Horovitz, David

views updated

HOROVITZ, David

(Phillip)

PERSONAL:

Born in England; immigrated to Israel, 1983; married; wife's name Lisa; children: three. Education: Hebrew University, Jerusalem (international relations). Religion: Jewish.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Jerusalem, Israel. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Alfred A. Knopf, 201 East 50th Street, New York, NY 10022. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Journalist, commentator, and lecturer on Israeli current affairs. Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem, Israel, editor and reporter, 1983-90, editor-in-chief, 2004—; Jerusalem Report, Jerusalem, editor, 1990-2004. Military service: Educational Corps, Israeli Army Reserves.

AWARDS, HONORS:

B'nai B'rith International Award for journalism, 1994; U.S. National Jewish Book Award, 1996, for Shalom, Friend.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Shalom, Friend: The Life and Legacy of Yitzhak Rabin, Newmarket Press (New York, NY), 1996.

A Little Too Close to God: The Thrills and Panic of a Life in Israel, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2000.

Still Life with Bombers: Israel in the Age of Terrorism, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2004.

Frequent contributor to newspapers around the world.

SIDELIGHTS:

Journalist and author David Horovitz is known throughout the world for his writings and lectures on the subject of contemporary Israel. Horovitz edited Shalom, Friend: The Life and Legacy of Yitzhak Rabin, a biography written by the staff of the Jerusalem Report following the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. Sandee Brawarsky in the New York Jewish Week wrote that "the book reads as though it were written by one person rather than many," thanks to Horovitz's "fine editing."

The book outlines every period of Rabin's life, from his childhood as the son of Labor Zionist activists to his later advocacy of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. It discusses the military doctrine shaped by Rabin prior to the Six Days' War in 1967, his friendships with world leaders, his ambivalent relationship with Israeli leader Shimon Peres, and his peacemaking efforts with Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat. A reviewer for the Economist said that the writers "excel … in describing his murder" and in explaining the misconceptions about the potential dangers of the militant Hamas movement among the Palestinians and the scope of the Israeli unrest that led up to the assassination.

The contributors, according to Guilan Denoeux in Middle East Policy, do not hide their admiration for Rabin but also "highlight his limitations"—such as his underestimation of the intifada movement, an armed rebellion against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank that began in 1987—and his disdain for people who disagreed with him. Denoeux called the book "must reading for anyone concerned with Israeli history and the peace process of the first half of the 1990s."

A Little Too Close to God: The Thrills and Panic of a Life in Israel is Horovitz's very personal look at what life is really like for Israelis living with a constant threat from their neighbors. Horovitz identifies himself as a liberal who favors the peace process. According to a review by Cameron W. Barr in the Christian Science Monitor, Horovitz constantly weighs whether or not to stay in Israel with his family, and his "ambivalence is easy to understand." Horovitz writes, "Provided that the country is genuinely trying to find peace, I will likely stay here," but he adds that a return to hard-line, antipeace policies would prompt him to rethink his options.

Most reviewers said that the book was highly readable, revealing the human stories and family anecdotes that would appeal to Jewish and non-Jewish readers alike. Barr said that "it is an insider's work, a personal chronicle, the book of a man trying to understand the issues for himself." Bill Ott, reviewing the work for Booklist, said that Horovitz defends his own views favoring the peace process, "but without losing his story in a wave of partisan rhetoric." Ott added that A Little Too Close to God is "as moving as it is controversial."

A more sobering view of the possibilities of peace in Israel is seen in Horovitz's next book, Still Life with Bombers: Israel in the Age of Terrorism. In the post-September 11 world, Horovitz has become more pessimistic that the Israelis and Palestinians will ever settle their differences. Although not excusing Israel from blame, he sees the major obstacle as the campaign of organized terrorism tacitly supported by Arafat. Horovitz writes, "I am much more immediately conscious than I was just a few short years ago of the evil that men are prepared to do," especially the threat posed by "extremist Islam." In what Walter Reich in the New York Times Book Review called "an anguished and sensible book," Horovitz shows how the atmosphere of terror affects everyday life in Israel, where both Jewish and Palestinian mothers fear for the safety of their children every day. Joseph Carlson in Library Journal wrote that Horovitz tells this grim story by "forsaking political diatribe for a clear, first-hand look at what's right and what's wrong with both sides." A Kirkus Reviews critic said that the book is "a well-wrought narrative," and Reich concluded that "in the end, what Horovitz offers is less solution than fragile hope."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Horovitz, David P., A Little Too Close to God: The Thrills and Panic of a Life in Israel, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2000.

Horovitz, David P., Still Life with Bombers: Israel in the Age of Terrorism, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2004.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 1996, Ilene Cooper, review of Shalom, Friend: The Life and Legacy of Yitzhak Rabin, p. 1322; May 15, 2000, Bill Ott, review of A Little Too Close to God, p. 1725; February 1, 2004, Jay Freeman, review of Still Life with Bombers, p. 945.

Christian Science Monitor, September 14, 2000, Cameron W. Barr, "The Tough Choice of Living in the Chosen Land," review of A Little Too Close to God, p. 19.

Economist, April 20, 1996, review of Shalom, Friend, p. S7.

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2004, review of Still Life with Bombers, p. 24.

Library Journal, April 15, 2000, Joseph L. Carlson, review of A Little Too Close to God, p. 108; March 1, 2004, Carlson, review of Still Life with Bombers, p. 93.

Middle East Policy, January, 1997, Guilain Denoeux, review of Shalom, Friend, p. 207.

New York Jewish Week, May 10, 1996, Sandee Brawarsky, "'A Son of Israel': Jerusalem Report Biography of Yitzchak Rabin As Much a History of Jewish State As Story of One Great Man," p. 58.

New York Times Book Review, May 23, 2004, Walter Reich, "The Enemy at the Gates," review of Still Life with Bombers, p. 14.

Publishers Weekly, April 1, 1996, review of Shalom, Friend, p. 64; April 24, 2000, review of A Little Too Close to God, p. 71; January 26, 2004, review of Still Life with Bombers, p. 243.