My Country, My Life: Fighting for Israel, Searching for Peace

by Ehud Barak

From the former Prime Minister and most decorated solder in Israel's history, this is essential reading to understand today's Israel-Palestine conflict and the precarious path to a two-state solution.'There is scarcely one of Israel's security or military operations of the past four decades in which Barak has not been involved' Jewish ChronicleIn the summer of 2000, Ehud Barak set himself a challenge as daunting as any he had faced on the to secure a final peace with the Palestinians. He would propose two states for two peoples, with a shared capital in Jerusalem. He knew the risks of failure. But he also knew the risks of not letting slip perhaps the last chance for a generation to secure genuine peace.It was a moment of truth. It was one of many in a life intertwined, from the start, with that of Israel. Born on a kibbutz, Barak became commander of Israel's elite special forces, then army Chief of Staff, and ultimately, Prime Minister. My Country, My Life tells the unvarnished story of his - and his country's - first seven decades; of its major successes, but also its setbacks and misjudgments. He offers candid assessments of his fellow Israeli politicians, of the American administrations with which he worked. Drawing on his experiences as a military and political leader, he sounds a powerful Israel is at a crossroads, threatened by events beyond its borders and by divisions within. The two-state solution is more urgent than ever, not just for the Palestinians, but for the existential interests of Israel itself.

Genres: Israel, History, Biography, Politics, Memoir, Autobiography, Middle East

495 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 8, 2018

Reviews

[David Rubenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly fascinating autobiography, written by a former prime minister of Israel. He outlines his life, up to the present day. Ehud Barak grew up in a kibbutz, which formulated a liberal outlook on life. Barak volunteered to go into a special army unit, and that began his career. He goes into some detail about many of his missions. They are spellbinding. His descriptions held me at the edge of my seat. He became a 3-star general, as he was gaining enormous experience about how to deal with Israel's enemies. He always had a logical outlook that strong security does not equate to a hawkish approach.

It wasn't until later in life, when he got into politics. He became the minister of defense, and later was elected to become prime minister. His most important contribution was to withdraw Israeli troops from Lebanon. He saw troops in Lebanon as a liability, and withdrawing gave Israel a number of advantages.

Barak gives a detailed description of his negotiations at Camp David, with President Clinton and Yaser Arafat. He compromised and compromised, without any reciprocal compromises from Arafat. The negotiations failed to lead to peace with the Palestinians. But Barak did not regret his involvement, because "he just had to try."

I highly recommend this book. It is a riveting account of his personal challenges, as well as the challenges that have arisen in Israel and neighboring Arab countries.

[Sheridan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fall semester 2000, I went to Israel as an intern through my university. That Summer, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Israeli President Ehud Barak, and Palestinian President/Chairman Yasser Arafat had been meeting to hash out an Israeli/Palestinian peace agreement. From reports I remember seeing on the news, it seemed very likely that these leaders were going to come together and succeed in a historic 2-state agreement. In fact, the news seemed positive enough that my university thought it was a good idea to send interns to the Middle East for the very first time.

Sadly, it didn't happen and the Second Intifada began. I was a witness to some of those early events in September and October 2000, before we, me and a couple other interns, came back to the States ahead of schedule.

I like President Barak and appreciated how far he was willing to go to make peace with the Palestinians. So, when I saw this autobiography on a shelf in my local library I had to read it. Within the first few pages, I was surprised to learn that he knew that summer - well before I was to arrive in country and when me and so many others were still hopeful - that a peace deal would not be struck. He knew Yasser Arafat was not willing to compromise to the extent needed. He also didn't seem to put as much emphasis on Ariel Sharron's visit to the temple mount that fall, a move I remember being very shocking and a main cause of the Palestinian uprising. From what I read, it sounds like the Intifada was going to happen either way, but Sharron's move was still somewhat controversial.

While I would have liked more information in places and was surprised that he had very little criticism for anyone except Benjamin Netanyahu, overall, I really enjoyed and highly recommend this read. In particular, I found his upbringing on an Israeli kibbutz very interesting reading; his summary of the 2000 peace talks was fascinating to me personally, as explained above; and his summary and discussion of Israeli settlements (against) and the future of Israel and a possible 2-state solution with the Palestinians, though brief, was very persuasive and enlightening

[Pedram Lajevardi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The autobiography is narrated well. At first, I really liked Ehud; he was (is) intelligent, very focused and worked hard for a cause (this was my impression from when he was a soldier). But gradually (as he becomes a politician), I feel his sense of purpose comes at the price of being insensitive to what others felt. His description of the camp david summit made me realize that he is only telling the parts of the story that serves a purpose for him. There is a lot of videos/articles on-line and I suggest the readers do a bit of extra reading.

[Harriet Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Country, My Life

My Country, My Life, by Ehud Barak, is an interesting book about Israel. It is highly informative. I highly recommend this book.

[Brian Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book. Ehud Barak lived through all major events in Israel’s very short history and was able to bring his perspective to each. Rising through the military as a brilliant leader, then in public service as prime minister and many other roles.

In reading his book, the reader got a very clear picture of just how smart the author is, and the energy that he brought to everything he did in the service of his Country. He is a true hero.

The most interesting part of the book was his recollection and discussion of the Summit with Arafat at Camp David in July 2000. At the end, peace eluded Ehud and President Clinton because Arafat said “no” to a proposal similar to UN 242 / 338 (passed after the 1967 war and the 1973 war) where Arafat wanted (1) no Israeli sovereignty over the Western Wall of the ancient Temple and (2) the right of return for Palestinians. Two things that Israel obviously could not agree to.

This mindset is important to future negotiations because any Israeli peace process with the Palestinians requires that Israel give up land, in exchange for real peace, and that all parties claims are cancelled. It will be interesting to see if this can be completed in my lifetime, given the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and other geopolitical issues.

In the Epilogue, the author discusses the US / Iran nuclear deal and tells the reader a few very interesting points. Israel was ready to blow up Iran’s nuclear facility in the summer of 2012 but tensions in the region prevented the attack. He notes that Obama was against a strike and in favor of more diplomacy. Such diplomacy ultimately led to the Iran nuclear deal, which the author stated that he felt was a bad deal.

[Eithan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd say that overall this book is good- has many good points & only 2 that i didn't like: 1) I felt like there wasn't enough of army tales and not enough interpersonal relationships in the politics part. 2) I really don't like when people are boasting about themselves, this is something that one must do if they ever write an autobiography to manage and tell their end of the story but it still felt strange to me.
Listening to this book had an extra good bonus of listening to Ehud reading the book with his own voice and he's also pretty good at mimicking others- Clinton, Rabin & few others.
I'd say that the book is divided into 2 sections- the 1st is the youth and army part & the 2nd is the politics. In the army part i assume that most of the operations Ehud did & planned are still classified so he can't talk about them. After finishing reading that part one can think that in 3 years in the Sayeret Ehud been in 2 operations...
The 2nd part is interesting as it tells many things from behind the scenes of events that all Israelis know about but don't know the depth of what happened there and this is very interesting

[Neill & Linda Brownstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

His story is Israel's story ... Barak was

Well written— nuanced story after story by Ehud Barak who rose to the very top echelons of Israeli military and politics

EHUD BARAK served as Israel’s tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001, having entered the political arena after a three-and-a-half decade career in the military, during which he became the country’s most decorated soldier and served as armed forces chief of staff. He resumed his leadership of the Labor Party in 2007 and went on to serve as minister of defense for six years in the governments of Ehud Olmert and Benjamin Netanyahu. He holds a B.Sc. in Physics and Math from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and an M.Sc. degree from Stanford in Engineering-Economic Systems. You can sign up for email updates here.

[Brian Bridgeforth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ehud Barak wrote a memoir that was a safe account of his life and service to Israel. Almost all he has discussed in the book, especially up until his time as Prime Minister ended, has been thoroughly covered in other biographies and books, and he does not stray far from those narratives. I did find his explanation of the infamous Sabra and Shatila massacre a new twist in the explanation of why Israel committed such an atrocity, though nothing to excuse what happened. Also, there was one curious account in his book that caught my eye as far as accuracy in remembering events or revealing something else. It was on page 417 (Hardcover version) where he describes a meeting he had with Olmert and George W. Bush about Iran's nuclear capabilities. In it Barak describes everyone being poured a glass of whisky and a remark Bush made about flying F-16's himself. Although Bush was a pilot in the National Guard and flew jets like the A-6 Intruder, the F-16 did not come out until after his service had ended. Also, it is well documented that Bush had quit drinking altogether in the mid-1980's. For me it was a curious recollection, though does nothing to take away from the overall point about how Israel and the Bush Administration were approaching the problem of an Iran developing nuclear capabilities. Even though "My Country, My Life" was a simple biography, I enjoyed reading it and it was a welcome break from the politics currently plaguing Israel (though Barak does briefly discuss some of them in the epilogue).

[Caroline David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very very detailed. You will like this if you’re into history.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long!!! This. Ok gave me an insight into the history of Israel.

[K C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well done memoir. The first two thirds were the most enlightening for me, which was his upbringing in the kibbutz and then his military career. Although I already was aware of the general outline of those years, the memoir filled in a lot of interesting details. The section on his political career was less enlightening, perhaps because I had lived through this more public phase of his life and I felt it really glossed over all the controversial decisions he made from the withdrawal from Lebanon to the final negotiations with the Palestinians when he was already a lame duck prime minister. He justified it all, but seemed to have blinders on as to how these decisions were affecting the general public. The same goes for his divorce which was covered in one sentence when he had given a fair amount of space to his wife and daughters up until that point. But suddenly they were gone, never to be heard from again as he married his childhood sweetheart.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating story that helps you understand some of the situations that Israel has dealt with since its beginnings as a nation in 1948. Written by Ehud Barak, who grew up on a kibbutz in Israel. Barak was a soldier, politician and eventually a prime minister. He explains how he worked to find peace with the Palestinians. He discusses present day politics and is quite forthright in his opinions. I found the book interesting, although at times tedious reading. It was worth reading though.

[Lars · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting biography. For a biography, it is well written and easy to read. The title already tells its approach, which works very well. Ehud Barak tells his life and the story of the state of Israel. It gives interesting background into his perspective of some of the crucial episodes of the Middle East conflict. I would recommend reading it even if you do not already have an interest in the Israel/Palestine conflict.

[John Bates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Wh at an action-packed life. Barak recalls the events of his crazy and often dangerous life with a simple and straightforward, often nonchalant style. Worth reading for the spy escapades alone!

[Robert Whitfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding read! learned a lot that I didn't know.

[Sefi Kedmi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting review of Barak's life and Israel's unique history in the region. Highly recommended.

[Meny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent perspective on the past few decades of our (Israeli) history.
Not much new, but Barak's writing reflects the man - brilliant, sometimes arrogant, erudite, with flashes of wicked humour.

[Joakim Laksman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really important and great book!