The Passionate Attachment: America's Involvement with Israel, 1947 to the Present
Reviewed by William B. Quandt
George Ball has been an outspoken critic of Israeli policies toward its Arab neighbors for many years. In this book, coauthored with his son Douglas, he makes his most powerful case to date against the "passionate attachment" of the United States to Israel. The historical overview is thin on the pre-Carter years; Reagan is severely criticized, while Bush is given better marks. Many will find the second part of the book on Israel and on the role of American Jews in American politics to be the most controversial. The authors argue that American support for Israel has been costly--financially, morally and politically. Unlikely to convince those who have already made up their minds on this much-debated topic, this book will be read and discussed because of the eminence of the senior author. More political argument than history, the Balls' analysis is nonetheless carefully documented.
