Review of Schiff and Ya'ari's Israel's Lebanon War

Ze'ev Schiff and Ehud Ya'ari are clearly superior journalists. Their book Israel's Lebanon War is very detailed, and comprehensive. If you want to know what happened during the summer of 1982 when Israel went to war with the Moslems and Palestinians in Lebanon, you could not find a book that is more comprehensive. There is considerable attention paid to the background to the war, and the events in Israel and Lebanon leading up to it. I really did find the book full of all sorts of information including the minutes of all the important meetings and phone conversations both on the Israeli side and the Lebanon side as well. These people were the journalists during the war, and their book is somewhat akin to a 317 page newspaper article.

Unfortunately that does not always make for facinating reading, and the book is a bit dry at times, though that is the trade-off one make for being detailed.

I do have a few criticisms. While their journalistic integrity is well intact and do not appear to be "taking sides" here, one can never shake the feeling that (1) They do not like Sharon, and (2) they blame the war and all that happened in it (including the massacres in shatilla and Sabra) on Sharon. There is a bit too much editorializing for my tase in the book, but to their credit it is kept to a minimum, and it never really mars the narrative.

Though one does learn a lot about what happened during the war, one sadly does not come away with the feeling that one really understands any of the events. What motivated all of them, what features of the Israeli or Phalange or PLO's, or any of the players' (political) psychology caused the events? We are not given that insight. That again could be to the credit or the detriment of the authors. Do they not understand or do they believe that it will ruin the book with interpretation?

The last chapter attempts to give some analysis, but it is short and not very satisfying.

There are also a number of other questions I would like to have seen dealt with more comprehensively that were not. First, what was the story with the bombing of the American embassy and Marine base? This was covered in a matter of sentences, and there should have been more detail as to the American role there.

Second, I would like more details about who killed Bashir Gemayel. The standard story is given, and I would like to know what the real story is. I, as well as others suspect Eli Hobekia, but was it? The book does not give enough detail there. It is not that I am even disagreeing with the recieved view, but I would like more details about it, like who were the players behind the whole thing.

Third, it is well known that unbeknownst to the Israelis at the time Bashir was making deals with the Americans to cut out the Israelis. Was this information uncovered too late to be in the book, or are there whole dimensions of this that were cut out of the story for some reason. It seems like the book needs to be revised in light of those details.

Otherwise this books deserves to be considered definitive. It is a real contribution to the literature, and worth the read.