Israel and Europe: An Appraisal in History

On November 6, 1995, the funeral of Yitzchak Rabin, late prime minister of Israel, was attended by the princes and presidents, the prime ministers and foreign ministers, of every government in Europe. This outpouring of sympathy showed awareness of a unique interrelationship between an ancient and powerful Christian continent and a young and fragile Jewish republic. In Israel and Europe, Howard Sachar describes this synergy throughout all
the challenges and vicissitudes of the last half-century.
Incisively and dramatically, Sachar traces Britain's efforts to maintain a strategic foothold in the Holy Land well after the termination of its governmental authority in Palestine; the Soviet Union's initial diplomatic and military support of the Zionists as its potential "clients" in the Middle East, and its later, even more
vigorous embrace of Israel's Arab enemies; France's short-lived military alliance with "gallant little Israel"; and the unlikely emergence of Germany as the Jewish state's principal continental benefactor and its eventual indispensable sponsor for de facto membership in the European Community.
Sachar similarly casts new light on Israel's ideological courtship of a receptive Socialist International and a recalcitrant Vatican; the murderous overspill of Arab guerrilla warfare into European territory, and Israeli counter-attacks; and Spain's and Turkey's diplomatic exploitation of Israel for access to Washington.
A master of historical narrative, Sachar once again provides us with his characteristic blend of fine scholarship, lucid analysis, and unerring instinct for human drama.

Publisher:

Knopf

Pages:

398

Date Published:

1999-01-26