Israeli-Jordanian Dialogue, 1948-1953: Cooperation, Conspiracy, or Collusion? [Hardcover]

Yoav Gelber (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1845190440 | ISBN-13: 978-1845190446 | Publication Date: July 2004

This book is a refutation of Professor Avi Shlaim's theory of an alleged collusion between the Jews and king Abdullah (Clarendon Press, 1998). Shlaim asserts that to further his own aims of creating a greater Jordanian empire, Abdullah conducted secret diplomacy with David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir and other Israeli leaders in self-serving maneuvers which hastened the partition of Palestine, and left more than a million Palestinian Arabs without a homeland. This book describes the development and vicissitudes of the relations between Israel and Jordan from the end of the British mandate and Transjordan's invasion of Palestine, through the war in 1948, the resumption of a direct dialogue that led to an armistice agreement, the abortive peace negotiations in 1949-51 and the simultaneous escalation of border hostilities. Gelber analyzes the triangle of relationships that developed between Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians; and explains the involvement of Britain, the United States and the inter-Arab system in the shaping of these relations and their subsequent deterioration. Based on Israeli, Arab, British and American archival documents, the book follows the intricate balance between Israeli-Jordanian diplomatic activity, and the realities of Israeli-Palestinian relations along the new armistice lines - innocent and hostile infiltration, retaliations and reprisals, to their culmination in the tragedy of Qibia in the fall of 1953 and the return of Jordan to the anti-Israeli Arab coalition. The conclusion drawn is that this five-year period saw the apparent indifference of the Great Powers to impose a settlement, a Jordan unsure of its place in the Arab fold, and a confusing situation between Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians over border issues. Gelber finds no evidence of an alleged collusion between the Jews and king Abdullah - just a tragic unfolding of events that inflamed the still unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Gelber strongly criticizes the so-called revisionist historians, notably Avi Shlaim, who he sees as creating a new myth of Palestinian victimization with Abdullah betraying the Arab cause by colluding with Zionists to partition Palestine between them. Instead, Gelber concludes that it was the complex working out of shared concerns yet different perspectives of perceived needs and interests. The book is much more developed in its critical evaluation of Jordan than of Israel. A valuable addition to the controversy. Highly recommended." -- Choice.

About the Author

Yoav Gelber is Professor of History at the University of Haifa and Head of the Herzl Institute for Research and Study of Zionism. He is the author of a number of books on Middle East affairs, including: Israeli-Jordanian Dialogue: Cooperation, Conspiracy, or Collusion? (Sussex Academic, 2004); and Jewish-Transjordanian Relations, 1921-1948 (Frank Cass, 1997).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 357 pages
• Publisher: Sussex Academic Pr (July 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1845190440
• ISBN-13: 978-1845190446
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,317,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Careful historical research..., August 3, 2006

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This review is from: Israeli-Jordanian Dialogue, 1948-1953: Cooperation, Conspiracy, or Collusion? (Hardcover)

Almost six decades after the U.N. partition of Palestine, as Suzanne Gershowitz wrote, ascription of blame for Palestinian refugees still resonates in Israeli academic discourse. Following the lead of Avi Shlaim, an Oxford University historian and "new historian," post-Zionists have exculpated the Palestinians for heeding Arab calls to leave. Shlaim argued in a 1988 book that King Abdullah I of Transjordan and Jewish leaders colluded to force the partition of Palestine and, therefore, bear responsibility for the refugee crisis that followed.[Avi Shlaim, Politics of Partition: King Abdullah, the Zionists, and Palestine, 1921-1951 New York: Oxford University Press, 1998].

In Israeli-Jordanian Dialogue, 1948-1953, Haifa University professor Gelber decisively refutes Shlaim's thesis by showing that the Israelis and King Abdullah did not aim to conspire against the Palestinians. He argues, rather, that, for the Israelis and Abdullah--who had deep-seated mutual interests and a long-standing bond--partition turned out to be the most viable solution to a thorny problem.

Relying on documents from Israeli and British archives (the latter of which include records of broadcast statements from Arab leaders), Gelber details the Zionist-Jordanian dialogue from the waning days of the British mandate through the 1948 war, to the Israeli raid on Qibya in 1953, which marked the end of the Israeli-Jordanian bond and Jordan's reunion with the Arab coalition. Gelber explains the nuances of the diplomacy among representatives from Israel, the United States, Britain, the United Nations, Transjordan, and other Arab states. His analysis spans both the political and military issues that shaped the Israeli-Jordanian dialogue.

The coverage of Transjordan's 1948 invasion of Israel sets the scene for subsequent examination of the tenuous occupation of the West Bank and the collapse of the Palestinian government in Gaza, which Gelber suggests had to do more with military than political developments. Several chapters examine the diplomatic efforts behind the first nonaggression pact and other attempts at peace from the end of the war through 1953.

Gelber highlights King Abdullah's struggle in balancing his necessary relations with Israel with those he had with the broader Arab world, hostile to the Jewish state's independence, while at the same time posturing himself as a representative of the Palestinians following the Egyptian subordination of Gaza.

Israeli-Jordanian Dialogue, 1948-1953 sheds light not only on an important historical episode, but it has historiographic significance as well. Too often, professors subsume scholarship to their own political agendas. It has become fashionable among many historians to substitute theory for research or omit evidence that undercuts their thesis.[Efraim Karsh, "Benny Morris's Reign of Error, Revisited," Middle East Quarterly, Spring 2005, pp. 31-42]. Careful historical research such as Gelber's grounds the debate about the early years of the Palestinian refugee crisis.