Israel’s Sacred Terrorism: A Study Based on Moshe Sharett’s Personal Diary and Other Documents

Moshe Sharett, one of Zionism’s chief diplomats before 1948 and Israel’s first foreign minister and prime minister from 1953 to 1955, kept a personal diary in which he candidly recorded how key Israeli policy decisions were made, including his own doubts and opposition to the strategies pursued by Isreal’s “security establishment,” men like David Ben Gurion, Moshe Dayan and Arik Sharon. The diary reveals how in the early 1950’s Israeli leaders deliberately provoked Arab states by military operations and covert terrorist actions, stirred up mass hysteria in Israel, and began plotting the takeover of southern Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank. Rokach has selected from the diaries and other documents, and provided a fascinating commentary and analysis.