The Cherrick Center for the study of Zionism, the Yishuv, and the State of Israel is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2022 Korenblat Book Award in Israel Studies.
The Korenblat Book Award in Israel Studies was established in 2021 by Dr. Phillip Korenblat in honor of his late brothe, Dr. Steven Korenblat. The award marks an exceptional scholarly contribution in the field of Israel Studies, and honors each year a book of outstanding merit in either Hebrew or English by scholars at all stages of their career. In making this year’s award, the award committee wrote:
Elie Podeh’s monumental book is a thorough and dramatic study of Israel’s covert relations with Middle Eastern countries – from Morocco to Iraq and from Turkey to Sudan – in addition to Iran, Oman, and the Emirates. In a thick historical account that extends from statehood into the twenty-first century, Podeh’s masterfully orchestrates extensive archival materials, more than a hundred interviews, and Wikileaks sources. With this he unfolds a hitherto unknown network of Israeli foreign policy and diplomatic activity. While politicians and heads of states have repeatedly conveying the notion that Israel is an isolated, secluded "villa in the jungle", Podeh’s book uncovers a rich grid of diplomatic activity immersed in Israel’s surrounding Arab space, thereby turning the rhetoric of insularity on its head.
Book abstract
Since its founding in 1948, Israel has maintained an ambiguous position in the Middle East. On the one hand, many Israelis considered the state to be a European (or rather Western) entity, geographically located in a region inhabited by people who were not only ethnically and religiously different from the Jews, but also culturally inferior. On the other, many Muslims and Arabs in the region saw the Jews as colonialists who usurped Palestine – backed by Western Imperialism – from its legitimate Arab owners. As a result, Arab states ostracized Israel and denied it formal recognition while the Jews reverted to the same “ghetto mentality” that had characterized Jewish life in Europe. Still, to survive in a hostile environment decision makers in Israel developed a pragmatic regional foreign policy designed to find ways to approach states, leaders, and minorities willing to cooperate with it against mutual regional challenges. Contacts with these potential partners were mostly covert, creating what Podeh labels as Israel’s “Mistress Syndrome”, namely a painful absence of public recognition despite significant action outside the public eye. Only with the signing of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians in the 1990s did Israel become a “legal wife,” establishing formal, open relations with several Arab states, although it has since reassumed its familiar role as concubine as a result of the collapse of the Oslo process. The book offers a theoretical framework explaining the meaning and features of the “mistress syndrome” while focusing on several, less-known episodes of clandestine activity, such as Israel’s ties with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.