Yehoshafat Harkabi (
Hebrew: יהושפט הרכבי, born 1921,
Haifa; died 26 August 1994,
Jerusalem) was chief of
Israelimilitary 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. He developed from an uncompromising hardliner to supporter of a
Palestinianstate who recognized the
PLO 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
acreage" (p. 225).
Harkabi was forced to resign as chief of Military Intelligence as a consequence of the 1959
Night of the Ducks.[1]
In 1993, Harkabi was awarded the
Israel Prize, for political science.[3]
Published works
Harkabi, Y. (1974). Arab Attitudes to Israel. Transaction Publishers.
ISBN0-85303-157-6
Harkabi, Y. (1975). Palestinians and Israel. Transaction Publishers.
ISBN0-87855-172-7
Harkabi, Y. (1977). Arab Strategies and Israel's Response. Free Press.
ISBN0-02-913760-8
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.
ISBN0-85303-206-8
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.
ISBN0-940646-01-3
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.
ISBN0-87196-873-8
Harkabi, Y. (1988). Israel's Fateful Decisions. I.B. Tauris.
ISBN1-85043-094-2
Harkabi, Y. (1992). The Arab-Israeli Conflict on the Threshold of Negotiations. Center of International Studies, Princeton University.
ISBN99924-0-953-3