Prophets Without Honor

The 2000 Camp David Summit and the End of the Two-State Solution

De: Shlomo Ben-Ami

Narrado por: David Colacci

The clash between Israel and Palestine has been one of the most emotionally engaging causes of modern times. Prophets Without Honor tells the story of the attempts to solve the conflict and examines the reasons for its resilience. Shlomo Ben-Ami, who participated at a high level in the July 2000 Camp David peace talks that almost led to a historic deal, uses his insider experience to illuminate the specific factors that impede a solution to the conflict.

Ben-Ami challenges the funereal historiography that emerged in the wake of the Camp David process, when Israelis and Palestinians engaged in the Sisyphean task of breaking the taboos surrounding the conflict. The Clinton Peace Parameters that emerged out of this process eventually became the litmus test of every serious peace proposal in the future. But all-or-nothing theological fanaticism and a lack of bold and enlightened leadership have made these attempts at peace-making a defining failure of the two-state concept.

Ben-Ami scrutinizes the ominous alternatives to the two-state solution, such as the binational state and Donald Trump's Deal of the Century. He also examines the merits of a Jordanian-Palestinian solution. In discussing Palestine from a comparative perspective, he underlines its singularity while also shedding light on the dilemmas that stand at the center of any peace enterprise.

©2022 Shlomo Ben-Ami (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

The most complete and balanced state of the mutual struggle.

I have read many books in an effort to become more knowledgeable on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. None of them can hold a candle to the breadth, depth and balance of this book. In a world racing to simplistic notions of right and wrong, this book reveals a true depth and nuance to the challenges. Not to mention it comes from the accounts of someone who has sat in the front row helping to lead many of the negotiations of the past decades in a lifetime committed to finding a lasting peace for both sides.

The challenges of the conflicts are exceedingly complex. I appreciate finding sources of information that leave me able to stand on either side of the challenge and articulate support for, as well as grievances against, both sides. This is such a source.

A rare find for those with the appetite to learn from someone who has spent their life working to stand in the middle and lead people to find common ground. And not in that poetically simplistic, wishy-washy “let’s all just hold hands” kind of way. Rather in a practical, sober, experienced, no easy answers kind of way — that still seeks to find the answers.

Anyone wishing to invest and engage the problem from this approach will not be disappointed.

best book on Israel-Palestine

I found Shlomo Ben-Ami to be the most neutral, balanced, fair-minded, wise, and insightful author on the Palestine-Israel crisis.