The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa - Hardcover

Polakow-Suransky, Sasha

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375425462 ISBN 13: 9780375425462

Publisher: Pantheon, 2010

Synopsis

Based on extensive archival research and interviews with former generals and high-level government officials in both Israel and South Africa, a book on Israel's covert dealings with Apartheid South Africa tells a troubling story of Cold War paranoia, moral compromises and Israel's estrangement from the international Left.

About this title

Review:

"Hugely impressive . . . [Polakow-Suransky] probes in groundbreaking detail the illicit relationship Israel maintained with South Africa."
--Dan Ephron, "Newsweek"
"The best-documented, most thorough, and most credible account ever offered of the secret marriage between the apartheid state and Israel . . . Polakow-Suransky is no knee-jerk critic of Israel, and he tells his story more in sorrow than in anger . . . [an] important new book."
--Glenn Frankel, "Foreign Policy"
"[I]mportant, provocative, and occasionally disturbing."
--"Publishers Weekly
"
"A meticulously researched book that reads like a spy thriller . . . Polakow Suransky spent seven years on his project, conducting interviews with key players from Israel and South Africa, mining South Africa's apartheid-era archive and resurrecting documents and articles that the Israeli Foreign Ministry would prefer remained forgotten. Rich with intrigue and shocking details but written without a trace of

"A hugely impressive book. . . . Groundbreaking."
--"Newsweek"
"Important. . . . The best-documented, most thorough, and most credible account ever offered of the secret marriage between the apartheid state and Israel."
--"Foreign Policy"
"Tantalizing. . . . Stands out because of the new material its author has dug up, which may be deemed to provide a measure of insight into ongoing and tricky proliferation issues."
--"The New York Review of Books"
"Rich with intrigue and shocking details but written without a trace of stridency, [this] is the most authoritative account to date. . . . A meticulously researched book that reads like a spy thriller."
--"The Nation"
"Fascinating. . . . Deft and fair. . . . A well-crafted work of history, not to be mistaken for another jeremiad. . . . A tale of clandestine missions, surreptitious shipments, and elaborate political theater between two states perched precariously on the margins of both their continents and the Cold War."
--"The National Review"
"A harrowing account of a Mephistophelian bargain between two rogue states, told with indisputable fact--many of them new--and on-the-record interviews. No moralizing needed. Israel's twenty-year collaboration with South Africa betrayed its founding principles and, more tragically, anticipated the cynicism with which it conducts its Palestinian policy today."
--Seymour Hersh
"A compelling history. . . . All states engage in secret diplomacy, but Israel offers some of the most shocking examples. . . . Although he deplores Israel's ties to the apartheid regime, Polakow-Suransky has treated the handful of officials in the two countries implementing that alliance fairly, even empathetically."
--"Foreign Affairs"
"A deft, pacy and revealing account. . . . Admirably dispassionate."
--"The Economist"
"The extent to which these two countries began to rely on each other economically and militarily in the mid-1970s through the late 1980s has never been so fully fleshed out. . . . There are some striking revelations."
--"Forward"
"A careful, painful, hugely important book."
--Peter Beinart, author of "The Icarus Syndrome"
"Provocative. . . . Richly detailed. . . . Especially relevant today, as nuclear rivalries escalate in the Middle East, because it explains--calmly, methodically, and with full documentation--how Israel and South Africa helped each other build atomic bombs in secret."
--Stephen Kinzer, "The Daily Beast"
"Path-breaking. . . . Remarkably revealing. . . . A wise, elegantly written, and strikingly fair-minded book which deserves the widest possible readership."
--Avi Shlaim, author of "The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World"
"Well-researched, readable and . . . balanced."
--"The London Review of Books"
"Comprehensive. . . . A very important contribution in the study of modern and contemporary history for its wealth of material and the objectivity of its author. It is highly recommended for both academics and the general reader."
--"The Middle East Journal"
"Fascinating. . . . A major, long overdue study of the rise and demise of one of the most intriguing alliances of our time. Polakow-Suransky has written a masterfully researched history that reads like a thriller unraveling the secrets of an alliance between two embattled societies under siege."
--Shlomo Ben-Ami, foreign minister of Israel, 2000-2001

"A hugely impressive book. . . . Groundbreaking."
--Newsweek

"Important. . . . The best-documented, most thorough, and most credible account ever offered of the secret marriage between the apartheid state and Israel."
--Foreign Policy

"Tantalizing. . . . Stands out because of the new material its author has dug up, which may be deemed to provide a measure of insight into ongoing and tricky proliferation issues."
--The New York Review of Books

"Rich with intrigue and shocking details but written without a trace of stridency, [this] is the most authoritative account to date. . . . A meticulously researched book that reads like a spy thriller."
--The Nation

"Fascinating. . . . Deft and fair. . . . A well-crafted work of history, not to be mistaken for another jeremiad. . . . A tale of clandestine missions, surreptitious shipments, and elaborate political theater between two states perched precariously on the margins of both their continents and the Cold War."
--The National Review

"A harrowing account of a Mephistophelian bargain between two rogue states, told with indisputable fact--many of them new--and on-the-record interviews. No moralizing needed. Israel's twenty-year collaboration with South Africa betrayed its founding principles and, more tragically, anticipated the cynicism with which it conducts its Palestinian policy today."
--Seymour Hersh

"A compelling history. . . . All states engage in secret diplomacy, but Israel offers some of the most shocking examples. . . . Although he deplores Israel's ties to the apartheid regime, Polakow-Suransky has treated the handful of officials in the two countries implementing that alliance fairly, even empathetically."
--Foreign Affairs

"A deft, pacy and revealing account. . . . Admirably dispassionate."
--The Economist

"The extent to which these two countries began to rely on each other economically and militarily in the mid-1970s through the late 1980s has never been so fully fleshed out. . . . There are some striking revelations."
--Forward

"A careful, painful, hugely important book."
--Peter Beinart, author of The Icarus Syndrome

"Provocative. . . . Richly detailed. . . . Especially relevant today, as nuclear rivalries escalate in the Middle East, because it explains--calmly, methodically, and with full documentation--how Israel and South Africa helped each other build atomic bombs in secret."
--Stephen Kinzer, The Daily Beast

"Path-breaking. . . . Remarkably revealing. . . . A wise, elegantly written, and strikingly fair-minded book which deserves the widest possible readership."
--Avi Shlaim, author of The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World

"Well-researched, readable and . . . balanced."
--The London Review of Books

"Comprehensive. . . . A very important contribution in the study of modern and contemporary history for its wealth of material and the objectivity of its author. It is highly recommended for both academics and the general reader."
--The Middle East Journal

"Fascinating. . . . A major, long overdue study of the rise and demise of one of the most intriguing alliances of our time. Polakow-Suransky has written a masterfully researched history that reads like a thriller unraveling the secrets of an alliance between two embattled societies under siege."
--Shlomo Ben-Ami, foreign minister of Israel, 2000-2001

About the Author:

Sasha Polakow-Suransky is a senior editor at Foreign Affairs and holds a doctorate in modern history from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar from 2003 to 2006. His writing has apeared in The American Prospect, the International Herald Tribune, The New Republic, and Newsweek. He lives in Brooklyn.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pantheon
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0375425462
• ISBN 13: 9780375425462
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336