Raviv, Dan. Melman, Yossi. Friends in Deed: Inside the U.S.-Israel Alliance. New York: Hyperion, 1994. 537 pages.

Yossi Melman, an Israeli journalist, and Dan Raviv, a CBS correspondent formerly based in Tel Aviv and London, have put together this history of U.S.-Israel relations after hundreds of interviews over a three-year period. Their previous book was "Every Spy a Prince," a history of Israel's intelligence community.

This book is rich in detail in some areas, and negligent in others. The formation of Israel, and its support during the early years, was to some extent the result of behind-the-scenes fundraising and political maneuvering by certain key individuals in the U.S. This is described in some detail, although the authors should have expanded more on the Mafia connection. There are several pages on James Angleton's sweetheart relationship with Israel, and a chapter on AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group that was powerful during the 1980s. But then one finds only two paragraphs on the Anti-Defamation League, and just one sentence on ADL's private intelligence network in the U.S., which was the subject of national headlines in 1993. In the end, the authors spend more ink on personalities and anecdotes, than on a broader socioeconomic or infrastructural analysis. And while they aren't blatant with their sympathies, the pro-Israel players described by them generally come across as moral icons in a hostile world.
ISBN 0-7868-6006-5

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