The Netanyahu Years

Translated by Ora Cummings

De: Ben Caspit

Narrado por: George Guidall

A portrait of the current Israeli prime minister, one of Israel's more noticeable leaders in recent decades.

Benjamin Netanyahu is currently serving his fourth term in office as prime minister of Israel, the longest serving prime minister in the country's history. Now Israeli journalist Ben Caspit puts Netanyahu's life under a magnifying glass, focusing on his last two terms in office. Caspit covers a wide swath of topics, including Netanyahu's policies, his political struggles, and his fight against the Iranian nuclear program, and zeroes in on Netanyahu's love/hate relationships with the American administration and America's Jews and his alliances with American business magnates. A timely and important book, The Netanyahu Years is a primer for anyone looking to understand this world leader.

©2017 Ben Caspit,Translation 2017 Ora Ccummings (P)2017 Recorded Books

mediocre writing, juicy gossip

Even Netanyahu's detractors can't deny that he's a fascinating politician and his complex character makes for great material. Unfortunately, Caspit's writing style is monotonous and makes the book feels like a slog. None of this is made easier by the narrator's halting staccato and grating voice. The translation is cringeworthy, and Ora Cummings seemingly translated the text word for word rather than conveying the spirit of the writing in a fluid style. This could have been a great book if there had been a decent editor, translator, and narrator along the way. It makes for an irritating listen, but the subject matter is juicy enough to somehow make it worthwhile.

Caspit has out done himself

Arguably the most prominent expert on Benjamin Netanyahu's political journey and leadership, vetren journalist Ben Caspit delivers a detailed, and mostly fair, assessment of the Israeli leader. A must-read for anyone who wishs to understand Middle-Eastern affairs and the complexity of the American-Israeli special relationship.

Great reporting marred by minor editorializing

This is a superb book for understanding Benjamin Netanyahu. It recounts his life and major political actions, especially the Iran deal and Israeli– Palestinian peace efforts. When reporting, it is terrific. From time to time, there is an editorial aside, perfectly the right of the author, that nonetheless detracts from the straight reporting. Absolutely worth reading for those entries interested in the current situation among Israel and its neighbors.

Good read, complex character

This is the first book I’ve read about Netanyahu, so found it insightful. I liked the overall story line of (Bibi the villain vs. Bibi the purposeful Premier.) It starts off as excessively anti-Bibi but manages to offer a decent balance by emphasizing the challenges he faced throughout his political journey. I didn’t like the heavily attributed themes on the main characters to anonymous sources because the quotes were often very pointed opinions being offered as matter of fact. The author draws too much from them without much corroboration on specific cases. But, overall it’s a more than decent caption of a complicated character to measure

weak

as someone who was near the events and near Mr Netanyau the writer seemingly and unfairly does not indicate his bias.