Israel’s moment: international support for and opposition to establishing the Jewish state, 1945–1949

Abstract

as he himself candidly acknowledges. That said, at least one general conclusion immediately stands out on the basis of the information highlighted by the author. Whilst Israel has thus far been reasonably efficient in defending itself against Iran and its proxies, countering their efforts to harm the country in the short term through military and intelligence operations of different kinds, the Jewish state has thus far not been able to prevent them from steadily upgrading their capabilities to inflict such harm in the long term. Whilst Israel has thus far disrupted the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile programmes from time to time, it has not been able to prevent the Islamic Republic from making progress towards achieving its ultimate objectives here: the production of a nuclear weapon and a reliable delivery system for that weapon, respectively. And, whilst Israel has battered Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Iranian proxies from time to time, it has not been able to prevent these proxies from continuing to improve their military capabilities, particularly insofar as concerns their capabilities to launch rocket/missile attacks on the Israeli home front. Eilam’s monograph, in short, delivers a very useful introduction to the Israeli–Iranian conflict. Anyone with an interest in this conflict, professional or layperson alike, is sure to benefit by giving due consideration to his work.