The Diplomacy of Prudence

Abstract

L .A. DELVOIE'S REVIEW OF MY BOOK, The Diplomacy of Prudence: Canada and Israel, 1948-1958 (winter 1997-8) raises several serious questions. My major concern relates to the reviewers lack of forbearance in giving comprehensive observations to the substantive Canadian and Israeli primary archival sources which resulted in the textual conclusions. For example, the chapter on 'The Sage of the Unsheathed Sabres' painstakingly presented both the Canadian and Israeli perspectives, clearly delineating the attitudes and policy decisions of both sides. His assessment 'written entirely from an Israeli perspective ... judged almost entirely in terms ... of addressing Israeli interests and purposes' brings into question the reviewers objectivity and competence. I am also troubled by the reviewer s plaint that in my book I failed to account for the possibility that 'the Canadian government might formulate its policies ... on its own assessments ... or its own appreciation of events.' This type of criticism raises the question again of the depth of the reviewers perusal of the text and conveys a disregard for the constituent elements of diplomacy and the political process. One has to countenance what happened and not what should have happened or what one would have liked to have transpired. Predilection should not compromise objectivity when writing or even reviewing a book.