authorities
Ofek Horizon; generic name for Israeli satellites
PALMACH (Plugot Machats) Hagana’s pre-1948 strike force
PALYAM (PALMACH-YAM) PALMACH’s naval company
PAZAM (pesek zman minimali) minimum periods between promotions
PGMs precision-guided munitions
pkida plugatit, pkiddot plugatiyot (pl.) company clerk (female)
POUM (1) Plugot Meyuchadot (Special Companies); Hagana intelligence organization set up in 1941; (2) Pikkud U-mateh (Command and General Staff College)
PTSD posttraumatic stress disorder
RAFAEL (Rashut Le-pituach Emtsaei Luchama) Weapon Development Authority
RAFI (Reshimat Poalei Yisrael) Israeli Workers’ List; a party founded by Ben Gurion after his resignation as prime minister in 1963
Rechesh Acquisition; Hagana’s arms-procurement organization
Reshef Spark; a class of Israeli missile boats
rosh mateh klali chief of the General Staff
rosh mifkada artsit chief of country headquarters, the title carried by Hagana’s chief of staff
RPV remotely piloted vehicle
Saar Tempest; a class of Israeli missile boats
sabra “the fruit of the cactus,” a nickname for Israeli-born Jews
sayarot commando units
SAM surface-to-air missile
Shavit Comet 2, an (unsuccessful?) surface-to-surface missile built by RAFAEL during the early 1960s
Sherut Aviri Air Service; PALMACH’s underground air arm
Sherut Zehirut Prudence Service; Hagana’s security service
Shin Bet (Sherut Bitachon) Israel’s domestic Security Service
shomer, shomrim (pl.) guard
SIGINT signals intelligence
siyur, siyurim (pl.) patrol
slik, slikkim (pl.) an underground chamber where arms were hidden
SNS Special Night Squads; commando units organized by Capt. Orde Wingate during the disturbances of 1936-1939
TAAS (Taasiya Tsvait) Israel Military Industries Ltd.
tachkir, tachkirim (pl.) debriefing
tadrich, tadrichim (pl.) briefing
taoz, teozim (pl.) bunker
timsach, timaschim (pl.) crocodiles; code name for rafts used in crossing the Suez Canal in 1973
TOW tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided antitank missile
TSAHAL (Tsva Hagana Le-Yisrael) IDF
tsva keva standing forces
UAV unmanned airborne vehicle
ugda division
Uzi Israeli-made submachine gun
YAMACH, YAMACHim (pl.) (yechidat machsanei cherum) emergency depot
yeshive, yeshivot (pl.) talmudic high school
yeshivot hesder arrangement yeshives; Talmudic high schools in which students split time between the military and study
Yishuv pre-1948 Jewish community in Palestine
zroa ha-hachraa the decisive arm; applied to each arm and service to itself
PREFACE TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION
THE AUTUMN OF 1998 was perhaps the most hopeful moment in the entire hundred-year history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. At Wye Plantation, Maryland, Israeli, Palestinian, and American representatives were hard at work. Their purpose was to hammer out an agreement that would enable the Israel Defense Force (IDF) to withdraw from parts of the City of Hebron. At the head of the Israeli delegation to the talks was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, political hardliner and leader of the Likud Party. Many observers believed that should the negotiations succeed, the most important obstacle to peace would have been overcome and the end of the conflict would be in sight.
The negotiations did succeed, but the conflict did not come to an end. Whether because the Israelis refused to continue working toward a final agreement, which would have entailed more withdrawals, or because the Palestinians did not meet their obligations under the agreement by gathering illegal arms and ending incitement of violence against Israel, the peace process stalled. Disappointed with Mr. Netanyahu’s inability to make progress, Israeli voters ousted him in favor of Ehud Barak, but even the latter’s offer to surrender 96 percent of
Ofek Horizon; generic name for Israeli satellites
PALMACH (Plugot Machats) Hagana’s pre-1948 strike force
PALYAM (PALMACH-YAM) PALMACH’s naval company
PAZAM (pesek zman minimali) minimum periods between promotions
PGMs precision-guided munitions
pkida plugatit, pkiddot plugatiyot (pl.) company clerk (female)
POUM (1) Plugot Meyuchadot (Special Companies); Hagana intelligence organization set up in 1941; (2) Pikkud U-mateh (Command and General Staff College)
PTSD posttraumatic stress disorder
RAFAEL (Rashut Le-pituach Emtsaei Luchama) Weapon Development Authority
RAFI (Reshimat Poalei Yisrael) Israeli Workers’ List; a party founded by Ben Gurion after his resignation as prime minister in 1963
Rechesh Acquisition; Hagana’s arms-procurement organization
Reshef Spark; a class of Israeli missile boats
rosh mateh klali chief of the General Staff
rosh mifkada artsit chief of country headquarters, the title carried by Hagana’s chief of staff
RPV remotely piloted vehicle
Saar Tempest; a class of Israeli missile boats
sabra “the fruit of the cactus,” a nickname for Israeli-born Jews
sayarot commando units
SAM surface-to-air missile
Shavit Comet 2, an (unsuccessful?) surface-to-surface missile built by RAFAEL during the early 1960s
Sherut Aviri Air Service; PALMACH’s underground air arm
Sherut Zehirut Prudence Service; Hagana’s security service
Shin Bet (Sherut Bitachon) Israel’s domestic Security Service
shomer, shomrim (pl.) guard
SIGINT signals intelligence
siyur, siyurim (pl.) patrol
slik, slikkim (pl.) an underground chamber where arms were hidden
SNS Special Night Squads; commando units organized by Capt. Orde Wingate during the disturbances of 1936-1939
TAAS (Taasiya Tsvait) Israel Military Industries Ltd.
tachkir, tachkirim (pl.) debriefing
tadrich, tadrichim (pl.) briefing
taoz, teozim (pl.) bunker
timsach, timaschim (pl.) crocodiles; code name for rafts used in crossing the Suez Canal in 1973
TOW tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided antitank missile
TSAHAL (Tsva Hagana Le-Yisrael) IDF
tsva keva standing forces
UAV unmanned airborne vehicle
ugda division
Uzi Israeli-made submachine gun
YAMACH, YAMACHim (pl.) (yechidat machsanei cherum) emergency depot
yeshive, yeshivot (pl.) talmudic high school
yeshivot hesder arrangement yeshives; Talmudic high schools in which students split time between the military and study
Yishuv pre-1948 Jewish community in Palestine
zroa ha-hachraa the decisive arm; applied to each arm and service to itself
PREFACE TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION
THE AUTUMN OF 1998 was perhaps the most hopeful moment in the entire hundred-year history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. At Wye Plantation, Maryland, Israeli, Palestinian, and American representatives were hard at work. Their purpose was to hammer out an agreement that would enable the Israel Defense Force (IDF) to withdraw from parts of the City of Hebron. At the head of the Israeli delegation to the talks was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, political hardliner and leader of the Likud Party. Many observers believed that should the negotiations succeed, the most important obstacle to peace would have been overcome and the end of the conflict would be in sight.
The negotiations did succeed, but the conflict did not come to an end. Whether because the Israelis refused to continue working toward a final agreement, which would have entailed more withdrawals, or because the Palestinians did not meet their obligations under the agreement by gathering illegal arms and ending incitement of violence against Israel, the peace process stalled. Disappointed with Mr. Netanyahu’s inability to make progress, Israeli voters ousted him in favor of Ehud Barak, but even the latter’s offer to surrender 96 percent of
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