Broken Covenant: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis Between the U.S. and Israel
Arens reveals details of diplomacy he was involved in as Israel's foreign minister, then as defense minister for the ruling Likud coalition during the period 1988-1992. There are two major areas of interest here: the struggle to restrain Labor leaders from granting territorial concessions to the Arabs in return for a doubtful peace agreement; the deterioration of U.S.-Israel relations because of the Bush administration's interference, led by Secretary of State James Baker, in Israel's internal affairs. Arens charges that Israel's efforts to defend itself against Iraqi missile attacks during the Gulf War were deliberately hindered, as Washington withheld economic and military aid until after Labor defeated the Likud government in 1992. Arens recounts that he saw problems looming when he was Tel Aviv's ambassador to Washington in the early 1980s: "A number of people in the White House did not share Reagan's enthusiasm and friendship for Israel." He writes broodingly about Israel being "surrounded by societies with a long tradition of fanaticism, violence, brutality, and intolerance to minorities," and conveys his fear that Israel will make so many territorial concessions that it will become undefendable. Author tour.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.