Table Of ContentMythologies Without End
Mythologies Without End
The US, Israel, and the Arab- Israeli Conflict,
1917–2 020
JEROME SLATER
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Slater, Jerome, author.
Title: Mythologies without end : the US, Israel, and the Arab- Israeli confl ict, 1917– 2020 / Jerome Slater.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2020017142 (print) | LCCN 2020017143 (ebook) | ISBN 9780190459086 (hardback) |
ISBN 9780190459109 (epub) | ISBN 9780190074609
Subjects: LCSH: Arab- Israeli confl ict—H istory. | Jewish- Arab relations— History. |
Israel— Foreign relations— United States. | United States— Foreign relations— Israel. |
Palestine— Foreign relations— United States. | United States— Foreign relations— Palestine. |
Zionism— Political aspects.
Classifi cation: LCC DS119.76 .S785437 2021 (print) | LCC DS119.76 (ebook) |
DDC 956.04— dc23
LC record available at htt ps:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2020017142
LC ebook record available at htt ps:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2020017143
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
For Judith, my dear wife of 60 years, children Sue and Dan, and grandchildren Emma,
Jake, Max, Delaney, and Morgan.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments i x
Prologue x i
Introduction 1
PART ONE THE ARAB- ISRAELI CONFLICT
1. The United States and the Arab- Israeli Conflict 11
2. Zionism Reconsidered 2 4
3. The Onset of the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict, 1917– 47 44
4. The Creation of the State of Israel, 1947– 48 62
PART TWO WAR AND PEACE IN THE
ARAB- ISRAELI STATE CONFLICT, 1948– 2020
5. Th e 1948 War 7 3
6. Lost Opportunities for Peace, 1949– 56 9 3
7. Israel, Egypt, the United States, and the 1956 War 1 10
8. From War to War, 1956– 67 1 25
vi Contents
9. The Cold War and the Arab- Israeli Conflict, 1967– 74 147
10. Peace with Egypt and Jordan 171
11. The Lebanon Wars 182
12. The Israeli- Syrian Conflict, 1973– 2019 192
PART THREE WAR AND PEACE IN
THE ISRAELI- PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
13. The Israeli- Palestinian Conflict, 1917– 88 211
14. The Rise and Fall of the Peace Process, 1975– 99 219
15. Camp David, Taba, and the Clinton Parameters, 2000– 2001 241
16. Israeli Occupation and Palestinian Resistance, 2000– 2008 274
17. Israel, the “Siege of Gaza,” and Hamas, 2008– 14 290
18. The Peace Process 301
19. The Arab- Israeli and Israeli- Palestinian Conflicts in the Netanyahu/
Trump Era, 2017– 20 328
20. Summary and Conclusions 345
Notes 395
Select Bibliography 451
Index 475
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Th is work grows out of studying, teaching, and writing about US policy, Israel, and
the Arab-I sraeli confl ict for the past fi ft y years; as well, I was a Fulbright lecturer
at Haifa University in 1989 and have visited and lectured in Israel on several other
occasions. As a result of my articles in professional journals and general–interest
magazines, as well as my blog on the United States and Israel, over the years a number
of scholars, journalists, and diplomats have commented on my work; these include
Benjamin Beit-H allahmi, David Bromwich, Helena Cobban, Noam Chomsky, Larry
Derfner, Michael Desch, Chas Freeman, Jeremiah Haber, John Judis, Menachem
Klein, Jim Lobe, Scott McConnell, John Mearsheimer, Terry Nardin, the late Peter
Novick, William Quandt, Cheryl Rubenberg, Stephen Shalom, Henry Siegman,
Jordan Michael Smith, Stephen Van Evera, Stephen Walt, Phil Weiss, Alan Wolfe,
and David Zweifel.
I am especially indebted to John Mearsheimer, Stephen Walt, and David
Hendrickson, who have supported my work for many years; in particular,
Mearsheimer urged David McBride, the Social Sciences Editor at Oxford University
Press, to invite me to write this book.
A large debt of gratitude is owed to the two outside reviewers of the manuscript,
Ilan Papp é and Paul Pillar, whose comments and recommendations were invalu-
able. As well, three others read and extensively commented on the entire manu-
script, to my great benefi t: David Hendrickson, Jane Nardin, and my wife, Judith
Slater, the latt er two themselves scholars and writers (English literature), who made
hundreds of invaluable suggestions.
I am also indebted to the following friends who read and commented on one or
more of the chapters: Carl Dennis, William Hauser, the late George Hochfi eld, Ed
Katkin, Anne Shapiro, Jim Smith, and David Tarbet.
F inally, this book could not have been writt en—l iterally—b ut for the ongoing
rescue work of my brilliant computer specialist, Rob Dege, who tutored me and
solved all the (seemingly endless) computer and word processing problems that
arose in the course of the fi ve years I have been working on this book.
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