Cross on the Star of David: The Christian World in Israel's Foreign Policy, 1948-1967 (Indiana Series in Middle East Studies) (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"... Cross on the Star of David... shows how historical research is done. This is the kind of research that historians wait for...." -- Books & Culture

"A particular strength of Bialer's work... is the extensive use of newly declassified archival material. His analysis is heavily grounded in material from the Israeli State Archives, and he uses this new material to offer a more balanced account of Christian -- Israeli relations by introducing the Israeli perspective.... provid[es] a sympathetic analysis of the failures, shortcomings, and successes that the new state faced in dealing with the Christian world." -- American Jewish Archives Journal

Product Description

The official establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948 constituted the realization of the Zionist vision, but military victory left in its wake internal and external survival issues that would threaten this historic achievement for decades to come. The refusal of the international community to recognize the political, geographic, and demographic results of the War of Independence presented Israel with a permanent regional security threat, while isolating and alienating it in the international arena. One of the most formidable problems Israeli foreign policy faced was the stance of the Christian world toward the new state. Attitudes ranged from hostility and categorical non-recognition by the Catholic Church, through Protestant ambivalence, to Evangelical support. Cross on the Star of David presents the first scholarly analysis, based on newly declassified documents, of Israeli policymaking on this issue. Uri Bialer focuses on the impact that modes of thinking rooted in the historical tradition of Jewish-Christian interactions had on Israeli policymakers and concludes that they were not innocent of the perceptions and biases that influenced the Christian world’s behavior toward Israel. The result is a fine-grained, original interpretation of an important dimension of Israeli foreign policy from the founding of the State to the 1967 War.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (October 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253346479
• ISBN-13: 978-0253346476
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,944,448 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)