Jerome Slater writes:
A few weeks ago Richard Silverstein queried a number of people, including me, on what we knew about future Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren. Bernard Avishai wrote that he sort of liked him, he was bright, etc. Since I had written a review (for Political Science Quarterly) of Oren's book on the 1967 war, I wrote to Avishai (cc to Richard and his other sources), the following:
"In my view, that book revealed that Oren is a dishonest
rightwing ideologue, posing as a centrist and objective historian. As I
wrote, he gratuitously sneers at the new historians without addressing,
let alone rebutting, their findings; in his discussion of the background
to the 1967 war, he omits or lightly slides over crucial aspects of
Israel's policies and behavior, especially its treatment of the
Palestinians; he refers to the "exodus" or the "flight" of the
Palestinians rather than their expulsion; he labels as "activism"
Israel's military provocations towards Syria; he doesn't engage with the
serious Egyptian and Syrian proposals for a political settlement prior
to 1967; and, most importantly, he is both superficial and misleading
in his brief discussion of the 1967 war, including the consequences of
the settlements as well as Israel's refusal in the years following '67
to engage serious peace efforts by Nasser, the early years of Sadat, and
Hafez Assad of Syria."
I concluded: "The overall effect of [the book] is to minimize the full
truth, namely that the consequences of Israel's pre-and postwar
policies, especially its territorial expansionism and the repression of
the Palestinians, have created a disaster."
I develop these arguments in the review. Also, since 2003 I have seen
several other comments by Oren, probably in Haaretz, which reinforced
my opinion of him. In my book, the worst sin for an "historian" is to
conceal, distort, or otherwise ignore the full truth–or at least the
serious arguments made by those with different views, who cite evidence.
For that reason, I regard him as intellectually disreputable, and his
pending appointment as a perfect reflection of Netanyahuism."
Weiss adds: I feel Slater and Avishai are right. I read Oren's piece in Commentary this month on the threats to Israel and also his Power Faith and Fantasy book. Both struck me (proverbially) as being to real scholarship what military music is to music. He's not a very reflective or deep writer. But I found him very likeable in his AIPAC appearance. He has a gentle way about him and was very polite to people who thronged him afterwards. I guess I hope he will prove a better diplomat than a writer.
