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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 the diarist'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 Moshe 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 long-awaited 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.
3-volume set (1953-1956): http: //www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=809721
Volume 1 (1953-1954): http: //www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=809283
Volume 2 (1955): http: //www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=809455
About the author
Moshe Sharett (1894-1965) was Israel's first Foreign Minister (1948-1956) and its second Prime Minister (1954-1955).
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.
Yaakov Sharett is a retired diplomat, journalist, editor, and translator in Tel Aviv. He is Director of the Moshe Sharett Heritage Society and chief editor of a dozen volumes of his father's letters, papers and speeches, including the original diary published in 1978.
