"Essential for anyone interested in the personalities, policies, and forces that led to the creation of the Jewish state. Richly documented, it is a most thorough examination of the internal decision-making process of the Zionist leadership in Palestine in the crucial years 1945 to 1949. [It] goes beyond any other study on the subject."--Isaac Alteras, Queens College of the City University of New York

"Provides a useful guide through the conflicting narratives provoking such intense debate today in Israel. Immeasurably improves our understanding of events that are all too often seized only by the imagination and heart and not fully by the mind."--Digest of Middle East Studies

"A worthy contribution to the continuing, sometimes animated debate among academics who have used the large variety of archival records to reevaluate Israel's establishment. A thought-provoking book which should be mandatory reading for anyone with an interest in the Arab-Israeli conflict."--Middle East Journal

Joseph Heller tells the story of the complex and often conflicting political calculations that led directly to the founding of the independent Jewish state of Israel in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust. Examining the positions of many competing parties, he explains how and why the charismatic David Ben-Gurion prevailed: by shrewdly maneuvering between radical extremes on the left and on the right, Ben-Gurion managed to steer a successful middle-of-the-road policy in favor of partition.

Heller also describes the vital links between internal and external factors in the post-war Zionist movement. He places events in the context of wider Cold War calculations to explain why much of Israel's early military and diplomatic support came--surprisingly--from the Soviet Union, while the United States assumed a neutral position in order not to offend its British ally.

In addition, Heller investigates early and ongoing conflicts with neighboring Arab nations for their influence on Israel's foundation. Through research in a range of archives, diplomatic protocols, diaries, and other sources, he provides both Middle East scholars and general readers with a balanced account of the historical and contemporary problems and solutions that continue to influence the region's ongoing peace process.

Joseph Heller is professor of international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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Awards
The Best of the Best of the University Presses - 2001

"The Birth of Israel's great contribution is Heller's methodical analysis of the Yishuv's/Israel's chronized with developments in external relations with Britain, the US, the Arabs (inside and outside Palestine), and the Soviet Union." -Jerusalem Post
--Jerusalem Post

"A masterful synthesis of hitherto untapped archival material and recent secondary literature. . . offers a compelling analysis of Ben-Gurion's consolidation of political power and diplomatic policy making under the dominant Mapai party. No other work has yet appeared that offers such a rich and detailed discussion of the interplay among competing Zionist and diaspora Jewish leaders in this period." - Choice
--Choice

"Provides a useful guide through the conflicting narratives provoking such intense debate today in Israel. Immeasurably improves our understanding of events that are all too often seized only by the imagination and heart and not fully by the mind." - Digest of Middle East Studies
--Digest of Middle East Studies

"A worthy contribution to the continuing, sometimes animated debate, among academics, who have used the large variety of archival records to reevaluate Israel's establishment. A thought-provoking book which should be mandatory reading for anyone with an interest in the Arab-Israeli conflict." -Middle East Journal
--Middle East Journal