Book Review: The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977

On my recent hiking trip through the Negev, there was plenty of time during bus-rides to and from the dusty hills and canyons to finally complete a book I've been reading, "Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977." A brief teaser reads:

"The untold story, based on groundbreaking original research, of the actions and
inactions that created the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories After
Israeli troops defeated the armies of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in June 1967, the
Jewish state seemed to have reached the pinnacle of success. But far from being
a happy ending, the Six-Day War proved to be the opening act of a complex
political drama, in which the central issue became: Should Jews build
settlements in the territories taken in that war? The Accidental Empire is
Gershom Gorenberg's masterful and gripping account of the strange birth of the
settler movement, which was the child of both Labor Party socialism and
religious extremism. It is a dramatic story featuring the giants of Israeli
history--Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir, Levi Eshkol, Yigal Allon--as well as more
contemporary figures like Ariel Sharon, Yitzhak Rabin, and Shimon Peres.
Gorenberg also shows how the Johnson, Nixon, and Ford administrations turned a
blind eye to what was happening in the territories, and reveals their strategic
reasons for doing so. Drawing on newly opened archives and extensive interviews,
Gorenberg reconstructs what the top officials knew and when they knew it, while
weaving in the dramatic first-person accounts of the settlers themselves.
Fast-moving and penetrating, The Accidental Empire casts the entire enterprise
in a new and controversial light, calling into question much of what we think we
know about this issue that continues to haunt the Middle East. "

Gorenberg's central thesis is that the settlements grew as a result of a small and dedicated (or fanatic, as he puts it) group of settlers drove government policy and Israel's leadership, which had grown up decades earlier on the premise of establishing new settlements in order to determine borders, was torn between their own youthful settlement passions and their feelings of responsibility to uphold international and state law, which Gorenberg argues settlement construction violates. In the end, the leadership decided not to decide, a choice made easier by the Arabs' solid refusal to negotiate, regardless of a return of the territory they had lost in 1967.

Most in Israel would consider Accidental Empire to be center-left, although it's hard to say exactly as the center has been drifting precariously leftward for some time now. From a foreign perspective, the book is solidly right-wing, as Gorenberg does not take the time to voice the requisite pro-forma pity for the Arabs. For me, anyone who refers to a country thirty miles wide as an "Empire," as Gorenberg does in the title, exhibits some serious mental warpage.

The quality of writing, for a historical work, was excellent. Rather than merely listing dates and facts, Gorenberg takes up the biographies of several key players and ordinary people in the early years of Israel's internal struggle over the settlements. Poets and patriots, the left and the right, religious and secular, are all given an empathetic treatment. As a person interested in history, I found it a treasure trove of information, something newer than the simple re-hashes of the Six Day War, or the endless anti-Zionist "historical" tracts that come out of Tel Aviv University and Europe every few months. Still, much of his dry analysis of the mechanics of settlement is also fascinating. Most interesting was to see how each of the three major government ministers of the time, Shimon Peres (Israel's current President,) Mosheh Dayan (Secretary of Defense in 1967) and Yigal Allon (Chief of Staff in 1967) each had their own plans for the land. Yigal Allon sponsored the Allon Plan, including the building of the Allon Road, which sought to annex the largely unpopulated Jordan Valley and other empty areas, and leave the more densely populated hills of Judea and Samaria, plus Gaza, unsettled, in order to prevent taking on enough Arabs to eventually throw Israel's demographics into an Arab majority.

Moshe Dayan, on the other hand, was more the Military thinker, and wanted permanent army bases on the easily defended hilltops of Judea and Samaria, including in the Shchem/Elon Moreh area. The existing Arab population could then be supplied with clean drinking water, medical care, electricity, education, and jobs in Israel, and would become so dependant on Israel for their middle-class status that they would be economically incapable of rising up against Jewish rule.

Peres wanted a wall of settlements around Jerusalem to prevent its redivision. While all three of them had areas where they favored settlement and areas they wished to leave empty of Jews, between the three of them every square inch of Judea and Samaria, which would later come to be called the "West Bank," was on someone's wish list. As a result, every time the settlers took a new hilltop, there was always at least one of these three who could be counted on to sponsor the new settlement and protect it in the government.

Despite his detailed appraisal of the origins of settlement policy, one of Gorenberg's failures is to comprehend the true nature of Israeli society. He details every violation of international and government law, but he doesn't seem to understand that Israel, as a middle eastern country, is far more a government of men (and in his case, a woman, Golda Meir,) then a government of laws. This holds true throughout middle eastern society where ideological passions are so strong that political reconciliation, which always requires a measure of ideological surrender, is impossible. Instead, all sides hold true to their ideals, while a working accommodation is reached on the ground. On an individual level, endless bureaucracy results in an corner-cutting society. When I look around in my sub-code apartment building, I see most of the balconies have been enclosed to make extra rooms. How many homeowners actually went to the city and got a permit? There is a lawlessness to this place that spills over onto the roads, the line at the grocery store, and the government. The settler movement didn't invent this chaos, it harnessed it, and Gorenberg's exclusive blaming of the settler movement for undermining the foundations of democratic government hints he spent a bit too much time looking through manuscripts and not enough negotiating a rental contract in this country. Additionally, Gorenberg, like Dayan, Peres, and Allon before him, and like Israel's leadership today, fails to grasp the depth of Arab hatred of Israel. Gorenberg sees the trees, the individual grievances which the spokesmen for Israel's Arab adversaries offer after every terrorist atrocity. But he misses the forest, the deep and implacable tribal hatred the Arabs direct towards Jewish freedom anywhere. While their spokesmen may issue demands, the final videos suicide bombers themselves issue before committing their atrocities seldom list demands, but tend to focus on gore, blood, revenge, and the simple joy of killing.

Gorenberg, like the numerically dwindling but politically strong left which rules Israel to this day, lays blame for the settlements, and by implication the endless torment of the Arabs, at the feet of a group of religious messianists. As one of the right-wing religious extremists Gorenberg blames for the "problem" of the settlements, the slings of "Messianism" weren't particularly insulting. In Gorenberg's universe, the Hareidi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews, who enter the political fray only to gain money for their institutions and otherwise keep to themselves, are no threat and barely mentioned. The National Religious Jews who have established the majority of the settlements are deemed "Messianist," with the idea that building settlements will hasten the coming of Moshiach (roughly, the "Messiah.") Yet both groups believe firmly in the immanent arrival of the Moshiach. In fact, this belief is one of the thirteen basic principles of Judaism as elucidated by Rambam (Maimonides,) and one who lacks this belief is considered by Orthodox Jews worldwide to have a flawed understanding of the entire Jewish faith. We are all "Messianist." Because Gorenberg does not properly define this term, it looks less like an argument and more like a slur.

As far as the controversy over whether or not Israel is justified settling Jews in Judea and Samaria goes, Gorenberg quotes the opinions of several experts of international law who claim that this is illegal under international law. Yet he doesn't recite Israel's position, at least its position back when the settlement movement was still in line with mainstream government policy, that the areas in question were mandated by the League of Nations to be part of a sovereign Jewish homeland. While the later UN Partition Plan divided the remaining sections of the Holy Land into a Jewish and an Arab state, the Arabs rejected this plan and invaded, thus rendering it null and void, and re-activating the League of Nations' Mandate. Jordan's annexation of territories they conquered during their invasion of 1947-48 was unrecognized internationally, and when Israel recaptured these areas, by right of the League of Nations Mandate, Israel already had the right to settle here. One would think these facts of history would have been recited by Gorenberg, even if only to refute them, but he remains silent.

Reading Accidental Empire was like reading Peace Now's monthly settlement report detailing, in horrified tones, which outposts got new trailers, where new cowsheds were built, and who new houses. Likewise, Gorenberg has detailed the birth of the settler movement far more thoroughly than anything that the settlers themselves could produce. I read them both and smile quietly to myself. It's only a shame that Gorenberg dedicates his life to secular history, where he contributes his talents to undermine his people's endeavors, rather than in some other vocation, like yeshiva study, where he could strengthen them. In spite of his anti-Zionist views, I still have a great deal of respect for Gorenberg, who chooses to make his home in Israel. At least he shares the risks of life here with the rest of us. One can only hope that some day Gorenberg's spirit will follow his body and come home at last.

Qumron

We continued on our Tanch Tiyul from Kfar Adumim down to Qumron. This is the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The scrolls detalied the lives of a fringe group of Essenes, the Essenes being one of the four major Jewish theological movements of the late Second Temple Period, in the two centuries before the year "zero" on the secular calendar (or as one of my rabbis calls it, the idolatrous calendar.)

Some of the caves in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.

The scrolls described a life of solitude and near-monasticism, although the celibacy of the Catholic Church had yet to be concieved of. The caves have been used again and again throughout Jewish history, by King David centuries before when he was hiding from King Shaul, and later by the Macabbees as they hid from the Seleucid imperial troops. They are also known to have been used to hide some of the vessels used in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after it was destroyed by the Romans in the hope that the temple would be rebuilt and they could be retrieved. Little did those who hid them know that what they had experienced was but the beginning of two thousand years of exile to the four corners of the Earth.

While the leather scrolls described their somewhat out-there religious beliefs, a copper scroll was found which gave a description of the location of the ashes of the Parah Adumah, the red heifer. These ashes, mixed with mayim chayim, are used to bring Jews to a state of purity necessary for ascending to the temple mount. To this day, Jews are not able to walk on the Temple Mount and rebuild the temple due to their impurity. The discovery of these ashes would remove the last obstacle to rebuilding the temple. Well, that and the mosque that's up there now.

The ashes are described as having been hidden in "The cave with the pillar." Some archaeologists believed this to be the cave:

But excavations have so far revealed nothing.

Yours truly. Perhaps the ashes of the Parah Adumah are behind me. But we are not allowed to approach the caves.

Back in the gift shop, they're selling books about the Temple (shown in the photo above.) I found the scene a bit amusing. The shop is run by a bunch of surly Hamas-looking Arab guys, selling books about the Jewish temple to Korean Christian tourists.

Because of the similarities of the Essene behavior and attitudes towards those of early Christians, it is believed that the group of Jews who eventually founded Christianity were very closely related to those who settled Qumron. It has now become a site of pilgrimage for Christians seeking to explore the roots of their faith. And to go for touristy camle rides.

German Christian tourists riding camels.

The site itself is quite well-preserved.

Foreground: ruins. Background: rain falls on the Dead Sea.
Rain over the Dead Sea. This site only happens maybe once a year. This is normally one of the hottest spots on Earth. As well as the lowest.

Herds of Ibex forage among the rocks.
The tower (really, more of a big pile of rocks now,) is believed to be from the Hasmonean period (the dynasty which took power after the Maccabean Revolt.) The rest of the village was likely built around it two centuries later by the Essenes.

The mountains of Moav (biblical neighbor and enemy of the Jews,) today in Jordan.

Upper right: It was the Israeli Air Force's flying practice day.

The cave in which many of the most importand scrolls were discovered.

A closer-up of the cave.

Snow? Nope, evaporated salt piles left behind by the receeding Dead Sea.

Yours truly, in front of the Dead Sea.

In Kfar Adumim

Over the last few weeks, top secret talks between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams on an Israeli surrender of territory have continued apace. Of course, the term "top secret" is a bit disingenuous, as the talks aren't so secret that they haven't been reported in every Israeli newspaper along every step of the way.

Yesterday I happened to be walking through some of the land that the beliefless wheeler-dealer Israeli ruling elites are so eager to dispose of. I was in the Adumim settlement block, east of Jerusalem. On the ridgeline above the Prat river stand Anatot, Kfar Adumim, and Allon.


Click for larger versions.

Looking towards Anatot, the birth village of Jeremiah the Prophet, reestablished as a Jewish settlement in the 1980s.

Foreground: Kfar Adumim (Red Village.) In the background is the Mishor Adumim industrial area.
The hilltops of Kfar Adumim.
The grassy slopes. The grass can only grow on the northern sides of the slopes since the sun scorches away the grass on the southern side. Soon this will all be brown again, and the brief spring will be gone.
The hilltops of Maaleh Adumim in better light.

A soldier bored stiff on guard duty. In the background is the Allon Road.
Looking east. In the foreground is the settlement of Allon (like the Allon road, named for General Yigal Allon.)
The hilltops of Kfar Adumim again, now in better light. You can stee the stormclouds dumping rain on Jerusalem in the background.
Looking towards Nachal Prat (the Prat river.) This river marked the boundary between the tribes of Yehudah (Judah) and Binyamin (Benjamin.)
A small grass flowering from above an abandoned bunker.

Looking towards Maaleh Adumim, one of the largest settlements with over 25,000 residents.
You can see the grass growing on the northern sides of the hills, and the scorched earth on the northern sides.
Foreground: new housing in Allon. Background, on the hilltop: the remains of a Crusader castle.


The sun's rays over the Dead Sea.

A spot of sunlight on the Dead Sea.

What's Happening in Jerusalem?

When people ask what life in Israel is like, I usually say, "It's just like in America, except when it's not."

Take, for instance, the Lev Talpiot mall. Just another mall. There is a computer store, some cosmetics outlets, even an Office Depot and a Burger King. Just like in America. But then, on Friday morning, everything changes. Suddenly, all the little felafel stands and bakery cafes set up these enormous displays in the middle of the main area, and everyone crowds around buying chicken, rice, borekkas, and confections, all to be loaded into plastic containers for Shabbat (sabbath) meals the next day.

There's more than one way to marinate an olive.

Meanwhile, our yeshivah, Machon Meir, had the honor of hosting Professor Robert Aumann, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2005 for his work in Game Theory. He made aliyah from the United States back in 1956, when life was much harder here and that wasn't exactly considered the "Thing to Do" amongst America's assimilating Jewish population. And what's more, achieved everything while remaining a Torah-true Jew. Below, he delivers a lecture on Gemarah (Talmud) and its relation to advanced mathematics at Machon Meir. It was in American-accented Hebrew, and was too complicated for me to really grasp.

Some of the older buildings on Betzalel street. When Professor Aumann came to Israel, most of the city looked like this.

"Caution Automatic Gate"

Random Graffiti

Walking back through the Christian Quarter.

The tefillin mobile in front of the Shtieblach. This guy fixes your tefillin while you daven Mincha.

"The fat guy and the skinny guy." A local sandwich stand. I guess they wouldn't know Laurel and Hardy by name.

I had a date in the old city and took the opportunity afterwards to head to the Kotel (western wall.)

A little young to be counted in a minyan.

Metzada 2: The Siege

Continued from a previous post:

Metzada 1: To the Top

Looking out onto the Dead Sea from Metzada. These canals carry brine from the northern section of the Dead Sea to the southern, where the water is evaporated to extract valuable Potash by the Dead Sea Works.

Looking towards the enormous evaporation ponds.

Our tour guide's father was involved in local excavations. Often the local Bedouin would loot archaeological sites before they could be excavated. They would then sell the items they found back to collectors, or archaeologists. Her father was able to buy back some coins, most of which he gave to the Israel Antiquities Authority, per the law. But they let him keep a few.

A coin minted during the Bar Kochba Revolt.
Rebuilt storehouses.
Another local resident.

With the benefit of elevation, the Jewish rebels were able to prevent the entire Roman Legion from ascending the steep path. The Romans changed strategy and began building a ramp to penetrate the fortress' defenses.

The Roman ramp up the west side of Metzada.

Eventually, after three years of siege, the Romans reached the top. The night before the breach of the wall, the rebels knew the game was up. They drew lots and committed mass suicide rather than be taken prisoner. To this day, the site is seen as a symbol of resistance, and the last bastion of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel until modern times.

Moshe Dayan, when he was Army Chief of Staff, understood the symbolism of Metzada, and, upon their completion of basic training, he had IDF units to ascend the snake path by night to take the Oath of Allegiance, with soldiers swearing upon induction that, "Metzada shall not fall again!"

The flag on Metada.

Well, the hike down is going to be a cinch. After all, it's all downhill from here.

Now I have to go all that way back down.

Back at the bottom. Bet your [] I climbed that mountain!