The Prime Ministers : an Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership

Much to unpack here. First of all, this was one of my late father's books, so there's that. Secondly, I read much of it in shul on Yom Kippur this year including the parts that dealt with the war that began on the exact same day 44 years earlier. Avner's account is such a captivating and authentic,

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insider's look at this and other hugely momentous events that I found myself laughing and crying at different times as the delightful, gossipy anecdotes were interspersed with precisely recounted conversations from the highest echelons of government.

I have never had much love for Menachem Begin before now, but Avner frames him as a man acutely in touch with history and his Jewishness. His devotion to democracy and his faith is stated baldly and simply. His skills as an orator, parliamentarian and defender of the State of Israel are detailed with admiration and little embellishment. It is a loving, warm and human presentation and it rightly forms the backbone of the book.

And, throughout the whole thing, there is Yehuda Avner himself, humble yet undeniably remarkable. This is the kind of inside storytelling that we won't see often again and it's brilliantly done.

Oddly, this was the second book in a row to namecheck someone I know. Last time around, it was a fictional character, this time a shout-out in the acknowledgements to an editor. Who knows what's next?

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A definitive must-read account of the early years of the state from someone who participated. A must read.