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New York Times bestselling author Michael B. Orens memoir of his time as Israels 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 Orens 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, Americas alliance with Israel was subjected to enormous strains, and its future was questioned by commentators in both countries. On more than one occasion, the friendships 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 TVs 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 worlds 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.
Praise for Ally Michael Oren is going to be the talk of Washington and Jerusalem. . . . Im not sure that in the annals of diplomatic history theres ever been anything quite like this astonishing account of Orens four years as Israels ambassador in Washington. Its an ultimate insiders story told while all the players save Oren are still in place.--New York Post From the Hardcover edition.
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