"Remarkably insightful . . . A groundbreaking revision that deserves to reframe the entire debate . . . It soars."-The New York Times Book Review In The Accidental Empire , Gershom Gorenberg examines the strange birth of the settler movement in the ten years following the Six-Day War and finds that it was as much the child of Labor Party socialism as of religious extremism. The giants of Israeli history-Dayan, Meir, Eshkol, Allon-all played major roles in this drama, as did more contemporary figures like Sharon, Rabin, and Peres. Gorenberg also shows how three American presidents turned a blind eye to what was happening in the territories, and reveals their strategic reasons for doing so. Drawing on newly opened archives and extensive interviews, Gorenberg calls