Description
Book SynopsisThis revised and updated paperback edition of a highly successful study looks at the development of Israeli-Arab relations during the formative years 1949 to 1956, focusing on Arab infiltration into Israel and Israeli retaliation. Palestinian refugee raiding and cross-border attacks by Egyptian-controlled irregulars and commandos were a core phenomenon during this period and one of the chief causes of Israel''s invasion of Sinai and the Gaza strip, the Israeli part of the Anglo-French-Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Benny Morris probes the types of Arab infiltration and the attitude of Arab governments towards the phenomenon, and traces the evolution of Israel''s defensive and offensive responses. He analyses Israeli decision-making processes, including the emergence and ultimate failure of Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett''s dissident policy of moderation and describes in detail the history of the Arab infiltration, including the terrorist-guerrilla raids by state-organized Fedayeen
Trade ReviewTimely ... an impressive work, scholarly, balanced and searching ... Morris lets the facts speak for themselves * The Observer *
There can be nothing but praise for Dr Morris's latest book ... makes uncomfortable reading, but is nevertheless of fundamental importance for understanding the evolution of Israeli policy and the attitude of the major powers, particularly Britain and the United States * Jewish Chronicle *
Morris analyses effectively the interplay between different Israeli decision-making authorities, military and civilian, local and central ... this book confirms and lends depth to the authoritative picture of the Arab exodus in Morris's previous work ... Morris's works provide the fullest, best documented, and most fair-minded examination of the subject yet published. They are likely to remain the standard works on the topic for the foreseeable future. * Mediterranean Historical Review *
Table of Contents1. Israel, the Arab States, and the Palestinians after the 1948 War ; 2. Infiltration ; 3. Arab Attitudes and Policies Towards Infiltration, 1949-55 ; 4. The Costs of Infiltration ; 5. The Israeli Defensive Responses to Infiltration ; 6. The Beginning of the Retaliatory Policy ; 7. Raiding and Counter-Raiding, 1951-1953 ; 8. Qibya ; 9. Israel, the Arab States, and the Great Powers, 1952-1956 ; 10. Sharett's Year, 1954 ; 11. The Gaza Raid and After ; 12. Countdown to a War ; Afterword: The Sinai/Suez War and the End of the Gaza Fedayeen ; Conclusion ; Biographical Notes
