Israel and the Arabs [Paperback]

Ahron Bregman (Author), Juhan El-Tahri (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2000

For the first time, Israeli and Arab authors collaborate in Israel and the Arabs (TV Books; November 2000), providing an unbiased account of one of the worlds’ most complex and controversial situations from both sides of the firing line. Although the conflict between Jews and Arabs can be traced back over 2,000 years, the current conflict and its cycles of war, terrorism, negotiation, and hope can be dated back to the creation of Israel in 1948.

For more than four years, Ahron Bregman and Juhan El-Tahri interviewed heads of state, prime ministers, foreign ministers, defense ministers, intelligence chiefs, soldiers, guerrilla leaders, journalists and academics from sixteen countries to accumulate a wealth of new, rich, and surprising detail. Updated with a new afterword for this paperback edition, this definitive account of war and peace in the Middle East, explores Israel’s earliest attempts to establish itself.

Israel and the Arabs includes a never-before-published transcript of a conversation between Jordan’s late King Hussein and Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir taped ten days before the 1973 war, and an interview with Shams el-din Badran, Egypt’s Minister of War in 1967, which provides new insights into the role of the Soviet Union in provoking the Six-Day War. The book it encompasses the Camp David Accords in 1978, the Lebanon War of 1982, the start of the Intifada in 1987, and the recent attempts to consolidate a shaky reconciliation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This companion guide to the PBS series of the same name illustrates how difficult it is to present a balanced work on the contentious Middle East. Full of interviews with key players, the book offers a convincing behind-the-scenes look at Israeli-Arab peacemaking efforts during the past half-century, debunking the myth that this process began with the signing of the Oslo peace accords in 1993. Its strength lies in its recounting, with the help of eyewitnesses, little-known stories regarding contacts between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Most notable are the details of the periodic meetings between Israel and representatives of Egypt's nationalist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1950s and '60s. The book tends to portray the violence so prevalent in the Middle East during the last 50 years as the result of missed diplomacy instead of historical inevitability. But the authors, Bregman an Israeli-born Jew and El-Tahri a Lebanese Arab, occasionally fail to provide the unbiased history they claim to present. For example, a 1988 move by the Palestine Liberation Organization to recognize U.N. resolutions supporting the land-for-peace principle is described like this: "They had finally broken the taboo and recognized the right of Israel to exist." There is no mention of the fact that many IsraelisAand some PalestiniansAdidn't view the PLO's move as full recognition. This is a cleanly written book that any reader will learn from, but it should be read with an eye toward its subtle prejudices and its tendency to minimize the root causes of the conflict. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Bregman and El-Tahri examine the causes behind the age-old conflict between Jews and Arabs, which intensifed after the state of Israel was created in 1948. The idea for this book grew out of a BBC/PBS documentary on the fiftieth anniversary of Israel, and the authors include material from interviews with politicians, journalists, and soldiers. Bregman, an academic born in Israel, and El-Tahri, a journalist born in Beirut, bring valuable insights as well. The authors recount the early years of the state of Israel and the history of the passionate hostilities in the region where the major religions of the world meet--Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The book includes extracts from conversations between Jordan's King Hussein and Israeli prime minister Golda Meir and an interview with Egyptian war minister Shams Badrain. The authors also use firsthand accounts by representatives of the CIA, the Mossad, and the PLO to convey the intrigue and complexity of behind-the-scenes machinations in this involving look at one of the bloodiest and longest of world conflicts. Vanessa Bush --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: TV Books (December 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575001845
• ISBN-13: 978-1575001845
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,350,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fifty Years War (Hardcover)

I have read many books on this subject matter, but none convey the feelings and thoughts that the key characters in the conflict must have felt the way this book does. One can grasp the anguish Nasser went through before the '67 war, and one of the most touching parts in this book is when Prime Minister Begin tells Carter that peace must be found. I'm reading this book now for the second time, and am finding undertones that I did not see the first time around. Definitely a best buy..

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Informative, September 1, 2001

By 

N. Cooley (Gilbert, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Israel and the Arabs (Paperback)

This was the first book I have ever read concerning the history of the Israelis and Palestinians and I was very impressed. The book outlines the problems throughout the recent history of the region in a concise and smooth manner. I especially liked the fact that the book was co-authored by an Israeli and a Palestinian, eliminating any intentional or unintentional bias. The BBC series is also very informative but not as much so as this book, which goes into more detail concerning the histories of the two groups of peoples.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very insightful overview, July 11, 2000

By 

"addamski" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fifty Years War (Hardcover)

This book is based on the superb BBC series, however it is not necessary for the reader to have seen it. Bregman and El-Tahri, a jew and an arab, have produced a clear, balanced and insightful book on one of the on going conflicts of the 20th century. This book is ideal for those who continually see or read about the Israeli conflict on the news and in the papers, without actually knowing what it is all about. As an overview, it will rapidly educate the reader as to the causes of the conflict and the reasons for the solution being so elusive. At times ironically amusing, it depicts the constant back stabbing, plotting and betrayal by all sides- jewish, arab, american and russian. If this book is to be faulted it is that it doesn't go into great depth with regard to some of the personalities and events, however if it had done it would have been a much longer book. The writing style is very accessible, though somewhat bland. Also the photographs are relatively poor, and uninteresting. Thus, I recommend this book as an introduction to the Israeli conflict, rather than a complex in-depth historical work.