Israel's Border Wars, 1949-1956

This revised and updated paperback edition of a highly successful study looks at the development of Israeli-Arab relations during the formative years 1949 to 1956, focusing on Arab infiltration into Israel and Israeli retaliation. Palestinian refugee raiding and cross-border attacks by Egyptian-controlled irregulars and commandos were a core phenomenon during this period and one of the chief causes of Israel's invasion of Sinai and the Gaza strip, the Israeli part of the Anglo-French-Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. This pioneering study, which has been expanded on the basis of much new, and recently declassified material from the IDF, deepens our understanding of the current situation in the Middle East, and of the prospects for a lasting peace there.