Waging Peace: Israel and the Arabs, 1948-2003

337 Pages·2004·0.85 MB·English

by  Itamar Rabinovich

WAGING PEACE
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON AND OXFORD
WAGING
PEACE
ITAMAR
RABINOVICH
n
Israel and the Arabs, 1948–2003
UPDATED AND REVISED
Copyright2004byPrincetonUniversityPress
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,
41WilliamStreet,Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,
3MarketPlace,Woodstock,OxfordshireOX201SY
AllRightsReserved
OriginallypublishedbyFarrar,StrausandGirouxin1999
FirstPrincetonEdition,2004
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Rabinovich,Itamar,1942–
Wagingpeace:IsraelandtheArabs,
1948–2003/ItamarRabinovich.
—Updatedandrev.ed.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN0-691-11982-1(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Arab-Israeliconflict—1993—Peace.I.Title.
DS119.76.R33 2004
956.04—dc22 2003069151
BritishLibraryCataloging-in-PublicationDataisavailable.
ThisbookhasbeencomposedinJansonText
andInterstate
Printedonacid-freepaper.∞
pup.princeton.edu
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
IN MEMORY OF MY MOTHER,
TOVA BUCHSBAUM RABINOVICH
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CONTENTS
Preface ix
1 TheBackground 1
2 MadridandOslo:YearsofHope 38
3 YearsofStagnation 78
4 EhudBarakandtheCollapse 123
ofthePeaceProcess
5 Sharon,Bush,andArafat 181
6 TheWebofRelationships 220
7 PeaceandNormalization 267
8 Conclusion 305
Notes 315
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PREFACE
Duringtheyears1992–96IwasprivilegedtoserveasIs-
rael’s ambassador in Washington (February 1993–Sep-
tember 1996) and also as its peace negotiator with Syria
(July 1992–November 1995). In this dual capacity, I was
especially active on the Syrian track of the Israeli-Arab
peace process and also took part in most of its other as-
pects.Thisuniqueopportunitytoacquireamuchdeeper
understanding of both the Arab-Israeli conflict and the
peaceprocesswasgraftedontomorethantwodecadesof
academic study of and writing on Israel’s relationship
withtheArabworld.SowhenIreturnedtoTelAvivUni-
versity inSeptember 1996, Idecided to writetwo books:
a specific account of Israel’s relationship with Syria (this
was published in 1998); and an overview of Israel’s rela-
tionshipwiththeArabworld,whichwaspublishedorigi-
nally by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1999.
The original manuscript was completed in March
1999; much happened in the next four years—Barak’s
brieftenureasIsrael’sprimeminister,thecollapseofthe
peace process in both the Syrian and Palestinian tracks,
theoutbreakandunfoldingofthePalestinian-Israeliwar
ofattrition,theformationofGeorgeW.Bush’sadminis-
trationandArielSharon’stwogovernments,theterrorist