Who is responsible for Israel\’s settlements in the territories? Gershom Gorenberg\’s just released history, \”The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977,\” explores in gripping narrative the original interweave of political ambition, religious entitlement and military strategy that led to today\’s continuing conflicts with both the settlers and the Palestinians.
At the beginning of the Lebanon War in June 1982, my Jerusalem roommate was packing to leave for grad school in America. Each day\’s newspapers had pictures of men who\’d died at Beaufort, Damour, Sidon.
The supposedly limited operation in Lebanon had morphed into a full-scale invasion that belonged in an updated edition of \”March of Folly.\” Dedicated as I was to living in Israel, I felt a touch of envy for my roommate, soon to be at a quiet campus far away.
The idea is supposed to make me tingle warmly: While I sit in my home here in Jerusalem enjoying the Friday evening calm, thousands of Christian Coalition supporters will be gathering at the Ellipse in Washington to proclaim solidarity with Israel.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.