My Struggle for Peace, Volume 3 (1956): The Diary of Moshe Sharett, 1953–1956

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Indiana University Press, Mar 19, 2019 - Biography & Autobiography - 735 pages
The third volume of the former Israeli prime minister’s journals from the nation’s early years.

My Struggle for Peace is a remarkable political document offering insights into the complex workings of the young Israeli political system, set against the backdrop of the disintegration of the country’s fragile armistice with the Arab states. Replete with Moshe Sharett’s candid comments on Israel’s first-generation leaders and world statesmen of the day, the diary also tells the dramatic human story of a political career cut short—the removal of an unusually sensitive, dedicated, and talented public servant. My Struggle for Peace is, above all, an intimate record of the decline of Sharett’s moderate approach and the rise of more “activist-militant” trends in Israeli society, culminating in the Suez/Sinai war of 1956. The diary challenges the popular narrative that Israel’s confrontation with its neighbors was unavoidable by offering daily evidence of Sharett’s statesmanship, moderation, diplomacy, and concern for Israel’s place in international affairs.

This is the third volume in the 3-volume English abridgement of Sharett’s Yoman Ishi [Personal diary] (Ma’ariv, 1978) maintains the integrity, flavor, and impact of the 8-volume Hebrew original and includes additional documentary material that was not accessible at the time. The volumes are also available to purchase as a set or individually.

“The editors . . . vastly improved on the Hebrew version by adding Sharett’s speeches, reports, cabinet minutes, and other sources to the text. . . . These additions makes this work so important and welcome by all who aspire to understand the foreign and defense policies of Israel in its first decade.” —Israel Studies Review
 

Contents

January 1 1956 December 9
Waiting for American Arms
Warning Signs of Dismissal
Resignation or Dismissal?
Your time is past
Depression Anger and Pain
Battling Against ShortSightedness
Conquering Masada
Singapore Malaya Ceylon
India Nepal
We Are the Aggressors
I Lied
Victorious Israel Under Attack
My Country Has Left Me
The Premature End of a Political Career Neil Caplan
Excerpts from a lecture given by Moshe Sharett at the Mapai

To David BenGurion Shalom
He Has Ripped Our Friendship Apart
Preparing My Mission to Asia
Starting With Rangoon
From Manila to Tokyo
List of Sources
Names Index
Subject Index
Copyright

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About the author (2019)

Neil Caplan is author of The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Contested Histories and of Futile Diplomacy, a 4-volume documentary history of Arab-Israeli negotiations. He is author (with Laura Zittrain Eisenberg) of Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: Patterns, Problems, Possibilities.

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