We offer to read an annotation, description, summary or preface (depends on what the author of the book "Trial and Error: Israels Route from War to De-Escalation (S U N Y Series in Israeli Studies)" wrote himself). If you haven't found the necessary information about the book — write in the comments, we will try to find it.
By providing an interesting linkage between Israels foreign policy behavior and alterations and changes in Israeli domestic politics, Levy is offering a provocative thesis that deserves wide readership. I have no doubt that some readers will applaud Levys courage and thesis, and that others will do just the opposite. No one, however, will walk away feeling indifferent. -- Michael Barnett, editor of Israel in Comparative Perspective: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom Trial and Error offers a unique exploration of the link between Israels military policies and its ethno-class relations of power that has theoretical implications elsewhere. The book denounces the commonly accepted view that Israels military policies were crafted merely as a direct and inevitable response to neighboring Arab states hostility. Instead, Yagil Levy shows that Israels security interests were also determined by the social interests of a rising middle class comprised of Jews of European descent. Because of the protracted state of war, this class achieved dominant status over other groups. As a result, a strong link was created between increasing inegalitarianism in Israeli society and missed opportunities to adopt more moderate foreign policies at crucial crossroads up to the 1980s. Paradoxically, however, as war benefits elevated the consumerist lifestyle of the middle class, the burden of war became less appealing to it. Levy argues that this and other social constraints, along with limitations imposed by the international system, played a focal role in channeling Israels policies toward the 1990s peace process.
