- Hardcover: 324 pages
- Publisher: Pantheon Books; 1 edition (25 May 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0375425462
- ISBN-13: 978-0375425462
- Product Dimensions: 16.5 x 2.9 x 24.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 178,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Unspoken Alliance
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Product Description
A revealing account of how Israel’s booming arms industry and apartheid South Africa’s international isolation led to a secretive military partnership between two seemingly unlikely allies.
Prior to the Six-Day War, Israel was a darling of the international left: socialist idealists like David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir vocally opposed apartheid and built alliances with black leaders in newly independent African nations. South Africa, for its part, was controlled by a regime of Afrikaner nationalists who had enthusiastically supported Hitler during World War II.
But after Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories in 1967, the country found itself estranged from former allies and threatened anew by old enemies. As both states became international pariahs, their covert military relationship blossomed: they exchanged billions of dollars’ worth of extremely sensitive material, including nuclear technology, boosting Israel’s sagging economy and strengthening the beleaguered apartheid regime.
By the time the right-wing Likud Party came to power in 1977, Israel had all but abandoned the moralism of its founders in favor of close and lucrative ties with South Africa. For nearly twenty years, Israel denied these ties, claiming that it opposed apartheid on moral and religious grounds even as it secretly supplied the arsenal of a white supremacist government.
Sasha Polakow-Suransky reveals the previously classified details of countless arms deals conducted behind the backs of Israel’s own diplomatic corps and in violation of a United Nations arms embargo. Based on extensive archival research and exclusive interviews with former generals and high-level government officials in both countries, The Unspoken Alliance tells a troubling story of Cold War paranoia, moral compromises, and Israel’s estrangement from the left. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Israel’s history and its future.
Prior to the Six-Day War, Israel was a darling of the international left: socialist idealists like David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir vocally opposed apartheid and built alliances with black leaders in newly independent African nations. South Africa, for its part, was controlled by a regime of Afrikaner nationalists who had enthusiastically supported Hitler during World War II.
But after Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories in 1967, the country found itself estranged from former allies and threatened anew by old enemies. As both states became international pariahs, their covert military relationship blossomed: they exchanged billions of dollars’ worth of extremely sensitive material, including nuclear technology, boosting Israel’s sagging economy and strengthening the beleaguered apartheid regime.
By the time the right-wing Likud Party came to power in 1977, Israel had all but abandoned the moralism of its founders in favor of close and lucrative ties with South Africa. For nearly twenty years, Israel denied these ties, claiming that it opposed apartheid on moral and religious grounds even as it secretly supplied the arsenal of a white supremacist government.
Sasha Polakow-Suransky reveals the previously classified details of countless arms deals conducted behind the backs of Israel’s own diplomatic corps and in violation of a United Nations arms embargo. Based on extensive archival research and exclusive interviews with former generals and high-level government officials in both countries, The Unspoken Alliance tells a troubling story of Cold War paranoia, moral compromises, and Israel’s estrangement from the left. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Israel’s history and its future.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Whilst this book is a great read for anyone interested in Israeli, Nuclear or Apartheid era history, the authors position as a senior editor at the "Foreign Affairs" journal might lead one to the incorrect assumption that the text will be highly analytical as per the norm found in said journal.
Taking the book for what it is though (An excellent blow by blow account of the origin, development of, and breakdown of Israeli-South African relations), it is an excellent read and provides immense insight into what was otherwise a hidden aspect of not only the Zionist and Apartheid struggles, but also the wider Cold War.
Insightful, flowing and highly relevant to current goings on in Isreal's foreign policy, this book is a must read!!!!!!!!
Taking the book for what it is though (An excellent blow by blow account of the origin, development of, and breakdown of Israeli-South African relations), it is an excellent read and provides immense insight into what was otherwise a hidden aspect of not only the Zionist and Apartheid struggles, but also the wider Cold War.
Insightful, flowing and highly relevant to current goings on in Isreal's foreign policy, this book is a must read!!!!!!!!
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Not being a historian I don't know if the assertions made in this book are accurate however it has provoked me to find out!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
15 reviews
48 of 55 people found the following review helpful
impeccable research, artful writing, sane conclusions
25 May 2010
Format:Hardcover
This book traces the birth, adolescence, and death of the decades-long secret alliance between Israel and South Africa. Based on years of archival research and hundreds of interviews with Israelis and South Africans, it carefully documents the ways in which the two pariah states--facing international criticism and domestic difficulties--engaged in mutually beneficial relations (mostly for economic reasons). Along the way, the reader meets a diverse cast of shady and colorful characters, giving the book something of a spy-novel feel. It's important to note that Polakow-Suransky is no lefty Israel-basher--far from it, in fact--and the final chapter on the Israel-Apartheid analogy is the most thoughtful and balanced take I've ever seen. It's hard to think of anyone who wouldn't enjoy this book.
30 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Damming History
25 May 2010
Format:Kindle Edition
The history of cooperation between Israel and the defunct apartheid government of SA has been well served by this new authentic research. The addition of the top-secret document about Israel's offer (by non-other than the Nobel Peace prize co-winner, Shimon Perez) of nuclear weapons to a raciest and criminal state like SA under apartheid rule, only further emphasize the dangerous and unethical conduct of the Israeli State in the past. The worst part is Israel's refusal to admit this shameful episode in its history and it's unwillingness to abide by any set of international laws or treaties regarding the making, use and proliferation of nuclear weapons.
For further analysis, check Juan Cole's discussion at:
[...].
Finally, I am impressed by how well the book is written and documented. I highly recommend it.
For further analysis, check Juan Cole's discussion at:
[...].
Finally, I am impressed by how well the book is written and documented. I highly recommend it.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Objective, thorough and well written
16 Jun 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I found this book well written and very informative and Suranksy tries to remain pretty objective throughout. The author illuminates in great detail the economic and military ties that flourished between Israel and apartheid South Africa, along with the reasoning provided by right wing Israelis. And all the while the relations were a guarded secret and downplayed or outright denied on the world stage.
Definitely recommended to anyone interested in learning more about Israeli foreign policy during the apartheid era.
Definitely recommended to anyone interested in learning more about Israeli foreign policy during the apartheid era.
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