Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation - Hardcover

Yossi Klein Halevi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060545763 ISBN 13: 9780060545765

Publisher: Bravo Ltd, 2013

Synopsis

In June 1967, Israel achieved the unimaginable a decisive victory against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in the Six-Day War. The most symbolic triumph for the young nation was the reunification of Israeli West Jerusalem and Jordanian East Jerusalem, achieved at great cost by a group of paratroopers from the 55th Paratroopers Reserve Brigade. In restoring Jewish sovereignty to the Holy City, these men fulfilled the dream of two millennia, changing the history of Israel and of the Middle East. And as veteran journalist Yossi Klein Halevi shows in Like Dreamers, they played pivotal roles in shaping Israel's destiny long after their resounding military success. A masterful storyteller, Halevi tracks down seven members of the 55th Brigade and traces their lives through the decades following the Six-Day War. But as his narrative reveals, despite the intensity of their shared experience protecting Israel, in their postwar paths they nurture drastically divergent visions for the country's future. Yoel Bin-Nun emerges at the forefront of the religious Zionist West Bank settlement movement, but Arik Achmon the chief intelligence officer of the 55th becomes a spiritual father of the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. Achmon becomes a driving force in the growth of Israel's capitalist economy, whereas Avital Geva, in addition to building a reputation as a leading conceptual artist, ardently defends the socialist kibbutzim. And while Geva is among the foremost activists in Peace Now, Udi Adiv helps create an anti-Zionist terror underground in Damascus, eventually serving twelve years in an Israeli prison. Charting the ideological differences among this band of brothers, Halevi weaves a nuanced and insightful chronicle of modern Israel. His fascinating, diligently researched examination of each man's motivations and actions supported by extensive interviews with their friends, family members, and comrades-in-arms humanizes the country 's complex political landscape, facilitating a deeper understanding of the forces that influence its evolution as a state.

About this title

Product Description:

575 pages. Book and Jacket appear to have hardly been read and are both in As new condition throughout.

Review:

""Like Dreamers" is quite simply the best book about modern Israel I have ever read."--Jonathan Rosen, author of "Joy Comes in the Morning".

""Like Dreamers" is at once magisterial and enthralling, observed with the sharp eye of a master journalist, the patience of a serious historian and the style of an exceptional storyteller."--Zev Chafets, author of "Roger Ailes: Off Camera"

"A fascinating study of modern Israel."--"New York Post"

""Like Dreamers" is an eye-opening, beautifully written account, told through the lives of seven iconic Israeli paratroopers, of the shaping of the state we live in."--"Times of Israel"

""Like Dreamers" is a sweeping work... a rich and complex narrative.... And it reads like a novel."--"Tower" magazine

"In his new, magisterial book about Israel, "Like Dreamers"...Yossi Klein Halevi has... captured the complexity of Israel in human terms."--"New Jersey Jewish News"

"Brilliant."--David Laskin, "USA Today"

"As a work of political, cultural, and religious history, Like Dreamers is a triumph."--Jewish Voice

"Yossi Klein Halevi's brilliant account of Israel's left-right divide is a spellbinding story of people's evolving views and of conquest's mixed blessings."--American Jewish World News

"Powerful.... a textured, beautifully written narrative.... There is much to admire in this book, especially Mr. Halevi's skill at getting inside the hearts and minds of these seven men."--Ethan Bronner, New York Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Bravo Ltd
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0060545763
• ISBN 13: 9780060545765
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 605