THE LAST OPTION

An Israeli insider's insightful account of 44 years of deadly superpower intrigue, inevitable Arab-Israeli wars, and elusive attempts at peace. English-born Kimche (coauthor, The Sandstorm, 1968) has had a front-row seat to decades of Mideast drama that have unfolded while he has served in the Israeli prime minister's office, including a stint as director-general of the Foreign Ministry. While his revealing chapters on Israel's role in the Iran-contra affair might have sufficed for an eye-opening short book or a long essay, Kimche (largely to our benefit) recaps the entire lengthy background to the current peace process, now slouching from Madrid to be born. Major points here include: Brezhnev's primary role in setting up the Six-Day War; Sadat's masterful deception of both American and Israeli experts in 1973; Carter's bungling of the peace process, which forced Sadat to Jerusalem; the US and French sabotage of a Lebanese treaty with Israel in 1982; and major US intelligence failures, from the Shah of Iran's terminal cancer to the ``Kuwaiti Lorelei.'' Finally, Kimche—an impassioned believer in the merits of Israel making a separate peace with Palestinians in the administered territories—bitterly blames Arafat and the Arab rejectionists for obstructing opportunities for peace, particularly during the summer of 1967. A controversial mix of history and opinion that's both timely and noteworthy.