Israel Books

This is the first major work to focus on the history of early Israel, from the 1930's through 1960's through the beautiful images created lovingly by pioneer artists and craftsmen. From the first waves of immigrants, through the Holocaust and early days, to the blooming of a free democratic state, the book inspires and awes.

From kitsch to true works of art, this book documents all of it with vivid photographs and meaningful explanations. This is one of the finest resources out there on early Israeli metalwork and Judaica. Not only are the works of the more familiar makers included, such as Oppenheim and Maurice Ascalon's Pal-Bell, but the creations of dozens of lesser-known and obscure makers are included as well, which adds to the books utility. Collectors and enthusiasts have been waiting for this for a long time.

One trait is shared by all of the individuals in this book, heroism. From all walks of life, disparate viewpoints, and from remote places around the world they rose up above the self, striving for a greater good. From one-armed Joseph Trumpledor, Russian war hero and Jewish legend, to Mordechai Anielewicz, young leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, these shine like beacons of hope and courage in even the darkest moments. Janusz Korczak gave his life to be with Jewish children in Treblinka, marching to the gas chambers even though he had been begged by 'fellow Gentiles' to leave them to their fate. Eli Cohen, the brilliant spy who risked, and lost, his very life in service in Damascus. Yoni Netanyahu, the daring commando leader whose death was the sole fatality suffered by Israeli forces conducting the greatest hostage rescue ever, at Entebbe. Chaim Shturman, proponent of coexistence between Arabs and Jews until the end of his days, though it cost him his life. Hannah Senesh, who, after having escaped the horrors of the Holocaust chose to return to that nightmare, ultimately sacrificing her own life in a mission behind Nazi lines. Orde Wingate, whose brief experience in Israel during the Mandate led him to challenge his fellow British for the sake of a downtrodden people not his own. Abd El-Karim Abd El-Rani, who challenged an enormous terrosist who was stabbing an Israeli girl to death in Jaffa, regardless of his advanced age and the fact that he was fasting for Ramadan and weakened, dying for his heroism by her side. Shula Cohen rescued countless Jews from Syrian torture and death. These are but a sample of the heroes in this book. An inspiring and uplifting book for anyone who believes in something greater than mere self-preservation.

This is the title of the final chapter written by former Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu about a young Israeli special forces member named Nir Poraz who, in Yoni Netanyahu style, tried to rescue a captive Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldier, Nachshon Waxman, held by Palestinian terrorists. He led the way of the Israeli forces and was killed along with Waxman in the operation on October 14, 1994. There are 52 similar chapters about Israeli's who did similar or just simply patriotic, brave acts on behalf of their nation written not only by Israeli statesmen but also citizens who had firsthand knowledge of their personages and travails. The book starts with Joseph Trumpeldor's story and death. He was an ardent, young Zionist born in Russia who fought in WWI and who died when militant arabs invaded Kibbutz Tel Hai in Upper Galilee.

This book was written to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the creation of the modern state of Israel in 1998. It is divided into 7 chronological sections; each section summarizes the crises facing the nation during those time periods and gives a brief history of them. I couldn't make it through the introduction without a few shed tears, so be forewarned. Not all of the stories are so tragic, though most are. I felt many times like I was reading a chapter of Judges or Joshua except that I was transported 3000 plus years ahead. I always wondered what were the names of the 300 men that Gideon chose as fighters because their names are not given anywhere in scripture. To my mind also came the words from the faith chapter, chapter 11, in the book of Hebrews, in the christian bible. 'These all died in faith' and about Moses 'he refused to be called the son of Pharoah's daughter, choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of G-d than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin'. I'm sure there are many other brave souls whose stories are not told herein. For those unsung heroes, Isaiah inspired by G-d wrote 'Behold, I have indelibly imprinted you on the palm of each of My hands; O Zion, your walls are continually before Me' (49:16). I particularly enjoyed reading about Moshe Dayan, although he does not have an entire chapter written about him, but he is mentioned many times as in the chapter about his friend "Amos Yarkoni" who was a palestinian IDF fighter. You finish this book, you'll have to agree that Israel is also a 'land of the brave'.

Many travel guides can tell you locations and the history of the monuments around Jerusalem. But this one tells you the histories of the various Christian communities who worship there. Its focus is not architecture but worship. It provides insights into their traditions as well. Most importantly perhaps, it provides contact information and tells the schedules of worship services. The authors do not assume any prior theological or historical knowledge; everything is simple and straightforward. In the back of the book is a map of central Jerusalem on which most of the monuments can be located. There is a brief, helpful section on Bethlehem and Nazareth as well. In short, most travel guides are not written for Christian worshippers, but this one is. This books purpose is to enable Christian travellers to find communities, learn about them, and join with them in worship. If you want that experience to be part of your trip to Jerusalem and Israel, this is exactly the book you need.

Many travel guides can tell you locations and the history of the monuments around Jerusalem. But this one tells you the histories of the various Christian communities who worship there. Its focus is not architecture but worship. It provides insights into their traditions as well. Most importantly perhaps, it provides contact information and tells the schedules of worship services.

The authors do not assume any prior theological or historical knowledge; everything is simple and straightforward. In the back of the book is a map of central Jerusalem on which most of the monuments can be located. There is a brief, helpful section on Bethlehem and Nazareth as well.

In short, most travel guides are not written for Christian worshippers, but this one is. This books purpose is to enable Christian travellers to find communities, learn about them, and join with them in worship. If you want that experience to be part of your trip to Jerusalem and Israel, this is exactly the book you need.

Ever wonder what some of the famous military leaders of ancient Israel (Joab comes right to mind) would do if they were living in modern Israel? General Dayan fits the mold well. He's been heavily criticized for his rape of the land in search of its historical treasure, but in this book, from his perspective, it's presented as a deeply affectionate love affair.

Controversies aside, Dayan provides excellent illustrations of maps, photos showing a few of his most valuable items, but mostly of life in modern Israel where he dug them up, serving to put his hobby in perspective.

Dayan's book contrasts the past with the present:

The traditional story is told of the patriarch Abraham wandering through the land God promised to give him, then Dayan jumps to the modern settlement of his own birthplace, Nahalal in northern Israel west of Nazareth.

After recounting the Exodus led by Moses, Moshe gives a firsthand account of his own military campaigns in the Sinai region.

On one page a photo of the site of Beth Shan where the Philistines displayed the mutilated body of Israel's first king, Saul; a few pages later we see Arabs looting & burning Jewish shops in 1947 following the United Nations' resolution to establish the Jewish state.

One page shows the site of Jericho where Joshua led the Israelites in conquering the land; another page shows Dayan escorting Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann, after Israel declared her independence in 1948; then a photo of Dayan in his own backyard displaying a unique, cow-shaped jug found near Jericho.

Many of these famous Biblical stories are enhanced herein with photos of medieval Bible manuscripts & modern watercolor art, even modern poetry on occasion. But the real value of this book comes from Dayan's narrative describing the land & its history with words.

While you can read the details of his military achievements (& failures, as with any character of Biblical proportions) in his other books, "Living with the Bible" lets you focus on life itself in the Holy Land with him.

Moshe Dayan was a great son of Israel- a General, who led the defence of Israel from her sworn enemies, for decades, a gentleman, an archaeologist, a lover of poetry and the Land of Israel, and a scholar of the Bible and the history of the Land of Israel.
In this phenomenal book, filled with photos of the landscape of the Land of Israel, and major landmarks, as well as watercolour paintings of events described in the Bible, throughout the ages, Dayan describes the history of the Land, the roots of the Jewish people in the Land, living with the history recorded in the Bible, and the struggle of the Jews to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland.
Dayan gives his "real and tangible homeland the added dimension of historical depth, to bring to life the strata of the past which now lay beneath the desolate ruins and archaeological mounds- the Israel of our patriarchs, our judges, our kings and prophets".
As he reminds us 'The people of Israel were exiled from their land, but their land was never exiled from their hearts".
He brilliantly juxtaposes the Biblical history of Israel with the modern history of Israel, and her strugle to survive.

In describing the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron the burial site of the patriarchs and matriarchs and one of the holiest sites, the author reminds us how for exaxtly seven hundred years, from 1267 AD to the 8 June 1967, the Cave of Machpelah was barred to Jews!
Under Israeli sovereignty it has been open to all faiths!
The first Jew to enter the site, after seven hundred years, was a pretty and clever twelve year old girl, Michal, who was able to wriggle her way through the narrow aperture in the Cave of Machpelah.
I have been to the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron for a synagogue service of the Jewish Sabbath, and have never been to such an amazing service, with such devout worship.
The Jewish community of Hebron is a beautiful and warm community.
It is clear from the accounts in this book of David Ben-Gurion and by Moshe Dyan, that as Ben-Gurion and Dayan' although not observant, were deep believers in the Allmighty.
As the biblical accounts are juxtpaosed with the struggle of Israel. during the 20th century, we read of the frequent Arab terrorist raids into Israel, during the 1950's and 60's in which a number of Israeli men, women and children were murdered.
He describes Varda Freedman, a young girl, murdered at her wedding, by Arab terrorists at the immigrant village of Patish in March, 1955.
Israel-hating revisionist historians have reffered to Israel's raid on a terrorist base in Kibya, in 1953, and labelled it as one of 'Israel's atrocities'.
A close reading of the history of the events, reveals that the raid on Kibya was retaliation for an Arab terrorist raid on the village of Yehudia, in which a Jewish mother and her two small children were murdered.
Dayan describes the struggle for survival during the 1948 War of Independence, where the vastly outnumbered and outgunned Jewish community of the newly re-born State of Israel (many of them holocaust survviors), was attacked by 7 Arab armies, and against all odds, survived.

He also describes the Six Day War, in which he was minister of Defence, and highlight that the War was effectively declared by Nasser, when after Syrian and Egyptian forces had been massed on Israel's borders, Nasser closed the starights of Tiran, blocking off Israel's port of Eilat.
Dayan describes how Israel longs and has always longed for peace: "The Arabs come to us with sword, dagger and spear, while we seek to live with them in peace, side by side, in terms of equality. We come to them in the name of the Lord G-D of Israel'.

Lost Blood by Marco Abraham

Marco Abraham did not write a non-fiction book about the continuing conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis; instead he retells and relives this painful massacre on September 16, 1982, a date that is best buried, but should never be forgotten. Lost Blood takes the readers to the unstable political unrest in the Middle East. It is a dark historical time in which hate, genocide, and evil battle and sometimes trupimph over love, humanity, and faith. Amidst the killing fields of Sabra and Shatila, a beautiful angel lives and love is born. Abraham intimately shares this private love so tenderly; the reader temporarily escapes, "hell on earth".

Unapologetically, Abraham violently forces the readers to face each victim. He is the tortured elderly man who dies defending his honor. He is the screaming woman whose unborn child aborts her womb. He is the innocent child who suffers the unspeakable rape. He is the young man who comforts his mother with his last dying breath. He is the angle who prays that her love will survive. He is Marco Abraham, a survivor. These are innocent victims, not merely characters in a book. Lost Blood challenges the readers to see the suffering, hear the cries of injustice, feel the hands of evilness, taste the bittersweet fruit of love, and ultimately touch death by the thousands.

Lost Blood evokes so many emotions from its readers; it takes courage to finish this story. Abraham is ruthless in his quest to remind the readers that indifference or even ignorance may, will, and did result in a massacre. The atrocity of Sabra and Shatila so painfully and powerfully vivid with Abraham's words transcend age, gender, race, and religion. It calls for all Jews, Christians, and Muslims to learn from the past and move forward with peace. Lost Blood must be told. It is told through the voice of Marco Abraham. Read Lost Blood and you can never remain voiceless; be their voice.

This book by Marco is riveting. He makes you feel all the emotions that he observed during the trying time. When you recieve the book, it will keep you captive until you finish! MUST READ!!

If this inspiring book were read and understood by Reader Harris' Pentecostal brethren, and indeed by all Christians everywhere, I believe there would arise a renewed dedication to study the Word of God as never before, and the inspiration and truth of the Scriptures and the faithfulness and Sovereignty of God would be confirmed. This author was so convinced that an understanding of the literal fulfillment of God's promises to Israel was the key to unlocking the mysteries, prophecies and parables of the Old and New Testaments that he spent the rest of his life proclaiming this truth. He believed that in God's time and through the Holy Spirit's power this amazing message would awaken Christians everywhere to their responsibilities in carrying out the purposes of God in the world. Illuminating!

The Lost Tribes of Israel, written by the founder of the Pentecostal Movement in England (circa 1908) can definitely be termed an eye-opening book. The author, Richard Reader Harris, presents a series of addresses to his Pentecostal brethren proving they were direct descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel! "The discovery and the acknowledgement of the lost tribes would revolutionize the whole world, give an impetus to Scriptural study, and encourage men in a wonderful degree to believe the promises of God."
"If this be true (our Anglo-Israel heritage), it adds tremendously to our responsibilities, and opens before us in a way that no human tongue can describe; spiritual possibilities, temporal possibilities, national possibilities, and universal possibilities."
About the Author...
Richard Reader Harris (1847-1909) held the prominent and respected position of British barrister and King's Counselor. This was a lifetime appointment that recognized his success and skill in the legal profession.
Although an atheist in his early life, he became convinced of the truth of the Bible after hearing the Anglo-Israel message. This life-changing experience caused Reader Harris to leave his successful legal career to become a Methodist minister, valued Christian leader, and author of over 34 books. In 1891, he founded the Pentecostal League of Prayer, an interdenominational group, which, within a few short years grew into the immense Pentecostal movement in Britain.
The remainder of his life was spent ministering to the British royalty as well as to the poor in the slums of London. Oswald Chambers, a revered evangelist, missionary, author and close friend of Harris considered him to be one of the "Lord's choicest saints."
Excellent historical book on the thoughts of the founders of the pentecostal movement in England.

From cover to cover this book shines with jewels of many hues, relecting the author's various and wonderful perspectives on life's many facets. A wonderful read (and not just for women)!

"Fashion

is a way

of loving the body

or hating

its parts."

From this short poem we can see that we are rather in female territory, the looker in me wants to know what do women have to do with clothes. It's all here, the love of clothes and the love of nakedeness, clothes that remember, clothes wishing to forget, clothes looking forward and looking east. This is the journey around a woman's clothes in 80 pages.

Women will identify with many of the poems here, men may be able to understand better their ladies.

Karen Alkalay-Gut is the best English writing poet in Israel today, and also one of the best Israeli poets in any language. Zionism and the imposing of the Hebrew language has left her in a marginal place, unjustly. Alkalay is Israeli to the core, in spite of writing in English. A real poet to discover and cherish. Go for it.

Yigal Allon writes about the creation of the Israeli Defence Forces since its times as the Haganah, under the British rule in Palestine, until after the Six-Day war.

It's a wonderful read, you can feel the honesty and good heart of this great man, a great, humble and intelligent Israeli Jew.

The book is divided in two parts. The first is the actual telling of the story and the second (second half, approximately 150 pages) is a collection of documents that you may find more or less interesting. But only for the first part it's worth the read.

Now I am interested in reading his "My Father's House".

This is the story of how the Jews, who had done without a national military force for over a millenium, developed a genuine army in the twentieth century. The Israel Defence Army was officially created on June 27, 1948. But its precursor had already been fighting a war for the previous six months. And its origins were even earlier.

As Allon explains, the first cells were formed as early as the 1880s. During the period between the World Wars, Arab pogroms led to the development of the Haganah. This army was founded in the 1920s, but began to acquire some skill with the arrival of Orde Wingate in the Levant in 1936. Wingate and Yitzhak Sadeh developed the Haganah into a force that turned the military situation around, so that the Arab attacks ground to a halt in 1939. Unfortunately, at that time, the Jews suffered a major diplomatic defeat. The British came up with the infamous White Paper which severly restricted Jewish immigration, and that put the Jews into a virtual war with Great Britain. In addition, the Jews faced threats from Germany and its allies as well as from Arabs. To counter all this, the Jews in 1941 formed an additional strike force, called the Palmach.

Allon describes how the new army trained and how decisions were made to avoid open warfare against Britain and also to avoid terrorist attacks on civilians. Instead, the focus was on illegal (according to the White Paper) immigration of Jews. This activity required planning and coordination: it required ground forces as well as ships. The author explains that this experience helped prepare Israel for its war of liberation, which began on November 30, 1947.

Allon then tells about the War of Liberation and the Sinai campaign of 1956. He explains that peace was averted after the 1956 war primarily due to the efforts of the United States, which forced Israel to withdraw from the Sinai but did nothing to restrain the Arab side.

The author then explains the rationale in favor of Israel going to war against the Arabs in 1967 as a preventive measure. Allon successfully argued against this. As a result, Israel decided not to go to war unless its neighbors concentrated their forces in clear preparation for an attack or closed the Straits of Tiran (a clear declaration of war). Egypt did the latter, starting the Six Day War. Allon argued for an attack in May, before the Egyptians could organize their Sinai forces, but for political reasons, the strike was postponed until June.

The author points out that Israel was slow to attack Syria, with the result that Southern Syria remained in Syrian, not Israeli hands. Had Israel forced Syrian forces back to the outskirts of Damascus, the Israelis might have been able to link up with the Druze people and help them form their own buffer state.

The book concludes with over 150 pages of fascinating documents about the origin and early exploits of the Israeli forces.

If you are interested in this topic, I'm sure you will find this book very rewarding.

This is a very well structured overview of the basic history of the middle east. It gives a balanced account, mostly centered on the United States' role. One gets a sinking feeling that Harry Truman could have predicted where we would wind up 50 years on...

This work provides more insight into the development of US policies toward Israel than any other available. Extremely well written! Provocative and entertaining, it traces the development of US cultural attitudes toward the emergence of Israel and the Arab world and the development of policies during the Truman administration. An excellent chapter on US oil policy in the Middle East and the Palestine Question. Highly recommended.

This book is a must read. The author begins speaking of the two rabbis who approached the so-called "land without a people" in 1898 and observed how beautiful a place it was but that it was 'married to another man'. Karmi focuses on the point that the 1948 'Nakba' has over time been sidelined in negotiations and mainstream media to be replaced by more recent 'realities on the ground' caused since 1967 in the occupied (now "disputed" due to weak journalism) territories. There is also some extremely interesting early European Jewish history in the opening stages of the book, later only to be wiped out by the apathy of Europe and the horrors of the Nazi holocaust.
Karmi's summary of the timeline from this date through the first Camp David accords to the 2006 Gaza implosion is told beautifully. Each time she describes the internal inefficiency that paralysed the Palestinians from coherent action in talks, she explains how Israel rejected every attempt by the Arab states who compromised for peace and preferred to do separate deals with them individually fragmenting their unity. Eventually the Arab states must take responsibility for their weakness.
This was a diplomatic coup for Israel but aded to the catastrophic situation in the occupied territories.
Karmi uses UN Resolutions, international law, and the International Declaration of Human Rights throughout the book as a basis for her argument and her greatest achievement in the end is to suggest various alternatives and solutions to the situation. She provides analysis of why each might fail and succeed, but she is the first author since Richard Crowley's 'Dispatches from the Middle East' that has succeeded in suggesting plausible answers. Both authors have produced the finest accounts of the conflict I have read, and both acknowledge that no Peace Treaty between the two sides can hope for LASTING success, unless it starts on the foundation of equality and most importantly justice.

A Solution for an Enduring Dilemma from a Renaissance Type Scholar and Activist

Nineteenth Century Europe witnessed the height of nationalism and colonialism. Almost every nation ventured out to conquer a piece of the world, believing that any land not inhabited by Europeans is figuratively empty. And why not the Jews? Central and East European Jews, of Turkic/Slavic stock, commonly known as Ashkenazim, and currently constituting 80% of world Jewry, established their first colony in Palestine in 1882. That same year, the British invaded and occupied Egypt, and the colonialist Cecil Rhodes established a colony in south eastern Africa naming it after himself (now Zimbabwe).
It is said that the leaders of the Zionist Movement dispatched two rabbis to report on the country of their colonialist ambition. The rabbis reported back: "The bride is beautiful, but alas, she is already married to another man", meaning that the country was well- populated. That did not deter the leaders who persisted with their project to create a colonial-settler state, to be named Israel, and in the process cleansing out most of its endogenous population. Thus the enduring dilemma of what is to be done with the Palestinians and resolve this conflict that continues to cause so much misery for the whole population of that area and threaten world peace. This is the meaning of the title of this book.
The relationship of an author to her book is akin to that of the mother to her daughter. Thus a brief introduction of the author is worthwhile. Ghada Karmi, the nine year old of a prominent scholar, was more fortunate than most of those who were driven out of Jerusalem. Her family landed in England in 1949. If every cloud has its silver lining, the catastrophe that befell the Palestinians had its positive effects. Losing their land and homes, they turned to education as their means of survival and source of pride.
Ghada seems to have internalized this culture par excellence. She first qualified in and practiced medicine, and followed this with a doctorate in History of Medicine, and continues to teach, research and consult on these subjects. At the same time, she has been continuously involved in politics as a scholar and activist. I know of a man who would be proud of Dr. Karmi. He is Rudolph Virchow, the great German physician and scientist, and a leader of the 1848 revolution in Germany and Europe. When asked how he justified taking time from his medical pathology research to be active in politics replied: " Politics is medicine on a large scale".
This book is the latest of several books in and scores of articles written by this author. One of these books is an autobiography entitled "In Search for Fatima". Consider this fact: this memoir is rated as 9 on the Flesh-Kincaid Readability Index, meaning that it can be understood by a reader with 9 years education. In contrast "Married to Another Man" is rated 16. Few authors can be so versatile.
Eloquent, assertive and attractive, Dr. Karmi gained access to high political circles. This book benefits from her first-hand experience. It is also a scholarly and well- documented treatise. Even the most informed will find new material in it. The book is divided into seven chapters, an introduction, and an epilogue. Each chapter can be read on its own, but all serve as a useful background to understand the dilemma and the logic of the proposed solution. Two of the chapters are on the cost of Israel to the Arabs and the Palestinians.
Two others delve into the reasons the Jews and the West established and continue to sustain Israel. A chapter is titled " The Peace Process", and another discusses the various solutions that have been proposed, including the two-state proposal. The book culminates with a chapter arguing that the only logical solution is one democratic state for all those who live on the land of historic Palestine and Palestinian refugees.
To those who are pessimistic about finding a satisfactory solution to this enduring conflict, the author answers that this pessimism is unwarranted if one thought through the logic of the situation. To those with quick accusations of utopianism, anti-Semitism , or even treachery, she counters that such judgments are a lazy way out of having to think about ideas that conflict with what has become familiar, conventional and also serves vested interests. It is worthwhile taking the time to find out.