Yitzhak Rabin
Israel’s GatekeepersThursday, April 11, 2013 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The Gatekeepers is not a history of Israel's security service, its operations and directors, but a political plea for the evacuation of the West Bank, the creation of a Palestinian state, and the suppression of Israeli’s religious settler movement.
The Soul of the SabraThursday, September 6, 2012 by Allan Arkush | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
For those who have been taught—by Peter Beinart or some other recent chronicler of Israel’s history—that Zionism only began to go awry after 1967, Patrick Tyler’s new book might come as a shock. Israel’s aggressive territorial ambitions didn’t emerge after the Six-Day War, Tyler argues, but antedated that (to his mind) avoidable conflict by more than a decade.
The Six-Day War: Day ThreeAs Nasser was ordering his army to flee the Sinai, King Hussein commanded his to stay put. But within the Old City, only a hundred soldiers remained, the rest having already retreated toward the East Bank.
The Six-Day War: Day OneAs the sun rose on June 5th, 1967, squadrons of Egypt's MiG fighter jets took to the skies for their morning patrols. Fearing that an Israeli attack would begin at dawn, their aim was to be ready to meet any Israeli planes.
Editors' Picks
Swords Into Plowshares Jonathan Greenstein, Huffington Post. The owner of a Judaica auction house presents striking hanukkiot from Europe and India. There is also one from Israel, made from a rifle stock and dedicated by Yitzhak Rabin.
Facts on the Ground Nadav Shragai, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Every Israeli prime minister since Yitzhak Rabin has supported urban contiguity between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem—and a planned road will ensure Palestinian contiguity as well. (2009)
Reading Kant to Kissinger Shlomo Avineri, Jewish Review of Books. In 1976, Shlomo Avineri met with Henry Kissinger to discuss Syria and Lebanon. But they ended up talking about Kant and Hegel—to the confusion of any Soviet eavesdroppers.
Raising the Altalena Matthew Bell, BBC. Ben-Gurion's 1948 decision to the sink the Altalena reflected his determination to dominate Begin's Irgun. A new project to raise the ship will also exhume their rivalry.
Spy vs. Spy Daniel Pipes, Israel Hayom. While the American press remains outraged at Jonathan Pollard’s spying on the U.S. for Israel, the Jewish state is crawling with American spies—and this is normal, routine, and implicitly accepted by both sides.