This book focuses on the nature of Israeli politics in the 'post-Begin' era. It examines significant contemporary issues such as the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon; the harnessing of the enormous inflation rate; the escalating tension between religious and secular Israeli Jews; the widening influence of radical right wing activist Rabbi Meir Kahane; the fluctuating relationship between Israel and the U.S.; the survival of the Likud Party; and changes in national electoral strategies of the major parties. It places recent events in Israeli politics in a historical context and suggests what the implications of these events might be for the future.

Books on Israel provides professional students of Israel and the general public with an informative and up-to-date survey of books and ideas about Israeli society—ethnic relations, religious life, cultural trends, history, politics, and literature. Included in this volume are Nissim Rejwan's fascinating discussion of books on Israel published in the Arab world; Avner Yaniv's analysis of changing Israeli ideas about security and military strategy; Don Peretz's discussion of scholarship on Arab-Jewish relations; Ben Halpern's profile of Yitzhak Tabenkin and Berl Katznelson, and Ian Lustick's provocative critique of Eisenstadt's The Transformation of Israel. This volume and the series which it inaugurates provide a forum for the interchange of ideas and the discussion of new directions in the study of Israel. Important works on Israel published in other languages will now be available to English-speaking audiences. At a time of rapid transformation in many spheres of Israeli life, this collection will inform and invigorate debates over Israel's past, present, and future.

Most observers explain evangelical Christians' bedrock support for Israel as stemming from the apocalyptic belief that the Jews must return to the Holy Land as a precondition for the second coming of Christ. But the real reasons, argues Stephen Spector, are far more complicated. In Evangelicals and Israel, Spector delves deeply into the Christian Zionist movement, mining information from original interviews, web sites, publications, news reports, survey research, worship services, and interfaith conferences, to provide a surprising look at the sources of evangelical support for Israel. Israel is God's prophetic clock for many evangelicals - irrefutable proof that prophecy is true and coming to pass in our lifetime. But Spector goes beyond end-times theology to find a complex set of motivations behind Israel-evangelical relations. These include the promise of God's blessing for those who bless the Jews; gratitude to Jews for establishing the foundations of Christianity; remorse for the Chu

This unique volume intensively studies the nature and extent of US - Israeli relations, from 1948 through the Bush and Obama administrations. Leading experts in the field (including Israeli and North American scholars from a variety of political perspectives) contribute original essays on the principal political, religious, ethnic, military, economic, and juridical connections between the United States and Israel. Specific topics covered in this new book include: the pro-Israel lobby in the United States; the US Jewish community and its relations to Israel; evangelical Christians and Israel; military and economic ties between the United States and Israel; the threat of a nuclear Iran for both countries; and the impact of American jurisprudence on Israel. Section introductions from the editor effectively contextualize the issues and provide students with an in-depth understanding of the past, present, and future of the US - Israel relationship.

Leading social scientists from Israeli and American universities, using different methods and representing diverse intellectual traditions, address the precedent-setting events of Israel's 1996 elections. The contributors discuss the meaning of collective identity, the role of religion and nationalism in modern Israel, the political behavior of Israeli Arabs, the secrets of success of the immigrant party. Also discussed are issues such as the impact of the direct election law on party organization, primaries and coalition-formation calculations, the repeated electoral failure of Shimon Peres, and the role of the media in the election campaign. The 1996 elections in Israel represented a "first" in Israeli politics in many ways. For the first time Israelis directly elected their prime minister and, in simultaneous but separate elections, they elected their 120-member Knesset (parliament). Also, it was the first time that elections were held after the mutual recognition of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization following the Oslo accords and it was the first election held after the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rubin. The political parties made widespread use of primaries in 1996, and hundreds of thousands of new immigrants from the former Soviet Union cast their first ballots. The large support for a party supported by former-Soviet immigrants highlighted the emergence of sectarian interests. This was also expressed in the surge for the two Arab parties from five seats in 1992 to nine seats in 1996, and for the three Jewish religious parties whose combined representation grew from 16 to 23 seats.

Examines the Egyptian-Israeli peace negotiations and settlement and their implications for understanding the peacemaking process.

The architects of the Camp David process expected their efforts to become a broad and inclusive framework for peace in the Middle East. Dr. Friedlander's book demonstrates how domestic factors affecting policy decisions made in both Cairo and Jerusalem prevented Sadat and Begin from embracing a structure that would yield a more comprehensive arrangement. Sadat, for example, confronted an antipeace movement in Egypt, strengthened by then-Vice President Mubarak's ties to the military-security establishment and his alliance with members of the Arab nation's diplomatic corps. Begin was opposed by Israeli conservatives who saw the Camp David formulas as leading to a peace that would jeopardize Israel's security. Both leaders, Dr. Friedlander concludes, were able ultimately to guide their nations toward approval of the peace initiative primarily because of their mastery of techniques of domestic intra-elite bargaining.

The history of U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East is marked by numerous stark failures and a few ephemeral successes. Jimmy Carter's short-lived Middle East diplomatic strategy constitutes an exception in vision and approach. In this extensive and long-overdue analysis of Carter's Middle East policy, Jorgen Jensehaugen sheds light on this important and unprecedented chapter in U.S. regional diplomacy. Against all odds, including the rise of Menachem Begin's right-wing government in Israel, Carter broke new ground by demanding the involvement of the Palestinians in Arab-Israeli diplomatic negotiations. This book assesses the president's `comprehensive peace' doctrine, which aimed to encompass all parties of the conflict, and reveals the reasons why his vision ultimately failed. Largely based on analysis of newly-declassified diplomatic files and American, British, Palestinian and Israeli archival sources, this book is the first comprehensive examination of Jimmy Carter's engagement with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. At a time when U.S. involvement in the region threatens to exacerbate tensions further, Arab-Israeli Diplomacy under Carter provides important new insights into the historical roots of the ongoing unrest. The book will be of value to Middle East and International Relations scholars, and those researching U.S diplomacy and the Carter Administration.

Completing his acclaimed trilogy on the history of Israel, Leslie Stein brings readers right up to contemporary events in Israel Since the Six-Day War. Stein vividly chronicles Israel's wars and military engagements, but he also incorporates fascinating assessments of many other issues, including Israel’s economic development, the nature of the PLO and Palestinian Authority, and Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. Furthermore, Stein explores broader social issues, such as extremist Jewish movements and the varying fortunes of migrants from Russia and Ethiopia, to convey clearly a sense of the diversity and complexity of modern Israel. Wide-ranging and judicious, Stein's cogent and compellingly readable account of Israel’s recent past will engage students and general readers alike.

An A-to-Z reference guide to the people, places, policies, and events significant during the presidency of Jimmy Carter.