Living history

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Herzog, twice president of Israel 1983-93, has written an exhilarating autobiography, at once a stirring personal and political testament to some of this century's major events. Born in Belfast in 1918 to a Latvian mother and a Polish father who was chief rabbi of Ireland, he moved with his family to Palestine in 1935 and at 16 joined the Haganah, the underground resistance led by David Ben-Gurion. Receiving his higher education in London, Herzog, then a young barrister, joined the British army as soon as Britain declared war on Hitler, and he was part of the first Allied formation to cross into Germany, where he subsequently witnessed the horrors of the newly liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. He fought in Israel's war for independence, and as director of Israel's military intelligence molded it into one of the best organizations of its kind. As Israel's ambassador to the UN, he valiantly fought against the 1974 resolution sponsored by what he calls "those three great bulwarks of democracy," Cuba, Somalia and Benin, equating Zionism with racism a resolution revoked by a large majority in 1991. As Israeli president Herzog maneuvered behind the scenes to forge a coalition government and helped shape Israel's response to growing unemployment and drug use, the intifada, the Gulf War and Iraqi Scud missile attacks. Sprinkled with his brutally candid assessments of Golda Meir, Shimon Peres, Moshe Dayan, Kurt Waldheim, Reagan, Arafat and others, his memoir ends on an optimistic note, envisaging a genuine Middle East peace that could facilitate joint Israel-Arab economic and technical cooperation. Photos. Nov.

Library Journal

In this fascinating memoir, Herzog, the president of Israel from 1983 to 1993 and the author of The Arab-Israeli Wars 1984, reflects on his life from his childhood in Dublin-where his father was chief rabbi of Ireland-to the present. Especially absorbing are his chapters devoted to the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War, and his role as Israeli ambassador to the United Nations during the turbulent Seventies. In a concluding chapter, Herzog is critical of Benjamin Netanyahu for his alleged encouragement of extreme opposition to the Rabin government in the year immediately preceding the prime minister's assassination. While much of Herzog's book is descriptive rather than analytical, it remains a remarkable record of one of the leaders of the 20th century. Well recommended for all collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 8/96.]-Mark Weber, Kent State Univ. Lib., Ohio

Booknews

Herzog begins his memoir by likening his life to a long voyage, one which began in a Jewish ghetto in Dublin and passed through many of the most significant moments in modern history. The former freedom fighter, army general, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, and president of Israel from 1983 to 1993 vividly recounts the liberation of the concentration camps, his zealous dedication to Israel and Zionism, and his dealings with Arafat, Rabin, Peres, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. More than simply writing an autobiography, Herzog illuminates the forces which drove a generation and continue to fuel the direction of Middle East politics. Includes photographs. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Kirkus Reviews

A straightforward if somewhat idealistic account of the history of modern Israel, especially as it intersects with the personal history of one of its foremost statesmen.

Herzog, former president of Israel and author of several books about Israel and military affairs (Heroes of Israel: Profiles of Jewish Courage, 1989, etc.), recounts highlights of his public life while offering insights and personal musings on the history of the state of Israel. Born into a respected rabbinical family in Ireland and educated at the Universities of London and Cambridge, Herzog migrated to Israel in 1935, when his father was elected chief rabbi of Palestine. We follow his career of public service from army general to director of military intelligence, from first military governor of the West Bank to Israel's ambassador to the UN. Throughout his career he was guided by the principle that Israel's mission was not just to survive, but to serve as a much needed model of morality. After the Six-Day War, Herzog recalls, Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek stormed into his office, insisting that milk be immediately distributed to the Arab children in East Jerusalem. Herzog insists that the Arabs repeatedly missed opportunities for peace because of their inflexibility and pride. However, he does see a new Middle East emerging. Despite the recent election of Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister, Herzog believes that peace is on the horizon. Arafat, he writes, has gone "from hostility to partnership in a working relationship, one of the more astonishing relationship shifts in history." If Arafat proves able to contain terrorism, "the Palestinian problem can be solved by the end of the century."

Herzog's passionate asides on such matters as the insidious racism of the late rabbi Meir Kahane, and the harsh sentence given to Jonathan Pollard, convicted of spying for Israel in America, make this "living history" a lively one.