A revelatory account of Israel's secret military cooperation with apartheid South Africa. Prior to the Six-Day War, Israel was the darling of the international Left. But after its occupation of Palestinian territories in 1967, Israel found itself isolated from former allies and threatened anew by old enemies. Sasha Polakow-Suransky tells the full story of how Israel's booming arms industry and South Africa's isolation led to a hidden military alliance that grew deeper after the Likud Party came to power in 1977 and continued even after Israel passed sanctions against South Africa in the late 1980s. Polakow-Suransky has uncovered previously classified details of countless arms deals conducted behind the backs of Israel's diplomatic corps and in violation of the United Nations arms embargo. Based on extensive archival research and interviews with former generals and high-level government officials in both countries, this book tells a troubling story of Cold War paranoia, moral compromises, and Israel's estrangement from the Left.--From publisher description.

The Reich that wasn't : South Africa's Jews in the shadow of Nazism -- A light unto the nations : Israel's honeymoon in Africa -- The atomic bond : the Israeli-South African nuclear connection -- The rise of Realpolitik : the Yom Kippur War and Israel's realignment in Africa -- Brothers in arms : a military alliance is born -- A common lot : Likud, apartheid, and the quest for minority survival -- The back channel : nuclear diplomacy and the fall of Vorster -- Over the edge : South Africa joins the nuclear club -- Masters of spin : propaganda, denial, and the concealment of the Alliance -- Losing the left : Israel, apartheid, and the splintering of the Civil Rights Coalition -- Forked tongues : domestic debate and diplomatic schizophrenia -- The end of the affair : South Africa's transition to democracy and the demise of the Alliance.