This political biography sheds new light on the vital role played by the Israeli Prime Minister in establishing peaceful relations with Egypt. Focusing on the character and personality of Menachem Begin, Gerald Steinberg and Ziv Rubinovitz offer a new look into the peace negotiations between Israel and Egypt in the 1970s. Begin’s role as a peace negotiator has often been marginalized, but this sympathetic and critical portrait restores him to the center of the diplomatic process. Beginning with the events of 1967, Steinberg and Rubinovitz look at Begin’s statements on foreign policy, including relations with Egypt, and his role as Prime Minister and chief signer of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty. While Begin did not leave personal memoirs or diaries of the peace process, Steinberg and Rubinovitz have tapped into newly released Israeli archives and information housed at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and the Begin Heritage Center. The analysis illuminates the complexities that Menachem Begin faced in navigating between ideology and political realism in the negotiations towards a peace treaty that remains a unique diplomatic achievement.

In Saving the Holy Sepulchre, Raymond Cohen tells the engaging story of how three major Christian traditions--Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian Orthodox--each with jealously guarded claims to the church, struggled to restore one of the great shrines of civilization. It almost didnt happen. For centuries the communities had lived together in an atmosphere of tension and mistrust based on differences of theology, language, and culture. But thanks to the dedicated efforts of a cast of kings, popes, patriarchs, governors, monks, and architects, the deadlock was eventually broken on the eve of Pope Paul VI's historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1964.

The past and future of Jewish-Christian dialogue The history of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity is storied and tragic. However, recent decades show promise as both parties reflect on their self-definitions and mutual contingency and consider possible ways forward. In Healing the Schism, Jennifer M. Rosner maps the new Jewish-Christian encounter from its origins in the early twentieth-century pioneers to its current representatives. Rosner first traces the thought of Karl Barth and Frank Rosenzweig and brings them into conversation. Rosner then outlines the reassessments and developments of post-Holocaust theological architects that moved the dialogue forward and set the stage for today. She considers the recent work of Messianic Jewish theologian Mark S. Kinzer and concludes by envisioning future possibilities. With clarity and rigor, Rosner offers a robust perspective of Judaism and Christianity that is post-supersessionist and theologically orthodox. Healing the Schism is essential reading for understanding the perils and promise of Messianic Jewish identity and Jewish-Christian theological conversation.

Documented Proof of the Prophetic Promises of God Revealed Thousands of years ago, the prophet Zechariah foretold that the once-revered city of Jerusalem would again shake off its dust and be revived in peace and security. He predicted it would not only become a center of thriving life and seat of international influence but also the place where God himself will return to dwell. This stunning new photo-comparison book and follow-up to Israel Rising documents the long-awaited and ongoing restoration of a city "set in the center of the nations" (Ezekiel 5:5). From its famed walls and gates to the beloved Old City and the new city rising up around it, view some of the oldest photos of Jerusalem ever taken (starting in the 1840s) and see them re-created from the same perspective today―some for the first time ever. Author Doug Hershey and adventure-travel photographer Edden Ram gained exclusive access to storied vantage points to reshoot the exact angles of these stunning and seldom-seen historical photos. The result is an awe-inspiring and groundbreaking collection that will captivate hearts and reveal the accuracy of the prophet's words. The book also features fascinating insights into Jerusalem's first photographers and firsthand accounts from pilgrims, locals, and would-be conquerors that capture the longing and desire for this treasured city, spanning almost 2,000 years. Indeed, the reawakening of the City of Peace is at hand.

President Carter has been a student of the biblical Holy Land all his life. For the last three decades, as president of the United States and as founder of The Carter Center, he has studied the complex and interrelated issues of the region's conflicts and has been actively involved in reconciling them. He knows the leaders of all factions in the region who will need to play key roles, and he sees encouraging signs among them. Carter describes the history of previous peace efforts and why they fell short. He argues persuasively that the road to a peace agreement is now open and that it has broad international and regional support. Most of all, since there will be no progress without courageous and sustained U.S. leadership, he says the time for progress is now. President Barack Obama is committed to a personal effort to exert that leadership, starting early in his administration. This is President Carter's call for action, and he lays out a practical and achievable path to peace.

"Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem!" -- The symbolic axis of the world, the birthplace of great religious traditions, the ancient site, and the contemporary center of mighty contention - the city of Jerusalem evokes fascination, devotion, and deep pain. In this book, author Clare Amos shares her lifelong engagement with the city, its people, and its history, yielding a loving yet insightful view of the city's dynamic identity. Its biblical and historical roots; its complex symbolic and literary meaning for Jews, Christians, and Muslims; and its present-day tensions are composed by Amos into a complex mosaic that may yet, in some lights, yield a vision of the heavenly city. (Series: Visions & Voices)

Gershon Baskin's memoir of thirty-eight years of intensive pursuit of peace begins with a childhood on Long Island and a bar mitzvah trip to Israel with his family. Baskin joined Young Judaea back in the States, then later lived on a kibbutz in Israel, where he announced to his parents that he had decided to make aliya, emigrate to Israel. They persuaded him to return to study at NYU, after which he finally emigrated under the auspices of Interns for Peace. In Israel he spent a pivotal two years living with Arabs in the village of Kufr Qara. Despite the atmosphere of fear, Baskin found he could talk with both Jews and Palestinians, and that very few others were engaged in efforts at mutual understanding. At his initiative, the Ministry of Education and the office of right-wing prime minister Menachem Begin created the Institute for Education for Jewish-Arab Coexistence with Baskin himself as director. Eight years later he founded and codirected the only joint Israeli-Palestinian public policy think-and-do tank in the world, the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information. For decades he continued to cross borders, often with a kaffiyeh (Arab headdress) on his dashboard to protect his car in Palestinian neighborhoods. Airport passport control became Kafkaesque as Israeli agents routinely identified him as a security threat. During the many cycles of peace negotiations, Baskin has served both as an outside agitator for peace and as an advisor on the inside of secret talks—for example, during the prime ministership of Yitzhak Rabin and during the initiative led by Secretary of State John Kerry. Baskin ends the book with his own proposal, which includes establishing a peace education program and cabinet-level Ministries of Peace in both countries, in order to foster a culture of peace.

An in-depth examination of how Jerusalem is seen by both Palestinians and Israeli-Jews, this book is a landmark study of the potential for successfully negotiating the Jerusalem question. It sheds important light on the question "what is Jerusalem?" By showing that the current boundaries are not viewed by either side as sacrosanct, the authors prove that there is room for creative efforts to reach an agreement. Such room may help resolve what is undoubtedly the most difficult issue standing between Israelis and Palestinians.