Disagreements over national security issues, primarily between Likud and Labour (the two major political forces in Israel), have gradually become the central topic of dispute in Israeli politics. Likewise, the distinction between the political left and right increasingly concerns questions of national security, rather than other clevages in Israeli society. The author investigates the Labour Party's positions on national security in the 1980s and into the summer of 1990, thus shedding light on the broader issues of Israel's politics. Beginning with a discussion of the hawk vs. dove schism within the party, he goes on to discuss party leaders' perceptions of threat with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict - perceptions that have constituted, to a large extent, the basis for positions on national security matters. Succeeding chapters focus on the party debate over the appropriate partner in peace negotiations and the increased willingness to accept the Palestinians in this role, the likely shape of the party's proposals for interim and permanent peace agreements, and the attitudes of Laborites toward the use of force.
In a final chapter, the author attempts to explain the leftward move of the Labour Party, especially intriguing in the context of the apparent shift of the electorate toward greater hawkishness.