This book describes the changes that took place among the various different sectors of society in the FSU regarding their attitudes towards the Jews and Israel.

For many years Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) has been the object of intense debate. After her bitter critiques of Zionism, which seemed to nullify her early involvement with that movement, and her extremely controversial "Eichmann in Jerusalem" (1963), Arendt became virtually a taboo figure in Israeli and Jewish circles. Challenging the "curse" of her own title, "Hannah Arendt in Jerusalem" carries the scholorly investigation of this musch-discussed writer to the very place where her ideas have been most conspicuosly ignored. Sometimes sympathetically, sometimes critically, these distinguished contributors reexamine the crucial aspects of Arendt's lfe and thought: her complex identity as a German Jew; her commitment to and critique of Zionism and the State of Israel; her works on totalitarianism, Nazism and the Eichmann trial; her relationship to key twentieth-century intellectuals, from Gershom Scholem to Martin Heidegger; her intimate and tense connections to German culture; and her reworkings of political thought and philosophy in the light of the experience of the twentieth century.

This monograph started out as a chapter about civil service in a book about the political system in Israel. This book includes recipes for change and corrections and not just general descriptions and observations. The criticism and recommendations usually appear at the end of every chapter and arise from Galnoors' practical experience in civil service.

"A catastrophe has befallen us!" - these were the words expressed by the secretary of the Arab League following the decision by the Arabs to invade Palestine on 15 May 1948. Who caused the Arab countries to participate in a war in which they had no interest, and why did they fight? What did King Abdallah say to Golda Meir during their secret conversation in Amman on the eve of the war? Why did the Arab efforts to release the Egyptian soldiers from the siege at Faluja fail? How did the Jewish prisoners live in the prisoners' camp in Trasnjordan and how they were finally released? Both these and other questions are answered in the book: Cooperation and Hostility: Abdallah, the Arab Legion and the 1948 War, which examines the rule of the Arab Legion during 1948 war. The book explains King Abdallah's intentions towards Palestine as well as considering his political and military moves. The book also analyses the cooperation between the Arab armies during the war, and the British aid to Transjordan and especially to the Arab Legion during this war. With the aid of British, Israeli and Jordanian documents the author presents in a clear and comprehensive manner the establishment and development of the units of the Arab Legion including the military intelligence and the Air force which were exposed for the first time in this book.

Contents: Zvi Garfunkel- The tectonics of the Dead Sea transform Mordechai Stein- Climate change in the Dead Sea basin and the evolution of human culture in Israel and the neighboring regions during the Holocene Avinoam Danin- Vegetation in the Dead Sea basin Yoseph Yechieli and Meir Abelson- Sink-holes on the Dead Sea shore Nir Moscovitch and Oren Bar-Yosef- The magnesium metal era – the future is light Shimon Moses- The Dead Sea – a natural site for therapy and health

Literature for children written in pre-state Israel played a major role in shaping the young generation's values, experiences and conception of the world. Up until the 1940s, the hegemonic current of this literature's related the tale of the Zionist-Socialist accomplishments and presented the Hebrew generation growing up in the country as the opposite of the Diasporic Jew. During World War II, with the arrival of the news of the Holocaust transpiring in Europe, as well as at the period of conflict with the British, the story for children had changed dramatically. This shift has left a considerable mark on Hebrew culture as a whole. In her book From the School Desk We Were Taken Yael Darr describes how writers for the young committed themselves toa new story, focusing on the battle and sacrifice of youths. In this new narrative the Hebrew children were portrayed as skillful fighters serving role models even for the parents' generation. Yet, Darr also suggests that the literature for children did not ignore the news about the destruction of the European Jewry. While it might be expected of literature aimed at young readers to spare them exposure to such a catastrophe, it was in fact precisely that literature which was quick to tell the story of the disaster. Furthermore, in its varied and numerous references to the Holocaust the children's literature even preceded the Holocaust literature for adults. Darr's book recounts the military-national story as well as the tale of the devastation of the European Jewry in all its complexity. The writer also shows how some of the literary forms dealing with the Holocaust during the British Mandate were abandoned, when towards the founding of the state the children's literature fused the heroism of the country's youth and the story of the Holocaust weaving them into a pronounced national lesson. The book uncovers a wide range of literary works for children and youngsters written in the nineteen forties both by mainstream, center-stage, authors and by those in its margins. It closely analyzes several establishing works of fiction thus shedding light on the society and culture of those years while undermining conventions concerning the position of the Israeli based Jewish community concerning the Holocaust and its survivors.

Metropolitan reforms have been implemented in Canada at a scale and frequency greater than anywhere else in the democratic world. Recent Canadian metropolitan reforms are setting precedents and their fate could influence metropolitan agendas worldwide. This edited collection deals with local government reforms in major Canadian metropolitan areas and provides comparative insights from other countries. Steps undertaken by Canadian provinces have seemingly preferred in some cases 'old regionalism' territorial reforms over 'new regionalism' horizontal networks of governance. Canadian experiences indicate that both weak metropolitan mechanisms and neighborhood-level governments tend to be unstable, often not fulfilling expectations. Moreover, it seems that only old regionalism deals effectively with sharing fiscal burdens, whereas new regionalism approaches can be effective in development. The cross-national case studies provide a perspective on the role of different political systems and political cultures in determining the metropolitan governance agenda and the reforms undertaken, revealing considerable similarities in the agenda and diversity in responses.