My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel (64 page)
Read My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel Online
Authors: Ari Shavit
At the core of “
The Project
” is a unique encounter I had in 2009 with Yosef Tulipman, who was the director general of the Dimona nuclear reactor in the critical years 1965–1973.
“
Settlement
” is a reconstruction of the founding of the pivotal settlement of Ofra, based on interviews with Yoel Bin Nun, Pinchas Wallerstein, Yehuda Etzion, Israel Harel, and other Ofra founders in 2009–2011.
“
Gaza Beach
” was first published in
Haaretz
and in
The New York Review of Books
in 1991, shortly after I completed military reserve duty in the notorious detention camp.
“
Peace
” contains interviews with Yossi Sarid, Yossi Beilin, Avishai Margalit, Menachem Brinker, and Amos Oz (conducted in 2008–2011), and an older interview with Jamal Munheir (conducted in 1993).
“
J’Accuse
” is first and foremost the life story of Aryeh Deri as told to me at great length by him and his mother and as described in his biography and in Israeli magazine pieces written about him over two decades.
“
Sex, Drugs, and the Israeli Condition
” is an updated version of a comprehensive Tel-Aviv night-life piece that I published in
Haaretz
as the previous millennium was drawing to a close.
“
Up the Galilee,
” too, was first published in
Haaretz
, in January 2003.
“
Reality Shock
” embodies some of the insights I had in real time during the Second Lebanon War of 2006.
“
Occupy Rothschild
” is based on in-depth interviews with Michael Strauss, Kobi Richter, and Itzik Shmuli (2007–2011) and on conversations with Stanley Fischer and Dan Ben David (2011).
“
Existential Challenge
” gives Amos Yadlin’s interpretation of the Iranian saga as he described it to me in 2012–2013, along with my own insights.
“
By the Sea
” contains a small portion of the observations I had while touring my homeland as my years-long journey was coming to an end.
Pursuing my tour of Israel, old and new, I read hundreds of books and thousands of documents that have inspired me and enriched my experience. To make sure all details are correct, oral histories were checked and double-checked against Israel’s written history. The exciting process of interviewing significant individuals was interwoven with a meticulous process of data gathering and fact checking. And yet, at the end of the day,
My Promised Land
is all about people. The book I have written is the story of Israel as it is seen by individual Israelis, of whom I am one.
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: Courtesy of Micha Bar-Am/Magnum Photos
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: American Colony/Matson collection, courtesy of the Library of Congress
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: Avraham Soskin/Lavon Institute Archive, Tel Aviv
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: American Colony/Matson Collection, courtesy of the Library of Congress
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: Courtesy of Azaria Alon
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: Beno Rothenberg. The copyright of the photograph of Beno Rothenberg belongs solely to Meitar Collection Ltd., Israel.
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: Courtesy of Robert Capa/Magnum Photos
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: The Times/NI Syndication
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: Courtesy of Micha Bar-Am/Magnum Photos
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: Photographer unknown/Archive: GPO, Jerusalem
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: Courtesy of Boaz Lanir
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: Moshe Milner/Archive: GPO, Jerusalem
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: Courtesy of Pavel Walberg
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: Amr El-Abari / Zochrot Organization, Tel Aviv
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: Courtesy of David Tartakover
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: Courtesy of Eldad Rafaeli
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: Dalia Amotz, courtesy of the Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv
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: Courtesy of Ziv Koren
A
RI
S
HAVIT
is a leading Israeli columnist and writer. Born in Rehovot, Israel, Shavit served as a paratrooper in the IDF and studied philosophy at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In the 1980s he wrote for the progressive weekly
Koteret Rashit
, in the early 1990s he was chairperson of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and in 1995 he joined
Haaretz
, where he became one of its leading journalists. Shavit is also a leading commentator on Israeli public television. He is married, has a daughter and two sons, and lives in Kfar Shmariahu.
