Behind the star inside Israel today

• Main Author: Butt, Gerald (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: London Constable 1990; ©1990
• Subjects: Israel > Description and travel; Israel
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.

 Gerald Butt has spent eight years as BBC correspondent in the Middle East, the last three in Jerusalem. He is known to listeners for his reports on Israel, its politics and people. It is Butt's contention that few people outside understand the realities of modern-day Israel. We have preconceptions of the country which are fed and encouraged by the media. But, Aba Eban is not typical nor is Amos Oz. What has been seen in Israel recently is the Middle-Easternization of the country. In politics the ultra-orthodox may appear to hold the balance of power. But in reality, the new generation of Israelis whose origins are in Middle Eastern countries have put their stamp on the whole democratic process. They play a much more earthy and less refined game of politics than those rooted in the liberal democratic traditions of Europe and of the United States. And they represent an inexorable shift to the right. Based on his experience of living in the region, Butt predicts the gradual assimilation of Israel into the fabric of the Middle Eastern world. To hear the voices of Israel and to see what unites and what divides its people is the purpose of this book - and it is a story of polarization.