| Popis: |
Leslie Stein’s book provides a detailed, comprehensive analysis of Israel’s history from 1948 to 1967. Stein writes clearly, with a sharp eye for significant details. He makes invaluable contribution to our understanding of the events that shaped Israel in the first two decades of its establishment. Stein is appreciative of the Zionist venture. In 1904, the Jewish population in Palestine was 55,000 people (p. 3). Between 1930 and 1939, more than 270,000 Jews from central and Eastern Europe sought refuge in Palestine, bringing the Yishuv’s numbers to 475,000, slightly more than 30 percent of the entire population (p. 11). Alarmed by the Jewish influx to Palestine, in May 1939 the British introduced a ceiling of 75,000 additional Jews were allowed into Palestine over a five-year period (p. 12). After the end of WWII, Britain remained adamant in the face of European Jews wishing to immigrate to Palestine and set restrictive quotas at no more than 1,500 people per month. In despair, the Yishuv took up arms to oust the British. The struggle was effective. The mandate in Palestine became too costly for the British. On May 14, 1948, on the eve of the date set by Britain for the termination of its mandate in Palestine, the State of Israel was declared. At that time, the Jewish population was 650,000 strong, and soon enough it had to face its first major challenge, first among many more to come. The one-day-old state had to encounter the invasion of Arab armies of Syria, Transjordan, Iraq and Egypt plus a small contingent from Saudi Arabia. The War of Independence was an extraordinary triumph against all odds. Stein provides careful reasoning and insightful analysis of the war efforts that yielded a bolstered and hardened young state. In many respects, that war signaled Israel’s future. Born into a hostile and resentful region, life in Israel is life of strife, of constant violent challenges. Abnormality became the norm; tranquility a distant dream; peace a far-reaching aspiration; security a constant need. |
