This article was downloaded by: [Uppsala universitetsbibliotek]On: 05 October 2014, At: 00:01Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House,37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Israel AffairsPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/fisa20

Politics, History and CultureDavid RodmanPublished online: 16 Jun 2009.

To cite this article: David Rodman (2009) Politics, History and Culture, Israel Affairs, 15:3, 305-314, DOI:10.1080/13537120902983056

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13537120902983056

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) containedin the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of theContent. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon andshould be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable forany losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use ofthe Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematicreproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in anyform to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Books at a Glance

Politics, History and CultureDAVID RODMAN

The Jews against Rome: War in Palestine, AD 66–73. By Susan Sorek.London, Continuum, 2008. 175 pages. $29.95. ISBN 978-1-84725-248-7.

From AD 66 to 70, much of the Jewish population of Eretz Israel, thoughby no means all of it, staged a massive rebellion against the Roman Empire.Successful at first, the insurgents expelled Roman forces from parts of theland, set up an independent state of sorts and fortified towns and villagesthroughout their territory to meet the expected imperial counter-attack.Severe internal divisions within the Jewish community, which led to viciousfactional fighting, a lack of trained and disciplined soldiers and a poorlyconceived defensive strategy, coupled with the overwhelming might of theRoman Empire, however, ensured that the rebellion would ultimately becrushed under the boots of its legions. And so it was, as Roman forcesunder the leadership of future emperors Vespasian and his son Titusmethodically reduced stronghold after stronghold in a series of extremelybloody sieges and massacres. The fall of Jerusalem, as well as thedestruction of the Second Temple, in August AD 70 signalled the effectivedemise of the rebellion, and has traditionally been viewed as bringing to anend Jewish sovereignty in Eretz Israel until 1948.

Thanks to the copious literary efforts of Flavius Josephus, a Jewishnobleman and insurgent leader who defected to the Roman side during therebellion and became a friend of both Vespasian and Titus, the ‘GreatJewish War’, as it has become known, is amongst the best documented ofthe many wars fought by Rome over its long history. Not surprisingly, then,the rebellion has attracted a considerable amount of attention frommodern scholars, with many books and articles being devoted to its causes,course and consequences. To these earlier works must now be added thisslim volume by British classicist Susan Sorek.

Her book is as much a critique of Josephus’ literary efforts as adescription and analysis of the rebellion itself. She not only points out themany inconsistencies of fact and opinion within Josephus’ major works onthe rebellion, but also probes the motives behind his shifting portrayals ofevents and personalities. Her focus on Josephus notwithstanding, she doesmanage to review the path taken by the rebellion, from its inception to itsconclusion, albeit rather sketchily at many points along the way.

Israel Affairs, Vol.15, No. 3, July 2009, pp. 305–314ISSN 1353-7121 print/ISSN 1743-9086 online

DOI: 10.1080/13537120902983056 q 2009 Taylor & Francis

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Upp

sala

uni

vers

itets

bibl

iote

k] a

t 00:

01 0

5 O

ctob

er 2

014

While certainly readable and informative, her book is not as accessibleas one might expect of a volume apparently aimed at a non-specialistaudience. Indeed, she seems to assume that her audience already possessesa certain familiarity with the Hasmonean and Herodian periods thatpreceded the rebellion, as well as with the social, economic and politicalconditions that obtained under Roman rule in first-century Eretz Israel.Less knowledgeable readers, therefore, are likely to find themselvesconfused by the rapid-fire introduction of people, places and eventswithout much in the way of historical background. Furthermore, heranalysis of the causes and consequences of the war is rather thin andoblique, so the book never really places the rebellion in its larger historicalcontext.

All in all, more knowledgeable readers may find this volume of someinterest. Less knowledgeable readers, on the other hand, are advised tolook elsewhere for a basic introduction to the rebellion.

The 2006 Lebanon Campaign and the Future of Warfare: Implications forArmy and Defence Policy. By Stephen Biddle and Jeffrey A. Friedman.Carlisle, PA, US Army War College, 2008. 90 pages. No price (Internetpublication). ISBN 1-58487-362-0.

During the 2006 Second Lebanon War, parts of the Israel Defence Forces(IDF), including members of the senior officer corps, did not perform tothe same high standards set by the army in previous wars. Consequently,voices within and without the IDF soon began to argue that the armyhad concentrated too heavily from the early 1990s onwards onpreparations for low-intensity conflict at the expense of the appropriatereadiness for conventional warfare. As a result of this criticism, thependulum has swung back towards the centre in the years since the war,with the IDF today devoting substantially more attention to conventionalwarfare, as evidenced by its effective performance in the recent Gazaoffensive.

The authors of the present study, in an effort to caution the UnitedStates against the pitfalls of taking the same path followed by Israel,examine Hizbullah’s conduct in the Second Lebanon War. What theyuncover through their careful analysis of the organization’s operationsduring the fighting is that its behaviour in the field in many importantrespects did not differ significantly from that of past or presentconventional military forces. Hizbullah’s employment of fortified defensivepositions, small arms and anti-tank weapons, mortar and rocket fire,command and control systems and intelligence information, for example,diverged considerably from the patterns historically associated with

ISRAEL AFFAIRS306

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Upp

sala

uni

vers

itets

bibl

iote

k] a

t 00:

01 0

5 O

ctob

er 2

014

insurgent forces engaged in low-intensity conflict. So, too, did its attitudetowards holding onto territory in the face of the IDF’s ground incursions.

The authors conclude that many other insurgent/terrorist organizationsaround the world may well adopt Hizbullah’s strategic, operational andtactical modes of conduct in the future; therefore, they prudently assertthat, while American military forces still need to be prepared for classicallow-intensity-conflict scenarios, they should not downgrade theirconventional warfare capabilities in a quest to improve their counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist capabilities. Unfortunately, the IDF had tolearn this lesson the hard way.

Israeli Fortifications of the October War, 1973. By Simon Dunstan.Oxford, Osprey Publishing, 2008. 64 pages. $18.95. ISBN 978-1-84603-361-2.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has historically been an offensive-mindedmilitary organization that advances into enemy territory at the earliestpossible opportunity during wartime. After the 1967 Six Day War,however, the IDF also invested considerable resources in building defensivefortifications along the cease-fire lines in Sinai and on the Golan. The so-called ‘Bar Lev Line’ in the south and ‘Purple Line’ in the north wereintended to provide a measure of protection to Israeli troops serving alongthe front lines during the 1969–70 War of Attrition, as well as to preventsudden Arab ‘land grabs’ in the ‘occupied territories’. Despite the monikersgiven to them, these fortifications were never meant to stop full-scaleEgyptian or Syrian assaults.

Simon Dunstan, a well-known military historian, competently tracesthe nature and history of these fortifications in this short, well-illustratedvolume. He describes the fortifications’ military and political purposes,their construction, facilities and armaments and daily life within theirwalls. Most of the volume, however, is given over to an account of the rolesthey played in the War of Attrition and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In theformer, a limited, static slugging match waged primarily with aircraft andartillery, he observes, they proved effective in protecting Israeli troops andin guarding against Arab incursions. In the latter, a full-scale, mobile war,to the contrary, they turned out to be more of a hindrance than a help to theIsraeli war effort, particularly in the Sinai, where the IDF lost many menand armoured vehicles attempting to extricate their occupants, who wereunder siege by large numbers of Egyptian troops.

Dunstan’s book, in short, should be of interest to those scholars andlaymen concerned with the nuts and bolts of the Arab–Israeli wars.

BOOK REVIEWS 307

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Upp

sala

uni

vers

itets

bibl

iote

k] a

t 00:

01 0

5 O

ctob

er 2

014

Israel and a Nuclear Iran: Implications for Arms Control, Deterrence andDefence. Edited by Ephraim Kam. Tel Aviv, Institute for National SecurityStudies, 2008. 96 pages. No price (Internet publication). ISBN 978-965-7425-06-0.

Iran, as of spring 2009, is moving full speed ahead with its plans to acquirea nuclear arsenal. The international community’s response to this Iranianeffort has thus far been less than robust, going no further than theimposition of some mild and ineffective sanctions. Israel, which hasrecently been the target of genocidal threats from Iran, is understandablydispleased with the international community’s marshmallow-like responseto the Iranian nuclear challenge. Nevertheless, although the Israel DefenceForces has undoubtedly drawn up a detailed plan to strike Iran’s atomicinfrastructure through a large-scale air operation, the Jewish state seemscontent for the moment to allow diplomacy to run its course, not least of allbecause an attack is far from guaranteed to bring about the same decisiveresults as earlier strikes on Iraqi and Syrian nuclear facilities.

Israel’s strategic dilemma, coupled with the world’s seemingindifference, has led some observers to conclude that the Jewish statemust learn to live with an Iranian nuclear arsenal. Though they are not yetready to concede with certainty that Iran cannot be stopped fromdeveloping the bomb, the five Israeli contributors to this Institute forNational Security Studies monograph assess what an Iranian nucleararsenal would mean for Israel in terms of arms control, deterrence anddefence.

Ephraim Asculai, a former member of Israel’s Atomic EnergyCommission, surveys the technical aspects of Iran’s nuclear armsprogramme, concluding that Iran is rapidly putting itself into a positionto acquire a considerable arsenal by the middle of the next decade. EmilyLandau, an arms control expert, argues that an Iranian nuclear arsenalwould most likely undermine arms control efforts throughout the MiddleEast, and it could lead to further proliferation in the area. Yair Evron, apolitical scientist who specializes in deterrence theory, maintains that theIsraeli–Iranian relationship would become highly unstable in the shadowof an Iranian bomb, though he does not claim that the Jewish state cannotdeter an Iran armed with nuclear weapons. Uzi Rubin, the former managerof the Arrow anti-ballistic missile interceptor programme, is moreoptimistic about Israel’s ability to deter a nuclear Iran, claiming that theJewish state’s active defences against ballistic missile attack significantlyenhance its ‘second strike’ capabilities, and that the Iranian leadershipwould have to take this fact into account before deciding upon a nuclearattack. Finally, David Klein, a homeland security expert, says that Israelshould eschew a build-up of passive defences in the face of an Iranian

ISRAEL AFFAIRS308

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Upp

sala

uni

vers

itets

bibl

iote

k] a

t 00:

01 0

5 O

ctob

er 2

014

nuclear arsenal in favour of boosting its active defences, as well as itsoffensive capabilities.

Collectively speaking, these contributors suggest that, while theacquisition of a nuclear arsenal by Iran would surely be very bad newsfor Israel (and the rest of the world), the Jewish state can cope with thisdevelopment. A nuclear-armed Iran, in other words, does not mean thatIsrael faces an imminent apocalypse.

US–Israeli Relations in a New Era: Issues and Challenges after 9/11.Edited by Eytan Gilboa and Efraim Inbar. London, Routledge, 2009. 254pages. $140. ISBN 978-0-415-47701-7.

Despite the end of the Cold War, and the demise of the Soviet Union, theMiddle East has remained a deeply troubled and turbulent region. Indeed,it has become even more unstable in the post-ColdWar era, with the rise toprominence of radical Islamist states, such as Iran, and equally radicalIslamist terrorist groups, such as Hizbullah and Hamas. Not surprisingly,then, the American–Israeli relationship, always driven first and foremostby the national interests of both states, has deepened over the past twodecades, as the United States and Israel have striven to counteract theinfluence of Islamist states and groups in the Middle East.

This anthology, which brings together the work of well-known experts,concentrates primarily on the American–Israeli relationship in the post-11September 2001 era. Benjamin Miller and Efraim Inbar tackle the strategicaspects of the relationship. Miller examines the historical context ofAmerican interventionism in the Middle East, while Inbar describes theshared national interests behind the post-11 September relationship. Theircontributions are followed by several pieces that focus on the non-strategicties that bind the United States and Israel. Collectively speaking, EytanGilboa, Mitchell Bard, Ira Sheskin and Paul Merkley observe that theAmerican–Israeli relationship has been reinforced over the years by thestrong support for the Jewish state displayed by both Jews and Gentiles inthe United States.

Additional contributions assess the relationship as it relates to recentMiddle Eastern events. Dov Waxman refutes the idiotic argument,propounded most forcefully by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, thatIsrael pushed the United States into the Iraq War. Jonathan Rynholdobserves that, with respect to the Israeli–Palestinian component of theArab–Israeli conflict, the United States should channel its future effortsinto ‘conflict management’ rather than ‘conflict resolution’. Shlomo Slonimargues that, after a long interlude during which it adhered to the notion of aunified Jerusalem, the United States is once again thinking about dividingIsrael’s capital.

BOOK REVIEWS 309

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Upp

sala

uni

vers

itets

bibl

iote

k] a

t 00:

01 0

5 O

ctob

er 2

014

Still another set of contributions considers the impact of third parties onthe American–Israeli relationship. Emanuele Ottolenghi thinks that adeeply ingrained anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism in Europe spellstrouble for both the United States and Israel in their efforts to containradical Islamist states and groups. On a more positive note, CherianSamuel contends that the burgeoning ties between the United States andIsrael, on the one hand, and India, on the other, will continue to providesignificant benefits to all of the parties. Occasional anti-American andanti-Israeli outbursts notwithstanding, Amikam Nachmani offers a similarprognosis with regard to Turkey.

In the volume’s final piece, Edward Haley maintains that the future oftheMiddle East is dependent upon whether the United States and Israel canwork out some sort of modus vivendi with Iran. If they can do so, he avers,then theMiddle East may yet attain a measure of peace and stability. If theycannot do so, then further conflict throughout the region is inevitable.

This insightful anthology, in sum, represents a very useful survey of theAmerican–Israeli relationship’s status in the early twenty-first century.The volume is strongly recommended for anyone who seeks a basicintroduction to this topic.

Behind the Humanitarian Mask: The Nordic Countries, Israel and theJews. Edited by Manfred Gerstenfeld. Jerusalem, Jerusalem Center forPublic Affairs and Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for HolocaustStudies, 2008. 256 pages. $29. ISBN 978-965-218-066-7.

The Scandinavian countries—Sweden, Norway, Denmark—as well asFinland enjoy a very positive image in the world. Many people areconvinced that these democratic countries aim for peace, that their policiesare based on justice, concern for human rights and moral humanitarianconsiderations and that they help the underprivileged of the world as wellas those suffering in regimes of oppression. Apparently the first person toquestion this, at least in regard to Sweden, was the British researcher,Professor Roland Huntford of Cambridge University. In 1972, hepublished a profound study of the Swedish regime under theSocial-Democratic Party, which has ruled the country since the early1930s until now, with short interruptions. The title of his book, The NewTotalitarians, as well as its contents, is very informative.

The name of the book before us now, Behind the Humanitarian Mask,and its content as well, are equally instructive. Its editor, Dr ManfredGerstenfeld, is one of themost outstanding experts onWestern anti-Semitismtoday. This is the fourteenth book he has written or edited, either alone orwith partners. This time he has concentrated on the three Scandinaviancountries and Finland, with an interesting chapter on Iceland.

ISRAEL AFFAIRS310

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Upp

sala

uni

vers

itets

bibl

iote

k] a

t 00:

01 0

5 O

ctob

er 2

014

It is no surprise that this book reveals that Sweden is the Scandinaviancountry where anti-Semitism is thriving, where there is a scathing andpoisonous anti-Israelism and demonization of Israel. This trend, which hasits beginning at the end of the 1960s in the days of the radical PrimeMinister Olof Palme, continued into the days of those who followed himand, at times, it even intensified. Sweden, a seemingly secular country, has avery active partner in these negative trends—the Lutheran Church. Howstrange that this church runs the ‘Swedish Theological Center’ in‘Beit Tavor’ on The Street of the Prophets in Jerusalem, where the studyplan, the atmosphere and its leaders are so anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian.

Besides the government itself, there are many important groups withinthe ruling Social-Democratic party, as well as other active leftists andjournalists, which are responsible for the anti-Semitic activity and the anti-Israeli demonization propaganda in Sweden. They all hide behind aself-righteous appearance, hypocritical declarations about concern forhuman rights and anti-Semitism expressed as moral superiority. Thesetrends, sometimes inconsistent, go hand in hand in Sweden as well as in theneighbouring countries, as overt anti-Semitism is not acceptable in theworld today. Since the Nazi regime in Europe, these poisonous ideas aremasked as anti-Zionist or anti-Israel, and are adopted more widely todayin leftist circles, as well as on the right, among the Lutheran clergy,academics and media personalities. All of these have been active in the lastgeneration, together with fundamentalist Muslim clergy within the evergrowing Muslim communities, which are strongly involved in promotingIslamic anti-Semitism.

One prominent example of typical hypocritical Swedish policy is itsattitude toward the fate of Raoul Wallenberg, the greatest of the righteousGentiles. As is well known, he was active in Budapest at the end of theSecond World War and succeeded in saving many thousands of Jews. Withhim was a young Swedish diplomat named Per Anger. After the war, Angerreturned to Stockholm and continued to work in the foreign service untilhis retirement. He devoted many years to researching the fate ofWallenberg and to attempting to free him from the Soviets. After he retired,he published a book—an incisive and serious condemnation of hisgovernment—in which he presented detailed proof that Wallenberg hadbeen knowingly abandoned by the governments of Sweden over the years,due to their fear of the Soviets. For many years, Sweden did nothing tobring about Wallenberg’s release or to find out what had happened to him.A major role in this was played by the well-known Swedish ambassadorGunnar Jarring (who is best known in Israel because of his UN peacemission to the Middle East), during his term as Sweden’s ambassador toMoscow. Only around 1990, at the time of the disintegration of the SovietUnion, did Sweden begin to think ofWallenberg as an asset, to memorialize

BOOK REVIEWS 311

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Upp

sala

uni

vers

itets

bibl

iote

k] a

t 00:

01 0

5 O

ctob

er 2

014

him, to turn him into a national hero and to recognize his work, as if thathad been an official Swedish undertaking.

Successive Swedish governments have contributed their share to theanti-Israel atmosphere by expressing anti-Israeli ideas in various spheres,and by giving money to Palestinian groups, through both undercover andup-front organizations. Part of this financial aid has been used foranti-Israeli propaganda, and perhaps even worse than that.

Included in the book is a very interesting interview with ZviMazel, whowas Israel’s ambassador in Stockholm between December 2002 and April2004. Mazel tells how he found a country whose hate for Israel is nurturedby ruling groups, which has an extremely hostile press and which tends topreach morality in a superior righteous and boastful tone. He paints apicture which is not known to many. Dr Mikael Tossavainen, a Swedishhistorian, contributes a study of Arab and Muslim anti-Semitism inSweden, including acts of violence against Jews.

In his article, Professor Gerald Steinberg of Bar-Ilan University discussesthe Swedish Agency for Foreign Aid, a branch of the Swedish ForeignOffice, which distributes general financial support to Palestinianorganizations that, under the mask of humanitarian aid, is used for anti-Israeli activities. These are official Swedish actions. It is hard to understandhow the Government of Israel seems to be totally indifferent to theseactivities and does not find a way to react. In view of what has been said upto now, it is not difficult to understand how Sweden refused to bring Nazicriminals to trial, and even offered them immunity. Among them areSwedes who had volunteered for the SS, and there were many thousands ofsuch volunteers.

The situation is not much different in Norway, another country whichenjoys a very positive image in the world, but which also stands out for thelevel of anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism in the country, found among thesame types of groups as in Sweden, including government ministers, headsof the Lutheran Church, trade unions, academics, etc. A particularNorwegian ‘specialty’ is publishing anti-Semitic cartoons in the manner ofthe Nazi Sturmer. One article in the book deals with this issue. Thisextreme anti-Israelism stood out especially during the First Lebanon War(1982–84), and has continued to the present. There has been no othercountry in the West where Israel has been attacked—in an anti-Semiticway—so strongly as in Norway and its media. Here too there is a strongconnection between extreme leftist groups and Muslim groups in thedistribution of anti-Semitic propaganda material. And to these we can alsoadd neo-Nazi groups and Lutheran clergy.

In Denmark as well there are waves of the ‘new’ anti-Semitism andhatred of Zionism and Israel amongst the same groups, although there itseems to be a bit less malicious. The Danes are praised for good workduring the Second World War and for saving 7,000 Jews who were

ISRAEL AFFAIRS312

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Upp

sala

uni

vers

itets

bibl

iote

k] a

t 00:

01 0

5 O

ctob

er 2

014

transferred in small boats to the Swedish coast in October 1943. It is onlyin the last decade that some, hitherto unknown, very problematic andunpleasant facts regarding the behaviour of Denmark during that periodhave come to light, including the degree of its cooperation with the Nazis.Information about handing Jews over to the Nazis, as well as otherunpleasant facts about the treatment of Jewish refugees, has beenuncovered. This subject is covered in this book in a special article writtenby two Danish researchers.

Also unknown until now is that about 6,000 Danish volunteers foughtin SS units and even participated in the murder of Jews in eastern Galicia,together with Norwegian and Swedish volunteers. Since the war, thegovernments of Denmark have done their best to keep this informationsecret. Ditto with regard to the story of the cooperation between Danishfood industries and contractor companies which worked for the Germanarmy, using slave labour and, of course, benefiting financially.

In another article, negative information about the ‘white buses’ affair isbrought to light, as the Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte was connected tothis. The first to expose this issue was the British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, who was criticized for publishing his findings, although he wasrevealing the truth. The great surprise was how Yad Vashem fell into thisSwedish propaganda trap and erected a ‘white bus’ on its premises.The management of Yad Vashem should have known that there are manyquestion marks surrounding this issue.

Little is known about Finland’s behaviour during the Second WorldWar. Finland has won great sympathy in the world, including from Jews,due to the ‘White War’ the country fought so valiantly against the RedArmy, and because its leader, Marshall Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, did notallow the Jewish-Finnish soldiers to be harmed. There were those in hisgovernment who wanted to hand them over to the Nazis, and Finland didgive up Jews to the Gestapo, especially Jewish soldiers in the Red Armywho were taken prisoner. In a short essay, Professor Steinberg givesillustrative details of significant current Finnish financial help to Palestinianorganizations, supposedly for humanitarian purposes, but actually whichgoes to less honourable use, especially anti-Israeli propaganda, much likethe financial support from Sweden, Norway and Denmark. (According tovarious rumours, there are some organizations in Israel generally referredto as the ‘Peace Camp’ which are also benefiting from these funds—asubject worthy of examination).

The editor of this book, Dr Gerstenfeld, has done well in adding a veryinteresting article on Iceland, although this is an unusual issue, and Icelandcannot be put in the same category as the other Scandinavian countries.This article examines the history of anti-Semitism in Iceland—an islandwhere Jews arrived only in the 1930s—from 1625 to 2004. We havelearned from other countries that Jews do not have to be present in a place

BOOK REVIEWS 313

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Upp

sala

uni

vers

itets

bibl

iote

k] a

t 00:

01 0

5 O

ctob

er 2

014

in order for anti-Semitism to develop. Anti-Semitism and anti-Semitesexisted in Iceland long before the arrival of a few Jews. The authorities ofthe island always made it difficult for any Jews who wished to settle there.It is hard to believe, but even in Iceland before the SecondWorldWar, therewas a small Nazi party. And several volunteers from Iceland also foundtheir way into service in the SS. After the war, were Holocaust deniers andthose who distributed anti-Israel propaganda. And now—here we have anirony of history—the president of Iceland is married to an Israeli woman,Dorit Moussayef.

Dr Gerstenfeld has gathered very valuable material for this book whichmust be brought to the attention of a wide audience. It is especiallyimportant that this book be distributed as widely as possible in theScandinavian countries themselves. It would be good for thosecommunities to see this book as the mirror it is, to see their picturewithout a mask. Perhaps this could lead to the birth of some positivegroups who will be strong enough to bring about change.

(Reviewed by Moshe Yegar)

ISRAEL AFFAIRS314

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Upp

sala

uni

vers

itets

bibl

iote

k] a

t 00:

01 0

5 O

ctob

er 2

014