Right to Exist: A Moral Defense of Israel's Wars

by Yaacov Lozowick

Book Overview

For more than a half-century, Israel has been forced to defend its existence against international political disapproval, racist calumny, and violence visited upon its citizens by terrorists of many... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385509057
• ISBN13: 9780385509053
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 326 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A clear and compelling statement

By his own admission Yaacov Lozowick did not come easily to the conclusions that he subscribes to, yet he presents one of the most logical and historically consistent explanations and of Israel's current policy positions I have read. As the title suggests, this book defends the Israeli position, and may not be seen as "balanced" by those who believe that the wars against Israel are justified. Still, Mr. Lozowick's detailed, logical, and balanced (yes, I believe that is the right word) presentation of the historic and political landscape make this book a must-read by anyone who wishes to inform themselves of the current conflict.

Making the Case for Israel's Morality

The tiny, democratic, western industrialized nation of Israel has been under relentless attack, not just by its Arab enemies but by a growing class of haughty post-modern European elites. In their efforts to de-legitimize Israel, her enemies not only wrongly attack her present efforts to defend against a murderous onslaught but, in Orlwellian fashion, recreate history to create a phony justification for Israel's pariah status. Many of Israel's own defenders and supporters have fallen into a trap by accepting the premise that Israel is an immoral state, born in sin. As Yaacov, Lozowick, former Labour supporter, current Sharon voter, demonstrates in this excellent book, nothing could be farther from the truth. In presenting the moral case for Israel's actions to ensure its own survival, Lozowick makes no effort to cover up or exonerate Israel's wrongful actions, of which their are many. Indeed, he makes no excuses for the relatively rare number of atrocities committed by Jews against Arabs but simply points out how such actions are always rejected by Israeli society at large while the reverse is surely not true. Moreover, he is critical of numerous Israeli actions and policies that he thinks were wrong or incorrect but that don't really rise to the level of "atrocity", such as Israel's settlement policies or the Lebanon War. It is this willingness to criticize that which cannot be defended that strengthens his argument that Israel is a just society that fights wars in a just manner even while its enemies commit savage crimes against humanity.Lozowick's purpose here is not to write a history of Israel's wars but to set forth a moral justification for those wars. In this he fully succeeds merely by presenting the truth in a coherent manner. He succinctly examines the facts of each of Israel's wars and concludes, with the exception of the Lebanon war, that they are all justified under theories of just war, under international law and under the Geneva Convention while the reverse is clearly not the case. The bottom line of course is that Israel, a tiny country founded largely by peace desiring socialists, has been under attack from all of its neighbors since before its creation in 1948. Despite constant harassment and threat, which devolved into open warfare five separate times, Israel has almost always behaved in a scrupulously moral way, seeking to avoid harming civilians, offering to return its gains in exchange for a genuine peace. Even when misguided, such as in the relentless pursuit of settlements amidst hostile Arab populations, Israel's policies have always been for the pursuit of a secure relationship with her neighbors. In the last part of the book, Lozowick spends a good deal of space analyzing the Oslo years and the ensuing war which is still going on. While Lozowick was a supporter of Oslo, he now, looking back, acknowledges that he and people like him willfully deluded themselves that the Palestinians were prepared to end t

Standing Tall

Who better to bring us his clear-eyed perspective of the Jewish state than the director of archives at Israel's Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem. History can be our best teacher only if we are willing to learn and remember its often bitter lessons. The author's provocative title gives us all pause, a momentary intake of breath, and a profoundly sad testament to the current discourse round the world. This timely exploration by a former peace activist doesn't merely make an arid, historical or legal case, but rather brings to light and to life his most personal journey. Websters defines the word "exist" as "to cause to stand." This book stands as tall as its title suggests.