Orchestrated Panic 
Yitzhak Laor
- 1967: Israel, the War and the Year That Transformed the Middle East by Tom Segev, translated by Jessica Cohen Buy this book
The 1967 war changed the lives of Israelis and made Palestinian lives hell. Shortly after it, Israel’s Labour prime minister, Levi Eshkol, a relative moderate, approved the colonisation of the West Bank. The Labour Party never really opposed the process, though for years it seemed to have its doubts. That way of carrying on – appearing indecisive, sounding hesitant, while acting decisively, even aggressively – is a key component of Israeli politics. Eshkol tended to be scornful about the process he’d set in motion. In his favourite language, Yiddish, he said that Israel was thought of as a ‘nebichdike Shimsen’ (‘pitiful Samson’). For years the Israeli soldier has been depicted this way, as a conscience-stricken man who doesn’t really want to become a hero but has no choice.
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Yitzhak Laor’s Le Nouveau Philosémitisme européen is published by Fabrique in Paris.
Other articles by this contributor:
Diary · General Boogey’s War
You are terrorists, we are virtuous · the IDF
Before Rafah · Israeli militarism
In Hebron · The Soldiers’ Stories
After Jenin · Israel’s Imago
Who shall we blame it on? · Lament for the Israeli Left
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