Price  £17.99
Format  Hardback
Published  1996
Length  268 pages
ISBN  9781870015622
 

Yitzhak Rabin: Soldier of Peace
edited by David Horovitz

“Yitzhak Rabin was an iconoclast, a soldier who became a statesman but never shed his uniform. His diplomatic thinking was strategic, his political manoeuvring tactical. He was totally pragmatic, but understood that sometimes deals, like Oslo, are spun by dreamers who, once their job is done, have to be brought down to earth. He believed deeply that peace, not conquest, was an extension of victory, but never hesitated to use force if it was necessary for Israel's interests.”

     from the Prologue by Hirsh Goodman

Rabin's dual career – as a soldier and as a statesman – is incisively analysed in this unique biography written since his assassination, by Israel's leading English-language journalists who followed his career closely over many years. Also included are vignettes from Rabin's rarely-glimpsed family life.

As a soldier Rabin fought in the battle for Jerusalem in Israel's War of Independence in 1948, in which the Israelis failed to take the Old City. 19 years later in the Six Day War, it was with a sense of poetic justice that Rabin strode into the Old City as Chief of Staff. But it was this spectacular victory which was to sow the seeds of future internal discord within Israel, leading ultimately to Rabin's assassination on 4 November 1995.

As a statesman Rabin first put forward proposals for peace in 1989 when he was Minister of Defence. But it was his election platform of peace with security which won the Israeli elections of 1992 and finally set Israel on the road to peace.

This book looks at the rise of right-wing radical opposition to Rabin's policies, the politicking of American Jewry, Rabin's complex relationships with PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, King Hussein of Jordan, Asad of Syria and, most complex of all, his relationship with fellow peacemaker and successor, Shimon Peres.

About the authors

The Jerusalem Report is a fortnightly, English-language news magazine covering Israel, the Jewish world and Middle East. The authors of this book are:

David Horovitz, who is also editor of the book and managing director of The Jerusalem Report. He has also written for The Independent, The Financial Times and The Guardian and has covered extensively the impact of the peace process;

Hirsh Goodman, editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Report. He was for many years defence correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, Israel correspondent for The Sunday Times and a columnist for the New Republic. He appears regularly on CNN, CBS and the BBC;

Eric Silver, for many years Israel correspondent for The Observer. His books include a biography of the late Menachem Begin;

as well as Calev Ben-David, Gershom Gorenberg, David B. Green, Peter Hirschberg, Avi Hoffman, Isabel Kershner, Margo Lipschitz Sugarman, Tom Sawicki, Stuart Schoffman, Hanan Sher and Leslie Susser.