Interesting but heavily biased & some dodgy claims

For anyone interested in the recent geopolitical history of the region, it is interesting. However a caution, it is filtered through the lens of the Israeli security community.

I don't necessarily dispute all of his historical narratives, but some specific claims had me almost spitting out my water in disbelief - for example, his assertion that Gazans are not living in extreme poverty (citing the presence of a seaside resort) despite readily available statistics on child malnourishment, GDP per capita and food insecurity before the current conflict was weird. Also, while I am no fan of the Muslim Brotherhood, his claim that President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi was "also democratically elected" (like Morsi) in 2014 (he received 97% of the popular vote and opponents were being imprisoned and sentenced to death) was a bit of a stretch...

If I remember correctly, I believe the author claimed that "some" of the international community considers West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements to be illegal, and that seemed to be downplaying the near unanimous opposition (minus former US President Trump).

Generally speaking, I don't like it when historians heavily cherry-pick their evidence to sustain a political narrative (whatever that may be).

Still, it's an interesting book and is useful to gain insight into Israel's current strategic calculus, but it clearly comes with a strong, right-wing ideological bias that could be a bit much at times. It took away from some of the more interesting points that author had to make.

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