War And Peace In Israeli Politics

Violence and war have raged between Zionists and Palestinians for over a century, ever since Zionists, trying to establish a nation-state in Palestine, were forced to confront the fact that the country was already populated. Covering every conflict in Israel’s history, War over Peace reveals that Israeli nationalism was born ethnic and militaristic and has embraced these characteristics to this day. In his sweeping and original synthesis, Uri Ben-Eliezer shows that this militaristic nationalism systematically drives Israel to find military solutions for its national problems, based on the idea that the homeland is sacred and the territory is indivisible. When Israelis opposed to this ideology brought about change during a period that led to the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, cultural and political forces, reinforced by religious and messianic elements, prevented the implementation of the agreements, which brought violence back in the form of new wars. War over Peace is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the role of ethnic nationalism and militarism in Israel as well as throughout the world.

Disagreements over national security issues, primarily between Likud and Labour (the two major political forces in Israel), have gradually become the central topic of dispute in Israeli politics. Likewise, the distinction between the political left and right increasingly concerns questions of national security, rather than other clevages in Israeli society.

In this book, the author examines the history of the Middle East. With a special focus on the last 50 years, he illuminates the 4 phases of external involvement - Ottoman, European, Superpower, and American - that have moulded its evolution.

"... this volume is a highly valuable contribution to our understanding of the relation between democracy and peace in the Middle East, as well as in international politics in general.... this book will continue to be of value and interest for some time to come." --The Historian "This book is a useful collection of essays on Middle East politics and international relations presented in a reader-friendly interdisciplinary fashion." --Israel Studies Bulletin "... this is an important collection of challenging papers." --Studies in Contemporary Jewry "... one of the first books that specifically focuses on the possible links between democracy and peace in the region. It is entertaining and highly useful." --MESA Bulletin What are the prospects for continued movement toward democracy in the Arab world, and what form is democracy likely to take? What impact will democratization have on war and peace in the Middle East? Scholars explore these issues in this timely book.

"With focus centered on the United States' involvement in Iraq and Israel's ongoing war with terrorism, the sixteenth annual meeting of the Orthodox Forum in March 2004 took up the question of War, Peace, and the Jewish Tradition, the papers of which are published here."--BOOK JACKET.

This book brings together a collection of essays that covers the main national security issues Israel has faced since 1973.

Security Threatened is the first major analysis of the interactions among opinion, politics and policy in Israel since the Six Days war of 1967.

This examination of the Middle East's troubled history traces the origins, development and politics of Israel's relationship with the Arab world and the West. It argues that peace with the Palestinians will leave Israel vulnerable to Iraq and Iran.