Yehoshafat Harkabi ( he, יהושפט הרכבי, born 1921,
Haifa; died 26 August 1994,
Jerusalem) was chief of
Israeli
military intelligence from 1955 until 1959 and afterwards a professor of International Relations and Middle East Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Biography
Harkabi had a good command of
Arabic, a deep knowledge of
Arab civilization and history, and a solid understanding of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. He developed from an uncompromising hardliner to supporter of a
Palestinian state who recognized the
PLO
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and s ...
as a negotiations partner. In his most well-known work ''Israel's Fateful Hour'', Harkabi described himself as a "
Machiavellian dove" intent on searching "for a policy by which Israel can get the best possible settlement of the conflict in the Middle East" (1988, p. xx) - a policy that would include a
Zionism "of quality and not of
acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
age" (p. 225).
Harkabi was forced to resign as chief of Military Intelligence as a consequence of the 1959
Night of the Ducks
The Night of the Ducks ( he, ליל הברווזים) was the civilian fiasco by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that occurred on April 1, 1959.
Traditionally, Israel conducted regular call-up exercises for its reserve troops by public radio. Un ...
.
Following his military career, Harkabi served as a visiting professor at
Princeton University and guest scholar at the
Brookings Institution. He was Maurice Hexter professor and director of the Leonard Davis Institute of International Relations and
Middle East Studies at
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
. He would earn a MPA from
Harvard University in 1962.
[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-professor-yehoshafat-harkabi-1448686.html]
Awards
In 1993, Harkabi was awarded the
Israel Prize
The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor.
History
The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...
, for political science.
Published works
* Harkabi, Y. (1974). ''Arab Attitudes to Israel''. Transaction Publishers.
* Harkabi, Y. (1975). ''Palestinians and Israel''. Transaction Publishers.
* Harkabi, Y. (1977). ''Arab Strategies and Israel's Response''. Free Press.
* Harkabi, Y. (1978). ''Three Concepts of Arab Strategy''. Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. ISBN B0006WY3PU
* Harkabi, Y. (1979). ''Palestinian Covenant and Its Meaning''. Frank Cass Publishers.
* Harkabi, Y. (1981). ''The Palestinian National Covenant (1968): An Israeli Commentary''. ISBN B0007J3GFA
* Harkabi, Y. (1982). ''The
Bar Kokhba Syndrome: Risk and Realism in International Relations''. New York, NY, Rossel Books.
* Harkabi, Y. (1985).
Al Fatah's Doctrine. In ''The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict''. T. W. Laqueur and B. Rubin (Eds.). New York, NY, Penguin Books.
* Harkabi, Y. (1988). ''Israel's Fateful Decisions''. I.B. Tauris.
* Harkabi, Y. (1989). ''Israel's Fateful Hour''. HarperCollins. (Chapter 5
Nationalistic Judaism
* Harkabi, Y. (1992). ''The Arab-Israeli Conflict on the Threshold of Negotiations''. Center of International Studies, Princeton University.
See also
*
List of Israel Prize recipients
This is a complete list of recipients of the Israel Prize from the inception of the Prize in 1953 through to 2022.
List
For each year, the recipients are, in most instances, listed in the order in which they appear on the official Israel Prize ...
References
External links
On Making Peace Despite the Risks - Ze'ev Schiff Heads of A'man,
Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
, &
Shin Bet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harkabi, Yehoshafat
1921 births
1994 deaths
Israeli generals
20th-century Israeli Jews
Israel Prize in political science recipients
Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Writers on antisemitism
Burials at Mount Herzl
Directors of the Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel)
Mandatory Palestine military personnel of World War II
Jewish Brigade personnel
People from Haifa
Hebrew Reali School alumni
Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty
Princeton University faculty
Brookings Institution people
Arabic-speaking people
Harvard Kennedy School alumni