Description: This is the first book to appraise critically the Likud government's rule - from 1977 to 1992 - and the version of Zionism that is central to Likud's ideology. Colin Shindler examines afresh the political forces which moulded the world outlook of both Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir and shows how they were influenced by the pre-war nationalism of Pilsudski's Poland and Mussolini's Italy - as well as by the IRA's early campaign as an important example of anti-British revolt. Shindler details the political basis of Jabotinsky's revisionist Zionist movement and Begin's lifelong struggle to extend Israel's sovereignty to the West Bank and to the East Bank - the present-day Kingdom of Jordan. He explains such key issues as Begin's unexpected election victory in 1977, his rationale for invading Lebanon in 1982, and his regular invocation of the Holocaust in political debate. Shamir's background is examined in detail from his days in the Stern 'Gang' through to his sudden return to party politics and his meteoric rise in the Likud. The book then explains why - despite the grey contrast he presented to Begin's passion and melodrama - Shamir stayed in power longer than any other Israeli Prime Minister apart from David Ben-Guron. Also examined is Shamir's confrontation with the Bush Administration, his successor Benjamin Netanyahu's use of public relations and Likud attitudes towards Palestinian nationalism. The book concludes with further evaluation of Netanyahu and the crisis within the Likud caused by the Arafat-Rabin handshake.

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