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THE FIRST TEN YEARS: A Diplomatic History of Israel by Walter Eytan

THE FIRST TEN YEARS: A Diplomatic History of Israel

By

Pub Date: April 24th, 1958
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

The chess game of international diplomacy and the diplomatic moves which have meant Israel's survival in its first decade are recounted here by the director-general of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This tabulates the gains and checkmates of the nascent state in the first crucial rounds of gaining recognition, de jure or de facto, from United Nations members. Israel's relationships to other countries is weighted heavily in favor of those which allow its citizens to emigrate to Israel. (The Soviet Union allows a mere handful of elder citizens to leave.) There were boycotts imposed on travel to and from Israel by Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq. Border incidents, thefts and killings demanded retaliation. Efforts to supplement Israel's limited water supply met with little success. Here is a statesman's report on conference table decrees at Rhodes and Lausanne, of creation out of the void of a foreign service. The focus here is restricted to the sparring at top level. The sociological aspects of Israel's new citizens, their occupations, their problems, etc., the geographical character of the land are not within the author's compass.