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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding and original account of the success story which is mdoern Israel
I have read many books about Israel. I have lived here for over thirty years. I thought I knew its story and history well. But this book provided me both a wealth of information and a perspective I had not had before. The author does a tremendous service by emphasizing the 'impossibile odds' faced by those who wished to create modern Israel. He details the long- shot...
Published on July 16, 2009 by Shalom Freedman

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4 of 8 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Openly biased
I came to this book in the hope of finding a well argued discourse on the creation of the State of Israel. I am not a Jew and I am not an Arab. I have a MA in Modern History from the worlds second oldest university and try whenever possible to assimilate information from all sides of an argument - in order to make an informed judgement.

My concerns about this...
Published on November 26, 2012 by Robmb


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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding and original account of the success story which is mdoern Israel, July 16, 2009
I have read many books about Israel. I have lived here for over thirty years. I thought I knew its story and history well. But this book provided me both a wealth of information and a perspective I had not had before. The author does a tremendous service by emphasizing the 'impossibile odds' faced by those who wished to create modern Israel. He details the long- shot historically, the many factors working to make Israel's success extremely unlikely. He points out that only five percent of the four- thousand or so peoples in the world have succeeded in creating nations. He writes in telling detail about the obstacles the Jews faced including two- thousand years without a real military tradition, or a connection with the Land. He says it was through revolutionary change, both Socialist and Capitalist that Israel came into being. He provides perspective by comparing Israel's story with that of other nations and peoples. He rightfully cites certain moral characteristics, including the will and dedication of individual Israeli citizens , which made the impossible, possible. He does a very good job of outlining all the negative factors which make Israel's success seem improbable. In 1947-48 there were experts including American Secretary of State George Marshall who thought Israel would last somewhere from two days to two weeks. Adelman says the Jews then were outnumbered six- hundred fifty - thousand against fifty million. He points out how the demographic imbalance to this day helps make it seem as if Israel's very staying alive is a kind of miracle.
Adelman is not uncritical of Israel, and sees that it has shown certain signs of weakness as in failing to decisively defeat Hizbollah in 2006. But what is great about this book is that the author is aware of and celebrates Israel's accomplishments. While its neighbors wallowed in a sea of backwardness Israel moved ahead to now be among the first- tier countries of the world in quality of life, and standard of living. Israel has developed new medical and scientific technologies which have been of service to Mankind. It has not been defeated by the many enemies that have wished to destroy it. It has done remarkable work in resettling immigrants from over eighty countries and providing them opportunites for new lives.
In a world which Israel is slandered day and night by hate-filled propaganda this work comes as a fresh breath of air. It is a reminder of the truth of what the Jewish state is.
This is a book which should be on the shelf of every true student of the Middle East.
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4 of 8 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Openly biased, November 26, 2012
This review is from: The Rise of Israel: A History of a Revolutionary State (Israeli History, Politics and Society) (Paperback)
I came to this book in the hope of finding a well argued discourse on the creation of the State of Israel. I am not a Jew and I am not an Arab. I have a MA in Modern History from the worlds second oldest university and try whenever possible to assimilate information from all sides of an argument - in order to make an informed judgement.

My concerns about this book were raised in the introduction with the author's claim that there should have been more than 100 million Jews in the world now - based on the 'fact' that there were 8 million 2000 years ago. A note tried to explain this extrapolation. Sorry but demographics are not linear and it certainly cant be subjected to this kind of analysis. This is just plain bungkum.

Reading on the author told me that in 1948 many of the arabs who left did so of their own accord - only 500,000 in total compared with the 700,000+ in most versions. He told me that the 1937 Peel plan was accepted by the 20th Zionist Congress, whilst failing to inform the reader of the facts around this - both Ben Gurion and Weizmann are on record as accepting the partition on the basis that it was a temporary border for later expansion - a fact not hidden from the rest of the world. Again the Camp David 2 proposals, which clearly disadvantaged the Palestinians, are portrayed as an Israeli peace offering which Arafat refused point blank. Here he ignores the facts and actually incorrectly quotes the land exchange formula, omitting the 10 year delay that was in the deal.

This by is all in the first 20 pages. At this stage I put the book in the bin.

What I find so disheartening about this is that the whole conflict from the 1880's onwards is riddled with lies and propaganda on both sides - and the lack of a solution is largely down to the now ingrained mistrust that this has caused. Meanwhile both Arab and Jew continue to die. I dont think that any book which perpetuates this is worthy of print.
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The Rise of Israel: A History of a Revolutionary State (Israeli History, Politics and Society)
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