Party And Policy In Israel: The Battle Between Hawks And Doves

Israel's party system, deeply embedded in the nation's politics since before independence, provides the framework for the determination of foreign policy and imposes severe limits on it. This study by a U.S. State Department analyst is an excellent guide to understanding the relation of security policy and the "peace process" to the process of political struggle for power within Israel itself. Even though that struggle has been sharply fought both between parties and within them, the book shows that a rough national consensus on certain essential propositions has existed over many years of political change. This consensus is not likely to change and leaves little room for a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians, no matter which party forms the next government or how actively the United States pushes its peace initiatives.