Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide Hardcover – June 23, 2015 by Michael B. Oren (Random House)

Michael Oren has written a wonderful informative book about American Politics and Israeli Politics. He pulls no punches of the difficulties between our American President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the disrespect Obama gives both Netanyahu and Israel. I could not put this book down, and was sorry when it ended. I have great admiration for Michael Oren. He is a man to be respected both in America and Israel. You can really see what a mench he is, and wish that our government officials would behave and have the sensitivity that Michael Oren has.

Given my current interest in the terrible relationship between the current prime minister of Israel and the US president, I thought I would try reading this book to help shed some more light on the subject. It did its job of helping me understand some of the inside details of what has been going on between Israel and the US. It also left me feeling uneasy for how this relationship will be conducted in the future.

The book starts off by describing the author's loss of his US passport in order to become the Israeli ambassador to the United States. The story then goes back to what made the author choose to make his decision to become the ambassador after spending his childhood years in the US and his adulthood in Israel. It details his time in the military and gives some background into current Israeli affairs along the way. The story becomes more interesting once the author begins his duties and finds no end of trouble from the administration and takes grief from politicians from both sides of the aisle. Still, in spite of the challenges, the author remains positive and tries to find the silver lining in a tough situation. It is perhaps what makes this book both an interesting and frustrating read.


Credit has to be given to the former ambassador for his indefatigable patience in dealing with the current administration and its often unreasonable demands. I admired the way that he would go to any length for his country and still try to maintain a very fragile relationship between two extremely different world views. When his hard work is undone by the book's end, it is honestly quite sad.