T. A. KARASOVA. POLITICAL HISTORY OF ISRAEL. LIKUD BLOCK: PAST AND PRESENT, Moscow: Natalis; Institute Of Oriental Studies Of the Russian Academy Of Sciences, 2009, 528 p. The publication of the book by T. A. Karasova, a well-known Russian expert on the history and political system of Israel, is undoubtedly a significant milestone in the study of the modern political history of the Middle East. The work is distinguished not only by its theoretical depth and excellent knowledge of historical texture. T. A. Karasova worked for many years at the Russian Embassy in Israel, taught at Israeli universities, met with many Israeli political and public figures, which gave her a rich factual material that is not always available to other researchers. The book, of course, is also a reflection on his own practical experience, which provides the author with a broad vision of many aspects of the modern political life of the country, and makes it possible to brilliantly navigate the intricacies of party and personal ties. The latter is especially important, since politics in Israel is highly personalized, and the personal views and qualities of leaders are often as important to voters as party programs and declarations. Therefore, the brilliant knowledge of personalities demonstrated by T. A. Karasova page 188 it gives the whole work a special uniqueness, and the conclusions drawn by it acquire additional credibility. As you read this book, you think again about the high degree of concentration that the history of the modern State of Israel has. Its political history is not inferior to the situation in any developed Western European democracy in terms of the richness of events, the diversity of ideological platforms and the intensity of the struggle between the participants in the political process. However, in European countries, the formation of modern state mechanisms and democratic norms took more than a century, while Israel has passed this path in a little more than a hundred ... Read more