Death Tango - by Yossi Alpher (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book traces the dynamics in the current fraught relationship between Israel and the Palestinians to the dramatic events of March 2002-from a suicide bombing to the Arab Peace Initiative to the invasion and reoccupation of the West Bank, where Israeli soldiers won a bloody...

Book Synopsis

Death Tango traces the Middle East dynamic back to the events of March 27-29, 2002. March 27, Passover Eve, witnessed the most bloody and traumatic Arab terrorist attack in Israel's history, the Park Hotel bombing in Netanya. On March 28, an Arab League summit in Beirut adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, the most far-reaching Arab attempt to set parameters for ending the Israel-Arab conflict. The next day, Israel invaded and reoccupied the West Bank in Operation Defensive Shield.
Alpher illustrates the interaction between these three critical events and depicts the key personalities--politicians, generals, and a star journalist--involved on all sides. It moves from a suicide bombing to the deliberations of Arab leaders; from the Israel Prime Minister's Office--where Ariel Sharon fulminated against Yasser Arafat--to Washington, where the United States fumbled and misunderstood the dynamics at work; and on to the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli soldiers won a bloody military battle but Israel lost the media battle of public opinion.
Based on extensive interviews and his deep personal knowledge, Alpher analyzes the three days in late March 2002 as a catalyst of extensive change in the Middle East, concluding that Arabs and Israelis are dancing a kind of "death tango."

Review Quotes

"An impressively detailed and presented account of a key military episode in Israel's troubled history, Death Tango is both a compelling and informative study and one that is unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Contemporary Israel History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists." --Midwest Book Review

"Death Tango is Alpher's latest in a string of penetrating books on the region. If you have any interest in the Middle East and you're not reading it, then you're simply not paying attention." --Tehran Bureau

"Anyone seeking to understand how Israelis and Palestinians traded the hopes of Oslo for something approaching hopelessness is well-advised to read this book. With penetrating analysis and elegant prose, Yossi Alpher has told the gripping story of three days nearly two decades ago that continue to haunt would-be peacemakers. Yossi's faithful readers will not be disappointed with his latest effort." --Ambassador Frederic C. Hof, Bard College

"A riveting account of the crucial days in March 2002 when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was profoundly changed for the worse. The peace camp has never recovered from those wrenching days, and we live now without any hope of a just settlement. Alpher is a highly respected expert who has spent decades studying this conflict from both sides." --Bruce Riedel, director of the Brookings Intelligence Project

"A critical assessment of a key period in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict never before presented in such detail. The best and most capable players at the executive and political levels proved unable to forge any resolution, final or partial, because both parties continued to maintain an insurmountable gulf between themselves. This is a MUST-read for anyone daring to tackle the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of Israel-Arab relations in general." --Efraim Halevy, former Head of the Mossad (1998-2002)

About the Author

Yossi (Joseph) Alpher is a consultant and writer on Middle East strategic issues. He is the author of Periphery: Israel's Search for Middle East Allies and No End of Conflict: Rethinking Israel-Palestine. His books have won the Yitzhak Sadeh Prize, the Chechik Prize, and the Chaikin Prize. He lives in Israel.