even make sense to ask what Israel ought to do? Israel is a small nation and it is at great risk no matter what it does. In any case, this book not only asks such a question but gives some answers.

Zeev Maoz appears to believe that most of Israel's wars were simply folly. After all, there are indications that with hindsight, Israel had other options! Well, maybe that's true. But most nations make plenty of errors when they have to make decisions about whether or not to fight a war. In my opinion, Israel has done an above average job here. And even Maoz points out that he is not trying to deny that other nations (especially the Arabs) have often made far worse decisions than has Israel; he just wants to point out where Israel could have done better in the past and where it could improve in the future.

I disagree most with the author when he characterizes various Israeli wars as optional. The Israelis might indeed have avoided war for a short time by doing something else. The Israelis might even have gotten a couple of pieces of paper in exchange for something of real value at various times. But such speculations are not only counterfactual (that's not what happened, so we can't be totally sure it could have), they also ignore much of what might have happened after that.

As an annoying aside, this characterization of Israel's wars makes it look a little like the Israeli people and their leaders simply did not want to survive. After all, when the easiest way to die is to get into a war, it's suicidal to choose war when peace is available! I don't believe that the Israelis or their leaders have been suicidal, and I doubt that Maoz believes it, so I am wary of a book that might imply such nonsense.

Time after time, Maoz criticizes Israel for doing something that seemed reasonable at the time. Israel's serious attempts to avoid or deter the 1973 war look as though they are dismissed out of hand. When we get to the Arab attacks on Israel in 2000, Maoz casually (and very dubiously) blames the start of the violence on Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount! I don't mind asking a lot of tough questions, but I think Maoz goes overboard when he implies that virtually everything Israel has done has been wrong. He should have done a better job of separating really clear errors from decisions which made far more sense (and may even have been ideal).

Still, there is good news about the book. Maoz does ask about various Israeli strategies for retaliation against attacks (including limited ones). And I think these are very good questions to ask, even though they may, quite unfairly, imply that everything would be just fine were Israel to do the right thing all the time. There is also an interesting section dealing with Israel's nuclear strategy. Here, Israel is encouraged to give up its nuclear weapons as part of a deal to make the region free of such weapons. If it were that simple to make such a deal and have it honored, I think there would already be peace in the Middle East, so I am not so sure how brilliant Maoz is being here.

With all due respect to the author, I think this book exaggerates Israel's ability to influence its own future. I suspect that Maoz would (possibly quite correctly) reply that I am underestimating Israel's ability to do just that.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
A truly great book! Maoz has shown that Israel, like other nations, has failed to take in the best interests of its people by failing to see the outcome of their actions. Read more

Published 17 months ago by Avner Goldman

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