The Prime Ministers

An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership

By: Yehuda Avner

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

Length: 24 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

The Prime Ministers is the first and only insider account of Israeli politics from the founding of the Jewish State to the near-present day. It reveals stunning details of life-and-death decision-making, top-secret military operations and high level peace negotiations. The Prime Ministers brings listeners into the orbits of world figures, including Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat, Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana and the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

Written in a captivating literary style by a political adviser, speechwriter and diplomat, The Prime Ministers is an enthralling political memoir, and a precisely crafted prism through which to view current Middle East affairs. The Prime Ministers presents first-hand accounts of major historical events, including:

• Menachem Begin's decision to bomb Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor
• Yitzhak Rabin's handling of the Entebbe rescue mission
• The Egypt-Israel peace process
• The shelling of the Irgun arms ship, the Altalena Deir Yessin

It offers keen observations of key personalities, and unforgettable descriptions of political rivalries, diplomatic blunders, White House and Buckingham Palace banquets and more, to bring Israel's history to life in a way no book has done before.

©2010 Yehuda Avner (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Superb

Wonderful "fly on the wall" selections from Israel's modern history. Even if you are well versed in the history, the inside accounts are priceless. Irritating pronunciation of Hebrew words, but otherwise the reader was very engaging

Wonderful History!

Very well written. It captivated my attention the way through. A book all Americans should read. The Jewish people are a treasure to this Earth.

Breathtaking

An absolutely fascinating narrative from the first to the last page. Free of embellishments which so often tarnish historical chronicles. A behind-the-scenes look at moments that defined contemporary history for thr whole of humanity and for the Jewish people in particular.

Prime Praise for The Prime Ministers

Yehuda Avner indeed provides an intimate and fascinating narrative of Israeli leadership. He reveals the complexities of leadership, the wonder of Providence (Yossel Kolowitz), the fruit of boldness (Entebbe rescue mission), the importance of principle (Sabbath), the truth that "people are people" (Begin/Sadat relationship), and the history, heritage, beauty, tenacity, and importance of Israel and the Jewish people. Thank you, Ambassador Avner.

Very informative, insiders look at the early leaders of Israel

Enjoyed, lots of info but a compelling read. Not boring! Hats off to M. Begin

Gripping

Only criticism is that the pronunciations of the Hebrew were often butchered. That could have and should have be caught and fixed.

Colourful storytelling - far from dull

At first I was hesitant to read this book, as a European who is from a newer era than these prime minsters, I thought it would be dull. I imagined a lot of biographical facts stacked on top of each other.

I couldn't have been more wrong. First of all, the narrator is simply the best narrator I have heard on an audio book. The book features countless dialogues, and he has a way of pulling you in to conversations by impersonating each person with great precision. He has a way of getting small character traits right, like Margret Thatcher's stubbornness, Ronald Reagan's smoothness and Menachem Begin's forceful delivery, without sounding like a parody of the person. I see some people complaining that he doesn't get the Hebrew and Yiddish right, but as someone who speaks neither of these languages it doesn't bother me.

As far as the content, it is more of a personal recollection than a regular biography. This style offers, because of Avner's position as ambassador to Great Britan and more, recountings of many memorable situations, such as a conversation between the authour, Margret Thatcher, princess Diana and either prime minister Begin or Rabin about the Jewish people (I forgot some of the details).

The only downside I can see is that mr. Avner was part of the Israeli leadership and that made him clearly biased. From my perspective, he had opinions that ranged from annoying (calling Jerusalem Israel's "eternal, undivided" capital) to downright disgusting (claiming that the Deir Yassin massacre is "misrepresented" and insinuating that the Arabs complain about it too much and claiming that Israel had no responsibility for the Sabra and Shatila massacre and that the casualties were in the hundreds when they were most likely in the thousands). Some of his opinions and lack of consideration for the Palestines made my blood boil slightly, but overall he is fairly balanced. Also, he could have written more about Rabin and Meir, but then again he did not work with them for as long as with Begin.

Overall I could not recommend this book more.

Excellent, insightful and impartial

Well written and well read. Gives a great opportunity to learn more about the personal dimension of historic figures, whether they were pedantic about semantics or not.

Amazing book on Israel from birth to recent history

If one wants to learn about Israel, it's leaders and the thoughts and beliefs in their decision making and getting to know the leaders intimately, this is the book to read

Insightful, Informing and Enveloping

Fascinating first hand insights into some of the 20th Century's most important and interesting world changers...and all from a tiny land called Israel.