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Lords of the Land

The War for Israel's Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007



Idith Zertal, PhD and Akiva Eldar
December 2007     ISBN: 1568583702


The Jewish settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the aftermath of Israel's crushing victory of over its Arab neighbors in the 1967 war was had a catastrophic effect on the soul and psyche of state of Israel. This involving narrative history of the settlements process recounts the stories of the settlers in all their humanity: often fired by messianic zeal but also inspired by the example of the original Zionist settlers. It also reveals the role the state of Israel has played in nurturing the settlers through massive economic aid and legal sanctions.

The occupation, the authors argue, has transformed the very foundations of Israel's society, economy, army, history, language, moral profile and international standing. "The vast majority of the 6.5 million Israelis who live in their country do not know any other reality," they write, "The vast majority of the 3.5 million Palestinians who live in the regions of their occupied land do not know any other reality. The prolonged military occupation and the Jewish settlements that are perpetuating it have toppled Israeli governments and have brought Israel's democracy and its political culture to the brink of an abyss. They have a state that emerged out of the catastrophe of the destruction of European Jewry, and from it drew the absolute legitimacy for the means of its establishment and for the very fact of its existence, has become a country that is being crushed from within and the subject of bitter controversy abroad."

Akiva Eldar recently spoke to NPR's All Things Considered on the changing political fortunes of Israel's ruling party with parliamentary elections coming up and the ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Listen to the radio interview here.

What readers are saying


"[T]his important book...the first complete history of the settlement project...provides a detailed narrative of injustice...this book may be an angry, embittered book, but the two authors are well-informed experts...Zertal is a noted Israeli historian...Eldar is an influential columnist for the left-wing daily Ha'aretz...They are especially good on the...religious Zionists driving the settlement...richly detailed."

--New York Times Book Review

"[This book reaffirms] that, in Israel, hope remains alive, flickering, even dark though it may be."

--Truthdig book review

"The book...is passionate and richly detailed, and a heroic feat of research and synthesis."

--Ha'aretz book review

About the Authors

Professor Idith Zertal (PhD) is a leading Israeli historian and essayist, and the author of many books and articles on Jewish, Zionist and Israeli history. She has taught history and cultural studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. She has also been a visiting professor at the University of Chicago and at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, and senior research fellow at research institutes in the United States, Europe and Israel. She currently teaches at the University of Basel, and is lecturing regularly in Germany, France, and Israel. Among her major publications: From Catastrophe to Power, Holocaust Survivors and the Emergence of Israel and Israel's Holocaust and The Politics of Nationhood.

Akiva Eldar is currently a chief political columnist and editorial writer for the Israeli national daily Ha'aretz. His columns also appear regularly in the Ha'aretz-Herald Tribune edition. In May 2006 the Financial Times called him among the most prominent and influential commentators in the world. Eldar was previously the Ha'aretz U.S. Bureau Chief and Washington correspondent, covering the Peace Process, U.S.-Israel relations, American issues and Israel-Diaspora relations.

Eldar contributes to the op-ed pages of The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the International Herald Tribune and New York Jewish Week.

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