The Birth of Israel

Myths and Realities
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-24852-1
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 290 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Routledge Revivals

In this ground-breaking and controversial history of the founding of Israel, originally published in 1987, noted Israeli scholar and peace activist Simha Flapan gives a candid account of one of the most momentous political events of the 20th century.

The official story is well known: the Zionists welcomed the partition of Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish state; the Arabs rejected partition and launched a war to drive the Jews into the sea; the Palestinians fled Israel despite the efforts of Jewish leaders to get them to stay; after Israel’s victory in 1948 its hand was extended in peace, but not a single Arab leader responded. The Birth of Israel exposes these ‘historical truths’ as propaganda myths that have misguided Israel policy for decades.

Drawing on declassified material – from Ben-Gurion’s war diaries to the minutes of secret meetings – Flapan reconstructs the real events of that critical time. He demonstrates that the Zionist leadership accepted partition purely as a tactical strategy, that their intention was always to establish a homogenous Jewish homeland in most, if not all, of Palestine. Flapan shows, furthermore, how these objectives shaped Israeli actions: their expulsion of the Palestinians, their exploitation of the 1948 war for territorial gain and their refusal to make any concessions that might have brought about accommodation. Flapan’s lucid analysis sheds new light on the figures and events of that time: Ben-Gurion emerges as Menachem Begin’s forerunner, the ‘just’ war of 1948 as the precursor of the debacle in Lebanon. Full of unsettling revelations, The Birth of Israel is a seminal work for understanding the tragic Arab-Israeli stalemate which persists to this day.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate, Undergraduate Advanced, and Undergraduate Core

Autoren/Hrsg.

Flapan, Simha

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Naher & Mittlerer Osten
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Kolonialismus, Imperialismus
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kolonialgeschichte, Geschichte des Imperialismus
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Studien zu einzelnen Ländern und Gebieten
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Geopolitik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction. Myth One: Zionists Accepted the UN partition and Launched War Myth Two: Arabs Rejected the Partition and Launched War Myth Three: Palestinians Fled Voluntarily, Intending Reconquest Myth Four: All the Arab States United to Expel the Jews from Palestine Myth Five: The Arab Invasion Made War Inevitable Myth Six: Defenceless Israel Faced Destruction by the Arab Goliath Myth Seven: Israel Has Always Sought Peace, but No Arab Leader Has Responded. Conclusion.

Über Autor(innen)

Simha Flapan (1911–1987) was an Israeli historian and politician and had a long and distinguished career as a writer, publisher, peace activist and educator. From 1954 to 1981 he was National Secretary of Israel's Mapam party and Director of its Arab Affairs department. He was founder and editor-in-chief of the Middle East monthly New Outlook, and founder and director of the Jewish-Arab Institute and the Israeli Peace Research Institute. He was aFellow at he Harvard University Center for International Affiars, a visiting scholar at the Harvard Center for Middle East Sutdies, and a Foreign Associate of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.