David Brog provides a convincing defense of modern Israel by surveying the nation’s history and by examining its actions. The book comes across as an astonishingly honest presentation that openly acknowledges Israel’s past mistakes. On the first page of the preface Brog acknowledges that “Israel has committed sins both small and large” (ix). Later he even states that Israel is guilty of “war crimes” (139, 145). And he gives an example of Arabs rescuing Jews (119-120). The book certainly gives the impression that it is a candid and objective analysis of Israel and its practices, but upon closer inspection it is seriously misleading.
Brog’s book turns out to be far less than it at first appears. For example, Brog states, “It is not anti-Semitic to criticize Israel.” But in the next paragraph, he empties that statement of any significance. “. . . anti-Semites rarely recognize their motive. Anti-Semites never criticize Jews simply for being Jewish. They always criticize Jews for some alleged crime or offense” (xxvi). Isn’t that, in effect, saying that those who do criticize Israel are in all likelihood anti-Semitic?
The author does cite serious moral errors committed by Israel, but he often ends up concluding that the ultimate responsibility rests with the Arabs. Brog acknowledges that “some of Israel’s wartime actions were not strategically justified,” but “the military emergency that forced Israel to confront such tough choices was entirely of Arab making” (11). The expulsion of 50,000 Palestinians from Ramle and Lydda in 1948 was “the nation’s moral nadir,” but “had Lydda not resisted, there would have been no reason to conquer the town by force” (146). Why were there 700,000 refugees after the 1948 war? “Simply put, the Arab tragedy of 1948 was the direct result of the Arab aggression of 1948” (150). In other words, the Israelis should not be held responsible for the “war crimes” they committed.
The most glaring errors in Brog’s presentation come not from what he says but from the many things that he fails to say. For example, he offers a number of quotes from Herzl (62-66), Weizman (67), Ben-Gurion (67-71), and Jabotinsky (71-73) as evidence that the founders of Israel wanted to accommodate the Arabs, not expel them. Those men did indeed express those sentiments. Unfortunately, that was not all that they said.
In June of 1938 Ben-Gurion said, “My approach to the solution of the question of the Arabs in the Jewish state is their transfer to Arab countries.” Later that year he asserted that “compulsory transfer will clear for us vast territories. I support compulsory transfer. I do not see anything immoral in it” (Shavit, "My Promised Land," 74-75). Even more revealing is Ben-Gurion’s comment in 1944: “Were I asked what should be our program, it would not occur to me to tell them to transfer . . . because speaking about the matter might harm [us] . . . in world opinion, because it might give the impression that there is no room in the Land of Israel without ousting the Arabs” (Morris, "Righteous Victims," 254). And Ben-Gurion’s plan was simply an echo of Herzl’s thoughts in 1895: “We must expropriate gently. . . . We shall try to spirit the penniless population across the border by procuring employment for it in the transit countries, while denying it any employment in our country. . . . Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly” (Morris, "Righteous Victims," 21-22). Were the founders’ statements about accommodation their genuine thoughts or simply statements useful for public relations?
Brog laments that Israel did not receive more land under the UN’s 1947 partition plan. “The Jews would be getting merely half of an already truncated Palestine. The half on offer included neither the ancient Jewish capital of Jerusalem nor the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria” (128). But Brog fails to mention that in 1947 there were 1.2 to 1.3 million Arabs in Palestine compared to 650,000 Jews (Morris, "Righteous Victims," 192). Why should the Jews have received half of the land when they were one third of the population? Furthermore, Jerusalem was a holy site to Muslims and not just Jews, and the land offered to the Zionists included the fertile coastal belt (Hirst, "The Gun and the Olive Branch," 257). Is it really surprising that the Arabs did not heartily embrace the UN’s partition plan?
Chapter six begins with a firm denunciation. “Among all of the lies that have been told about Israel, few rival those surrounding its desperate struggle for survival in 1948. The conventional anti-Israel narrative asserts that . . . Israel was the aggressor whose ethnic cleansing demanded an Arab response” (125). Brog insists that the Zionists’ fight against the Arabs was limited to defensive measures until military necessities forced them to change.
A detailed discussion of all that took place in the 1948 war is more than this short review can include, but Brog should at least acknowledge that even prominent Israelis have come to different conclusions about the war. Consider the assessment of Shlomo Ben-Ami, former Foreign Minister of Israel: “The reality on the ground was at times far simpler and more cruel . . . . It was that of an Arab community in a state of terror facing a ruthless Israeli army whose path to victory was paved not only by its exploits against the regular Arab armies, but also by the intimidation, and at times atrocities and massacres, it perpetrated against the civilian Arab community.” Ben-Ami further explains, “To Ben-Gurion the war was not just about the physical survival of a small Jewish state, it was about the conquest, the possession and the settlement of the land” ("Scars of War," 42, 45).
Like many supporters of Israel, Brog emphasizes the atrocities committed by Arab terrorists. “Most significantly, the Palestinians have consistently sought to address their grievances by resorting to terrorism—the intentional targeting of civilians with violence” (xxv). After 1968 the “PLO explicitly rejected recognition of Israel, negotiations with Israel, and compromise with Israel. Instead, they became terrorist pioneers who dedicated their full energies to finding innovative ways to murder Israelis” (153). There is no question that vicious acts of terrorism have been perpetrated against Jews, but it is also true that the Zionists have been guilty of horrendous acts of terrorism. And some of those Jewish terrorists later became honored leaders in Israel.
On July 22, 1946, a bomb was placed in Jerusalem’s famous King David Hotel by the Jewish militia group known as the Irgun. That act of Jewish terrorism resulted in 88 people being killed. The leader of the Irgun was Menachem Begin, who became Prime Minister of Israel in 1977. (Hirst, "The Gun and the Olive Branch," 232-233).
Brog does record how another Jewish militia group called Lehi or the Stern Gang collaborated with the Irgun to attack the village of Deir Yassin on April 9, 1948 (138-140). Over 100 residents of the village were massacred in what Brog calls a “war crime” (139). But Brog fails to tell the story of how the Stern Gang assassinated Count Folke Bernadotte. He was a member of the Swedish royal family and the UN’s official Mediator in Palestine. He had moved from his predisposition favoring the Zionists to advocating for the Palestinian refugees (Hirst, "The Gun and the Olive Branch," 272-280). One of the leaders of this terrorist organization was Yitzhak Shamir, who became Prime Minister in 1983. (Hammond, "Obstacle to Peace," 81).
Then there is Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister from 2001-2006. In 1953, his army unit attacked the Jordanian village of Qibya. No Israeli soldiers were killed, but 45 houses were blown up and 60 inhabitants—most of them women and children—were killed (Hirst, Gun and Olive Branch, 307-308; Morris, Righteous Victims, 272-279). In the Lebanon War of 1982, 700-800 inhabitants of the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps were massacred by a Lebanese militia group working with the Israelis. The Israeli government convened a judicial commission of inquiry that declared Sharon “indirectly responsible” and unfit to continue as Defense Minister (Hirst, "Gun and Olive Branch," 553-572; Morris, "Righteous Victims," 542-549).
Why does Brog fail to mention these acts of terrorism that were perpetrated by such prominent Israelis?
So much more of Israel’s history could be cited to demonstrate that his positive assessment is seriously distorted, but three omissions on Brog’s part must be addressed. First, Brog gives the impression that Israel has pursued peace while the Palestinians and Arabs have consistently done otherwise (151-173). Yet Israeli-British historian, Avi Shlaim, states, “The files of the Israeli Foreign Ministry burst at the seams with evidence of Arab peace feelers and Arab readiness to negotiate with Israel from September 1948 on.” Israeli author, Jeff Halper, provides a list of 20 examples of the Arab attempts to negotiate for peace ("An Israeli in Palestine," 90-96).
Second, Brog’s eighth chapter is titled, “The Most Moral Army in the World” (175-199). “Israel exercises enormous self-restraint. It absorbs hundreds of blows without responding, in the hope of avoiding armed conflict. And when Israel finally does respond to attacks, it strives mightily to target the guilty and spare the innocent” (176). As an example of Israel’s military morality, Brog discusses and defends Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s 2008-2009 conflict in Gaza (185-195). Statistics alone call into question Brog’s defense. B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, summarizes the damage inflicted: “The magnitude of the harm to the local population was unprecedented: 1,391 Palestinians were killed, 759 of whom did not take part in the hostilities. Of these, 318 were minors under age 18. More than 5,300 Palestinians were wounded, 350 of them seriously.” What about Israel’s losses? “Palestinians fired rockets and mortar shells at Israel, with the declared purpose of striking Israeli civilians. These attacks killed three Israeli civilians and one member of the Israeli security forces, and wounded dozens. Nine soldiers were killed within the Gaza Strip, four by friendly fire. More than 100 soldiers were wounded, one critically and 20 moderately to seriously.” What does the disparity of those figures say about Israel’s morality and “enormous self-restraint”?
Third, Brog ignores how Israel is currently treating the Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel itself. There is no mention of Israel’s fifty-year violation of international law, its creeping annexation of Palestinian territory through settlements in the West Bank, its practice of administrative detention--imprisonment without trial, its construction of the Separation Barrier, its daily harassment of Palestinians at checkpoints, or its terrorizing practice of random home demolition.
"Reclaiming Israel’s History" will find an appreciative audience in those looking for a convincing defense of Israel, but for those willing to investigate further it will prove to be terribly misleading.
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