The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership

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 readers 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. Look for the major motion picture, coming in 2012.

This is not a conventional biography or memoir, nor is it a work of fiction. It deals with factual events and real people, most notably Prime Ministers Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin and Menachem Begin, all of whom I served in one capacity or another, junior and senior, over many years, and all of whom I have tried in these pages to bring back to life as I recall them. Having worked in their proximity in all manner of situations, good and bad - sometimes so bad as to call into question Israel's very survival - I have sought here to resurrect episodes which illustrate their responses in times of stress, recreate some unforgettable intimate moments, and reenact their intertwining relationships and dealings with presidents, prime ministers and other dignitaries - all ratified, so to speak, by the viewpoint of the proverbial fly on the wall.

Inevitably, an autobiographical footprint appears in this personal narrative, firstly to illustrate the times into which I was born, secondly to introduce some extraordinary characters whose paths I crossed along the way, and thirdly and most significantly, to recapture how I came to be in the company of such amazing individuals, these early leaders of Israel, who were thrust into my life with such collision force that their hold on my imagination is intensely alive and personal still. I am everlastingly grateful for having had the opportunity to work for and alongside such prime ministers, and for having had my eyes opened to the fact that occasionally such larger-than-life champions of the Jewish people exist on earth.