Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide

by Michael B. Oren Narrated by Michael B. Oren

Overview

Michael B. Oren's memoir of his time as Israel's ambassador to the United States-a period of transformative change for America and a time of violent upheaval throughout the Middle East-provides a frank, fascinating look inside the special relationship between America and its closest ally in the region.

Michael Oren served as the Israeli ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2013. An American by birth and a historian by training, Oren arrived at his diplomatic post just as Benjamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton assumed office. During Oren's tenure in office, Israel and America grappled with the Palestinian peace process, the Arab Spring, and existential threats to Israel posed by international terrorism and the Iranian nuclear program. Forged in the Truman administration, America's alliance with Israel was subjected to enormous strains, and its future was questioned by commentators in both countries. On more than one occasion, the friendship's very fabric seemed close to unraveling.

Ally is the story of that enduring alliance-and of its divides-written from the perspective of a man who treasures his American identity while proudly serving the Jewish State he has come to call home. No one could have been better suited to strengthen bridges between the United States and Israel than Michael Oren-a man equally at home jumping out of a plane as an Israeli paratrooper and discussing Middle East history on TV's Sunday morning political shows. In the pages of this fast-paced book, Oren interweaves the story of his personal journey with behind-the-scenes accounts of fateful meetings between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu, high-stakes summits with the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, and diplomatic crises that intensified the controversy surrounding the world's most contested strip of land.

A quintessentially American story of a young man who refused to relinquish a dream-irrespective of the obstacles-and an inherently Israeli story about assuming onerous responsibilities, Ally is at once a record, a chronicle, and a confession. And it is a story about love-about someone fortunate enough to love two countries and to represent one to the other. But, above all, this memoir is a testament to an alliance that was and will remain vital for Americans, Israelis, and the world.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States, has written the smartest and juiciest diplomatic memoir that I’ve read in years, and I’ve read my share. The book, called Ally, has the added virtues of being politically relevant and historically important. This has the Obama administration—which doesn’t come out looking too good in Mr. Oren’s account—in an epic snit. . . . [Oren’s] memoir is the best contribution yet to a growing literature—from Vali Nasr’s Dispensable Nation to Leon Panetta’s Worthy Fights—describing how foreign policy is made in the Age of Obama: lofty in its pronouncements and rich in its self-regard, but incompetent in its execution and dismal in its results. Good for Mr. Oren for providing such comprehensive evidence of the facts as he lived them.”—Bret Stephens, The Wall Street Journal

“Illuminating . . . Oren was by no means Netanyahu’s most truculent adviser, but his personal odyssey exemplifies the shift from a liberal and secular Zionism to a more belligerent nationalism.”—The New York Times

“Unlike other diplomatic memoirs, which rarely disclose anything controversial, Oren’s Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide is provocative, as the former ambassador blames President Barack Obama for the sorry state of U.S.-Israel relations and much else that’s wrong in the Middle East today. . . . Oren’s book offers a view into the deep rifts that have opened not only between Washington and Jerusalem, but also between Israeli and American Jews.”—Newsweek

“A book full of penetrating insights . . . [Oren’s] beguiling, surprisingly frank memoir not only gives us the reality of what achieving his dream entailed, but tells us what he went through in order to get there. . . . It is the product not only of Mr. Oren’s challenging ambassadorial tenure in Washington but of a life well lived as an Israeli and as an American, a combination which makes him one of the most uniquely qualified judges of this ever more crucial special relationship.”—The Washington Times

“Oren has written the diplomatic equivalent of a ‘kiss-and-tell’ memoir, chronicling his years as Israel’s ambassador. . . . It is less sensational than the parts cherry-picked before publication. Yet it is informative and in parts entertaining. . . . The book is a useful account, if partial and partisan, of a unique time in US-Israeli relations, in which officials of both are criticizing each other with increasing bluntness.”—Financial Times

“The talk of Washington and Jerusalem . . . I’m not sure that in the annals of diplomatic history there’s ever been anything quite like this astonishing account of Oren’s four years as Israel’s ambassador in Washington. It’s an ultimate insider’s story told while all the players save Oren are still in place.”—New York Post

“Ally is an important read for those seeking to understand the complexities of the American-Israeli alliance. Unlike his previous two books, which were written from the perspective of an historian and became New York Times bestsellers, former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren’s latest book is based on his own personal experiences, perceptions and interactions with President Obama and the administration.”—The Huffington Post

NOVEMBER 2015 - AudioFile

Michael Oren, U.S.-born Israeli ambassador to the U.S. for four years, uses his life to embody the relationship between the two countries. He narrates his story with brisk pacing and a strong expressive ability that imbues his words with emotion. His voice, however, is somewhat nasal and not especially strong or engaging, and he often swallows the middles of multisyllabic words. There are also, disappointingly, a number of insertions of material clearly recorded at another time—“retakes” with a distractingly different sound and voice quality. But what might be lost by not using a professional is made up for by the genuineness and energy of real feelings, resulting in a thoroughly interesting and sometimes affecting program. W.M. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2015-07-01
The former Israeli ambassador to the United States balances his personal story with his ambassadorial history. American-born Israeli historian Oren (Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present, 2007, etc.), who is currently a member of the Knesset, is forthright in his memoir of service as ambassador from 2009 to 2013, years of some discord between the two proud allies. A former paratrooper, his performance is on a tight rope fixed by his love at one end for the nation where he was born and, at the other, the beloved spiritual land of his forefathers. Beyond the speeches and state dinners, crisis management was a constant duty, as terrorism never abated (in 1996, Oren's sister-in-law was killed by a Hamas bomber). He represented Israel during the ill-fated Arab Spring, and Turkey, once friendly, turned hostile. Visiting Vice President Joe Biden was twice offended, and Oren was blindsided by unsanctioned announcements of increased settlements. There was turmoil in Egypt and, internationally, calls for boycotts, divestments, and sanctions against Israel. Amid burgeoning anti-Semitism, there arose an existential threat with Iran's steady march toward nuclear weaponry—not to mention an often hostile press. Oren has seen shifts toward abandonment of the working paradigms of the historic alliance, and his characterizations of various key legislators, government functionaries, and ill-informed pundits are deft and pointed. The author is candid in his admiration of his former boss, Benjamin Netanyahu. Less warm is his assessment of the American president, whom the former ambassador found sometimes inspiring but too often cerebral, remote, and deficient in understanding the political machinations of the Middle East. Throughout, the author proves a genuine, ardent advocate for the well-being of his beleaguered homeland and its ongoing alliance with the land of his birth. Even before its publication, Oren's book has been attacked, based on culls of provocative pieces. Readers would do well to attend to the entire text of this fluent, important political memoir.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169468106
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	06/23/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	925,930

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The Perforated
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Ally"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Michael B. Oren.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
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