Israel, the 'Accidental Empire' [39min]

The Six-Day War of 1967 left Israel with a dilemma: what to do with the land it had taken in the process of winning a conflict that also involved Egypt, Syria and Jordan. A new book, The Accidental Empire, looks at what came next. Journalist Gershom Gorenberg is a former associate editor and columnist for The Jerusalem Report. He is the author of The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977. The book details how idealism and political agendas came to shape Israel's settlement policy that is at the center of arguments today. In recounting the first 10 years of Israeli settlements, Gorenberg, a former associate editor and columnist for The Jerusalem Report, depicts many of the leaders of the day, both Arab and Israeli.