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 My Struggle for Peace: The Diary of Moshe Sharett, 1953–1956 (3 Vol. Set)

Edited by Neil Caplan and Yaakov Sharett

Bloomington, IN, Indiana University Press, 2019

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eBook ISBN : 978-0-253-03738-1

Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-253-04325-2

Abstract

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.